"Radically Transparent" is an emerging theme for businesses in the modern Internet era when everything seems to rise to the level of universal accessibility. But can or should radical transparency go too far?
 
Richard Barton, the former Microsoft executive and founder of Expedia and Zillow.com has created a new website called Glassdoor.com. The site, which launched last Wednesday, allows users to view salaries for positions at a number of companies across the United States.  What is the motivation for this level of transparency. "We think it's super important that people are able to find a job where they can go home happy at the end of the day," said Robert Hohman, Glassdoor's co-founder and chief executive.  
 
The site’s abilities are not limited solely to viewing salaries.  In addition to allowing employees and employers to post their salaries, Glassdoor.com also allows employees to rate the performance of their company’s CEO. This is likely to be one of the more controversial parts of the Website, potentially alienating many businesses that Glassdoor would otherwise would like to receive advertising from.
 
To prevent, or limit, abuse, the Website and its 12 employees screen all user-posted comments. The goal is to ensure nothing libelous is printed on the site.
 
As a way of building interest and stimulating visibility, Glassdoor.com is permitting anyone who can browse the Internet to look up the salaries of four of the most prominent technology companies in the United States: Google, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Yahoo.  In order to view more salaries, Web users have to contribute information on their own salaries and help review their own company. It will be interesting to note the degree of cooperation GlassDoor engenders in creating a salary-based ecosystem. - MAD