Building trust: how Collective Action strengthens business ecosystems
In this article, Celia Lourens examines the role of cross-sectoral trust for a functional business environment. Collective Action, she argues, can be an approach to overcoming trust deficits between relevant stakeholders. Celia Lourens supports the organisation of our 6th International Collective Action Conference.
At its core, anti-corruption Collective Action is about tackling corruption challenges together, rather than alone. Collective Action is primarily driven by businesses, often in collaboration with government representatives and civil society, to address a shared challenge and attain a common objective.
Building trust is one critical element of Collective Action efforts, as it requires a genuine and sustained willingness from all involved stakeholders to collaborate.
Trust across sectors: the foundation of effective markets
Markets depend on trust – not only between businesses and their customers or employees and their organisational leadership, but between the institutions that shape the business environment:
- Business relies on regulatory bodies to create fair and predictable markets.
- Governments depend on businesses to act with integrity, beyond merely meeting compliance requirements.
- Civil society holds both public and private sectors accountable whilst advancing transparency and public confidence.
Where these relationships are founded in trust, business ecosystems function more effectively and markets remain stable.
Yet, cross-sector trust is increasingly under strain. Geopolitical volatility, tightening regulations and elevated complexity within supply chains are creating distance between the very actors who need to collaborate.
The cost of low-trust systems
When trust between the private sector, government and civil society breaks down, the consequences are immediate: slower transactions, higher compliance costs and due diligence burdens, duplicated oversight and heightened reputational risk. Oversight becomes adversarial, compliance turns reactive and businesses invest more time managing risks than creating value.
In an era of heightened competitiveness, trust across sectors becomes the most valuable currency. Where it is systemically weak, a vicious cycle takes hold: low trust demands heightened scrutiny and more controls, which in turn erode trust further. Government enforcement of standards becomes inconsistent and civil society turns sceptical rather than being a partner.
Breaking this cycle requires a different approach – one built on shared commitment, sustained engagement and coordinated action. This is where Collective Action comes into play.
Collective Action as a trust-building mechanism
In practice, Collective Action enables organisations to jointly raise integrity standards across industries, develop sector-specific norms and tackle systemic risks such as bribery and unethical conduct. Its ultimate objective – and the key incentive to participate in Collective Action initiatives – is to create fairer, more transparent markets where companies can compete on equal terms.
But beyond its role as an anti-corruption approach, Collective Action also serves as a powerful trust-building mechanism. In a low-trust environment, individual organisations acting ethically on their own can find themselves at a disadvantage. Collective Action changes this dynamic. Shared commitments level the playing field, the involvement of multiple stakeholders builds credibility and joint accountability mechanisms increase transparency.
Over time, this collaborative approach fosters trust where it is hardest to achieve – between actors with different roles, responsibilities and pressures. The result is a shift in systemic behaviour that lowers the cost of doing business and drives a more predictable business environment.
From compliance to competitive advantage
Too often, doing business with integrity is treated as a compliance obligation rather than a source of competitive advantage. Yet, in high-trust business environments, stronger partnerships and faster decision-making enable organisations to withstand disruptions. Organisations invested in building trust across their business ecosystem are better positioned to navigate complexity and sustain long-term value.
Collective Action supports this shift by helping to shape markets that reward integrity, moving beyond a risk mitigation exercise.
Building trust in practice
This is exactly the focus of the 6th International Collective Action Conference, taking place on 9–10 June 2026 in Basel, Switzerland.
Bringing together leaders from business, government and civil society, the conference is designed as a space not just for dialogue, but for practical exchange. It showcases how Collective Action initiatives are being implemented across sectors, what makes them effective and how they can be adapted to different contexts.
The conference reflects a core conviction: trust across sectors does not happen by default but must be actively built. Organisations that commit to building trust together, as a collective, will not only manage risks more effectively, but help shape a new competitive advantage rooted in integrity.
