Transparency, the concept if not the reality, is all the rage in business circles. If you knew why a company charged a certain price for a product, would you be more willing to pay it? If your boss confessed her managerial screw-ups, would you feel more comfortable with your own mistakes? If you knew the salaries of your peers, would you feel happier in a more equitable workplace? The answer to all these questions is often yes.
But sometimes too much transparency can be a bad thing. Open-office designs can make workers less innovative. Posting party-selfies on your Facebook page is not likely to work in your favor for that next job. And privacy disclosure notices on websites, rather than convincing consumers that their private data is well protected, can make them less likely to make a purchase.
Here is recent research on the topic of transparency from Harvard Business School faculty.
A good place to start
The Upside of Highlighting a Product's Downsides
Researchers discover what happens when companies embrace product transparency, accentuating the positive—and the negative.
Deconstructing the Price Tag
Explaining what it costs to produce a product can potentially increase its sales.
Knowing What Your Boss Earns Can Make You Work Harder
Learning what your co-worker earns can make you less productive, but knowing your manager's paycheck can motivate you to work harder.
The Surprising Benefits of Oversharing
In a social media culture that encourages sharing of embarrassing information, revealing too much can benefit individuals but hurt businesses.
Why Managers Should Reveal Their Failures
If you want to get your messages through to employees, be ready to confess your own management shortcomings.
The Right Way to Cry in Front of Your Boss
Crying at work can be more than embarrassing—it can hurt your career.
Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination
Poor design decisions contribute to racial discrimination on many online platforms.
Working for a Shamed Company Can Hurt Your Future Compensation
Why you should not hide your work history with a corrupt company.
Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC
The United States needs a health care equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase transparency and competition.
But sometimes a little secrecy wins the day ...
Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity
Decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity.
When Privacy Protection Notices Backfire
It seems counterintuitive, but website privacy protection notices appear to discourage some shoppers from buying.
Beware the Lasting Impression of a 'Temporary' Selfie
Some social media apps promise to delete your messages after they are read. The problem: The memory of your uninhibited behavior lingers.
Research Papers
Surfacing the Submerged State with Operational Transparency in Government Services
Citizens who see the work that government is doing express more positive attitudes toward government and greater support for maintaining or expanding the scale of its programs.
Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency
A firm's costs are typically tightly guarded secrets. Researchers identify when and why firms benefit from revealing cost information to consumers.
How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice
Three studies examined how firms can use transparency into social and environmental responsibility initiatives to differentiate themselves in the consumer market.
Complex Disclosure
Companies looking to hide unfavorable information might be making contract terms unnecessarily complex, harming consumers and undermining the effectiveness of disclosure.
Image: maginima
