Governance
Governance deals with how a business will be governed. Usually the owners govern their business through the election of a Board of Directors (Board of Managers) who in turn elect officers and hire the person to manage the business (i.e., CEO).
Governance is a significant issue for value-added business. The success of the business depends on how efficiently and effectively the business is governed.
AgMRC files on governance are listed below:
- Introduction to Governance
- The Role of the Board of Directors
- Recruiting, Selecting and Developing Board Members and Managers
- Board of Director Evaluations
- Business Strategy and the Board of Directors
- Governance Issues Unique to Start-up Businesses
- Board of Director Educational Needs
For more information on this topic, see the links listed below of articles posted on related Web sites.
Board Member Roles & Responsibilities
- Board of Directors – Small Business Notes -- A company's board of directors helps management develop business plans, policy objectives and business strategy.
- Director Roles and Responsibilities – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to the responsibilities of a board member in an agricultural cooperative.
- Directors’ Legal Handbook – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is an overview of the legal responsibilities of a member of the board of directors in a cooperative.
- Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance – HBS Working Knowledge -- Is business malfeasance always the board's fault? Everyone has a stake in ethical behavior and moral reasoning.
- What is the Difference Between an Advisory Committee and a Board (pdf) – Penn State University Extension -- A side-by-side comparison of the two.
- Evaluating Cooperative Managers – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to developing an evaluation process for the cooperative manager.
- Director Liability: An Overview for Directors of Ag. Cooperative – Center for Cooperatives, University of California -- A cooperative's director is a fiduciary and owes a fiduciary duty to the cooperative and its members.
- Cooperative Director Compensation – Center for Cooperatives, University of California -- Describes and compares director compensation practices by California and non-California agricultural cooperatives and investor-owned businesses in the food system.
Board Meetings
- Building the Board Packet – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide for preparing the paper material for a board of director's meeting.
- Effective Decision Making in the Board Room – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet outlines decision tools for cooperative board members.
- Effective Board Meetings – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to effective board meetings.
Improving the Board Functions
- How to Build a Better Board – HBS Working Knowledge -- Boards need to work smarter and with a design in mind.
- Evaluating the Board – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to self-evaluation for cooperative board members.
- Fixing Corporate Governance: A Roundtable Discussion at Harvard Business School – HBS Working Knowledge -- Bad business practices on a huge scale have made corporate governance Topic A of late.
- Mapping Your Board's Effectiveness – HBS Working Knowledge -- To be effective, board members must understand their company’s strategy.
- Do the Right Thing – HBS Working Knowledge -- How does a commitment to "do the right thing" as it's applied to customers, employees and other stakeholders affect an organization's daily decision making?
- What Leaders Need to Do to Restore Investor Confidence – HBS Working Knowledge -- Where corporate ethics are concerned, the buck stops with the CEO. How corporate malfeasance found a foothold and ways that all companies can restore trust.
- Making the Right Call – Manager’s Notebook -- Establish company principles, implement a process and respond to problems, and you are less likely to hear a whistle blow.
