Making Operational Governance Count !!!

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I was reading the “Operational Governance” note forwarded by my Boss few days ago.

I found the note to be very interesting, as I also felt my thoughts too were more or less on similar

lines, in the recent months..

After I finished reading the article, which was released by IRCA/CQI, I started reading more

discussion threads on the topic.

What is emerging from my search, is a strongly felt need across the globe, to build strong

operational governance protocols into organizational systems. This information was indeed my

food for thought.

Just going back to my 23 years on Consulting experience, I had seen all phases of organizational

systems building exercise – be it defining processes, building systems, building controls,

developing strategies etc..

I was trying to visualize the gap based on what I was reading and then some clarity is emerging

in my mind !!!

While we, as a team, were working on building many of those systems mentioned above

including governance related issues, at the top management level, at clients places, I have

realized that we have failed to address Operational Governance protocols.

I strongly feel that Corporate Governance, as a tool, has never taken off in the true spirit and

none of the SME businesses, especially in the Indian context , ever understood what Corporate

Governance is all about…The so called large enterprises too have failed to understand and

implement the corporate governance requirements.

The kind of corporate wars, team conflicts, power struggles that we are witnessing in today’s

corporate environment are attributed to lack of Governance protocols.

While all of us have attributed lack of Governance to Management Teams failure, none us

realized that defining Governance at the strategy level alone doesn’t help unless the Operational

Teams are also looped into the exercise to address and deliver the overall organizational

Governance protocols..

Since Operational teams are the actual touch points of many stakeholders of the business, they

are the best teams to understand and implement Governance protocols at functional levels..

This scenario is not India specific as my search revealed that it’s a global scenario.

Making Operational Governance Count !!!

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IRCA article beautifully defines the need for Operational Governance as follows :

“Organizations once respected by society have come under intense scrutiny in recent times;

with shortfalls in management, ranging from product and service performance, compliance

to safety matters, ethical decision making and supply chain fraud being found out and

misbehavior punished. Where once the focus was financial performance and shareholder

value, the 21st century has ushered in a societal focus on total organizational performance

and impact with regard to a much wider range of stakeholders”

This is the crux of the problem now across the globe. While businesses were running after

financial numbers, clocking top lines and bottom lines, it looks like they let go of the

fundamentals of business ethics - #ResponsbileWayOf DoingBusiness.

It takes few Corporate Governance Scandals, corporate power struggles , business failures

across the globe to make us realize that all is not well in the corporate businesses. As IRCA’s

release rightly said Businesses have to be tuned in to meet Societal Obligations, Societal focus

to win back the trust they have lost is the last century.

Let’s all focus on building 21st century businesses by bringing in those #OperationalGovernance

protocols. To drive Operational Governance, it is critical that organizations should focus on

building good leaders too without whom, building Governance into the businesses may be

tough. What is ailing businesses across the globe now is evidently #Leadership crisis. Unless we

address this, bringing Governance into business is of no use. Leaders are the ones who will have

to drive and monitor the Operational Governance systems in businesses.

In the Indian Context, I have been voicing my views of late, about the need to promote and build

#ResponsibleManufacturing #ResponsibleHealthCare #ResponsibleIT/ITES etc environment in

the country.

#Responsibility and #Governance are very closely linked and both have “Accountability” factor

linked into the definition. If #MakeInIndia momentum has to be sustained , GOI has to motivate

the Entrepreneurial community in the country to look at #ResponsibleWaysOfDoingBusiness !!!

About the Author :

Rama Venugopal heads Value Added Corporate Services P Ltd, a 26 year old Chennai based

Management Consulting Organisation. Please write to her for more information on

#OperationalGovernance – rama@valueadded.in