Corporate Governance

摘要

RECENT COLLAPSES and partial failures of major listed companies serve to keep the topic of corporate governance in the public spotlight. Accompanying this phenomenon has been a call for greater regulation with the view that by creating a set of new rules greater compliance will result. However, with increasing regulatory requirements come resistance and a greater internal focus on compliance often to the detriment of innovation and performance. There is another way, outlined in Standards Australia's newly revised Handbook entitled Governance, Risk Management and Control Assurance, in the form of a Control Assurance Plan. The revisions include new terminology for parts of the Plan with a glossary of terms, and a clearer conceptual linkage between the management of risk, planning and performance. The good news is that the Control Assurance Plan promotes sound governance by refining and aligning current management practices. Implementation therefore can be accomplished within existing resources and without additional infrastructure.