Data Mining to Assess Organizational Transparency across Technology Processes: An Approach from IT Governance and Knowledge Management

Information quality and organizational transparency are relevant issues for corporate governance and sustainability of companies, as they contribute to reducing information asymmetry, decreasing risks, and improving the conduct of decision-makers, ensuring an ethical standard of organizational control. This work uses the COBIT framework of IT governance, knowledge management, and machine learning techniques to evaluate organizational transparency considering the maturity levels of technology processes applied in 285 companies of southern Brazil. Data mining techniques have been methodologically applied to analyze the 37 processes in four different domains: Planning and organization, acquisition and implementation, delivery and support, and monitoring. Four learning techniques for knowledge discovery have been used to build a computational model that allowed us to evaluate the organizational transparency level. The results evidence the importance of IT performance monitoring and assessment, and internal control processes in enabling organizations to improve their levels of transparency. These processes depend directly on the establishment of IT strategic plans and quality management, as well as IT risk and project management, therefore an improvement in the maturity of these processes implies an increase in the levels of organizational transparency and their reputational, financial, and accountability impact.

Examining the Role of Transparent Organizational Communication for Employees’ Job Engagement and Disengagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria

This study provides an understanding of how employees’ perception of organizational transparency during the long-lasting situation of the COVID-19 pandemic engendered their job engagement as well as job disengagement. Data were collected by means of an online survey among 410 employees in Austria during March 2021. Results show that employees’ perception of their organization’s approach to transparency directly influenced their job engagement and disengagement. Importantly, the relationship between transparency and job engagement was also mediated through organizational trust, and job-specific state anxiety mediated the relationship between transparency and job disengagement. The results imply the importance of transparency during times of great uncertainty and emphasize the necessity to closely consider employees’ emotional states and worries during a crisis.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE NONPROFITS: EVIDENCES FROM ONLINE CROWDFUNDING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Through accountability, organizations provide key information for stakeholders enabling the latter to make an informed assessment of organizational performance. To achieve transparency, organizations must make information accessible and timely. During the crisis, as in the COVID-19 pandemic period, accurate accountability and transparency practices are most necessary so stakeholders can make informed decisions in an ongoing complex emergency. This study uses data available in an online crowdfunding platform to investigate to what extent are nonprofits implementing accountability and transparency policies regarding applications for funds published during the COVID-19 pandemic. A case study methodology is applied for providing evidence that nonprofits are not timely implementing transparency policies regarding fundraising campaigns. Nevertheless, results identify, in some cases, innovative accountability practices which impact funds raised must further be analyzed. These findings open up further investigations on the accountability of nonprofits during the crisis and on the online organizational transparency regarding fundraising.

Politics of disclosure: Organizational transparency as multi-actor negotiation

Transparency is in vogue, yet oftentimes 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, we develop a definition of organizational transparency as systematic disclosure programs that meet the information needs of other actors. Organizational transparency, we argue, is best studied as an inter-organizational negotiation process on the field- level. To evaluate its merit, we apply this framework to a case study on the introduction of open data in the Berlin city administration. Analyzing the politics of disclosure, we learn about 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.

Openwashing: A decoupling perspective on organizational transparency

With the rise of digital technologies, organizations are able to produce, process, and transfer large amounts of information at marginal cost. In recent years, these technological developments together with other macro-phenomena like globalization and rising distrust of institutions has led to unprecedented public expectations regarding organizational transparency. In this study I explore the ways in which organizations resolve the tension between a growing norm to share internal information with the public and their inherent preferences for informational control. Through developing the notion of transparency decoupling, I examine how organizations respond strategically to transparency expectations. Drawing on studies of “open data” transparency initiatives in NYC, London, and Berlin, I inductively carve out three modes of institutional information decoupling: (a) selecting the disclosed information to exclude parts of the data or parts of the audience; (b) bending the information in order to retain some control over its representative value; (c) orchestrating new information for a particular audience. The article integrates literature from New Institutional Theory and Transparency Studies in order to contribute to our understanding of how information sharing is realized in the interaction between organizations and their environment.

ANALYSIS OF CONFIRMATORY FACTORS TO MEASURE PUBLIC TRUST IN THE POPULATION DOCUMENT SERVICE OF POPULATION DEPARTMENT OF JAMBI CITY

This study aims to identify indicator variables that can measure organizational transparency variables, work discipline and service quality to public trust in administering residence documents of the Department of Population of Jambi City. The research used Confirmation Factor Analysis method. This study found that Chi-square, RMSEA, GFI, NFI, CFI, IFI, RMR models have moderate fit. This means that organizational transparency, work discipline and service quality affect public confidence in the demographic document service of Jambi residence. The results of this study can be used as a consideration and evaluation of demographic document services for the community for improvement and increased public confidence in the future.

From the Employee Perspective: Organizations’ Administration of Internal Social Media and the Relationship between Social Media Engagement and Relationship Cultivation

This study examined communication strategies used by organizations to encourage employee participation on internal social media and analyzed whether employees’ internal social media usage engenders increased transparency and relational outcomes from the employee perspective. Specifically, researchers proposed and tested a conceptual model that links perceived organizational communication strategies (i.e., strategic information dissemination, two-way symmetrical communication), employee internal social media usage, perceived organizational transparency, and employee-organization relationships. Through an online survey of 1,150 employees from various organizations in the United States that had adopted internal social media, results showed that strategic information dissemination and two-way symmetrical communication both encouraged employees’ use of internal social media, which in turn, led to employees’ perception of organizational transparency and quality relationship outcomes with the organization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Effect of Organizational Transparency on Organizational Performance: A Survey of Insurance Companies in Lagos State Nigeria

The main objective of the study is to examine the effect of organizational transparency on organizational performance. The type of survey research design used for the study is cross sectional survey research design technique. The sample size for the study is 200 employees from four selected insurance companies in Lagos State. The study adopted the simple random sampling technique in the selection of the insurance companies whose employees participated. Stratified random sampling technique was also used. Data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire. To establish the reliability of the instrument, a test-retest method was used. The statistical techniques of data analysis applied includes: descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression analysis. All analysis was done by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 23 Findings showed that information disclosure, adherence to explicit values and people-centered leadership has significant positive relationship with organizational transparency. The study concluded that organizational transparency has effect on organizational performance. The study recommended that in order to transform the insurance industry into a greater height the key players should always disclose relevant information, adhere to explicit values and practice people-centered leadership. The study established that information disclosure, adherence to explicit values and people-centered leadership are very good measures of organizational transparency. The implication of the finding is that information disclosure is considered to enable observability, accountability, certainty and better conduct. When organizations deliver clarity and insight, stakeholders can see through the organization this will create trust. Organizations become predictable, dependable and trustworthy when they adhere to explicit value. People-centered leaders care about both results and employees—they know the only way to obtain results are through the employees.

Counterparties’ Influence on an Enterprise’s Social Capital Formation

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of counterparties on the formation of an enterprise’s social capital, which is a component of measuring its value. The size of social capital is the result of the synergistic effect of all its components, namely, trust, social networks, and social norms. In this research study, the components of social capital in an enterprise are estimated to be part of the relationship with the stakeholders of the enterprise, including counterparties. Liquidity and financial stability are the criteria for choosing counterparties and for assessing cooperation prospects with them. Additionally, there are rating organizations such as Transparency International Ukraine, whose 2016 results were taken as a basis for the selection of research objects. Organizational transparency and disclosure of data indicate the intention of a company to be open to stakeholders at all levels to increase their confidence. Thus, the level of transparency of activity and the stability of the social network are interdependent. This study examines and analyzes the cooperation of enterprises with other stakeholders to determine its impact on the formation of the social capital of enterprises. The results will provide a basis for the development of a social capital assessment method.