Georg Reischauer published the paper “Unmanaged Transparency in a Digital Society: Swiss Army Knife or Double-edged Sword?” in Organization Studies (VHB A [ABWL]). The paper examines the organizational consequences of following a ‘hands-off’-approach to information disclosure, also known as unmanaged transparency. We identify how organizational members make this kind of transparency happen on a day-to-day basis and how other members respond to these practices. We also identify negative consequences of unmanaged transparency. Our study suggests that in a digital society, unmanaged transparency is more of a double-edged sword rather than a Swiss army knife: organizations might profit from its positive effects on the audience’s support, but they also make themselves vulnerable by the high levels of dissonance they put on display.

The paper is available in open access here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01708406221106329, opens an external URL in a new window