CASE STUDY OF TRANSPARENCY IN A NOT-FOR-PROFIT MULTI-STAKEHOLDER ORGANIZATION
OVERVIEW
This project was a qualitative investigation of the challenges of managing transparency in a not-for-profit
multi-stakeholder organization.
MY ROLE: I collaborated with one other researcher in collecting and analyzing the data. I was solely responsible for developing recommendations based on our findings.
BACKGROUND
THE ORGANIZATION
The subject of our inquiry was a not-for-profit multi-stakeholder organization. Its decentralized governance model brings together various individuals and groups to make community-based and consensus-driven policy decisions.
PROBLEM
In the past few years, this organization has engaged in concerted efforts to increase transparency, with most meetings being open to the public, meeting transcripts published online, and even the creation of a team designed to periodically review stakeholder perceptions of transparency in the organization.
meetings open to the public
meeting transcripts published online
transparency review team
This suggests that contrary to prevailing assumptions, there may not always be a linear relationship between the amount of information shared/provided (i.e., transparency efforts) and the perceived level of transparency.
Based on stakeholder responses to a survey recently conducted by the organization, these efforts have led to relatively high perceived levels of transparency compared to other similar organizations. However, the current perceived levels of transparency still fail to reflect the extensiveness of the organization’s transparency efforts.
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Therefore, the question is, why have these transparency efforts fallen short?
MAIN OBJECTIVE: Uncover why, despite its extensive efforts to be transparent, the organization’s transparency efforts have fallen short in the eyes of stakeholders.
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Identify what transparency means to the organization.
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Identify the challenges of managing transparency in this multi-stakeholder organization.
METHODS & ANALYSIS
FINDINGS
WHAT IS TRANSPARENCY?
Transparency as more than just the data:
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?
Challenges pertaining to the information:
Transparency requires interactive communication:
Transparency involves navigating competing interests and tradeoffs:
KEY TAKEAWAY: In a multi-stakeholder organization with multiple divergent interests, transparency is more than just the sharing or availability of information. Rather, transparency becomes an interactive process among the parties involved, requiring active communication to navigate competing interests and enhance understanding.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Conduct usability tests to
improve website navigability
Continue conducting regular surveys to
gauge stakeholder needs for transparency
Position the board in a more
active mediator role
Clearly outline the conditions under which certain interests must be prioritized
Accommodate tradeoffs as best
as possible in timely phases
(e.g., first make all information available in raw format, followed by contextualized summaries)