Services

Managerial governance and decision making

In projects, and in the day-to-day running of the business, the ability of managers at all levels to make well informed, well thought through, and timely decisions is a critical success factor for maintaining momentum and focus. Decisions taken in haste, without consideration of all stakeholder interests, or after lengthy delays can cause disruption to the work and disaffection of staff.

In the IT function for example, the policies and plans that you put in place to leverage Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for sustainable growth and the way in which you organize and manage your ICT initiatives, are fundamental to achieving your intended outcomes. Maintaining a tight link from policy through to implementation, effective plans, appropriate governance and implementation methods, will ensure that your intent is preserved and goals are achieved. To do this you will need a structured approach to developing policies, plans and designing the most appropriate management, operating, and sourcing models, whether it be centralized, distributed, or centre-led.

In addition to a well-designed operating model, there are two important capabilities which organisations develop to ensure that they make the right decisions at the right time. The first is a system of governance which ensures all stakeholder interests are factored into decisions - transparently. The second is a structured approach to decision making which is based on principles of ethics and which over time becomes second nature.

Our experience in large, time critical, programs involving hundreds of millions of dollars of investment, provides us with a set of principles and techniques for designing effective governance structures and decision making frameworks. Our approach is based on an ethical decision making framework which aims to reach the best possible outcome recognising the interests of all stakeholders.

Example scenarios :

• Establishing a governance model for a joint venture.
• Establishing a governance model for a large program spanning multiple business units with discrete P&L accountabilities.
• Establishing a governance model for a newly centralised or de-centralised IT operating model.

wasp nest in prickly pear leaves

"Management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them."

Paul Hawken, Growing a Business