Transparent Strategy Research Articles

Foresight in EU policy‐making: Purpose, mindsets and methods

AbstractThis article examines the foundational principles and methodologies of foresight and their integration into EU policy‐making. It explores how foresight can improve policy analysis to create future‐ready, resilient decisions amid uncertainties. By synthesising empirical evidence and interpreting multifaceted issues through an interdisciplinary lens, foresight provides EU policymakers with tools to make informed decisions that remain adaptable in the face of unpredictability. The author argues that foresight, through comprehensive analysis of trends, uncertainties and potential challenges, can guide policymakers in forming future‐focused strategies. Key foresight methods emphasised include horizon scanning, systems analysis, stakeholder engagement and scenario planning. The article advocates a holistic policy approach, urging analysts to acknowledge biases and assumptions while integrating diverse perspectives. Concluding with a framework for responsible policy‐making, the article argues that foresight can shape evidence‐based, inclusive and transparent strategies, ensuring that the EU will be prepared for unpredictable futures.

The central role of price fairness for cost transparency strategy: What is the effect of conventional versus Fairtrade products and construal level?

The central role of price fairness for cost transparency strategy: What is the effect of conventional versus Fairtrade products and construal level?

The impact of digital advertising on purchase intention for green products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a field study

The study addresses the critical need for effective and transparent digital marketing strategies to build trust among Saudi consumers and encourage the purchase of green products. This involves understanding how digital advertisements influence consumer behavior, particularly in promoting sustainable purchasing habits. The study aimed to assess the impact of digital ads on the intention to buy green products in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the level of trust and credibility these ads generate, the factors influencing this trust, and offering recommendations to enhance digital marketing strategies for greater effectiveness and transparency. A descriptive analytical approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire administered to adult consumers in Riyadh and Medina. The results indicated that the impact of digital advertisements on purchase intentions had an average score of 3.6 out of 5, with a relative weight of 72%. Trust in these advertisements had a slightly lower average score of 3.4, with a relative weight of 68%. Factors affecting trust and credibility were rated higher, with an average score of 3.8 and a relative weight of 76%. The study concluded with several recommendations, including aligning green product marketing with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiatives and leveraging social media's significant role in the lives of Kay words: Digital Advertising - Green Products - Consumer

Sick leaves among healthy pregnant Croatian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic due to loopholes in the occupational safety system.

The aim of this study was to explore occupational safety in pregnant Croatian healthcare workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To this end we composed an anonymous questionnaire that included pregnancy data, risk assessment and mitigation, and workplace intervention and distributed it to HCWs through social media of their groups and associations. The study includes a total of 173 respondents (71.1 % physicians, 19.7 % nurses, 9.2 % other HCWs) diagnosed with pregnancy in 2020 and 2021. Employers were notified about HCWs' pregnancy at the eighth (IQR 7.0-11.0) week of pregnancy, which delayed workplace risk assessment and mitigation beyond the first trimester. Only 19.6 % of the participants had the risk assessed and mitigated, mostly on their own initiative (76.5 %). After notifying employers about pregnancy, 37.0 % of participants opted for temporary work incapacity (TWI) due to "pregnancy complications" despite healthy pregnancy, 16.8 % were granted a pregnant worker's paid leave at the expense of the employer, while 5.8 % continued to work at the same workplace. Nurses used the TWI benefit more frequently than physicians (58.8 % vs 30.1 %, P=0.004). Our findings suggest that occupational safety of pregnant HCWs in Croatia lacks clear-cut and transparent strategies to protect pregnant HCWs, forcing them to misuse the healthcare system.

How perceived transparency in information system development processes improves project quality in agile IT enterprises

PurposeWith the increasing agility of IT enterprises, it is crucial to identify suitable managerial strategies for controlling information system development (ISD) projects in the new agile working environments. These environments are characterized by the collaborative nature of work and the recurring nature of communication. This study aims to explore how perceived transparency in ISD processes, controlled by transparency strategies, impacts project quality.Design/methodology/approachIn collaboration with a firm that implemented a customized Scaled Agile Framework, questionnaires were distributed to employees involved in ISD projects. The goal was to understand the influence of perceived transparency in ISD processes on project quality.FindingsOur research demonstrates that perceived transparency in ISD processes enhances project quality through knowledge exchange by strengthening goodwill trust among team members. Additionally, transparency improves project quality through client feedback by strengthening competence trust of clients toward the team. Goodwill trust of clients toward the team and competence trust among team members have less impact on project quality enhancement.Originality/valueThis study reveals the nomological network among the perceived transparency, different types of trust among stakeholders, social interactions among stakeholders, and project outcomes in agile ISD environments. This nomological network has been overlooked by previous studies that biased toward top-down, interorganizational communication. It highlights that not all types of trust among stakeholders are involved in the processes through which perceived transparency influences ISD project quality in agile working environments. Additionally, it exposes the limitations of transparency strategies for controlling projects in agile IT enterprises.

Prioritizing Inclusivity and Transparency in Revising the Proficiencies for Assessment in Academic Libraries

This column provides an overview of the newly updated Proficiencies for Assessment in Academic Libraries (approved June 2023) and outlines the steps and rationale for each phase of the revision process. It is our hope that you will not only apply and share these assessment proficiencies in your own organizations and practice but also consider how you might adapt the strategies for inclusivity and transparency that were used to update the Proficiencies in your own work such as strategic planning, updating or revising programs, or creating new services.

A novel approach of brain-computer interfacing (BCI) and Grad-CAM based explainable artificial intelligence: Use case scenario for smart healthcare

BackgroundIn order to push the frontiers of brain-computer interface (BCI) and neuron-electronics, this research presents a novel framework that combines cutting-edge technologies for improved brain-related diagnostics in smart healthcare. This research offers a ground-breaking application of transparent strategies to BCI, promoting openness and confidence in brain-computer interactions and taking inspiration from Grad-CAM (Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping) based Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) methodology. The landscape of healthcare diagnostics is about to be redefined by the integration of various technologies, especially when it comes to illnesses related to the brain. New methodA novel approach has been proposed in this study comprising of Xception architecture which is trained on imagenet database following transfer learning process for extraction of significant features from magnetic resonance imaging dataset acquired from publicly available distinct sources as an input and linear support vector machine has been used for distinguishing distinct classes.Afterwards, gradient-weighted class activation mapping has been deployed as the foundation for explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) for generating informative heatmaps, representing spatial localization of features which were focused to achieve model’s predictions. ResultsThus, the proposed model not only provides accurate outcomes but also provides transparency for the predictions generated by the Xception network to diagnose presence of abnormal tissues and avoids overfitting issues. Hyperparameters along with performance-metrics are also obtained while validating the proposed network on unseen brain MRI scans to ensure effectiveness of the proposed network. Comparison with existing methods and conclusionsThe integration of Grad-CAM based explainable artificial intelligence with deep neural network namely Xception offers a significant impact in diagnosing brain tumor disease while highlighting the specific regions of input brain MRI images responsible for making predictions. In this study, the proposed network results in 98.92% accuracy, 98.15% precision, 99.09% sensitivity, 98.18% specificity and 98.91% dice-coefficient while identifying presence of abnormal tissues in the brain. Thus, Xception model trained on distinct dataset following transfer learning process offers remarkable diagnostic accuracy and linear support vector act as a classifier to provide efficient classification among distinct classes. In addition, the deployed explainable artificial intelligence approach helps in revealing the reasoning behind predictions made by deep neural network having black-box nature and provides a clear perspective to assist medical experts in achieving trustworthiness and transparency while diagnosing brain tumor disease in the smart healthcare

Moderating Role of Economic Development’s on Zakat Success Factors and Compliance: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

The paper report a result of an investigation in the moderating influence of economic development on the relationship between zakat success factors and compliance to pay zakat, focusing on key factors such as zakat awareness, support for zakat practices, understanding zakat application, and willingness to implement zakat. Data from 250 respondents within the General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) in Saudi Arabia were collected using a quantitative approach using questionnaires. Analysis was conducted utilizing AMOS 20 and SPSS 20.1 software. The study reveals a positive direct effect of zakat success factors on compliance to pay zakat, with economic development playing a crucial moderating role. This underscores the significance of economic development in influencing the relationship between zakat awareness, support for zakat practices, and zakat compliance. The practical implications extend to zakat institutions, urging them to enhance strategies for transparency and compliance by securing additional resources for development and organizing educational initiatives to cultivate positive attitudes towards zakat. The research contributes uniquely to the literature by incorporating economic development as a mediator in the zakat success factors and compliance relationship, offering valuable insights for researchers, economists, and zakat institutions. The findings emphasize the multifaceted impact of zakat on economic structures, social transformation, poverty reduction, and inequality. Additionally, the study highlights zakat's role in achieving sustainable economic growth and reducing social issues, advocating for its integration as a financial system to address challenges in the Muslim world. Despite limitations in respondent selection and timeframe, the research opens avenues for future studies, suggesting a broader exploration of Zakat's impact on sustainable development, climate change, wealth distribution, and economic transformation.

Navigating and reviewing ethical dilemmas in AI development: Strategies for transparency, fairness, and accountability

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to permeate various aspects of our lives, the ethical challenges associated with its development become increasingly apparent. This paper navigates and reviews the ethical dilemmas in AI development, focusing on strategies to promote transparency, fairness, and accountability. The rapid growth of AI technology has given rise to concerns related to bias, lack of transparency, and the need for clear accountability mechanisms. In this exploration, we delve into the intricate ethical landscape of AI, examining issues such as bias and fairness, lack of transparency, and the challenges associated with accountability. To address these concerns, we propose strategies for transparency, including the implementation of Explainable AI (XAI), advocating for open data sharing, and embracing ethical AI frameworks. Furthermore, we explore strategies to promote fairness in AI algorithms, emphasizing the importance of fairness metrics, diverse training data, and continuous monitoring for iterative improvement. Additionally, the paper delves into strategies to ensure accountability in AI development, considering regulatory measures, ethical AI governance, and the incorporation of human-in-the-loop approaches. To provide practical insights, case studies and real-world examples are analyzed to distill lessons learned and best practices. The paper concludes with a comprehensive overview of the proposed strategies, emphasizing the importance of balancing innovation with ethical responsibility in the evolving landscape of AI development. This work contributes to the ongoing discourse on AI ethics, offering a roadmap for navigating the challenges and fostering responsible AI development practices.

Humans in XAI: increased reliance in decision-making under uncertainty by using explanation strategies

IntroductionAlthough decision support systems (DSS) that rely on artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly provide explanations to computer and data scientists about opaque features of the decision process, especially when it involves uncertainty, there is still only limited attention to making the process transparent to end users.MethodsThis paper compares four distinct explanation strategies employed by a DSS, represented by the social agent Floka, designed to assist end users in making decisions under uncertainty. Using an economic experiment with 742 participants who make lottery choices according to the Holt and Laury paradigm, we contrast two explanation strategies offering accurate information (transparent vs. guided) with two strategies prioritizing human-centered explanations (emotional vs. authoritarian) and a baseline (no explanation).Results and discussionOur findings indicate that a guided explanation strategy results in higher user reliance than a transparent strategy. Furthermore, our results suggest that user reliance is contingent on the chosen explanation strategy, and, in some instances, the absence of an explanation can also lead to increased user reliance.

Pay Transparency Causing Major Impacts in Reward Strategies: New Research from Reward Leaders

This paper examines the results of a global Korn Ferry survey that assessed pay transparency-related market practices. Despite increased attention and pressure from internal and external stakeholders, organizations are still in the early stages of implementing pay transparency strategies. Organizations plan to overhaul their reward communication strategies, with manager training and employee education as the primary focus areas. Managers play a critical role as the first line of communication with employees on their team, and organizations recognize that a significant upskilling effort will be needed to enable them to communicate effectively about pay decisions and avoid unintended consequences. The authors provide considerations for organizations moving toward more transparent pay practices, including clarifying a pay transparency strategy, assessing their current practices, improving compensation programs, aligning their leaders and developing effective rewards communications strategies.

Cross-National Study of Transparency in CSR Communication and Corporate Trust: Mediating Roles of Perceived Altruism and Perceived Skepticism

This study uses online surveys administered in the US ( N = 491), the UAE ( N = 538), and South Korea ( N = 548) to examine the associations between transparency strategies in CSR communication (i.e., participation, substantial information, and accountability) and the public’s evaluation of corporate trust. Additionally, it investigates the mediating roles of perceived altruism and skepticism toward CSR, while also exploring how these associations differ across the three selected countries. When testing a proposed model using the combined data from three countries ( N = 1,577), our findings suggest that transparency strategies do not directly contribute to corporate trust. However, the participation aspect leads to corporate trust only through the influence of perceived altruism, while substantial information predicts a reduced level of CSR skepticism. Notably, results derived from country-specific data reveal intriguing patterns concerning accountability. In the US, accountability leads to altruism and fosters corporate trust, while in the UAE, it contributes to fostering corporate trust. However, in South Korea, it leads to increased skepticism. Conversely, in South Korea, substantial information contributes to building corporate trust. We discuss the implications of these findings from the unique institutional, social, and cultural perspectives of the countries studied.

TAX TRANSPARENCY AS ESSENTIAL PRECONDITION OF THE MODERN TAX PAYMENT ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Introduction. Modern challenges in the field of administration of tax payments have become especially acute for Ukraine in the conditions of the outflow of human capital and the loss of economic potential. Under such conditions, the role of tax transparency is decisive, because during the implementation of the administration process, it is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of the basic principles of taxation - fairness and certainty. The purpose of this article is to determine the place of tax transparency in the tax payment administration system. Results. The evolutionary aspect of the formation of the definition was studied and the author’s definition of the term “tax transparency” was given. The place of tax transparency in the system of administration of tax payments in the context of the implementation of the administration of tax payments is determined, taking into account potentially possible scenarios of the development of events and actions on the part of taxpayers and tax administrations. The current state of implementation of tax transparency in Ukraine in comparison with other countries is studied. The vector of future necessary transformations of relations between taxpayers and the tax service in Ukraine for the implementation of the strategy of tax transparency is outlined. Conclusions. The dynamics of the development of international taxation, especially in the modern realities of the development of public finances of Ukraine, requires a rethinking of approaches to the process of implementing tax administration. The study of directions for increasing the efficiency of the administration process is the subject of further scientific research through the implementation of tax transparency, in particular, by building a close relationship and trust between taxpayers and the tax service.

Preference and Utilization of Media Channels as Communication Instruments of Local Public Administrators in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

This descriptive study sought to determine the level of preference and extent of utilization of local public administrators (LPAs) of Bacolod City of media channels as communication instruments. Needed data were collected from all 85 middle-level managers holding positions as department head, assistant department head, division chief, and assistant division chiefs in the local government unit (LGU) using a survey questionnaire that has passed both validity and reliability test. Subsequent analyses reveal respondents' level preference and extent of utilization of social media, specifically Facebook and mainstream media (television/radio and newspapers) as information soures and feedback instruments concerning their functions as public administrators. Respondents exhibited a "high level" of preference and a "great extent" of utilization in the above-mentioned areas. Meanwhile, a significant difference was present in demographic variables like age and length of service. There was a significant relationship between the LPA’s level of preference and extent of utilization. It has been established that respondents' preference led to their utilization of a specific medium. These findings call for a review and possible modification of departments’ and divisions' communication strategies for relevance, transparency, and responsiveness.

Do business ethics moderate corporate corruption risk-ESG reporting relationship? Evidence from European ESG firms

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between corporate corruption risk and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and if this relationship is moderated by business ethics.Design/methodology/approachData from a sample of 347 European firms selected from the ESG Index between 2010 and 2020 were used to test the model using panel data and multiple regressions. This paper considered the feasible generalized least squares estimation for linear panel data models. A multiple regression model is used to analyze the moderating effect of business ethics on the association between corporate corruption risk and ESG reporting. For robustness analyses, the authors included the alternative measure of the dependent variable, and they applied the simultaneous equation model for the endogeneity test.FindingsThe empirical results reveal a negative relationship between corporate corruption risk and ESG reporting. Furthermore, the findings suggest that business ethics positively moderate the relationship between corporate corruption risk and ESG reporting.Practical implicationsThis paper presents an enormous contribution to the various economic agents involved in the company. The results could attract the attention of socially responsible investors and, above all, corporate citizens. Moreover, the managers of corrupt companies could take into account the results of this study by being more committed to an optimized transparency strategy on ESG reporting.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the moderating role of business ethics on the relationship between corporate corruption risk and ESG reporting in the European context. It is also the first study documenting that business ethics reinforce the relationship between firm corruption and nonfinancial information transparency. This study fills a research gap as it expands the existing literature, which generally focuses on the impact of corporate corruption on ESG reporting.

From political pledges to quantitative mapping of climate mitigation plans: Comparison of two European cities

BackgroundUrban agglomerates play a crucial role in reaching global climate objectives. Many cities have committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, but current emission trends remain unverifiable. Atmospheric monitoring of greenhouse gases offers an independent and transparent strategy to measure urban emissions. However, careful design of the monitoring network is crucial to be able to monitor the most important sectors as well as adjust to rapidly changing urban landscapes.ResultsOur study of Paris and Munich demonstrates how climate action plans, carbon emission inventories, and urban development plans can help design optimal atmospheric monitoring networks. We show that these two European cities display widely different trajectories in space and time, reflecting different emission reduction strategies and constraints due to administrative boundaries. The projected carbon emissions rely on future actions, hence uncertain, and we demonstrate how emission reductions vary significantly at the sub-city level.ConclusionsWe conclude that quantified individual cities’ climate actions are essential to construct more robust emissions trajectories at the city scale. Also, harmonization and compatibility of plans from various cities are necessary to make inter-comparisons of city climate targets possible. Furthermore, dense atmospheric networks extending beyond the city limits are needed to track emission trends over the coming decades.

The economics of process transparency

We propose and analyze a novel framework to understand the role of noninstrumental information sharing in service operations management, that is, information shared by the firm not to affect consumers' actions, but to better manage their experience in the firm's process. The operations of the firm are organized as a process, consisting of a sequence of tasks, each of random duration. The firm shares real‐time information with the consumer about the progress of their flow unit in the firm's process via a process tracker. The consumer is delay‐sensitive and experiences gain–loss utility (loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity) over time due to changes in beliefs about anticipated delay, as he awaits completion of the process. We analyze when providing such real‐time progress information via process trackers help, or can possibly hurt a consumer. Our work draws upon the recent literature on belief‐based/news utility in Economics. We find that in the presence of loss aversion alone, not sharing progress information is beneficial. In the presence of loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity, if low delays are likely, then sharing information is beneficial; otherwise, not sharing information is preferred. Our findings inform a service firm's post‐sales transparency strategy.

Explainable AI for DBA: Bridging the DBA's experience and machine learning in tuning database systems

SummaryRecently artificial intelligence techniques in the database community have become a driver for many database applications. The proposed solution adopting AI in the core database shows that incorporating AI improves the query processing and the self‐tuning of database systems. In traditional systems, self‐tuning database systems are commonly addressed with heuristics to suggest the physical structures (e.g., creation of indexes and materialized views) that enable the fastest execution of queries. However, existing designer tools do not explain/justify how the system behaves and the reasoning behind tuning activities. Moreover, these tools do not keep the database administrator (DBA) in the loop of the optimization process to trust some of the automatic tuning decisions. To address this problem, we introduce a framework called Explain‐Tun that enables to predict and explain self‐tuning actions with transparent strategy from historical data using two explicit models, that is, decision tree and random forests. First, we propose AI‐based DBMS to explain how to select physical structures and provide decision rules extracted by machine learning (ML) as a designed plug‐gable component. Second, a goal‐oriented model to keep DBA in the loop of the optimization process in order to manipulate ML models as CRUD entities. Finally, we evaluate our approach on three use cases, results show that bridging the DBA's experience and ML make sense in tuning database systems.

Restoring trust through transparency: Examining the effects of transparency strategies on police crisis communication in Mainland China

Employing a 2 (accepting crisis accountability vs denying crisis accountability) x 2 (high vs low information substantiality) x 2 (high vs low participation) online experiment (N = 293), this study examines how different transparency strategies influence public anger and trust in a Chinese police crisis context, offering insights on government social media crisis communication. In general, transparency is crucial for Chinese local governments, especially police agencies, in managing crises on social media. Reporting organizational crisis accountability, delivering sufficient and evidence-based messages, and enabling public discussion on social media are three transparency strategies that can help minimize public anger and rebuild public trust. Results suggest the positive effects of delivering messages in crisis situations by using transparency. Furthermore, the study points out that police organizations in China should consider the possibility of information overload and unexpectedly low overall expectations for government transparency among Chinese publics.

Glioblastoma and the search for non-hypothesis driven combination therapeutics in academia.

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains a cancer of high unmet clinical need. Current standard of care for GBM, consisting of maximal surgical resection, followed by ionisation radiation (IR) plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ), provides less than 15-month survival benefit. Efforts by conventional drug discovery to improve overall survival have failed to overcome challenges presented by inherent tumor heterogeneity, therapeutic resistance attributed to GBM stem cells, and tumor niches supporting self-renewal. In this review we describe the steps academic researchers are taking to address these limitations in high throughput screening programs to identify novel GBM combinatorial targets. We detail how they are implementing more physiologically relevant phenotypic assays which better recapitulate key areas of disease biology coupled with more focussed libraries of small compounds, such as drug repurposing, target discovery, pharmacologically active and novel, more comprehensive anti-cancer target-annotated compound libraries. Herein, we discuss the rationale for current GBM combination trials and the need for more systematic and transparent strategies for identification, validation and prioritisation of combinations that lead to clinical trials. Finally, we make specific recommendations to the preclinical, small compound screening paradigm that could increase the likelihood of identifying tractable, combinatorial, small molecule inhibitors and better drug targets specific to GBM.