For many systems it can be vitally necessary that they are in a position to invest trust in their environment so that they can take part in relationships which are only to be achieved through mutual trust. The system members must then be able to display trust externally also. In the lower positions in modern large organizations, for example, internal relationships can be programmed in such detail that trust between members becomes virtually unnecessary because uncertainty in behaviour is overcome by other mechanisms.

DEFINE: Contrasts positional trust in lower ranks (programmed away) with externally displayed trust needed at the system boundary.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 315