Papa embraces Good Governance
Management guru's continuously propagate that if you want to follow in other managers footsteps, you focus on best practices. However, if you want to be at the cutting edge and want to be a thought leader, think outside the box. The current Pope Felix' actions are often unconventional and outside the box. Now the corporate governance guru's will say; if it's good enough for the pope, It should be good enough for YOU!
Something significant has recently happened at the Vatican regarding the management of the Catholic Church. The Pope made a revolutionary move by opening up the Vatican’s finances to scrutiny and instituting a series of changes. These changes will probably bring more accountability, transparency and integrity in management and transactions of the clerical organisation. The changes include the creation of a Secretariat for the Economy which will report directly to the Pope. The group comprises of not only members of the church, but also external lay members "with strong professional business experience".
From pomp and circumstance to risk management
This is a significant step as it elevates the discussion on the church finances to regular scrutiny, audit, and even to the components of corporate governance e.g. possible corruption. Many observers feel, that to have an open discussion on papal good governance issues could be a real game changer. This departure is not only relevant for the Vatican church, but also valid in countries where the Church has a great deal of power and in countries where corruption related issues can be major problems.
The pope recently made it clear to the cardinals that he is not interested in their nominating new Bishop candidates who are looking for an "administrative" position full of “pomp and circumstance”. The appointments of new Bishops will be on those cardinals who are willing and capable of meeting their diocese spiritual needs on a personal level.
Real commitment to change
Like all other radical changes in any organization, it will meet the normal opposition to change. Certainly in the past year Pope Francis has demonstrated a real commitment to change, and the introduction of modern governance is a significant step in the direction towards accountability and transparency.
Transparency is never a bad thing for growth. It is normally affecting those that have something to hide, or to those who do not want to face the music when the going gets tough. When the papal tone-at-the-top is to believe in transparency and accountability, it certainly helps to increase the understanding and decreases the likelihood of corruption amongst the subsidiaries in parts of Asia, South America and Africa.
When an institution like the Church continues to take good governance components in its fold, they show the light on caring and about whom they do business with and how they conduct the business, like in the corporate world.
As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we trust that the good governance set up will actually bear fruit, and the governance changes will have a wider impact and high influence in countries where corruption is a significant problem.
Source: The Christian Chronicle
