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In this interview, Tom McManus and Dr Harold Lazarus explore transparency as both an approach and an outcome in the management of organizations, and the relation of transparency to corporate strategy. The interview aims to offer context and perspective on transparency.

Utilizing the format of an interview, the reader is introduced to transparency in general and as a management principle.

As the global economy continues to become a reality, as large corporations continue to get bigger and more multinational, as information technology continues to advance, there is going to be a lot of stakeholder dispute around issues related to transparency in the coming years. Stakeholders such as customers, shareholders, and voters are holding management accountable. Information matters, and stakeholders have access to an unprecedented quantity and quality of information. Practical application of transparency is not simple, and many qualified and interesting people are developing the field.

Transparency is often talked about as a remedy for corruption and criminality. This interview explores a component of transparency that has not received the same attention – transparency as a principle in management.

The purpose of this paper is to convey useful and practical advice on one's development as a manager from the perspective of a successful entrepreneur.

Based on lessons learned from founding and leading a $300 million business.

Beware of the transition from school to business. Take jobs that offer real experience. Showing up is 90 percent of the battle. If you are not in a job that you consider to be as much fun as what you do when you are not working, then you should go and try to find that job. The best decisions you make will be the mistakes you avoid. If it doesn't make sense it can't last. When you are explaining you are losing. Hire people who care. Break down barriers to communication. Embrace humor. You can't lead when your pants are too tight. Never ignore the last mile problem. Big egos destroy companies.

Valuable for managers at every stage of their development, and especially for those just entering the work force.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the “mash‐up” of business strategy and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In popular music, a mash‐up is a file of digitally combined musical sources. Song A is played simultaneously with Song B, and in various other combinations. There are often elements of dissonance, and even cacophony, to the form – but the sum of the parts often surpasses the originals. CSR is a management innovation like the idea of business strategy itself. Each is also a metaphor representing alternative visions and approaches to corporate value creation. Business strategists are talking, writing, and meeting about CSR, and CSR is increasingly intersecting, integrating, converging, with business strategy. The trend is described within as a “mash‐up”. But what is the significance of this trend? How serious should companies be about it? Is CSR going to become a part of standard business theory and practice? How long will it take? What should organizations do to respond and participate?

This paper examines two propositions. First, that CSR is more than a set of ideas and processes; it is a metaphor for a different approach to business. Second, CSR is a management innovation like strategic planning itself. The paper concludes that the impact the two ideas will have on each other and society is fundamentally unpredictable, but it is likely that eventually the current CSR mania will subside and disillusionment will set in.

CSR is a highly significant trend, and well‐managed companies are already taking it very seriously. CSR may become a part of standard business theory and practice, but not without evolving through adoption patterns that will necessarily involve some disillusionment. Leaders will guide their company through this period by focusing on how to make CSR “real” for their organization by embracing the business strategy/CSR mash‐up and driving growth and innovation within the new parameters.

Familiarizes business strategists with CSR and CSR practitioners with points of connection and overlap with business strategy.

To show that retirement is no longer a given, but that not being able to retire may not be a bad thing. Remaining in the workforce might end up being a win‐win situation.

The reader is given an introduction of some of the issues related to retirement, such as demographic, economic, and legal factors. The article discusses how these and other factors affect our ability to retire at 65. Some of the positive aspects of not retiring, including better physical and mental health for the individual and a stronger society, are also introduced.

Retirement as we know it is very likely to soon be a thing of the past. Changes in demographic, economic, and legal factors are forcing us to look at retirement from a different point of view. Studies have shown that people who remain in the workforce at an older age are better off, both physically and mentally. In addition to improved health, being an active contributor to the community will serve the society as a whole.

The article can serve as an eye‐opener to some people who take retirement for granted. It can also help people that fear not being able to retire, to look more favorably upon the fact that they may have to work additional years before retiring.

Instead of only discussing the negative aspects of an aging population, the authors take a different approach and present no retirement as an opportunity, not a problem. Don't fear it, prepare for it.

Healthcare is an ever‐growing segment of the American economy. Transparency facilitates better decision‐making and better outcomes measures. The purpose of this paper is to present the human and economic results of increasing transparency.

The ASIMP Working Group on Healthcare Transparency represents a diverse yet conscilient group of practitioners, researchers, regulators, economists, and academics. Given the need for re‐envisioning healthcare to include more accountability, evidence of efficacy and transparency, this integrative medicine (ASIMP) working group is suitable to address the above purpose.

Substantial opportunity exists to reduce morbidity and mortality, suffering and excess death, unnecessary costs and risks. Greater transparency facilitates the transition to safer, more effective, more humane healthcare.

This paper starts from a need to improve clinical outcomes and value for resources devoted. Best efforts of a national working group are presented. The implications of the report, when tested, will determine the enduring value of this work.

Consumers and business, administrators and practitioners can improve care at lower cost by increasing transparency. This will accelerate the diffusion of effective approaches that are not yet in widespread use despite replication of efficacy.

This is the first time an integrative approach has been compared with conventional healthcare models, particularly with regard to the role of transparency in healthcare management.

To explain the logic of value creation through increased organizational transparency of human capital.

The authors compare the status of today's organizations with other areas of life where transparency has been a fundamental driver of efficiency. Further, the authors break transparency down into logical steps of value creation. Insight is based on hands‐on experience working with several companies on these issues as well as designing software to support the logic.

Modern companies are taking steps to drive company performance through increased efficiency delivered by increased transparency but few take it all the way. No universal model is prescribed but a clear sequence of foundations that need to be in place is discovered.

The paper is based on the authors' research and learning from working in this field. Further research in the field of organizational transparency as a means to drive company performance is suggested.

This paper takes a different angle than the traditional view.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of information transparency in a for‐profit business environment, and explain the importance and relevance of the concept in creating a transparent organization.

Through a review of a sample of the existing literature focusing on transparency, a common theme regarding information was observed. Most research addresses information from a technology/systems perspective not as a basis of creating or modifying corporate strategy.

In a corporate environment, information transparency is reached when internal decision makers receive, at their desktop, the internal and external information necessary to make sound business decisions. The infrastructure and the technology of the computer systems used to deliver the information are not of primary importance to information transparency. Information technology systems are the means of delivery, the importance and value of information transparency is the content of the message and the actions that result from them.

This analysis may provide a rationale for the introduction of a new or expanded corporate information service outside the structure of an information technology department.