What Do Chilean Organizations Mean When They Claim to be Transparent?

Abstract

The concept of transparency has permeated the social and organizational discourse in Chile in a context of institutional distrust. The study explores the meaning of transparency for Chilean organizations through 11 in-depth interviews to VP’s of public and private organizations. Strong organizational efforts are observed in giving whole priority to the legal dimension of the concept as an instrumental and strategic way to communicate. However, a relational dimension arises as a contribution to its conceptualization from a communication perspective.