Gobierno

Graham Oakes
BScApp PhD DIC CEng FBCS


 


  Information
 Governance
 
Enabling
 good
 decision
 making
 in
 complex
 organisations
 

 
 
Organisations
 fail
 to
 manage
 information
 well
 for
 a
 variety
 of
 reasons
 –
 lack
 of
 skills,
 insufficient
  resources,
 unclear
 objectives, inconsistent
 processes,
 etc.
 
 However,
 many
 of
 these
 reasons
 stem
  from
 one
 root
 cause:
 different
 groups
 within
 the
 organisation
 make
 conflicting
 decisions
 about
  what
 to
 prioritise,
 which
 standards
 to
 apply,
 which
 processes
 and
 tools
 to
 use,
 and
 so on.
 
 These
  conflicting
 decisions
 in
 turn
 divert
 our
 resources
 from
 the
 most
 important
 issues,
 increase
 costs
  (e.g.
  by
  creating
  duplication
  and
  rework),
  slow
  down
  execution,
  and
  reduce
  the
  quality
  of
  the
  final
  outcomes.
 
  The
  politicking  that
  surrounds
  such
  decision-­‐making
  can
  also
  add
  significant
  costs
  (financial
  and
  human)
  and
  delays
  to
  the
  decision
  making
  process
  itself.
 
  Resolving
  these
  conflicts
 is
 the
 realm
 of
 governance.
  The
  Institute
  on
  Governance
 (www.iog.ca)
  has
  defined
  governance
  as
  “the
  process
  whereby
  societies
 or
 organizations
 make
 important
 decisions,
 determine
 whom
 they
 involve
 and
 how
 they
  render
  account”.
 
  Good
  governance
  allows
  organisations
  to
  make
  effective
  decisions,
  to
  make
  them  in
  an
  efficient
  way,
  and
  to
  monitor
  and
  refine
  the
  outcomes
  of
  these
  decisions
  so
  as
  to
  improve
  overall
  organisational
  performance.
 
  By
  separating
  the
  decision
  making
  process
  and
  associated
  roles
  and
  responsibilities
  from
  the  decision
  itself,
  and
  by
  agreeing
  this
  process
  up
  front,
  clear
  governance
  allows
  people
  to
  focus
  their
  energy
  on
  understanding
  the
  issues
  and
  identifying
  good
  solutions.
 
  Without
  this
  focus,
  people
  often
  spend
  a
  lot
  of
 time
  deciding
  who
  needs
  to
  be
  consulted
  and
  defining
  a
  decision
  making
  process,
  detracting
  their
  attention
  from
  the
 decision
 itself.
 
 At
 worst,
 decision
 making
 then
 degenerates
 into
 politicking
 and
 indecision.
  This
 white
 paper
 looks
 at
 some of
 the
 factors
 you
 might
 consider
 when
 establishing
 appropriate
  governance
 structures
 and
 processes
 for
 information
 management
 within
 your
 organisation.
  Graham
  Oakes
  helps
  people
  untangle
  complex
  technology,
  relationships,
  processes
  and
 governance.
 
 As
 an independent
 consultant,
 he
 helps
 organisations
 such
 as
 Oxfam,
  Sony
 Computer
 Entertainment,
 The
 Open
 University,
 the
 Council
 of
 Europe
 and
 the
 Port
  of
  Dover
  to
  define
  strategy,
  initiate
  projects
  and
  hence
  run
  those
  projects
  effectively.
 
 ...