Information Architechture

8/2/2019 Information Architechture

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Click to edit Master subtitle style4/14/12

4. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Boards that


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Boards that

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INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Describes all of the ways the board gets

information

a) Communications from management in

preparation for board meetings or

b) Planned visits by directors to company sites.

It specifies what kinds of information

the board will get when, and in what


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What is desirable information

Differs for different directors criteria/relevance

Right Information (Quantity/ Substance), Right

Format, Right Time

What is undesirable information

Jargon

Too much information

Scripted Power point presentation


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Effects of unarchitectured information


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Desirable Situation


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Designing the InformationArchitecture

5 Channels


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Kind of Information

How money is made (long and short term)

Measures that showcompanys progress ordeterioration relative to the externalenvironment

Subjective information that reveals theassumptions and conceptual thinkingunderlying managements proposals anddecisions


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Channel 1:

Board

Briefing


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Board Briefing (An e.g.)

Financial & performance information:

Projections for each biz unit, once introductory page,

easy for directors to penetrate the data and questionnature of operating cash flow trends

HR report: Proposed change in organizational

structure, analytical pros and cons of the change, save

time to debate the change


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EssentialIngredients

Financial information

Where is cash going, business by business?

Where is cash coming from?

How is cash allocated and why?

Cash Flow : Companys historical performance,present condition, and future capabilities.

Performance indicators :

link between customers and cash flow


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Managements commentary

Management will commit time to produce thoughtful and

accurate commentary

Should be candid/non sugar coated

Financial commentary gets directors mental wheels

turning cut meeting time by >50%


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Channel 2:

Management

Letters


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Management Letter A useful tool for communication between the CEO

and the board of directors.

CEOs need to establish a way to keep

directors informed about company

affairs between board meetings.


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What should it consist of ?


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FORMS


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Essentials of a Management Letter Good Communication Skills

Written letters concise, interesting and to thepoint.

Oral Statements brief, informal and openended.


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Channel 3:Employee

Surveys


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Employee Surveys

Boards have an implicit responsibility to understand the

company at employee levels.

One tool that can be used for this is Employee Survey

targeted at specific topics that are important to company &

board.

Boards can ask the management to carry surveys at the

employee level by the third party to study company

culture or the like at the time of merger

between two companies with different


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Example

At the time of merger/acquisition it

was important for a company to

know whether the two companies

with different cultures will gel well

at the employee level.

The management outsourced a


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Survey Results

The integration was proceeding well, though

there was ambiguity in the decision making of one

business unit & criteria for resource allocation

was not fully optimized.

The survey analysis gave the board direction onwhich areas to ask management about in

forthcoming meetings.


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Channel 4:Director

Outreach


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Director Outreach

Directors should schedule face time with

employees, division managers, customers &

suppliers.

Gives Directors a better sense for customer

service, internal culture and the companys value

proposition.

Regular site visits to manufacturing plants, retail

outlets or satellite offices.


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What if I burneddown?..All of a sudden,

youd shut down an entire

industry across the

continent. Thats the kind a

thing that doesnt come out

unless you go out in the

field and start asking field

managers questions. To


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Internal & External Auditors Important information sources

Strengthening informal communication with

internal auditors helps open that channel.

Frequent meetings create familiarity making thestaff more comfortable communicating with

committee members.


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Channel 5:

Reports from

Committees


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The work of the board needs to be divided,which is why the board has committees.


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Role of the Committees

Bring recommendations to the full board leavingthe decision making to the full board.

Recommendations need to be presented clearlywith proper reasoning.

Make sure the entire board debates andunderstands crucial issues.

Undertake some of the nitty gritty work forwhich trust becomes an underlying basis.

Saves time for the board to discuss moreimportant issues.


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Conclusion

Tension: Directors are requesting so much information on

committee deliberations that the committee work is

simply repeated in the board meeting.

Ways to make the board efficient: Invite all directors to sit in on all committee

meetings, to be open and inclusive for the morecurious of the directors.

Set aside ample time for the board to debrief thecommittees.

Key facts should be summarized by committees


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THANKYOUBianca Luis (510)

Caroline Fernandes(511)

Deepti Kharpas (512)

Rachael Alvares(543)

Rahul Dsa (544)

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