Transparency (social)

Transparency is a general quality. It is implemented by a set of policies, practices and procedures that allow citizens to have accessibility, usability, utility, understandability, informativeness^[1] and auditability of information and process held by centers of authority (society or organizations). Feedback mechanisms are necessary to fulfill the goal of transparency.

Motivation

Transparency has been, for long, a general requirement for democratic societies. The right to be informed and to have access to the information has been an important issue on modern societies.

Scope

Organizational transparency (for stakeholders)

Transparency in organizations is delimited by ethics and the value of truth (if the value of truth can be verified and in which degree of objectivity). Transparency also must be analyzed as the impact of an organization associated or affiliated with its stakeholders. These impacts need to find out whether the organization's activities are consistent with regard to the society’s interests, whether they are ethical and whether these activities are institutionalized (integrated into the organization).^[2]

Target transparency (for consumers)

According to Fung et al.,^[3] “target transparency aims to reduce specific risks or performance problems through selective disclosure by corporations and other organizations. The ingeniousness of target transparency lies in its mobilization of individual choice, market forces, and participatory democracy through relatively light-handed government action.”

Social transparency (for citizens)

Social transparency allows citizens to be more informed and encourages the disclosure as a regulation mechanism of centers of authority. It is based on ethics and governance, where the interests and needs are focused in the citizen.

See also

• Government Accountability Project (GAP)
• The Transparent Society
• Transparency (behavior)

Further Reading

Byung-Chul Han: Transparenzgesellschaft. Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-88221-595-3.

References

External links

• Scope of Transparency
• B. Holzner & L. Holzner (2006). Transparency in Global Change: The Vanguard of the Open Society (1st ed.). University of Pittsburgh Press. 
• Lord, K. M. (2006). The Perils and Promise of Global Transparency. State University of New York Press. 
• Software Transparency. Business & Information Systems Engineering 2(3): 127-139 (2010)
• Transparency versus security: early analysis of antagonistic requirements. SAC 2010: 298-305

v t e Social and environmental accountability Ethics/ principles Aarhus Convention Corporate behavior citizenship social responsibility Ethical banking Ethical code Extended producer responsibility Organizational ethics Organizational justice Principles for Responsible Investment Social responsibility Stakeholder theory Sullivan principles Transparency (behavior social) UN Global Compact Social accounting Double bottom line Equality impact assessment Ethical Positioning Index Higg Index ISO 26000 Genuine progress indicator OHSAS 18001 Performance indicator SA8000 Social impact assessment Social return on investment Whole-life cost Environmental accounting Carbon accounting Eco-Management and Audit Scheme Emission inventory Environmental full cost accounting impact assessment management system profit and loss account ISO 14000 14031:1999 Life-cycle assessment Pollutant release and transfer register Sustainability accounting measurement metrics and indices standards and certification supply chain Toxics Release Inventory Triple bottom line Reporting Global Reporting Initiative GxP guidelines Sustainability reporting Auditing Community-based monitoring Environmental auditing Environmental certification Fair trade (certification) ISO 19011 Related Bangladesh Accord Benefit corporation Child labour Conflict of interest Disasters Disinvestment Eco-labeling Environmental pricing reform Environmental, social and corporate governance Ethical consumerism Euthenics Health impact assessment Market governance mechanism Product certification Public participation Social enterprise Socially responsible investing Stakeholder (engagement) Supply chain management Environment portal Category Commons Organizations