The Evolution of Governance Education

• Published date: 01 September 2016
• Author: Rose Mercier
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30053
• Date: 01 September 2016

NUMBER 147, SEP.–OCT. 2016

www.boardleadershipnewsletter.com

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The Evolution of

Governance Education

by Rose Mercier

Rose Mercier, chair of the International Policy Governance Association (IPGA),

provides a brief overview of the evolution of the need for governance education

and the programs to fulll it and introduces a new program from IPGA.

BOARD LEADERSHIP

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO GOVERNANCE

View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com

Board Leadership • DOI: 10.1002/bl • Sep.-Oct. 2016

Governance: An Old Idea

A

colleague, Dr. Richard Biery,

whose extensive knowledge in

many fields I greatly admire, often

starts his work with a board by talk-

ing about the roots of the word gov-

ernance. It serves to emphasize that

the concept of governance has a long

history—some 2,500 years—although

its modern story is much shorter. The

word governance is derived from the

Greek words kubernesis and kuber-

nao, which mean to pilot or steer.

The job of the kubernetes was to

deliver the orders about the destina-

tion of the voyage; the kubernetes

stood next to the helmsman, whose

job was to navigate the ship toward

its destination. The kubernetes did

not take over the wheel and navigate.

He stood on the deck and monitored

the helmsman so he would know

if the ship was traveling toward its

intended destination. Implicit in the

charge to the helmsman was arriving

safely, without damaging the ship or

losing sailors at sea. (I am perhaps

only imagining that the Greeks would

find the latter unacceptable.)

The Romans Latinized the word

(gubernao) to described the same

function, and through the centuries it

was Anglicized. However, it is only in

the past twenty-five years that gov-

ernance has become widely used in

the modern lexicon, its relevance and

importance for today’s world being

rediscovered. Unfortunately, it has

taken scandal and malfeasant conduct

for corporations, nonprofit organiza-

tions, public agencies, and educational

institutions to look more closely at the

meaning and exercise of governance.

In the foreword of her 2003 book,

Corporate Governance, Carol Han-

sell, a highly respected Canadian

corporate lawyer, described how the

value of directors and corporate gov-

ernance was of little importance from

the 1950s through to the 1990s. She

relates the story of how Irving Olds,

then chair of U.S. Steel, estimated the

value of directors as that of “parsley

on fish—decorative but useless.” In

Duty Before Virtue: The

Real Ethical Dilemma Facing

Corporate Governance

Board Leadership is very

interested in the raging debate

on ownership taking place in the

corporate sector. Here is some

“fuel for the fire” from Austra-

lian lawyer, writer, and theorist,

Peter Tunic. http://ondirector-

ship.com/ondirectorship/2016-1

The Future of Governance

Dr. Colin Coulson-Thomas, a

lecturer in Human Resources &

Organisational Behaviour at the

University of Greenwich, United

Kingdom, has set out a brief

overview of the issues and ques-

tions that he believes today’s

board members should be con-

sidering. https://www.academia

.edu/19609082/The_Future_of_

Governance

The New Face of Facebook

The social network Face-

book has turned itself into one

of the world’s most influential

technology giants and wants

to become ever more power-

ful. How could this affect your

world? You can get a pretty

good idea from this Economist

article published in April of this

NEWS

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

What’s It Worth? ................. 4

Food For thought .................. 4

For Your BookshelF … .......... 6 (continued on page 8)