This ambitious book develops an integrative understanding of business transparency spanning business disciplines. It synthesizes the vast, siloed research on business transparency to develop and provide an integrative view for business researchers and scholars, pointing out research opportunities in the process.
The first chapter introduces business transparency with a brief historical overview, followed by its key conceptualizations and challenges. Chapters 2 through 5 take up four conceptually distinct views of transparency in depth: transparency as strategic disclosure (Chapter 2), transparency as a business tactic (Chapter 3), transparency as organizational culture (Chapter 4) and transparency as a managerial virtue (Chapter 5).
Chapter 6 explores transparency’s infeasibility challenge through the chasm between disclosure and understanding and considers its implications. The final chapter provides an integrative framework of business transparency. This book will be useful to business academics who are interested in transparency and associated concepts.
Author(s): Utpal Dholakia
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 225
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 The Many Faces of Business Transparency
Dual Perspectives on Business Transparency
The Positive Side of Business Transparency
The Negative Side of Business Transparency
The Purpose of this Book
Selected Business Transparency Definitions
Why Business Transparency is Important
The Book’s Roadmap
References
2 Business Operations Transparency
Supply Chain Transparency
The Value of Supply Chain Transparency
The Drawbacks of Supply Chain Transparency
Core Definitions of Supply Chain Transparency Concepts
Supply Chain Visibility
Operational Transparency
Process Transparency and Customer Transparency
Research Findings Regarding Operational Transparency
References
3 Price Transparency
Conceptual Formulations of Price Transparency
The Pricing Process, the Buying Journey, and Price Transparency
Price Transparency During Price Setting
Price Transparency During Communication or Negotiation
Price Transparency During Price Realization
A Typology of Price Transparency
Disclosure-Based Price Transparency
Accessibility-Based Price Transparency
Price Availability
Price Offer Complexity
Price Change Frequency
Perceived Price Negotiability
Disclosure-Based Price Transparency
Definitions of Disclosure-Based Price Transparency
Disclosure of Labor Costs to Pay Fair Wages
Disclosure of Purchase Costs for Supplier Welfare
Disclosure of Costs and Markups for Brand Differentiation
References
4 Organizational Transparency
The Origins of Transparency in Organizational Research
Definition of Organizational Transparency
The Deliberate Orchestration of Information Flows
The Quality of Shared Information
The Building Blocks for Cultivating a Transparent Organizational Culture
Setting Clear Expectations of Transparent Conduct
Behaving Consistently with Professed Values and Expectations
Providing a Work Environment Supporting Transparent Practices
Making Employees’ Transparent Conduct Observable
Encouraging Intra-Organizational Debate and Dissent
Sanctioning Non-Transparent Behavior Unequivocally
Pay Transparency and the Gender Wage Gap
The Gender Wage Gap
Pay Transparency
The Disparity of Pay Transparency Regulations
Effects of Pay Transparency on the Gender Wage Gap
The Downsides of Pay Transparency
References
5 Transparent Business Leadership
The Present Significance of Authentic Leadership
What Is Authentic Leadership?
Authentic Leadership in Practice
Relational Transparency
Self-Awareness
Truthful Communication Practices
Humility
Critiques of Authentic Leadership and Relational Transparency
References
6 Algorithmic Transparency and Consumer Disclosure
The Algorithmic Transparency Challenge
Defining Algorithmic Transparency
Transparency in ADM Systems
Warm Human and Institutional Factors
Event Versus Process Algorithmic Transparency
The Algorithmic Transparency Continuum
Enhancing Algorithmic Transparency
The Right to an Explanation
Comprehensibility, Understandability, and Explainability
Customer Transparency
Racial Discrimination on Two-Sided Platforms
The Benefits of Shared Medical Appointments
Effects of Customer Transparency on Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer Lending
References
7 An Integrative Perspective on Business Transparency
An Integrative Conceptual Framework of Business Transparency
The Six Forms of Business Transparency
Explanation-Based Transparency
Tactical Transparency
Access-Based Transparency
Process-Based Transparency
Personal Value-Based Transparency
Organizational Value-Based Transparency
The Characteristics of Disclosed Information
Clarity
Precision
Completeness
Interpretation and Contextualization
An Expanded Definition of Business Transparency
Deliberately Designed Disclosure
Negotiated Disclosure
Mutually Beneficial Understanding
References
References
Index
