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Governance is concerned with how leaders manage stakeholder relationships in order to achieve economic goals as well as social and environmental objectives. Governance Leaders play an important role on a range of boards in the private sector (e.g. directors, NEDs), public sector (e.g. public appointments, governors) and voluntary sector (e.g. trusteeship, committee members). Transparent and effective governance and diversity is critical to the success of any board, especially in light of renowned corporate scandals and the recent financial crisis. Effective ‘Governance Leaders’ have to demonstrate responsible and ethical behaviour which meet the needs of shareholders, other stakeholders and the wider society.

Boards, being the ‘mind and will’ of an organisation, perform more effectively when they include leaders from a range of backgrounds and perspectives. The boardroom is where all strategic decisions are made, risks are overseen and governance applied. It is vital that an effective, well governed and balanced board consists of a diverse blend of high quality individuals bringing a range of experience, skills and backgrounds to the table.

The aim of this module is to equip you with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to pursue a governance leadership position. This includes providing you with an opportunity to gain a critical understanding of the nature and importance of governance, ethics, benefits of a diverse board, role and contribution of governance leaders on boards and awareness of practices that can be adopted to achieve more effective governance

The module content consists of:

Analysis

Exploring leadership in governance – role, contribution and impact;
Good governance, principles, frameworks and codes in an international context;
Perspectives on whom an organisation serves (Shareholder vs. Stakeholder view) in different international contexts (e.g. Examples and cases from UK, USA, Japan, Germany)

Development

Understanding behavioural biases;
Personal effectiveness and preparation for board-level opportunities;
The effective governance leader toolkit

Implementation

Governance and diversity – theory and practice;
Financial stewardship, risk & accountability;
Ethics & the social responsible board in a global context;
Duties, legal constraints and powers of different types of governance leaders

Performance Review

Strategic thinking, assessing board performance & reporting
The concept of the learning board – organisational change, effective communication & appraisal

LO1: Critically evaluate, utilising a best practice competencies framework, gaps between your current knowledge, skills and mind-set and the required competencies that a governance leader needs to perform effectively as a board member

LO2: Critically review the emergence and importance of governance and diversity in the context of recent governance failures, public policy and CSR trends and its implications on the design of board governance structures, systems and practice

LO3: Critically assess the rationale and effectiveness of relevant governance principles, frameworks, codes, regulations and duties of a governance leaders in different organisation, sectors and international contexts

LO4: Critically appraise the relationship between ethics, financial stewardship, social responsibility, and governance and evaluate why these concepts have become fundamental considerations at board level & embedded in contemporary management

LO5: Critically evaluate the sources of behavioural biases in decision-making, board performance and organisational learning