The Transparency–Power Nexus: Observational and Regularizing Control. (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Flyverbom, Mikkel; Christensen, Lars Thøger; Hansen, Hans Krause
• Is Part Of: Management communication quarterly. Volume 29:Number 3(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 385
• Page End: 410
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: transparency -- observational control -- regularizing control -- strategic ambiguity -- power; Communication in management -- Periodicals; Communication in organizations -- Periodicals; 658.4505
• DOI: 10.1177/0893318915593116
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0893-3189

Abstract

Although transparency is often believed to mitigate the negative effects of power by providing access to the hidden sides of organizational and political life, extant research fails to specify how transparency more fundamentally relates to power. To make sense of this relationship, this article develops an analytical language along two dimensions: "observational control" and "regularizing control." Within this framework, we look at (a) attempts to carry out control through observation, (b) identity-oriented forms of normative control, (c) strategically ambiguous articulations of transparency, and (d) attempts to normalize and institutionalize behavior across organizational settings through the use of reporting and ranking systems. In the concluding section, we discuss how our conceptualization might nuance and enrich future studies of the transparency–power nexus and we point to some important implications for management practitioners.