Monday 24 October 2011

The Growing Significance of Transparency

Richard Edelman declared that "continuous, transparent - and even passionate - communications is central to success." (Edelman, R. 2007)

If we consider that transparency, according to David Phillips and Philip Young, can be defined as "openness, communication and accountability," (Phillips, D. and Young, P. 2009) then it leads that the radical change in the digital landscape means there are infinite channels with which to deliver the advantages of transparency. Indeed, Don Tapscott talks about the idea of 'corporate nakedness', with the advent of the Internet making it harder for companies to keep secrets from its consumers and its 'shareholder web'. The benefits of being a company with integrity is becoming unquestionable; treat employees well, and costs of transactions will drop; better trust environments bring better collaboration, more loyalty and less office politics.
And it's happening externally too - companies are showing integrity and transparency not because they believe it is ethical, but because it pays off - we as consumers want to engage with a company that has our best interests at heart, and is candid about its efforts and its competitors.

We have moved from a one-size-fits-all medium of broadcast and traditional print, to a one-to-many medium available at your disposal, forcing companies to become 'naked' in the process.

1 comment:

  1. I like this. It is well considered and, in 100 words, covers a lot of ground.

    ReplyDelete