Reputation and the Board: Bridging the Gap

Thank you to all those who attended the annual Henley Reputation Conference last week. The theme was 'Bridging the Gap' between the organisation and the board. An excellent day run by the John Madejski Centre for Reputation saw some excellent presentations and strong debate amongst the mainly private sector delegates.

On behalf of the Governance Beyond Boardroom network, I gave a presentation and panel session on the results of the project. For a version of the presentation, see here.

The panel session afterwards brought together Simon Culhane (Chief Executive, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment) and Peter Montagnon (Senior Investment Adviser, Financial Reporting Council). The panel tackled two particularly pertinent questions from the practitioner audience:

1. How do you apply the analysis of governance culture?
The audience seemed keen to see the fuller toolkit approach to be posted soon on the project's website. However, a delegate from a big four bank said that their induction focuses on the corporate culture but this learning fizzles after a few months when it is not backed up by the behaviour of senior managers. She concluded that there is a disconnect in large banks between what the HR function tries to promote in terms of a strong governance culture and what operational functions actually practice. A number of other delegates from FTSE100 companies agreed with this sentiment.

2. Does the person who draws up the corporate culture own the governance function?
This question focuses on an essential causal direction and is particularly pertinent in light of the Mansion House conference last month (see previous post). While the event was held under Chatham House rules (so I cannot attribute comments), there was a split in the debate between those who argued that culture is a supporting part of the GRC function and those who believed that governance rules and procedures should be tailored towards producing a culture that supports board strategy. Of course, there is considerable crossover here and the potential for some productive future research.

Both questions are key for organisations seeking to realign their governance culture with corporate strategy. Please let me know if these themes chime with your organisation's requirements so we can take forward the project's work together.