25/10/2014
MANAGEMENT OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
1. CORPORATE CULTURE TODAY: -
In the ever changing political and economic scenario of the country, seismic changes take place in the corporate world requiring re-examination of fundamental concepts and even reversal of the very premises on which the company’s edifice is built. Realising that company of every size has the potential to grow and also that there is no such thing as a mature business, every Company is striving to become more vibrant, competitive and growth oriented. A growth, which is sustainable, profitable and capital efficient in the long haul. Such a good growth requires meticulous attention to the basics. A Company’s winning formula in the last decade will not only become obsolete today, but will probably undo the company in the next decade. Yes this is a problem but this is also a solution. It provides an opportunity to devise a new formula. To think freshly about company’s objectives, strategies and tactics. Rapid changes require rapid rethinking.
The focus now is on internal processes and operational efficiency up to the factory gate while un-addressed challenges lie further ahead, in ‘factory forward” processes. Programme for management of Corporate Affairs of the Company enters into a race where the signs and rules keep changing, where there is no finish line and no permanent ‘win’. There is no more the climate of “business as usual”. The track ahead is not a market place of fixed and known competitors. The race is through a war zone of rapidly changing competitors, technological advances, new laws, managed trade policies, and diminishing loyalty. There are rigorous demands.
2. CONCEPTS: - Corporate Affairs is to be seen as more than a mere department. Its main ingredient is company wide philosophy, not a separate function. Managers of Corporate Affairs must get themselves involved long before facing a problem and must continue their participation long after the problem is solved. It is a continuous process of monitoring, which pays dividends. Managers of Corporate Affairs must participate in designing policies, providing service-mix, promoting image, and interfacing with personnel from every department within the company and also interacting with persons and agencies from without. It is not an argument for intuitive decision making, rather it is an argument for creating improved tools to shape up Corporate Affairs philosophy.
Corporate Affairs ideology is obviously not easy and it cannot be applied universally. It is no more transaction oriented today. It is relationship oriented. The growing emphasis is on designing the best relationship mix for winning and holding on to a helping hand. Good contacts are an asset which, when well maintained and served, will return a handsome lifetime gain to the company. The first priority of a Corporate Affairs management programme is to create and retain relationship loyalty through constant catering. Although it takes only a short time to learn this ideology, it takes a lifetime to master it. Implementation of this ideology, it turns out, does not exhibit the neat quantitative properties of other products but definitely reflects a qualitative gain in by-products. And good will of a company is the most important aspect.
3. SCOPE: - A successful implementation of Corporate Affairs programme can achieve: -
1. Better image of the Company: - Public relation becomes a part of the programme as a better image of the Company has to be projected through media. Brand equity and leadership segments have to be highlighted periodically through press publications. Promotional activities for brands, held region wise cover this aspect but cost-effectiveness has to be taken into consideration. It is not always proportionate to the achievements and there is a scope for overdoing it. Systematic media campaign should be spearheaded by company’s own executive and agencies can be hired for brief spells only on assignment basis. Keeping an agency on a regular payroll makes it behave in a complacent manner and a luke-warm approach is the result. Thrust is lost.
Company’s Public image automatically gets super-imposed on to the Governmental agencies but clarity of picture emerges only with working on that canvas directly and independently. Persons who matter must be motivated to view the projections in proper perspective. A successful Liasion is the key of this factor. Various Government departments; quasi-judicial & judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies some how record electrocardiographic images of the Company’s health. Negative publicity has to be curbed.
2. Smooth passage of the Company: - Obstructions blocking passage of the Company have to be bulldozed away. Pathway ahead has to be gradiented. It is the function of Corporate Affairs to keep the top management informed about the turns and twists in the road ahead. Government policies; likely changes in the pipe-line, stringent requirements planned in future are subjects to be put up by way of road signs for the drivers of the Company. Simultaneously answers are to be provided to law enforcement agencies with regard to ongoing investigations, if any, against the company or its top brass.
3. Better results through concerted efforts: - Legal fronts and matters before various fora require co-ordination of efforts. A core group of Legal experts must take care that company’s stand on all fronts is synchronized so that no conflict of interest comes on record to damage one cause in view of a different stand taken for another cause. Then again, the relief sought must also be such that it provides a clear advantage on one point without tangling with another. A verdict must come loud and clear.
4. Advantage all the way: - Competitors are to be kept under observation and within focus all the time. Every move has to be anticipated and countered in time. To keep head, neck, shoulder and the whole length ahead of the competitors; the antaena must be up, transmission clear and radar system accurate. Intelligence and counter-intelligence system must be installed. Corporate espionage has become order of the day. It is necessary part of the system. Vigilance within the organization is also required as a loss prevention measure.
4. STRUCTURE: - The team managing Corporate Affairs programme must have a leader. Game plan can be chalked out by all but it must be sanctioned by the leader. Unit heads can be created either department wise or region wise. Existing executives attending to matters of Corporate Affairs must be masters of their respective fields. A legal hand (preferably retired High Court Judge) for coordinating efforts of various Lawyers; a person with proven track record from law enforcement agency, a media person to build an image, a bureaucrat of repute to deal with administrators and a top notch Banking person o take care of Fls, IDBI, IIBI, UTI, and other Banks, should form the team. Leader has to be the employer or who is closest to the employer and is privy to long-term aims and objectives of the company. The leader also has to exercise control on all members of the team. A subtle and calculated approach is required to tackle officials holding key positions. Overkill spoils the gains and remains are never palatable. Proactive strategy for damage control has to be adopted at times. Chances created for greater interaction provides opportunities for potent persuation. Easier access to information makes better quality of research and collaborative work becomes easier for the group. Leading members of the Corporate Affairs department must also join trade association like FICCI; PHD Chamber of Commerce and CII. These are the platforms to interact more and more with Govt. Officials and to project company’s image. These trade associations and their office bearers are closest to the Govt. Indian Corporate World as a whole, present on one platform attracts politicians and Govt. officials for seeking combined approval of governmental policies. Foreign trade delegates also interact with Indian business houses available on these platforms. Likewise members get a chance to be selected, on behalf on the Govt. of India, to visit foreign countries for exploratory trade prospects and dialogue. All said and done these trade associations bear hall mark of Governmental approval and a lot can be achieved by company if responsible and high-ranking executives represent us on these fora. We have to make our presence felt. It is a Corporate Affairs function.
5. METHODOLOGY: - After careful selection of the core group for management of Corporate Affairs Programme, a working methodology has to be adopted. In the first meeting the leader should allocate Govt. ministries; departments; Judiciary; quasi-judicial authorities; law enforcement agencies and Fls for being cultivated & monitored by nominated members of the group. Tasks have to be clearly defined so that members do not overstep and don’t tread on each other’s toes. A monthly meeting must also be taken and predicted outcome must come through within the time frame.
In the context of your company, the race has just started and anyone with enough guts, determination and the will to win could break the tape at the finish line. Abstract justice does not count for any thing when a corporate’s life is on the line and ethics are only down to jungle rules. It is in this context that the management of corporate affairs implementation programme must get top priority. Befitting one’s requirements, it has got to be tailor-made.
By
VM Pandit
http://www.vmpaiim.com