Policy Governance

Policy Governance

Policy Governance is John Carver's model for Boards of Directors.

Carver maintains that his is the only systematic theory of boards ever produced. Early in his career, Carver began to search for a reliable guide to the work of a board. Although he found many books and articles on management, his research turned up little conceptual coherence about the proper role of the board of directors.

Over several decades and with the help of wife Miriam Carver, John Carver has defined the work of the board as the deciding of "ends" rather than "means." The board decides what good the organization is to produce, for what people and at what cost. It also defines limitations on managerial "means" for the Chief Executive Officer and then the board delegates the job of achieving its ends to the CEO. The CEO must pursue the board's ends without violating its "executive limitations."

Anyone who has ever served on a board or worked for a board has asked the question, "Where does the board's job end and the CEO's job begin?" Carver answers that question by distinguishing between "ends" and "means." The board's job is to decide the "ends" and the Chief Executive Officer's job is to work with employees to interpret and achieve more specific definitions of the board's ends. Further, the question is answered by conceiving of all decisions as a nested set—smaller ones within larger ones, with the board always beginning at the larger size and working "inward" to a stopping point that corresponds to its tolerance for all reasonable interpretations from that point on.

This theory of boards is original with Carver. The term "Policy Governance" is registered and protected. Carver allows others to use the term but he resists the efforts of others to redefine "Policy Governance" or to disregard its systematic nature. Although each application of Policy Governance is unique to the organization that is being governed, the Policy Governance model does not vary from setting to setting. For example, in every true application of Policy Governance the board represents the organization's "ownership" as it defines the good that the organization is supposed to produce.

Carver has written a number of books. "Boards That Make a Difference" is probably the best known but "Reinventing Your Board", published with Miriam Carver in a new edition in 2006, is the easiest for a beginner to understand. It also contains model board policies that can be modified to fit most organizations.

External links

* [http://www.carvergovernance.com/ John Carver's web-site]
* [http://www.policygovpartners.com/ Further Policy Governance Resources and Information]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Governance — relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance.It consists either of a separate process or of a specific part of management or leadership processes. Sometimes people set up a government to administer these… …   Wikipedia

  • Governance in higher education — refers to the means by which higher educational (also tertiary or postsecondary) institutions are formally organized and managed, though often there is a distinction between definitions of management and governance. Simply, university governance… …   Wikipedia

  • Policy Network — is a London based centre left international think tank. It is leading platform for long term strategic thinking, policymaking and international best practice, influencing policy debates in the UK, Europe and internationally. Its President is… …   Wikipedia

  • Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance — Governance, Risk, and Compliance or GRC is an increasingly recognized term that reflects a new way in which organizations can adopt an integrated approach to these three areas. However, this term is often positioned as a single business activity …   Wikipedia

  • Policy reform — Policy reform, in addition to its more general meanings, has been used to refer to a future scenario which relies on government action to correct economic market failures and to stimulate the technological investment necessary for sustainable… …   Wikipedia

  • Governance — (von frz. gouverner, „verwalten, leiten, erziehen“, aus lat. gubernare; gleichbedeutend griech. κυβερνάω /kybernáo: das Steuerruder führen; vgl. Kybernetik) – oft übersetzt als Regierungs , Amts bzw. Unternehmensführung –, auch… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Policy Network — Création : 2000 Siège : Londres Financement  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Policy network — Création 2000 Siège Londres Financement privé Site web http://www.policy network.net …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Governance Interoperability Framework — The Governance Interoperability Framework (GIF) is an open, standards based specification and set of technologies that describes and promotes interoperability among components of a service oriented architecture (SOA). GIF integrates SOA ecosystem …   Wikipedia

  • GOVERNANCE — Ottoman and Mandatory Periods (1880–1948) CENTRAL GOVERNMENT Ottoman Rule At the beginning of the period the Land of Israel was not a political or administrative unit; officially, there was no such entity as Palestine. The Ottoman Empire (see… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”