The Open-door policy: transparency minimizes conflicts between school principals and staff

Freedom of information laws and the obligation to provide explanations assure citizens of the right to obtain information as well as rationales from public authorities about their decisions. Little has been written about intra-organizational transparency between organizational heads and their employees and the potential contribution of such transparency to minimizing conflicts between them. 294 teachers from fifty-nine elementary and high schools studied a decision by school administration that was given without explanation and caused conflict between the teachers' commitment to work and to their home life. The participants completed an attitude questionnaire about their emotional commitment and involvement in work. About a month later, the same decision was presented to them but this time with full clarification of its underlying factors. They were then asked to complete the same questionnaires a second time. The transition from an unexplained to an explained decision caused a significant reduction in conflicts between teachers and administrators, improved the teachers' emotional commitment to their work as well as their willingness to be intensively involved in it. A significant interaction was found between the academic background of teachers and their attitudes. Participants at Master's degree level or preparing for it were more positively influenced by transparency than were Bachelor's degree candidates and holders.The results indicate certain activities in which transparency contributed to mutual trust and cooperation within school staffs. The possibility of extending the effect to other fields of endeavor is discussed. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of the ramifications of organizational transparency and reveal its intra-organizational benefits and limitations.