Global Quality Forums started talking about why businesses across the globe are failing, getting into conflicts, consumers losing trust of products and services , reasons for product failures etc on quality and safety grounds !!! Having defined Corporate Governance protocols, businesses across the globe are witnessing Board room struggles, Global product recalls, Business conflicts etc... Global thought leaders have attributed to this crisis to lack of defined Operational governance protocols, Since Corporate Governance protocols were laid down for Board room members, they have failed to execute the strategies and Operational teams were not looped in to Governance issues....this is found to be major reason for business failures , corporate blues across the globe.. I have just created my thought on #OperationalGovernance and what is needed from Indian scenario.

1. Making Operational Governance Count !!!
1 | P a g e
I was reading the “Operational Governance” note forwarded by my Boss few days ago.
I found the note to be very interesting, as I also felt my thoughts too were more or less on similar
lines, in the recent months..
After I finished reading the article, which was released by IRCA/CQI, I started reading more
discussion threads on the topic.
What is emerging from my search, is a strongly felt need across the globe, to build strong
operational governance protocols into organizational systems. This information was indeed my
food for thought.
Just going back to my 23 years on Consulting experience, I had seen all phases of organizational
systems building exercise – be it defining processes, building systems, building controls,
developing strategies etc..
I was trying to visualize the gap based on what I was reading and then some clarity is emerging
in my mind !!!
While we, as a team, were working on building many of those systems mentioned above
including governance related issues, at the top management level, at clients places, I have
realized that we have failed to address Operational Governance protocols.
I strongly feel that Corporate Governance, as a tool, has never taken off in the true spirit and
none of the SME businesses, especially in the Indian context , ever understood what Corporate
Governance is all about…The so called large enterprises too have failed to understand and
implement the corporate governance requirements.
The kind of corporate wars, team conflicts, power struggles that we are witnessing in today’s
corporate environment are attributed to lack of Governance protocols.
While all of us have attributed lack of Governance to Management Teams failure, none us
realized that defining Governance at the strategy level alone doesn’t helpunless the Operational
Teams are also looped into the exercise to address and deliver the overall organizational
Governance protocols..
Since Operational teams are the actual touch points of many stakeholders of the business, they
are the best teams to understand and implement Governance protocols at functional levels..
This scenario is not India specific as my search revealed that it’s a global scenario.

2. Making Operational Governance Count !!!
2 | P a g e
IRCA article beautifully defines the need for Operational Governance as follows :
“Organizations once respected by society have come under intense scrutiny in recent times;
with shortfalls in management, ranging from product and service performance, compliance
to safety matters, ethical decision making and supply chain fraud being found out and
misbehavior punished. Where once the focus was financial performance and shareholder
value, the 21st century has ushered in a societal focus on total organizational performance
and impact with regard to a much wider range of stakeholders”
This is the crux of the problem now across the globe. While businesses were running after
financial numbers, clocking top lines and bottom lines, it looks like they let go of the
fundamentals of business ethics - #ResponsbileWayOf DoingBusiness.
It takes few Corporate Governance Scandals, corporate power struggles , business failures
across the globe to make us realize that all is not well in the corporate businesses. As IRCA’s
release rightly said Businesses have to be tuned in to meet Societal Obligations, Societal focus
to win back the trust they have lost is the last century.
Let’s all focus on building 21st century businesses by bringing in those #OperationalGovernance
protocols. To drive Operational Governance, it is critical that organizations should focus on
building good leaders too without whom, building Governance into the businesses may be
tough. What is ailing businesses across the globe now is evidently #Leadership crisis. Unless we
address this, bringing Governance into business is of no use. Leaders are the ones who will have
to drive and monitor the Operational Governance systems in businesses.
In the Indian Context, I have been voicing my views of late, about the need to promote and build
#ResponsibleManufacturing #ResponsibleHealthCare #ResponsibleIT/ITES etc environment in
the country.
#Responsibility and #Governance are very closely linked and both have “Accountability” factor
linked into the definition. If #MakeInIndia momentum has to be sustained , GOI has to motivate
the Entrepreneurial community in the country to look at #ResponsibleWaysOfDoingBusiness !!!
About the Author :
Rama Venugopal heads Value Added Corporate Services P Ltd, a 26 year old Chennai based
Management Consulting Organisation. Please write to her for more information on
#OperationalGovernance – rama@valueadded.in