The term "corporate transparency" has become rather fashionable. The belief that "transparency results in responsibility and ethics" seems to be a new principle for our time. But are naked organisations the new frontier of corporate gover- nance Will transparency prove to be the cure for our corrupt society
Transparency, it seems, is simply the latest attempt to make an old concept- truthfulness-trendy, Our mothers told us that lying is a bad thing; what we now call transparency is merely the embodiment of that advice. But just sharing ever more information will not save society from business malpractice (不法行为).
Indeed, full transparency is often associated with breaches to established rights such as privacy, confi- dentiality, security and safety. However, companies around the world are learning that customers and governments are not interested in more information, more numbers, more reports or more sophisticated press conferences. What civil. society is seeking is trustworthy, relevant and understandable information about how a company runs its business and the features of the products and services it offers to the market.
Companies, then, struggle between two extremes. On the one hand, full disclosure about the features of products and services, on the other a minimum obedience with national legislation. Strict obedience with national legislation minimises access to information that is relevant and which some stakeholders (利益相关人) would be interested in ask vegans (素食主义者) how they felt when they discovered that Mc- Donalds "forgot" to report that its French fries contained milk.
It seems evident that a balance is required. But achieving that requires managers to construct a well thought out information strategy that takes account of quite a long list of’ economic, social and even ethi- cal issues. Successfully addressing this ethical expectation is more than a source of competitive advantage; it is key to gaining the trust of employees, current and potential customers, partners, and even competitors. By the same token, attempts to hide potentially relevant information could be catastrophic.
So, today’s call for transparency is as as our mothers’ advice: lying is both bad and risky. In our complex corporate environment, failure to grasp the spirit of this basic lesson leaves corporations and society exposed to loss of responsibility and good citizenship.
In current complex corporate environment, failing to achieve corporate transparency will make corporations and society lose ()
The term "corporate transparency" has become rather fashionable. The belief that "transparency results in responsibility and ethics" seems to be a new principle for our time. But are naked organisations the new frontier of corporate gover- nance Will transparency prove to be the cure for our corrupt society
Transparency, it seems, is simply the latest attempt to make an old concept- truthfulness-trendy, Our mothers told us that lying is a bad thing; what we now call transparency is merely the embodiment of that advice. But just sharing ever more information will not save society from business malpractice (不法行为).
Indeed, full transparency is often associated with breaches to established rights such as privacy, confi- dentiality, security and safety. However, companies around the world are learning that customers and governments are not interested in more information, more numbers, more reports or more sophisticated press conferences. What civil. society is seeking is trustworthy, relevant and understandable information about how a company runs its business and the features of the products and services it offers to the market.
Companies, then, struggle between two extremes. On the one hand, full disclosure about the features of products and services, on the other a minimum obedience with national legislation. Strict obedience with national legislation minimises access to information that is relevant and which some stakeholders (利益相关人) would be interested in ask vegans (素食主义者) how they felt when they discovered that Mc- Donalds "forgot" to report that its French fries contained milk.
It seems evident that a balance is required. But achieving that requires managers to construct a well thought out information strategy that takes account of quite a long list of’ economic, social and even ethi- cal issues. Successfully addressing this ethical expectation is more than a source of competitive advantage; it is key to gaining the trust of employees, current and potential customers, partners, and even competitors. By the same token, attempts to hide potentially relevant information could be catastrophic.
So, today’s call for transparency is as as our mothers’ advice: lying is both bad and risky. In our complex corporate environment, failure to grasp the spirit of this basic lesson leaves corporations and society exposed to loss of responsibility and good citizenship.