Beyond Transparency: Information Overload and a Model for Intelligibility

Abstract

The role and evaluation of the modern corporation is being challenged by multiple stakeholders, changing markets and public expectations. Unfortunately, corporate governance, regulation and accounting have played a prominent role in business failure for the past decade resulting in a growing lack of public confidence in our markets. We present a new model that contributes to improving the quality of corporate information by providing not more, but better information through increased intelligibility of overall information, benefiting both the firm and its broad array of stakeholders. It has become apparent that boards, management and regulators have been unable to cope with the rise of business failures by adding increasing layers of regulation that have often served only to exacerbate the complexity and further cloud the transparency of needed information. We have identified a growing number of forward-thinking firms that have found alternative means to provide better and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. information and strengthen their companies. We offer a stakeholder-centric model for improving information intelligibility based upon the extensive scope and variety of external input derived from the growing social movement organizations. With the added focus on intelligibility, these groups can help foster greater corporate responsibility, meaningful transparency, increased stakeholder benefits, and improved overall performance of the firm.

Organizational Transparency and Sense-Making: The Case of Northern Rock

“…With our case study, we have shown that such conceptualizations of transparency are superficial and ignore the active role of the audience in transparency creation. We agree with Laud and Schepers (2009) that it is important to go beyond such a limited view of transparency. Moreover, we have shown that the attempts to create and respond to demands for transparency in today's environment are often accompanied by a wide range of challenges and paradoxes (e.g., Garsten & Lindh de Montoya, 2008).…”

Transparency in Business: The Perspective of Catholic Social Teaching and the “Caritas in Veritate”

“…Previous research developed some normative insights about transparency policies to be enacted by governmental organizations (Hood and Heald 2006;Hess 2007Hess , 2008Hess and Dunfee 2007;Fung et al 2007). However, little attention has been paid to decision-making processes at the organizational level (Menéndez Viso 2009;Laud and Schepers 2009). This paper contributes to the literature by providing seven normative indications that can help managers and governmental officials to make decisions concerning organizational transparency.…”

Users’ corporate environmental information needs

“…However the number of environmental reports produced appears to have increased without regard to users' needs (Laud & Schepers, 2009).…”

“…Despite the widespread uptake of the Internet as a medium of environmental reporting and the resulting proliferation of environmental information reported, no efforts have been made to standardise online reporting practices (Laud & Schepers, 2009). In addition, numerous environmental reporting guidelines and frameworks have emerged that do not harmonise with one another (KPMG, CFCGIA, GRI & UNEP, 2013).…”

“…The foregoing has impaired the ease with which environmental reports may be compared (Menselsohn, Hjartarson & Pearce, 2010). Besides, most companies have proliferated their environmental reports in different formats and types, using a varying range of media including paper and electronic which has not only led to multiplication of data but has also further made it more difficult for readers to compare the reports (Laud & Schepers, 2009).…”