however, an organization may make claims about their goals and values but how do we, as a consumer or an organizational stakeholder, know if the organization is truly accountable for these claims?
elaine cohen, a sustainability consultant, recently touched upon the importance of transparency in sustainable business practices in her article "transparency is the key to sustainability". she has been part of team that has developed a methodology and index to measure and quantify corporate transparency by assessing what sustainability information is available on a corporation's website.
cohen stresses the importance of transparency in sustainability reporting and that "once a company makes a commitment to transparency, the rest must follow". it's interesting to think of a single organization's transparency practices blowing the doors wide open for others in their industry, especially in industries that traditionally may have been perceived as secretive or tight-lipped (like oil companies, for example).
while it's important for an organization to be open and honest with the public, limits should be considered. it's likely not really important to know if an organization's office walls are painted grey or beige.
if the organization is able to own up to the claims or goals that they publicly endorse, is that enough? what do you think? are there certain items that all organizations should be transparent about?
