No one can not communicate. This axiom of metacommunication by Paul Watzlawick is familiar to every communications expert. And no one questions it.

The glass house axiom says: all corporate action is public. It is also not open to discussion. Entrepreneurs, businesses, and brands today can no longer operate in the dark. Their actions are under constant, suspicious observation by critical public groups, such as customers, suppliers, analysts, politicians, journalists, NGOs, and employees. To a previously unknown degree they all demand transparency and an extensive accounting by companies to demonstrate that their actions are environmentally friendly, socially acceptable, and responsible from a business perspective.

If brands and companies fail to meet these demands, the stakeholder groups exert pressure and force transparency and responsible action. This global trend cannot be reversed.

Those who do not live up to the glass house axiom are hunted, accused, outed, and ostracized. Then reputation, sales, income, and stock price all fall.

Only a robust, socially oriented value system, transparency on critical topics, and open communication of particular self-interests ensure the necessary latitude. In the long term, only companies that steer this process actively can achieve and sustain their strategic and tactical corporate goals.

We help our customers conduct themselves successfully in the glass house. To do this, we develop corporate social responsibility strategies, provide organizational consulting, CEO coaching, and issues management, and also offer triple-bottom-line reporting along with cultural analyses.