Driving organisational performance

The newly launched Centre for Governance Excellence and Innovation will showcase leading content on key governance issues.

On 15 October 2014, the Australian Institute of Company Directors launched the Centre for Governance Excellence and Innovation (CGEI). The CGEI is a pre-eminent Australian resource centre for world-class governance. The CGEI will showcase leading content on key governance issues and champion new thinking about governance innovation that drives organisational performance. 

“The establishment of the CGEI provides a hub of world-class thinking and content, and a go-to place for stakeholders to engage in our leadership agenda. It provides an important catalyst for our ongoing leadership role in promoting excellence in governance to achieve economic impact and social benefit,” says Gabrielle
Schroder GAICD, national manager, board and corporate services at Company Directors.

Schroder notes that a key role of the CGEI is to lead debate on how good governance impacts on organisational outcomes. “Putting the spotlight on how good governance impacts performance is critical to business in our rapidly changing environment. 

“Corporate governance needs to be looked at holistically. Achieving excellence in governance for performance impact is a whole-of-business issue — it extends across the breadth of the organisation, giving it the focus, alignment, drive and resilience required to achieve long-term, sustainable value creation.”  

To further an understanding of this potential impact, Company Directors recently commissioned research into the various governance levers that boards use to drive performance outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between governance and performance, and the ways in which this relationship may differ between sectors.

The research will be released in 2015.

Unique offering

It is the dual focus of the CGEI on content creation and curation that makes it unique. Louise Pocock MAICD, senior specialist, Centre for Governance Excellence and Innovation says: “We curate and comment on content from leading global sources and we create or commission content where we believe there are information gaps. Content included in the CGEI is relevant to leading boards and directors and is likely to affect their thinking or behaviour. It is current and may challenge conventional thinking on governance issues.”

Using the web portal for the CGEI is simple as it is structured around three key areas:

External environment

It is fundamental that directors see and respond to the factors shaping boardroom practices today and tomorrow. These are the key developments in the external environment impacting on boardroom practices, including international, regulatory, political, economic, cultural and technology impacts.

Practice of governance

The effective practice of governance requires vigilance. Directors need to appreciate current governance practices, understand what world class looks like, and have an eye to future developments.

Governance driving performance

Corporate governance is increasingly recognised as a key driver of organisational performance and objectives. Leading directors are active in the pursuit of value creation. They are conscious of the broader social and economic value of good governance.

Key insights on the web portal will be updated monthly showcasing current and cutting edge content on leading governance practices from around the world.