Politics of Disclosure: Organizational Transparency as Multiactor Negotiation

Abstract

Transparency is in vogue, yet it is often used as an umbrella concept for a wide array of phenomena. More focused concepts are needed to understand the form and function of different phenomena of visibility. In this article, the authors define organizational transparency as systematic disclosure programs that meet the information needs of other actors. Organizational transparency, they argue, is best studied as an interorganizational negotiation process on the field level. To evaluate its merit, the authors apply this framework to a case study on the introduction of open data in the Berlin city administration. Analyzing the politics of disclosure, they consider the similarities and differences between phenomena of visibility (e.g., open data, freedom of information), explore the transformative power of negotiating transparency, and deduce recommendations for managing transparency. Evidence for Practice• The creation of organizational transparency, the systematic and rule-bound disclosure of relevant information, can be understood as a negotiation process between a focal organization and its stakeholders. • In this process, information providers (e.g., city agencies) can contribute to the realization of mutual benefit through tactful timing, structural coupling, and the creation of new role expectations. • Information seekers (e.g., advocacy organizations) can shape the process toward mutually beneficial outcomes through means of formalization and by using hybrid strategies (e.g., by simultaneously campaigning with very broad and very specific demands).

From Universalizing Transparency to the Interplay of Transparency Matrices: Critical insights from the emerging social credit system in China

“…Fenster (2017) paraphrases the normative ideal of openness in this way: ‘Government doors should never be closed, and all government information should be available to the public as it is created or collected.’ In the ‘Age of transparency’, Sifry (2011) claims, ‘[s]ecrecy and the hoarding of information are ending; openness and the sharing of information are coming’ (p. 17). ‘Disclosure programmes’ offered by corporations promise to meet the information needs of other actors (Heimstädt & Dobusch, 2018). Examples include public meetings, financial disclosure statements, CSR and ‘transparency’ reports (Power, 1999; Flyverbom, Christensen, & Hansen, 2015; Fung, Graham, & Weil, 2007).…”

“…In the 'Age of transparency', Sifry (2011) claims, '[s]ecrecy and the hoarding of information are ending; openness and the sharing of information are coming ' (p. 17). 'Disclosure programmes' offered by corporations promise to meet the information needs of other actors (Heimstädt & Dobusch, 2018). Examples include public meetings, financial disclosure statements, CSR and 'transparency' reports (Power, 1999;Flyverbom, Christensen, & Hansen, 2015;Fung, Graham, & Weil, 2007).…”

The Impact of Transparency on the Citizen Participation in Decision- Making at the Municipal Level in Romania

“…The simple disclosure of legally required public information is not a sufficient condition for reaching higher transparency. Publishing a great deal of information does not mean being more transparent (Grimmelikhuijsen, 2012), because the disclosed information should be accessible and relevant for citizens (Cucciniello and Nasi, 2014;Park and Blenkinsopp, 2017;Heimstädt and Dobusch, 2018), meaning that the information should be "complete, verifiable, accurate, balanced, comparable, clear, timely, and reliable" (Rawlins apud Park and Blenkinsopp, 2017). In addition, citizens should be able to understand the information disclosed (Porumbescu et al, 2017), therefore it is equally important how the information is presented to the public.…”

Trust and Privacy in Knowledge Graphs

“…Transparency presupposes the involvement of an observed and an observer [5]. In contrast to privacy, that is concerned with information about individuals, transparency concerns any type of information, although it may make a difference if the producer (author) is an organization or an individual [16]. Transparency is also related to privacy.…”