Articles

The Multiplier Effect of Better Governance

Whether your organisation is a not-for-profit, SME or a large public company, it will benefit from the multiplier effect of better governance. Getting governance right makes for a healthy, effective and responsible Board. It ensures that a clear message is delivered to all stakeholders, and that employees are engaged, which leads to higher productivity and lower employee turnover. This article will outline the attributes of good governance and how they can lead to benefits for an organisation, as well as explain how you can test your governance system.

What Does Good Governance Look Like?

The definition of Good Governance is akin to the definition of hard-core pornography offered by Justice Potter Stewart1 - we cannot define it, but we ‘know it when we see it’. The high levels of governance and accountability required of both the private and public sectors in Australia are now being demanded in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. While there does exist a view that governance standards in the NFP sector are not at the same standard as required in the commercial sector, this is far from the truth.

An Examination of Merger Success Factors

The major part of this article was drawn from the Masters in Business Research (with Honours) research dissertation of Indra Arunachalam, University of New England (2012). On the 20th of April 2012, the government announced its intend to deliver greater choice and better care to older Australians by unveiling a major aged care reform package. The Living Longer, Living Better Plan was in response to key issues, such as, the changing expectations and longer life expectancy of an ageing population, the expected increase in aged care costs and future workforce shortages.

Self-Assessment of Board Performance

A recurring theme in the nonprofit governance literature is the need for board performance assessments to be conducted regularly by non-profit boards. Some governance experts have developed approaches to board performance evaluation based on adherence to strict normative models while others have developed more detailed instruments and recommendations reviewing a wide range of board practices. Others have pointed out that, while many nonprofits may recognize the value of assessing board performance, they lack the capacity to: a) carry out the technical work of gathering and analyzing board performance information; b) apply that information to making decisions about changes in board performance; and c) track the impact of changes in governance practices over time.

The Board and the CEO Relationship

The relationships between all stakeholders are essential to the overall health and wellbeing of an organisation. However, the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Board of Directors (Board) is the most crucial, and the state of this relationship has potentially the greatest influence on organisational success. For this relationship to work well, it must be one of negotiation, consideration and understanding of the role and perspective of the other.

Quotas and Cultures to Support Board Diversity

There’s lots of discussion around about quotas for women on corporate boards, and lots of questions about whether quotas are effective. At theYWCA, we have been operating with a quota for 20 years. But ours is not a quota for including women: all the members of our board are women. Rather, our quota is directed towards including young women on all of our boards and committees. Twenty years ago, the YWCA made a global commitment that at least 25% of members of national boards would be women 30 years and younger.

So You Want To Be A Company Director – Book Review

Have you been asked to sit on a board or are you interested in becoming a board member or company director? Warren Tapp’s self published book So you want to be a Company Director is a new resource that can answer many of the questions first time and even experienced directors and board members have about sitting on a board and becoming a director. Warren Tapp has over 30 years of experience with boards in Australia and overseas as a consultant, director and non-executive chairman.

Conducting Panel Interviews

A short guide to putting together and conducting a panel interview for selecting a new chief executive officer for a non-profit organisation. Selecting the Panel Members In contrast to the private sector, not-for-profit organisations have a predilection for interviewing candidates through panels, which may consist of several (or sometimes even more!) stakeholders. This is especially true where federated organisations are selecting Chief Executive Officers, although the preference is for the Board to appoint a sub-committee of say three Directors, usually including the Chair and sometimes bringing in an independent person.

Is The iPad Invited To Your Board Meeting?

The arrival of the iPad at board meetings is welcomed by many. Its ability to quickly distribute documents, make annotations and generally support meetings in paperless format (usually via a secure board portal) represents undeniable savings in time, money and environmental costs, not to mention the convenience of being able to quickly distribute those last minute additions to the agenda. The iPad even has its own special board meeting application. So why has ANZ banned iPads in board meetings?

Board culture: breaking bread and barriers

In our previous article, we wrote about developing a culture of learning and continual improvement on boards. An important part of encouraging the kind of openness and questioning that’s required for a learning culture is ensuring that the board is a ‘safe space’. Sadly, there are many boards in the community sector that don’t really feel that safe for new members. Whether it’s different factions disagreeing and struggling for power, or a director who has been on the board for decades and passionately disagrees with any attempts to change direction, or a hostile relationship between the board and the executive director, the fact is that boards are teams of people, and teams often have difficult dynamics.