Successful leaders are concerned with establishing confidence, change and build their followers for leadership positions, and readjust as the environment in which they operate changes more so in the wake of Covid-19.
Organisational governance is concerned with processes and procedures, while strategy in the organisation is part of the corporate governance framework. For top leadership, corporate governance must be a shield that can save the top management from being dismissed by the board.
The strategy should transform individuals in the organisation. The organisation should not execute items not stated in the organisation’s strategy and corporate governance. The executive committee meetings of some SOEs are led based on the organisational strategic plan.
Some SOEs strategy makes provision for growth; however, depending on the strategy structure, it should be established in a way that enables individuals in the organisation to take ownership of the strategy. They should be involved in the creation of the strategy; strategy is in part concerned with safety compliance.
The CEO is overall responsible for the functioning, besides its performance, and implementing the organisation’s strategic plan and ensuring that the objectives are being met, instead of concentrating on members with toxic personalities, and Covid-19 has brought about a lot of mental health challenges, which will threaten the success of SOEs strategies if care is not taken.
A strategy from a consultant is not applicable; for example, Namcor’s strategy was first an idea. Organisational governance and strategy are related, Namcor’s organisational strategy is for five years as prescribed by the Corporate Governance Act. The board of directors and senior management, as leaders of the organisations, need to be aware of their responsibility as custodians of the organisation to serve for the greater good.
The organisation needs to deliver as stated in the organisational strategic objectives, corporate governance, and strategy to address organisational risks and operational scope. If the strategy is not clear, it creates conflict between the organisation’s top leaders and the board of directors; in terms of who is being measured and what is being measured. The sustainability of the organisation is woven into the strategy and corporate governance. Participants stated that corporate governance is critical for top leadership because adhering to the organisational governance saves the top management from being dismissed by the board, and the strategy is responsible for transforming the individuals in the organisation.
The study confirmed that the strategy at Namcor is growth conscious, and it is structured and implemented to enable individuals in the organisation to own the strategy. In terms of performance, the CEO is overall individually responsible for its functioning and performance, once the organisation’s strategic implementation plan is in place. The strategy can transform the individuals in the organisation through its growth focus.
The expectation that business play is essential to the economy is to respond to the economy and tackle social and environmental issues, and other issues such as rotational employees brought about by Covid-19 and rising costs and remote work leadership challenges. The countries in Sub-Saharan African are distinctively known for weak corporate governance; corporate governance is the expression of the enterprise’s leadership ethical principles, corporate governance demands that the enterprise is ethically managed.
State-owned enterprises in Africa operational problems are distinctive attributes by leadership, management, transparency, and responsibility as core governance principles. Politicians who use SOEs for their interests characterise SOEs culture. Politicians appoint their relations and comrades in leadership positions, without any experience to provide leadership to the SOEs, for example, in the case of Fishcor, and former ministers of fisheries and justice.
The culture of politicians using SOEs to siphon wealth and distribute it among politicians, these cultures and practices harm the economic stimulation agenda premise on which the SOEs have created an example of Namibia fishing industry, led by Fishcor. The politicians’ leadership conduct and culture defeat SOEs’ purpose because corporate governance does not apply to them or so they want to think. Thus, political interference compromises social and economic development and promotes self-interest and profiting from the SOEs’ agenda.
Large organisations boards, in order for them to function efficiently; the focus should not be solely on their mandate. However, specific responsibilities and functions between the shareholders and the board functions are essential; this is common in Germany and the US. In the UK, shareholders of sizeable organisations make all the decisions.
The board of directors is responsible to ensure that the SOEs or private companies have access to professional and independent guidance on leadership or corporate governance and its legal duties, that it has support to coordinate the functioning of the board of directors and its board committees.
For some companies, the appointment of a company secretary is a statutory requirement. In respect of those companies, the company secretary provides professional corporate governance services and legal services example Namcor and GIPF.
The board of directors of an organisation that has not combined the role of corporate governance and legal services or company secretary, as a matter of leading practice, must consider appointing other professionals, as is needed for the organisation, to provide professional corporate governance services to the organisation and the board of directors for smooth implementation of organisational strategy and corporate governance compliance.
It does not matter what the board has approved, the board should ensure that the office of the company secretary (legal) or other professional providing corporate governance services (leadership), is empowered and that the position carries the necessary authority.
The governing body should approve the appointment, of the professional providing corporate governance services. The board of directors is responsible to oversee that the person appointed has the necessary competence, gravitas, and objectivity to provide independent guidance and support at the highest level of decision-making in the organisation.
With the high level of corporate governance non-compliance and the challenge posed by Covid-19, it will best serve the organisation to separate the two roles. However, the corporate governance professional or executive should have unfettered access to the board of directors but, for reasons of independence, should maintain an arms-length relationship with it and its members; accordingly, the company secretary should not be a member of the board of directors and should maintain independence from the board of directors.
For example, at Namcor where legal services and corporate governance are combined, the employees are aware of what legal does but the role of corporate governance is not clear and most probably overshadowed by legal responsibilities, thus corporate governance and secretarial services are being chocked and suffocated at a number of organisations, and not only at SOEs. The role of a strategy executive is clear but that of corporate governance executive and executive secretary to the board of directors is not clear.