Guide To Good Governance

BEST SELLER This BEST SELLIING book provides a comprehensive guide to effective governance for board members and their senior executives. The author offers a new framework for understanding boards and proposes practices that boards can use to fulfill their stewardship responsibilities, strengthen board performance and improve organizational effectiveness. The book discusses the basics of governance - what it is and why it matters; essential duties and liabilities of the board and its members; and the essentials of an effective board/management partnership. It provides detailed guidance on the seven primary areas of board responsibility: i) mission and planning; ii) financial stewardship; iii) human resources stewardship; iv) performance monitoring and accountability; v) community representation and advocacy; vi) risk management; and, vii) managing 'critical events' and 'transitional phases'. It discusses the legal structure of nonprofits, who owns them and how to organize for accountable governance. Governing for Results will assist boards in dealing with recurring issues around board and committee structures; their terms of reference and effective use; and job descriptions for key officers. The discussion of board development, board management, decision-making and organizational culture will prove invaluable in helping many boards deal with these complex issues. A discussion of the essential principles of governing for results includes a logical framework for planning and evaluation. The book provides tools that can help boards decide which governance practices will best fit their particular organization and strengthen their performance as a governing body. It outlines the factors that may interfere with a board's ability to adopt appropriate governance practices and presents twelve keys to successful governance that were identified through research. It offers a sample letter of agreement for new board members, and samples of an agenda for board meetings, an oath of confidentiality, a values statement, conflict of interest and donor confidentiality policies, a template for financial monitoring, self-assessment tools for the board and individual directors and a basic guide to 'Rules of Order' for conduct of meetings. It also provides outlines for comprehensive by laws and governance policies, and references to additional resources. Although this book is intended to fill a gap in the resources available to volunteer members of nonprofit boards of directors, much of its guidance will also be useful for directors of public and private sector corporations. The strong research base underpinning this work also makes it of interest to researchers, academics, and consultants. It adds perspective to the debate about governance models and offers guidance to board members with respect to board structure, responsiblities, governance practices, and problems that commonly afflict boards. It is designed as a user-friendly guide for busy directors and executives who want concise, compact and well-researched answers to perennially troubling questions about governance, the role of boards and their relationship to staff.

Build a more effective board with insight from the forefront of corporate governance The Handbook of Board Governance provides comprehensive, expert-led coverage of all aspects of corporate governance for public, nonprofit, and private boards. Written by collaboration among subject matter experts, this book combines academic rigor and practitioner experience to provide thorough guidance and deep insight. From diversity, effectiveness, and responsibilities, to compensation, succession planning, and financial literacy, the topics are at once broad-ranging and highly relevant to current and aspiring directors. The coverage applies to governance at public companies, private and small or medium companies, state-owned enterprises, family owned organizations, and more, to ensure complete and clear guidance on a diverse range of issues. An all-star contributor list including Ram Charan, Bob Monks, Nell Minow, and Mark Nadler, among others, gives you the insight of thought leaders in the areas relevant to your organization. A well-functioning board is essential to an organization’s achievement. Whether the goal is furthering a mission or dominating a market, the board’s composition, strategy, and practices are a determining factor in the organization’s ultimate success. This guide provides the information essential to building a board that works. Delve into the board’s strategic role in value creation Gain useful insight into compensation, risk, accountability, legal obligations Understand the many competencies required of an effective director Get up to speed on blind spots, trendspotting, and social media in the board room The board is responsible for a vast and varied collection of duties, but the singular mission is to push the organization forward. Poor organization, one-sided composition, inefficient practices, and ineffective oversight detract from that mission, but all can be avoided. The Handbook of Board Governance provides practical guidance and expert insight relevant to board members across the spectrum.

This book explores the creation, development, and impact of the concept of 'good governance'. It argues that, alongside the ideas of the rule of law and democracy, good governance acts as a third conceptual cornerstone of the modern state. Good governance can be viewed as a multilevel concept influenced by regional and international legal developments while being grounded in national administrative law. The book presents six principles of good governance: properness, transparency, participation, effectiveness, accountability, and human rights. The development of each of these principles on the national level is explored in a wide range of European contexts, and in Australia, Canada, and South Africa. As well as offering a fully up-to-date and comprehensive overview of administrative law in different jurisdictions, the book compares the implementation of the principles of good governance, taking into account international and European administrative law developments.

Effective project decision making is recognised as a key feature of successful projects. Ineffective decision making leads to project delay and failure. Project Governance takes readers through the logical steps required for the establishment of a project governance framework for a project or organisation. Starting with problems typical of ineffective project governance, it develops a set of principles designed to overcome these problems and builds a framework based on these principles. This comprehensive guide explains how to populate the framework effectively, provides the accountabilities and responsibilities of the main roles , and describes how to integrate the project governance framework into the organisation. Whether you are a project management practitioner or a student of project management, the lessons learned in this valuable handbook make for essential reading.

Good Governance is a Choice is a book about, and for, boards of public and non-profit organizations. Its central focus is on public school boards, but the governing model it introduces, Coherent Governance , is applicable to any board of any type. The model offers a process for boards to control operational decisions without making them, allowing them to spend the dominant part of their time on what matters.

Praise for Corporate Governance Best Practices "A thorough and thoughtful guidebook on the governance lay of the land." -Professor Charles M. Elson, Woolard Chair in Corporate Governance and Director of Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware "Frederick Lipman provides a comprehensive approach to best corporate governance practices for all organizations, which is current, thoughtful, and practical. Directors and corporate governance personnel of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations must read this book." -Professor Raphael H. Amit, Director of Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program, Wharton School of Business "Fred Lipman is considered by many directors and CEOs to be the preeminent expert on corporate governance in the country. His advice on this important topic, which impacts the boards of all types of organizations-public, private, and not-for-profit-is required reading in this day and age." -Frederick (Ted) Peters, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation (aka The Bryn Mawr Trust Company) "Boards of directors must be aware of best corporate governance practices in order to be effective in their oversight role and that is true for all not-for-profit organizations, including universities, as well as public and private companies. Frederick Lipman has authored a practical and comprehensive guide to 'best practices' for all boards of directors, which is required reading." -George P. Tsetsekos, PhD, Dean, Bennett S. LeBow College of Business, Drexel University "In a world of 'good,' 'better,' 'best,' where 'good' and 'better' may not be good enough, Fred Lipman's new book is a straightforward, and even comforting, compendium of BEST governance practices for serious directors. It is a handy and reassuring tool for the conscientious." -Allen R. Freedman, Audit Committee Chairman, StoneMor Partners LP,Founding Director, Association of Audit Committee Members

Updated in January 2015, the Good Governance Handbook is focused on the developing role of clinicians in management and resource allocation and should help existing and aspirant clinical, nurse and medical directors as well as those who support and challenge them to understand and apply good governance in a demanding environment. The guide includes good and weak answers to key questions on governance at board, division and department level as well as matrices that can be used by organisations to self assess their current position and progress towards excellence.