Before moving into his current position at SOAS, Reinhard Bachmann was engaged in research and taught at the University of Cambridge (Research Fellow), University of Groningen (Assistant Professor), University of London, Birkbeck College (as Associate Professor/Reader) and University of Surrey (Professor). In 2006, he accepted guest professorships to New York University and to the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna; and in 2012, he taught as a guest professor at the University of Wuhan. In 2019, he was invited to a guest professorship at the Free University of Amsterdam.

Apart from his academic career, he is frequently giving interviews to specialised practitioners magazines and the general press (e.g., Psychology Today, Die Welt Online, China Daily etc.). Also, he offers consultancy services to public agencies and private businesses, and he is a co-founder and a member of the IUK-Institute in Dortmund.

Bachmann is one of the pioneers of trust research in the field of management theory.^{[citation needed]} Since the 1990s, he has contributed significantly to the development and design of trust research and is one of the most-cited trust scholar in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Inter-organizational Relationships, Organization Studies,^[1] Sustainability and the review board of the Journal of Trust Research.^[2]

Bachmann's works appear in numerous international journals (these include, Organization Studies, Cambridge Journal of Economics, British Journal of Sociology, Journal of Managerial Psychology, European Societies). He has also edited publications, which include the 'Handbook of Trust Research' (Edward Elgar, 2006, with Akbar Zaheer), Landmark Papers on Trust (Edward Elgar, 2008, with Akbar Zaheer), and a collective volume on 'Trust Within and Between Organizations' (Oxford University Press, 2000, with Christel Lane).

Selected articles include:

• The Social Constitution of Trust: Supplier Relations in Britain and Germany. In: Organization Studies 17 (1996), 3. pp. 365-395 (with Christel Lane). – [reprinted in: Masaaki Kotabe and Michael Mol (eds.), Global Supply Chain Management. Volume 2. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2006. pp. 161-191, and in: Reinhard Bachmann and Akbar Zaheer (eds.), Landmark Papers on Trust. Volume 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2008. pp. 331-361].

• Contract Law, Social Norms and Inter-firm Cooperation. In: Cambridge Journal of Economics 21 (1997), 2. pp. 171-195 (with Alessandro Arrighetti and Simon Deakin). - [reprinted in: Reinhard Bachmann and Akbar Zaheer (eds.), Landmark Papers on Trust. Volume 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2008. pp. 416-440].

• Co-operation in Inter-firm Relations in Britain and Germany: the Role of Social Institutions. In: British Journal of Sociology 48 (1997), 2. pp. 226-254 (with Christel Lane).

• Vertrauen und Macht in zwischenbetrieblichen Kooperationen – zur Rolle von Wirtschaftsrecht und Wirtschaftsverbänden in Deutschland und Großbritannien. In: Managementforschung 7 (edited by Georg Schreyögg/Jörg Sydow) (1997), pp. 79-110 (with Christel Lane). - [reprinted in: Jörg Sydow (ed.), Management von Netzwerkorganisationen. Beiträge aus der 'Managementforschung' (1st-5th editions). Wiesbaden: Gabler 2010. pp. 75-106].

• Co-operation at Work: a Process-Oriented Perspective on Joint Activity in Inter-Organizational Relations. In: Ergonomics 43 (2000), 7. pp. 983-997 (with Theo Wehner and Christoph Clases).

• Trust, Power and Control in Trans-Organizational Relations. In: Organization Studies 22 (2001), 2. pp. 341-369. - [reprinted in: Roderick Kramer (ed.), Organizational Trust. A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006. pp. 134-162, and in: Reinhard Bachmann and Akbar Zaheer (eds.), Landmark Papers on Trust. Volume 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2008. pp. 528-556, and in: Stewart Clegg and Mark Haugaard (eds.), Power and Organizations. London: Sage 2012].

• Studying Trust in Virtual Organizations. In: International Studies of Management and Organization 33 (2003), 3. pp. 7-27 (with Christoph Clases and Theo Wehner).

• Understanding Organizational Trust – Foundations, Constellations, and Issues of Operationalisation. In: Journal of Managerial Psychology 19 (2004), 6. pp. 556-570 (with Guido Möllering and Soo Hee Lee).

• Transition Economies and Trust Building. A Network Perspective on the Enlargement of the E.U. In: Cambridge Journal of Economics 30 (2006), 6. pp. 923-939 (with Hans van Ees).

• Analyzing Inter-organizational Relationships in the Context of their National Business Systems. A Conceptual Framework for Comparative Research. In: European Societies 11 (2009), 1. pp. 49-76 (with Arjen van Witteloostuijn).

• Understanding Institutional-based Trust Building Processes in Inter-organizational Relationships. In: Organization Studies 32 (2011), 2. pp. 281-301 (with Andrew Inkpen). -- [reprinted in: Ana Costa and Neil Anderson (ed.), Trust and Social Capital in Organizations. 4 Vols. London: Sage 2013].

• At the Crossroads: Future Directions in Trust Research. In: Journal of Trust Research 1 (2011), 2. pp. 203-213.

• Why the Epistemologies of Trust Researchers Matter. In: Journal of Trust Research 5 (2015), 2. pp. 153-169 (with Neve Isaeva, Alexandra Bristow and Mark Saunders).

• Repairing Trust in Organizations and Institutions. Toward a Conceptual Framework. In: Organization Studies 36 (2015), 9. pp. 1123-1142 (with Nicole Gillespie and Richard Priem).

• Trust, Power or Money: What Governs Business Relationships? in: International Sociology 32 (2017), 1. pp.3-20 (with Frens Kroeger).

• Neither Acquiescence nor Defiance: Tuscan Wineries’ 'Flexible Reactivity' to the Italian Government’s Quality Regulation System. In: British Journal of Sociology 72 (2021), 5. pp. 1430-1447 (with Taeyoung Yoo and Oliver Schilke).

• Responsible Autonomy: The Interplay of Autonomy, Control and Trust for Knowledge Professionals Working Remotely during COVID-19. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy Online First, Dec. 2022. pp. 1-26 (with Neve Abgeller, Tony Dobbins and Deirdre Anderson).

• Reinhard Bachmann at SOAS
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• [1] Article in Welt about electro-mobility in the context of the Volkswagen diesel scandal. • [2] Article about the Importance of Trust.