Transparency is the minimum requirement for responsibility. But why is it no longer sufficient on its own? What must be known today? In her blog series, Infine’s founder Tiina Saukko explores both the cornerstones and pitfalls of corporate responsibility.
A few years ago, it was enough for a company’s website to state “we comply with laws and regulations.” Since then, “we operate transparently” has been added. The first statement is easy to fulfill because professional personnel know the laws and regulations, which can also be ensured through training, Code of Conduct agreements, and sufficient background checks.
Transparency, however, is more challenging because some responsibility data is embedded within trade secrets. Publicly disclosing supply chains, for example, carries the risk of being copied, but it also fulfills the requirement for transparency. Public transparency thus requires a balance and wisdom. It is easier within the business registration world, where information can and should be protected by contracts.
Rule of Thumb: Information is not power, it is a source of motivation.
When communicating with consumers, the general rule is to disclose all relevant information. Especially if production involves obvious risks related to responsibility, it must be communicated how those risks are being managed. We have seen significant changes with high-risk products: for example, coffee is now rarely sold without some form of verified responsibility label.
It is absolutely essential that a company itself knows both the broader impacts of its operations and those of its contractual relationships. This way, it can often respond elegantly and reactively to the challenges of transparency.
Rule of Thumb: Transparency requires knowing.
In consumer business, it is crucial to understand the responsibility features and risks of the products being sold, particularly those aspects that are unknown. In longer supply chains, unknowns always exist. For example, information on the energy source used for transportation or production is often not available to the selling company, especially if it differs from the production entity. However, since this is the case for almost everyone, it currently does not pose a significant risk to companies.
The framework for responsibility that we have built is based on product data maintained by companies and the identification of key responsibility features.
Tiina Saukko
Author is the founder and CEO of Infine, with over 20 years of experience in product responsibility, responsibility marketing, and corporate responsibility.
