Exploring Transparency: a New Framework for Responsible Business Management

Date

2016-01

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Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically review the relevant literature on transparency, provide a comprehensive definition of transparency, and present a new framework for facilitating the adoption of transparency as an ethical cornerstone and pragmatic strategy for organizational responsible business management. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review—a methodology adopted from medical sciences to eliminate research bias—was conducted. In doing so, the definitions, antecedents, and consequences of transparency are accessed and synthesized. Findings: Based upon this process transparency is defined as the extent to which a stakeholder perceives an organization provides learning opportunities about itself. A conceptual framework emerged from the data. It describes when transparency is especially important, what organizations can do to be more transparent, and the potential benefits of transparency. Practical implications: The transparency framework can be used as a guide for organizations attempting to change their behavior, image, and performance by adopting transparency as a value in their organization. In addition, the framework can be used to create and adopt a universal (i.e. industry-wide or even societal-wide) code of conduct. Furthermore, this review, definition, and framework provide a template for academics to advance transparency theory, and empirically test the construct’s application. Originality/value: As a new research field, transparency has lacked a concise definition as well as a conceptual framework. This is the first comprehensive summary of transparency. In addition, this study contributes to the methodology of evaluating construct definitions to advance empirical research.

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Keywords

Business management, Management decision making, Organizational characteristics, Social responsibility, Business ethics

Citation

Parris, D. L., Dapko, J. L., Arnold, R. W., & Arnold, D. (2016). Exploring transparency: A new framework for responsible business management. Management Decision, 54(1), 222-247. doi:10.1108/md-07-2015-0279

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