info@fractal-consulting.com
Governance Projects
Designing Governance for a Virtual Joint Venture
A large IT provider bidding for a large government contract needed a governance structure that would allow it to work effectively alongside the existing in house IT teams. A ladder governance structure provided a rigorous framework for establishing joint development and accountability in decision making, coupled with an ability to introduce innovations at different levels, so that the needs of governance didn't stifle change and flexibility.
Designing Governance in a Mutual Financial Services Provider
This organisation was facing a series of strategic challenges: an opportunity to acquire a similar provider, uncertainty about its financial backers and an increase in regulation. Decision making by the board had become focused on operational issues and these strategic issues were being neglected. Redesigning the governance structure allowed a more flexible approach with teams delegated to address specific strategic and performance issues being brought together to provide a holistic picture for decision making.
Governance in a Group Structure
A group had been developed from a parent company and two new business units, but the board found that there was considerable friction between the original company and the two new units. An analysis of the governance structure showed that the group management viewed the whole business as synonymous with the original parent business. This meant that the strategy of the group and group’s resources tended to be focused on the parent company, and the other units in the group were neglected. The project showed the need for a strategic capacity for each of the three units and for the integration of these into a strategy for the group as whole entity.
Improving Governance in a Group
In this growing industrial group, the divisional managing directors were acting principally as postmen for information to and from the subsidiaries. They aggregated financial data and passed on operational information up the line, and passed Group policy decisions down the line. Changing the structure of the divisions to reflect operational and market influences, allowed the directors to use their management expertise to develop and implement strategies for their own divisions and to improve the interactions between their division and their neighbours. The divisional teams started to add value to the company rather than merely adding cost.
Improving Governance in an International Metals Company
The functional structure of this company had led to fragmentation in decision-making, with poor communication between managers focused on operations and those focused on the market. This led to an imbalance between those managers concerned with current issues, and those concerned with creating the company’s future. Developing the communications between these activities meant that the strategy of the organisation was integrated as a whole.
Improving Organisational & Governance Structures in a Food Manufacturer
This was a multi-disciplinary project to assess and redesign the management structure in this growing food manufacturer. As well as identifying major weaknesses in the operations structure, and the capacity for strategic development, other aspects tackled included revision and development of HR processes and, financial control and development of middle managers.
Governance Audit of Nuclear Waste Management – UK & France
This EU funded project involved carrying out an organisational audit of the nuclear waste management systems in both France and the UK. The purpose was to understand the structural underpinnings of decision-making, and specifically how this related to the enormous problems of public confidence that affect the industry. This project is a good example of the ability of the Organisational Audit approach to deal with very complex situations, since in neither country is the problem of Nuclear Waste owned by any one organisation. Outcomes from the study were a set of recommendations in each case for improving the structure of decision making to improve the transparency and accountability of the system.
Developing Governance Audit Methodology for a National Government
The enormous and endemic problems of trying to establish control and stability in a volatile political environment led to this World Bank sponsored skills transfer project for the Columbian government. A methodology was developed using Viable Systems Modelling to help the Columbian Contraloria to analyse and evaluate the structural and communications problems of their public sector organisations. This was then developed as training programme and a handbook.