Edited by:

Thomas Hess (University of Munich – LMU)
Georg Reischauer (WU Vienna University of Economics and Business)
Thorsten Sellhorn (University of Munich – LMU)
Erik Theissen (University of Mannheim)
 

Transparency – the disclosure, accuracy and clarity of information provided by senders to receivers which is increasingly driven by advances in digital technologies – is sometimes hailed as a panacea for a wide range of problems and challenges that businesses and other actors face. For example, climate change is often described as the result of a vast market failure, and increased transparency about the climate-related risks, opportunities, and impacts is among the possible remedies proposed or implemented by policy makers. Likewise, many call for increased transparency of corporations and other collective actors to increase stakeholder trust and accountability. However, studies have also identified potential ’dark sides’ and unintended consequences of transparency, such as corruption of bureaucrats, envy among coworkers, and dissonance. To provide a forum that bridges diverse perspectives on transparency in business research, we invite papers that examine new forms, causes, and (intended and unintended) consequences from the perspectives of corporations, their stakeholders, other organizations, and policy-makers.

Papers for the Special Issue may address, for example, the following topics:

• What are new digitally mediated forms of internal and external transparency?
• How do corporations and other collective actors respond to new forms of transparency?
• How do organizational and inter-organizational relationships and processes change because of (new forms of) transparency?
• How does transparency alter the evaluation of corporations and the allocation of financial resources?
• What is the role of transparency in leading, recruiting, and developing human resources?
• How and when do stakeholders and public organizations successfully enforce transparency?
• What part does transparency play in the development of software systems and digital innovations?
• What is the role of transparency in the design of formal organizational structures and (digital) processes?
• How do entrepreneurs leverage transparency when scaling their ventures or interacting with stakeholders?
• What is the impact of transparency for innovating within and across the boundaries of corporations?

The aim of the Special Issue is to publish new and pathbreaking work that engages with the above mentioned or related questions. We invite papers that provide new theories and/or evidence and engage with salient bodies of theoretical and applied knowledge. We welcome theoretical, quantitative and qualitative empirical, and methodological contributions that speak to these aspects. Also results of designoriented research, which is particularly know in Business Informatics and related fields, are welcome.

All contributions should clearly address the practical and theoretical implications for business decisions and/or societal institutions. Submission guidelines and deadlines All manuscripts must follow the guidelines of the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, which are available at: http://www.springer.com/41471. Manuscripts should be submitted via the Editorial Manager of Springer at https://www.editorialmanager.com/sbur/default.aspx under the manuscript category “Special Issue: Transformation”.

Submission deadline: September 30, 2023 Expected publication date: Autumn 2024

Inquiries on the Special Issue should be sent by email to the Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research Guest Editors

• Thomas Hess (thess@lmu.de)
• Georg Reischauer (Georg.Reischauer@wu.ac.at)
• Thorsten Sellhorn (sellhorn@lmu.de
• Erik Theissen (theissen@uni-mannheim.de)