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Amid growing calls for transparency and social and environmental responsibility, companies are employing different strategies to improve consumer perceptions of their brands. Some pursue internal initiatives that reduce their negative social or environmental impacts through responsible operations practices (such as paying a living wage to workers or engaging in environmentally sustainable manufacturing). Others pursue external responsibility initiatives (such as philanthropy or cause-related marketing). Through two experiments conducted in the field and complementary online experiments, we compare how transparency into these internal and external initiatives affects customer perceptions and sales. We find that transparency into both internal and external responsibility initiatives tends to dominate generic brand marketing in motivating consumer purchases, supporting the view that consumers take companies’ responsibility efforts into account in their decision making. Furthermore, the results provide converging evidence that transparency into a company’s internal responsibility practices can be at least as motivating of consumer sales as transparency into its external responsibility initiatives, incrementally increasing a consumer’s probability of purchase by 6.40% and 45.85% across our two field experiments, conducted in social and environmental domains, respectively. Our results suggest that it may be in the interest of both business and society for managers to prioritize internal responsible operations initiatives to achieve both top- and bottom-line benefits while mitigating social and environmental harms. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.

We investigate whether organizations can create value by introducing visual transparency between consumers and producers. Although operational transparency has been shown to improve consumer perceptions of service value, existing theory posits that increased contact between consumers and producers may diminish work performance. Two field and two laboratory experiments in food service settings suggest that transparency that (1) allows customers to observe operational processes (process transparency) and (2) allows employees to observe customers (customer transparency) not only improves customer perceptions but also increases service quality and efficiency. The introduction of this transparency contributed to a 22.2% increase in customer-reported quality and reduced throughput times by 19.2%. Laboratory studies revealed that customers who observed process transparency perceived greater employee effort and thus were more appreciative of the employees and valued the service more. Employees who observed customer transparency felt that their work was more appreciated and more impactful and thus were more satisfied with their work and more willing to exert effort. We find that transparency, by visually revealing operating processes to consumers and beneficiaries to producers, generates a positive feedback loop through which value is created for both parties. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2411 . This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management .

Transparency is a modern call for society, and is currently becoming a challenge for the Church. Despite several practical efforts at making the Church more transparent, the question regarding what kind of transparency the Church should apply as a principle seems still to be largely unanswered. In this article, we propose a path of transparent processes, solutions and decisions in the Church that could be put into practice by dioceses, parishes, schools, etc. This article has two objectives. First, we explore the various concepts of transparency in current research. In this part, we stress that although transparency is commonly requested as a necessary policy for organizations, it is a multidimensional concept not easy to put into practice. Second, we suggest that operational transparency, which is an application of the principle of transparency mostly regarding marketing ideas, could be useful for the Church. Certainly, the utility of operational transparency should respect the spiritual mission and the unique focus of the government of the ecclesial institution; the Church cannot be considered a regular business enterprise, although it has a business side. In every step, we relate transparency to stewardship as, in our opinion; they are two dimensions of the same reality.

SAI Minerals Pvt. Limited (SAI Minerals), a renowned company engaged in mining cement-grade limestone and manufacturing cement in Rajasthan, India, has been grappling with recurring survey reconciliation and safety issues across its mining operations. Additionally, in compliance with new government regulations, they are now required to conduct aerial surveys and submit digital images and survey reports to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). SAI Minerals sought a permanent solution to these challenges and approached Garud Survey Private Limited (Garud Survey), a technology-driven surveying agency. SAI Minerals recognized that these issues not only impacted their production but also tarnished the company's reputation in the mining industry due to frequent accidents. Garud Survey recommended that the best approach to address the problem was to make the survey process faster and more accurate, enabling all stakeholders to have a clear and up-to-date view of the operational status. Garud Survey proposed the implementation of cutting-edge technology to identify and address the root cause of the problem. This case further explores the application of system analysis and design to the adoption and implementation of the latest technology in a real-world use case, as well as the challenges associated with managing change.

PurposeThe authors investigate the role of community engagement in the connection between disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. Using a vulnerability-to-hazard framework built by the European Union, the authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, which was hit hard by Asian tsunami in 2004.Design/methodology/approachThe research design uses a single case study research. The authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, by comparing improvements in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness in a period longer than ten years beginning in 2004, right before the Asian tsunami that devastated the province. Aware that the connection between mitigation and preparedness is a broad research topic, the authors focus on the domain of pre-disaster evacuation.FindingsThe authors find that Aceh province has made substantial improvements in healthcare facilities and road quality (mitigation) as well as early alert systems and evacuation plans (preparedness). Socio-economic indicators of the community have improved substantially as well. However, there is a lack of safe sheltering areas as well as poor road signaling maintenance, which threatens the effectiveness of infrastructural improvements. The authors propose that community engagement would connect disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. The connecting element is community-based maintenance of critical infrastructure such as road signals, which the government could facilitate by leveraging on operational transparency.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings open avenues for future research on the actionable engagement of communities in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to three areas of humanitarian logistics research: disaster management cycle (DMC), pre-disaster evacuations and community engagement in disaster management.

PurposeDespite the increasing interest in the role of supply chain concentration (SCC) in improving performance, its influence on firms' sustainability performance remains unexplored, as do the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Drawing on resource dependence theory, the authors investigate the relationship between SCC and manufacturing firms' sustainability performance and the moderating roles of operational slack and information transparency.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use secondary data from 3,581 manufacturing firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share stock markets from 2006 to 2020 to conduct an empirical analysis using panel data regression models.FindingsManufacturing firms' SCC is negatively related to sustainability performance until it reaches a certain point, where SCC positively affects sustainability performance, presenting a U-shaped relationship. In addition, operational slack represented by a quick ratio moderates the relationship between SCC and sustainability performance by flattening the curve. Operational slack represented by receivable turnover ratio moderates the relationship between SCC and sustainability performance by steepening the curve and shifting the turning point left. Information transparency strengthens the effect of SCC on the sustainability performance by steepening the curve.Originality/valueThis investigation provides a comprehensive view of the SCC– sustainability performance relationship.

Using data from embedded participant-observers and a field experiment at the second largest mobile phone factory in the world, located in China, I theorize and test the implications of transparent organizational design on workers' productivity and organizational performance. Drawing from theory and research on learning and control, I introduce the notion of a transparency paradox, whereby maintaining observability of workers may counterintuitively reduce their performance by inducing those being observed to conceal their activities through codes and other costly means; conversely, creating zones of privacy may, under certain conditions, increase performance. Empirical evidence from the field shows that even a modest increase in group-level privacy sustainably and significantly improves line performance, while qualitative evidence suggests that privacy is important in supporting productive deviance, localized experimentation, distraction avoidance, and continuous improvement. I discuss implications of these results for theory on learning and control and suggest directions for future research.

This article describes a new data set for the study of genocide, politicide, and similar atrocities. Existing data sets have facilitated advances in understanding and policy-relevant applications such as forecasting but have been criticized for insufficient transparency, replicability, and for omitting failed or prevented attempts at genocide/politicide. More general data sets of mass civilian killing do not typically enable users to isolate situations in which specific groups are deliberately targeted. The Targeted Mass Killing (TMK) data set identifies 201 TMK episodes, 1946 to 2017, with annualized information on perpetrator intent, severity, targeted groups, and new ordinal and binary indicators of genocide/politicide that can serve as alternatives to existing measures. Users are also able to construct their own indicators based on their research questions or preferred definitions. The article discusses the concept and operationalization of TMK, provides comparisons with other data sets, and highlights some of the strengths and new capabilities of the TMK data.

Supply value chain (SVC) transparency reporting is an emerging concept that focuses on communicating and sharing detailed information among integrated stakeholders. Building on this premise, the purpose of this study is to assess the average level of supply chain transparency by integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and to analyse the impact of this transparency on companies' profitability, as well as the moderating effect of efficiency in strengthening operational resilience. This research employs a mixed-methodology approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative analysis reveals that the average degree of transparency and maturity in supply chain reporting is higher among Polish companies. The highest degree of transparency is observed in value chain reporting, as required by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), indicating increased compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In contrast, communication mechanisms with supply chain workers have the lowest transparency score, reflecting a lack of maturity and resilience in this area. The quantitative analysis reveals that SVC-ESG transparency is not directly linked to significantly higher profitability. However, analysis of the moderating effect reveals an important finding: the potential impact of SVC-ESG transparency becomes significantly stronger when a company has the operational capacity to implement sustainability practices (operational efficiency). This synergy between transparency and efficiency is essential for enhancing operational resilience and achieving financial benefits. The practical implications of this study underscore the need to enhance reporting quality and ensure alignment with CSRD requirements to fully leverage this interdependence.

n the digital age, integrated ERP solutions are the best way to efficiently manage an organization's business and resources, as they contain a number of specific modules for accounting, human resources, production, sales and purchasing. This system is designed to provide efficiency and transparency to all operations performed by organizations. The aim of this paper is to explore how ERP systems are a reliable solution in the context of corporate reporting. The modules of this system facilitate the collection, storage, and analysis of an organization's financial and operational data, building a solid foundation for accurate and correct reporting of results, especially its performance. The case study in this paper is summarized as a quantitative analysis based on a questionnaire, which aims to highlight the advantages and challenges of using an ERP system in the context of financial and operational reporting of organizations. The conclusion of the paper emphasizes the importance of using ERP systems in the corporate reporting of organizations, highlighting the main benefits they bring in terms of operational efficiency, data transparency and correct decision making.