358 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 18 INTRODUCTION Trust is a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on posi- tive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another. Trust-building processes in organizations constitute one of the major debates currently in the literature about trust and management (Li, 2008). Indeed, prior works have stressed the urgent need to solve the puzzles of trust and trust-building (Li, 2007). According to social network theory, the struc- ture of a social network influences the behavior Blanca L. Delgado-Márquez University of Granada, Spain Nuria E. Hurtado-Torres University of Granada, Spain J. Alberto Aragón-Correa University of California at Berkeley, USA & University of Granada, Spain Social Networks and Trust- Building Processes: Implications for Organizational Environments ABSTRACT One of the major debates currently in the literature about trust and management relies on the perspec- tive of trust-building in organizations. In this chapter we draw on graph-based structures in order to investigate the role of individuals’ social networks as tools for enhancing potential trust-building pro- cesses at interpersonal level. The chapter relies on two main aspects. First, we propose a theoretical approach establishing a linkage between agents’ social networks and trust-building processes among unknown agents. Second, we carry out an experimental investigation focused on a laboratory experi- ment developed with students of Management and Economics bachelor degrees. Furthermore, we outline some implications for managers. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-168-9.ch018