Tag: CGF Research Institute

The recent Checkers "Simple Truth" campaign, featuring British chef Jamie Oliver, Springbok rugby stars Pieter-Steph du Toit and Trevor Nyakane, and former Carte Blanche anchor Devi Sankaree Govender, has sparked discussion. The debate extends beyond marketing to governance.

Governance conversations everywhere - in boardrooms, conferences, and social platforms - are often punctuated by phrases such as “best practice”, “governance with purpose” and “future-ready boards.” Yet good intentions alone rarely change outcomes.

In today’s fast-paced and complex governance environment, the traditional annual board work plan remains a useful tool. The traditional annual board work plan structures routine responsibilities, such as scheduling board evaluations, reviewing policies, and approving annual financial statements and budgets. However, the board work plan’s largely static nature often fails to capture the fluid realities of modern governance.

In recent years, corporate governance has become a hot topic following scandals like Steinhoff, Tongaat Hulett and many others. Despite increased attention, significant and material progress in improving governance practices across organisations remains alarmingly scarce.

Good governance helps an organisation thrive in a competitive environment. It ensures transparency, efficiency, and ethical integrity in organisational operations. Corporate governance also enables executive management to execute strategic decisions effectively. However, failing to adopt a robust digitised governance framework weakens the board’s oversight capabilities.

Digital governance frameworks are needed to address disjointed oversight and enhance decision-making in today’s complex corporate environments. Despite public outcries about corruption and demands for accountability, the importance of good corporate governance continues to be trivialised.

While the position of Company Secretary has always been important within an organisation, especially from an administrative perspective, the Company Secretary’s role and scope of responsibility has grown over the years from an ‘efficient administrator’ to a ‘governance leader’.

In the context of the proposed changes set out in the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Amendment Bill (POCDATARA Bill) currently before parliament, if it is passed in its current form, this indeed may become the 'final straw that breaks the camel’s back', and all aspirations of holding the South African government to account for poor or no governance may come to an end.

The only constant in a tech-driven world is change. Rapid advances in technology are driving change in the workplace. To remain competitive, businesses are having to implement new strategies that include technology, upskilling their workforce, employing agile leaders and promoting a culture of lifelong learning among managers and other employees.

Management guru, Peter Drucker, is often quoted as saying, 'If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage [or improve] it'. Constructive feedback is integral to a process of development, growth and improvement, not least in an organisational setting, and especially in the case of boards of directors.