The chairman’s presentation at Diligent’s (DIL –NZX) 2013 AGM (June 23rd) included the following brief statement under the heading Strengthened Internal Controls: “The Board is currently undertaking a review of corporate governance matters with the assistance of an outside consultant, including with respect to the desired skill sets for the Board, share administration and other internal processes related to corporate governance.”
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Integrity
Articles by our readers about integrity. Do you want to contribute to this category too? Please subscribe to be an author.
Some Further Thoughts on Corporate Governance
Effective corporate governance does not, in and of itself, mean good corporate governance; ‘good’ may well be implicit; I prefer to make it explicit. The word ‘corporate’ can also be somewhat misleading and some people may, mistakenly, conclude that corporate governance is a matter for large organisations. My recent survey evidence suggests that this is not the case; corporate governance applies to all organisations, I have therefore decided to use the ‘shorthand’ good governance. Corporate governance and good governance are used interchangeably throughout this article.
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Beyond Legal Loyalty
Days before leading a first-time governance training session for a not-for-profit board, I learned that a trustee with a history of improper behavior had asked the CEO to fire an employee they were at odds with. Other trustees were troubled by their unrepentant peer’s unauthorized request, and hoped my training would reinforce the risk of not addressing the behavior.
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Bribery: The board is accountable
Besides the more notable pieces of legislation that deal with bribery and corruption, which include the USA’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act of 2010 and even South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004; now South African organisations will have to contend with even more anti-bribery controls. Considering that South Africa reportedly loses between R25bn-R30bn each year due to bribery and corruption in state procurement alone, any additional anti-bribery measures should be welcomed with open arms.
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Ethics and Governance in Project Management: Small Sins Allowed and the Line of Impunity
After one year in the making, this week the book I wrote together with Dr. Alicia Medina is finally available in Amazon.com
We studied the corporate and project stands on ethics and governance, which allowed us to introduce an innovative approach.
This book emphasizes the existence of separated sets of ethical values adjusted to different circumstances, which along with personal interests, allegiances, and opportunity, comprise the ethical cube.
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Tangible benefits of a corporate governance framwork
Article by Jene’ Palmer and edited by Terry Booysen
Forward thinking organisations have realised that corporate governance does not merely fall into the portfolio of the Company Secretary. Indeed, the draft King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 (‘King IV’), describes corporate governance as “the exercise of ethical and effective leadership by the governing body” of an organisation. Why then is corporate governance still viewed by many organisations as a process which increases bureaucracy and drives a ‘tick box’ exercise?
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Sustainable Development Goals: Can South Africa do it?
The impacts of the widely broadcasted activities that South African citizens witnessed regarding the ‘Nenegate blunder’ will be felt hardest amongst the poor, and for many years to come. And this is with no thanks to President Jacob Zuma. President Zuma singularly decided to remove Minister Nene as South Africa’s Finance Minister in December 2015 — seemingly with no proper reason — and following this move, half a trillion Rand was wiped off the value of South African stocks and bonds in just two days.
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The shareholder spring returns
Compensation issues are again dominating annual meeting season. Have shareholders begun to assert their rights more aggressively, or have companies learned nothing from years of dialogue?
An explosive start to this year’s proxy season has many observers calling 2016 the second Shareholder Spring. Significant opposition to compensation at companies such as BP, Citigroup, Anglo American and Smith & Nephew has caused embarrassment and surprise, while more investors seem willing not only to oppose management in key votes, but to engage in very public debates on the subject.
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Spotlight on boards – An interview with James McRitchie, publisher of CorpGov.net and Shareholder Advocate
What motivates you to keep such a close eye on the companies you invest in, and indeed, to influence them?
Part of it is that I’d like to make money, and by influencing companies you can help them make more money. Of course, I also want to make society a better place, but it’s like how initially you had the Frederick Taylor school of management that said workers were replaceable parts – gradually companies realized that they were better off if employees brought their brains to work. Hopefully, companies will realize they will perform better if investors bring their brains to work as owners.
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ITIL – Agile IT Governance… What a Concept!
Since its release in 2011, ITIL V3 has become a mature, flexible and complete IT Governance standard that;
- Directly integrates with enterprise governance,
- Is flexible and agile for today’s business challenges
- Provides executives with a transparent means to monitor and manage the performance of IT investments and risks in real time.
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