Transparency is important because that company that is the easiest to understand will be more successful. “ It’s the public disclosure rule; it’s the whole concept of what a lot of people talk about today in terms of having an organization that is transparent in its decision-making so that everybody understands” (Abele). The easier the financial statement is to read and understand that less worry that investors and stakeholders have. “When financial statements are not transparent, investors can never be sure about a company’s real fundamentals and true risk” (McClure, 2010).
Transparency has even become more of a necessity since companies like Enron and many others showed the world that complex business structures and unclear financials just hide bad news. It is very helpful to imagine your customer as a member of your family. In most cases people would never want anything bad to happen to their family. No one wants their family to have a bad service experience, or get a product that doesn’t work. John Abele asked “if you working on a product, would you use it on your grandfather, child or grandchild” (Abele). This is a great way to look at what you are putting out on the market and offering to your customers.
If it isn’t good enough for your family then it shouldn’t be good enough for your customers. Your role models can be very influential on your decisions. Sometimes this is positive and sometimes it can be negative. Although, of this is dependent upon yourself and how you handle situations. A role model who is encouraging you to do something unethical isn’t a good role model to have. As humans we really care what people think of us, and role models are important people in our lives. This is why it is important to make the decisions that you know are right, because it is important for the business, customers, and yourself.
Anyone can be your role model, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to be within your organization. Some of the best role models are the ones that aren’t in your organization. However, you do need to be careful about the privacy of your company. “Whether in the company or outside the company, or a customer – and there’s a sense that the information needs to be confidential or discreet” (Abele). A role model in regards to someone you learn from about business practices, and get advice from on non-confidential matters is the type of role model and relationship that you want to have.
