Governance | Teik Oh

Does my business need a Board of Directors?

Feb 16 2015

Larger companies have Boards of Directors to provide governance over the company. The question is, does your small or micro-business need a Board?

Boards of Directors have different roles from company management. Directors provide a layer of governance while management provide the leadership over the operations of the company. Directors provide strategic oversight not operational management. Directors set the company’s strategic goals, vision and direction, its limitations of purpose, and the accountability frameworks, and assess management’s performance in following strategy and accountability. Management on the other hand oversee the day to day operations and allocates resources in the pursuit of strategy.

Clearly larger corporations need this distinct role, especially if they report to shareholders who do not have a working knowledge of the day to day operations of the company. In this way Boards provide transparency for stakeholders.

On the other hand, in a small business that is owner-operated, the manager is usually the owner, and they may also be nominally “on the Board” if the small business is incorporated. Other micro-businesses may not even be incorporated and may only have family members as employees. Do these businesses need a Board? Read More

Comment 13

On a Board? Don’t be crooked, don’t be lazy!

Dec 30 2014

While separate legal jurisdictions have different corporate legislation and regulators, the responsibilities of a Board member are generally similar. These similarities not only apply to their legal responsibilities but also to the way they operate. Successful Boards work with due care and diligence, meet their legal obligations, and work towards the benefit of the shareholders.

The most important action of any Board is to appoint the senior management, and in particular the CEO. The choice of the CEO will reflect the strategic direction the Board has chosen to benefit the shareholders, and the choice of the person will reflect the type of culture the Board wishes to develop in the company. Indeed, the next most important act for any Board is the removal of the CEO if that is in the best interests of the shareholders.
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Comment 13

How to Implement Strategy

Dec 23 2014

Most organisations will have a strategic plan. Even if it is not a formal document, the organisation will have created a set of strategies over time, perhaps in the development of business plans, or to develop a new initiative, open a new branch or market, or even to develop internal skills and capacities.

However many of these strategies are simply not carried out to fruition. Strategic Plans, business plans or sets of well thought out strategies sit on the shelf with limited or minimal implementation. Often, this is because organisations don’t work on implementing strategies day to day. Organisations may be good at what they do on a day to day basis, such as buying, producing and selling, but these processes are conducted by functional areas who have functional responsibility for those areas. Implementation of strategies on the other hand are often cross-functional, interrupt existing responsibilities and processes, and inadequately resourced.

So, having spent scarce time and energy creating well thought out and well crafted strategies, what can you do to ensure that you are able to execute strategy effectively?
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Comment 13

WE are always right? Or keep questioning our old ways of thinking?

Dec 22 2014

For a brief moment women wearing burqas and niqabs were banned from sitting in the Australian Parliament’s public galleries. This was later changed as long as they revealed their faces for identification at security checkpoints.

In a show of protest three men wearing a Ku Klux Klan uniform, a motorcycle crash helmet and a niqab tried to enter the Parliament building. They were met by security outside who told them that the helmet and the KKK hat were not allowed inside whereas the person wearing the niqab would have to reveal their face but could then put the veil back on.

There followed a (mild) furore on social media about inequality and the overblown political correctness. People rallied around the cry that “we” shouldn’t bow to the powerful minority as “we” had our own standards.

However the social media commentators seem to have missed various points:-

1. They themselves had probably lived or visited overseas where local law meant that drug possession was punishable by death, that you couldn’t chew gum on the streets, that many other things we did not agree with was law, and we protested that “they” the majority should listen to “us”;

2. They recognised “our” team’s views and believed they were right but they did not recognise the “other” team’s views could possibly be right;

3. The burqa, hijab and niqab, along with saffron robes, and nuns’ habits are part of a particular religion’s accepted dress;

4. The KKK uniform is a recognisable uniform of hate and racism; and

5. A motorcycle crash helmet is a – hello – HELMET!

But what does this have to do with business?
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Comment 13

5 Key Social Media Policies

Dec 19 2014

Social media is now huge part of everyday life. Social media can be used as a positive tool in the branding of your organisation or it could become the bane of your organisation’s credibility. It’s not only a Facebook page to share food photos with old school friends and post emoticons.

Even though they may have a social media advertising strategy, some organisations ban it internally, not allowing staff to access social media during work hours, even to the extent of blocking it on the organisation’s IT systems. Why not embrace it, show your staff trust and give them responsibility to use social media responsibly?

Why not create and use a corporate social media policy? What should this policy include to ensure that people are using social media responsibly? Here are the 5 key items to include.
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Comment 13

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Category - Governance

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Does my business need a Board of Directors?

On a Board? Don’t be crooked, don’t be lazy!

How to Implement Strategy

WE are always right? Or keep questioning our old ways of thinking?

5 Key Social Media Policies