Governance Archives - CGI - Corporate Governance Institute

THE RIGHT TO PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

January 21, 2020 By Terry Booysen Leave a Comment

By Terrance Mark Booysen and reviewed by Nicholas Hall (Associate: Michalsons Attorneys)

Last year there was a flurry of activity when it was reported that a well-known South African cell phone company closed its e-billing portal over an alleged security breach. Considering the potential that their customer’s billing information could have become exposed, the mobile operator was quick to respond. Soon thereafter the company implemented data encryption, together with customer identification login confirmation facilities. Then there was the case of the City of Johannesburg who reportedly had massive security flaws where allegedly it was possible for non-employees to read its customer’s billing information, furthermore gaining access to the customer’s name, account numbers and contact details.
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Boards – Fatally Flawed (and Why That’s Good)

January 21, 2020 By Ralph Ward Leave a Comment

At Boardroom INSIDER, I tend not to cover the world of academic research into corporate governance very often. Our emphasis is on the nuts and bolts of board operation, as opposed to concepts such as “agency theory” and reviews of the literature.

But this shouldn’t imply that the world’s academic researchers are not doing important spadework in uncovering how boards function, and how they can better perform their roles. One recent paper offers a bracing reality check on what’s right (and wrong) with our corporate board model. Steven Boivie, of Texas A&M University and a group of researchers have published a paper with the intriguing title “Are Boards Designed to Fail?”
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Scant regard for corporate governance in South Africa

January 19, 2020 By Terry Booysen Leave a Comment

With the recent findings of the Constitutional Court pertaining to the Nkandla matter, the subject of corporate governance has intensified and the topic has featured in media headlines, talk-shows and public debates across South Africa. Notwithstanding these recent events, have boards and their directors taken the issues attached to corporate governance seriously enough; particularly since the debacles attached to SAA, PRASA, Eskom, SABC and so many others which have been mired with alleged poor governance practices. And whilst there are endless regulations being passed — with yet another new set of governance recommendations being published through King IV — many organisations and their leadership continue their laissez-faire attitude with scant regard for good governance and accountability.
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Ethics and Governance in Project Management: Small Sins Allowed and the Line of Impunity

January 19, 2020 By Eduardo Leave a Comment

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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Sustainable Development Goals: Can South Africa do it?

January 17, 2020 By Terry Booysen Leave a Comment

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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WHY DO COMPANIES WALK ‘BACKWARDS INTO THE FUTURE’?

January 8, 2020 By Terry Booysen Leave a Comment

By Terrance M. Booysen and Paul Aucamp (CGF Lead Independent Consultant)

How can this possibly be true? Unfortunately, many companies structure strategic planning only as annual processes, ultimately as a precursor to increase the following year’s budget by for example ten percent. At the heart of this approach is a process that extrapolates the organisation’s future; it does nothing to change the nature or the strategic direction of the company. Clearly, no one in their right mind will project themselves out of existence! This is the spirit of human nature; namely to survive. The big question in business is therefore: does strategy really matter if you end up in the same place?
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The Trust Question: Can Barclays Rebuild the Brand?

January 7, 2020 By Barbara Kimmel Leave a Comment

Article appeared last week on The FCPA blog.

Jes Staley is the newly appointed American CEO of the beleaguered British Barclays Bank. He recently said, “I do believe that trust is returning to our institution. But we will never rest, we are never done. We have to focus on building that trust every day.”
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WORKPLACE STRESS: A REAL ORGANISATIONAL RISK

December 31, 2019 By Terry Booysen 1 Comment

Article by Dr Dicky Els and Terrance M. Booysen

It is imperative that the impact of work-related stress and the negative impact of distress be incorporated into the organisation’s enterprise-wide risk management framework. A Bloomberg study conducted in 2013 revealed that South Africa is the second-most ‘stressed’ country out of a study of 74 countries. This is hardly surprising given the high prevalence of political instability, economic uncertainty, high unemployment and growing crime rates in South Africa. The recent cabinet reshuffle and the decision of Standard & Poor’s (S&P), including Fitch rating agencies to downgrade the country’s credit rating below investment grade to BB+ further exacerbates the political and economic uncertainty in South Africa.
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POLYGRAPH TESTING: IS IT A LEGITIMATE MEANS TO CURTAIL CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE WORKPLACE?

December 31, 2019 By Terry Booysen Leave a Comment

By Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Osborne Molatudi (Partner: Hogan Lovells)

On a worldwide basis, criminal activity in the workplace — detected or undetected — is at an all-time high. Fraud, corruption and other forms of economic crimes are rife, and perceptions of increasing illicit behaviour are backed by reputable subject matter experts and research agencies, with alarming statistics. Research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) show that workplace fraud has steadily increased between 2012 and 2016. In 2012, case studies showed that the median loss caused by workplace related occupational fraud was US$140,000. But by 2016, figures showed that the median loss caused by such cases had increased to US$150,000.
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Is Your Business Performance Lack Luster? Then Start at the Top

December 30, 2019 By Sigrid Valk-Feeney Leave a Comment

In many businesses where performance does not reach the desired targets you will have finger pointing. It is a natural reaction at all levels, there is always another person, department or group that is the reason why performance targets are not achieved. In my experience, when business performance is lacking the first place I start is at the top, the Board of Directors.
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