By David Pasieka

Governance is the system by which organizations are controlled and managed. Paramount to this system is the relationship of the Board of Directors to its CEO – specifically “How active is the Board in the operation of the company?”

At one end of the scale (The “A” End), we have the Passive Board often referred to as the rubber “Stampers.” In this model, we usually have a very dominant and knowledgeable CEO who is setting and driving the strategic agenda of the corporation. Board members are friendly to the process and few tough questions or contrary opinions ever get tabled. With Management setting and controlling, Board etiquette is often in a constant state of “scramble”. These Boards are typical of early stage organizations where the CEO is a knowledgeable, strong-willed and passionate. Board members are usually hand-picked from a group of friends or acquaintances.

At the other end of the scale (The “Z” End), we have a very active, all controlling Board who often spend a lot of their time managing the “minutia.” Here the Board is usually large,  consists of a number of sub-committees and has a detailed process of checks and controls. The Board in this case, digs deeper into day-to-day management issues influencing Marketing, Sales, IT and HR procedures. Boards appointments are less likely to be influenced by the CEO and their friends. Sometimes we often see an executive committee of the board, which essentially amounts to a “Board within a Board”. Boards at the “Z” end tend to be Public, Not for Profit or Co-Op. Sometimes in crises mode, the Board transforms itself into the minutia. This often happens when the CEO is not performing or has asked for help in managing the complexity.

Boards operate between the “A” and “Z” ends of the spectrum. The factors affecting the operating model include: Historical roots, Stage of Development, Competence of CEO, Experience of individual Board members and Stakeholder influence to name a few. Board operating models are also known to evolve over time as factors in the internal and external environment change.

A more sustainable approach is one of Moderate (“M“) Board participation and consistent with the notion of “Nose In and Fingers out” (NIFO).  A NIFO board is more in tune with the fact that the Board exists to “enhance the decision making capability of Management”. Best Practices in Governance suggest that Boards at both ends of the spectrum need to migrate towards the NIFO middle. Boards in NIFO mode operate with fewer committees, less meetings and prioritize their efforts on results, strategy, risk and policy. “Day to Day” details are left for Management to execute.

A good exercise would be to profile your existing board on the “A” to “Z” scale. A good place to start would be to pull the Board Charter documentation and read the language. An open dialogue on the topic at your next strategic retreat would also be helpful in analysing your Board’s effectiveness in its current Governance model.

Is your Board’s model consistent with the stage of growth, source of capital and skill sets of your members and its CEO? Is your Governance model consistent with “acting in the best interests of the Stakeholders”?

Can you see the Power in operating in a manner more consistent with Nose In Fingers Out?

David Pasieka is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the RIC Centre. Learn more here.  Visit Our Contributors page for more information about David. Read his blog at www.cedarvue.blogspot.com

- By Stefan Gilbert -

About an hour after the plane was scheduled to depart, we were told that the flight to Sierra Leone would be delayed by six hours. This, I was told, would make for an interesting night. The trick with Sierra Leone is that you must cross the peninsula to get to the capital, Freetown. This must be done by boat, and a night crossing doesn’t rate highly on the “what you should do when you visit Sierra Leone” list. So, at about two o’clock in the morning, I found myself with 8 other travellers walking on a partly submerged pier to climb in to the waiting boat. But this was the easy part. Arriving at the airport in Sierra Leone one is met by a thronging hoard of people who want to help you in one way or another. Luckily, I had asked around prior to arrival and had learned that Pelican Water Taxis were the most reliable. Finding them, however, was like swimming in a mass of human bodies, all competing for space in pool of high humidity and 30 degree heat.

If I had to pick one word to describe travel in Africa it is “patience”. Never be in a rush; never be unfriendly; NEVER lose your cool; always be respectful and always have a smile and a joke at hand. In all cases, it is a sin to “expect” your plane to be on time or for your luggage to arrive with you. Thus “hope” is the most appropriate form of expectation, and “gratitude” is the most appropriate way of reacting if your suitcase does appear on the conveyer belt. When it does not, as has happened to me now twice on this journey of 9 weeks, more patience and perseverance are called for. Suggesting to anyone who will listen that you are not a tourist, and subtle hints that you have important documents in your luggage that may or may not be of interest to an MP or Minister, can’t hurt. It also seems to help if you make it abundantly clear that you will not stop harassing whoever is available to be harassed until the luggage finally does arrive.

Of course, some countries are better then others. Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa of course, fare much better then countries like Nigeria, Senegal, the DRC, and Sierra Leone (which is the most chaotic I have yet to witness). I am not entirely sure if this has some more profound meaning, however. Politics is often a game of appearances, language, and symbols. A new and imposing Parliament building may have significant symbolic value, but the interior may be defined by elevators that don’t work and fire extinguishers that have instructions in Chinese. Similarly, the language of democracy and good intentions can often be heard from the mouths of Presidents and politicians. The saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, if hummed and put to music, could in some countries qualify as the national anthem. In short, intentions are not enough at this point, words are meaningless unless there is action, by which I don’t mean action next week or tomorrow; I mean today.

That the people I meet in Africa are often characterised by their generosity and hospitality is a testament to their humanity and enduring optimism. That said, cynicism in Africa is rife. Faith that governments will listen to and provide its people with what they need is low. Expectations are unmet and hopes are often compromised by inescapable realities. Food for my kids in exchange for a vote tomorrow, is a choice I have never and hope I never have to make. That poverty undermines the functioning of democracy is an understatement that worthy of the Noble Prize for Understatements. But, the problems that undermine democracy in many of the countries I visit are not simple, they are not specific, they are not few: they are legion. There are so many factors that play into politics in Africa that it can make the head spin. In some countries, like the DRC, the most pertinent and disempowering questions is: “Where the hell do we begin?” There are no innocents in the political arena. There are no neutral parties. It is a contest for power, wealth, and influence with rules understood as describing and defining a zero-sum game. There are the winners, and there are the losers. The winners eat and the losers don’t.

But while the politicians, banks, big businesses (many of which are now South African), donors and even civil society compete for space around the trough of wealth and power, the people remain the perennial losers. While the façade of governments have changed, and checklists can be completed, political will seems only to be seeking the entrenchment of the status quo. While some countries leave some room for hope, many offer only foreboding political vistas. Nevertheless, I am continually amazed by the dedication of our colleagues on the continent, who continue with their work in the face of staggering resistance. The time for excuses and recriminations is a common theme with those I meet, and that we must move beyond the rhetoric of finding someone to blame. They remind me of the idea that courage is not the absence of fear, it is being afraid and doing it anyway.

Hence, the work that we do at Idasa is important. I do not think we can overestimate how serious the problems are, or how desperately this continent needs our skills, dedication, and ideals. So, tomorrow it will be another meeting, another trip in another taxi in another endless traffic jam in torturous humidity and heat. And Friday it will be another boat ride, another plane, and another conveyor belt full of suitcases, with me waiting and hoping, wondering whether Santa has judged me naughty or nice.

Stefan works with Idasa’s Political Governance Programme.  He is currently visiting partners in support of the African Charter on Democracy – see more here.

I’ve heard a rumour recently that there is an NDP-affiliated councillor considering a run against Mayor Katz in 2010; I won’t mention which one, as it’s not my duty to ruin people’s surprises, but I do think it’s nice to see the potential for a competitive mayoral race.

If this individual wants to run, he or she will need to make that decision soon, obviously.  In reality, the decision should have been made sometime over the summer, so that this new competitor could have returned to council in September with a bang, getting some press coverage going and framing the big issue(s) of the day.

Mayor Sam Katz is very popular according to opinion polls (see Bart’s WFP article from summer); this is despite many recent events that seem to have angered an increasingly vocal opposition, an opposition that may or may not be increasing in size.

As a dirty Liberal, my vote and support is not a given either for Mayor Katz or for the Mysterious NDP Candidate, but I do think that a real campaign from a challenger could give the voters in Winnipeg a chance to reflect on what kind of model they would like to see in this city.

There are two different models, each with disparaging names for the other.  But to try to keep some objectivity, I’ll call them the City-as-a-Business and the City-as-a-Benefactor models.  These models are based on a) how Winnipeg is currently run, and on b) how I would expect the city to be run based on the leadership of the NDP-supported challenger.   One model implies financial efficiency, perhaps at the cost of social programs, while the other gives the impression that the public good is paramount, and that this is achieved by a healthy dose of public money.

Here’s a handy comparison of these models:

City-as-a-Business (Mayor Katz)

1.    Revenue: Property taxes must stay frozen at all costs, and business taxes must be reduced wherever possible.  This could mean service cuts and user fees, with citizens paying only for what they use while being expected to accept that the city can’t do everything for them.

2.    Governance: Executive Policy Committee  reigns supreme, and the Mayor controls EPC (that’s why they call it his cabinet).  City Council Meetings are seen as a noisy formality, where it’s best to push things through as quickly as possible before the “negative nellies” have a chance to criticize every little decision.  The opposition may be angry, but since they don’t have the numbers to change anything, they don’t seem to be considered too much of a threat as long as issues don’t have a chance to linger.  Mayor Katz decides the direction and policy of the city, with input from his chosen city staff.  It is possible that the Mayor will also rely on the results of the OurWinnipeg consultation process, but no one knows for sure.  Mayor Katz’s reign is seen as efficient, because there is no need for three months of negotiation for every initiative as it moves its way through the decision-making process; sometimes decisions can go from one committee to the next on the same day.

3.    Relations with the Provincial Government: Mayor Katz has maintained a good relationship with the Province of Manitoba, and along with Councillor Swandel has been able to secure operating funds from the province to cover shortfalls in the budget.  The City-as-a-Business model has worked well with the Doer government, and it is expected that it will continue to work well with the Selinger government.

City-as-a-Benefactor (The Mayoralty of the Mysterious Stranger)

1.    Revenue: The belief is that property taxes should rise, and that businesses should pay their fair share of various taxes, with no cuts to business tax.  The middle and upper classes would support the lower-income families through tax dollars, rather than having blanket user fees, with the view that all citizens must have access to services in order for this city to prosper socially and culturally.

2.    Governance: Due to the current balance of power in council (which isn’t likely to change too much in the next civic election), the challenger would not have an automatic majority on most issues.  In fact, he or she would likely be in the minority for some initiatives.  EPC would change, most likely including representatives of all three major parties (Conservative, Liberal and NDP).  Initiatives from the mayor or from any councillor would not have a default number of supporters or opponents, leaving each issue to be reviewed on individual merit.  This may slow down the process of EPC and Council, but more debate and consensus-building is assumed to create better results.

3.    Relations with the Provincial Government: While there will be kinship between an NDP mayor and the current NDP government of Manitoba, it may also be more difficult to negotiate when the city has become an ideological junior partner whose mayor is more left-wing than the premier.  Also, the looser power structure within Council may serve to weaken negotiations with the provincial government.

Any challenger wishing to promote the City-as-a-Benefactor model needs to convince Winnipeg voters that the City-as-a-Business model is failing them.  It’s hard to argue that people should vote for someone who will raise their taxes, so the challenger will need a bigger issue to get people’s attention.  Service cuts probably won’t work as a focus, since most Winnipeggers haven’t noticed any cuts so far, and the “photo radar as cash grab” concept has limited appeal, particularly among the Winnipeggers who will actually show up to vote.

So what issue exists that could command the attention of Winnipeg voters?  Crime is a definite possibility, although it’s not an easy target for an NDP-affiliated candidate.   One other idea is to focus on governance itself.  It doesn’t sound like an interesting topic, but it may be possible to paint a picture of the various Winnipeggers who have felt abandoned, betrayed, or tricked by the current civic system.  Perhaps the challenger could collect quotes and interviews from Winnipeggers about the water utility, demolished community centres, or the Riverside Park story that will never die?  A nice crime story or two could fit in there nicely, too.

The notion of “Making Winnipeg Our City Again” isn’t as exciting as the Obama campaign or even the ongoing soap opera in and around the House of Commons.  But it is something that could resonate with the small minority of Winnipeggers who will cast their ballot in 2010.

An extraordinary Tower Hamlets full council meeting has been called for Wednesday 2 December 2009 to discuss the Mayoral referendum triggered by petition earlier this month.

The collection of over 10,000 signatures by Respect to force the Council to conduct a Borough-wide poll reflects the popular concern over the Labour group’s plan to adopt a less democratic ‘cabinet’ system unchallenged.

Please come to Town Hall at 6.30pm sharp to show support for our councillors.

By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Monday, November 30, 2009

“The ban … is a necessary emergency step in the face of an alarming rise in the number of suicides by domestic workers in Lebanon,” said Fatima Gomar, editor of Migrant-Rights.org. “There is a growing understanding among Asian governments that they need to step up and bar their citizens from working in countries where their rights are not protected.”

“Passport retention can be a tool to hold workers in exploitative and/or difficult work conditions,” said Azfar Khan, senior migration specialist at the International Labor Organization’s Regional Office for the Arab States. “Despite our best efforts the situation seems to be going from bad to worse.”

The Himalayan Times said the ban was also influenced by the failure of Nepalese recruitment agencies to fulfill promises to establish shelters and to monitor their clients’ treatment by calling them every fortnight. It added nine Nepalese migrants had committed suicide in Lebanon since March this year.

As president of my section here at HBS, I constantly think about group dynamics and the optimal way to set up situations that allow my 94 section-mates to cohesively come together while limiting the autocratic part of my role.  Further, I try my best to understand how Harvard came to the conclusion that they have: that 90-95 people in a section is optimal for the business school experience.

In Thomas Paine’s classic pamphlet ‘Common Sense’, he discusses why societies and governments form.

Societies form to allow others to take advantage of the positive externalities involved with living in a group.  In any discussion of how groups interact socially in a way to offer the best experiences to their members, the question of group size arises.  At some point, a group gets too large for each individual to have genuine social relationships with all the other members and at that point, it becomes natural for it to split.  Neuroscientists look at it through the lens of channel capacity and try to find out how many relationships we can actually handle.  Sociologists look at it as the overall group dynamic and see when it’s no longer productive to have one self-governed group.  In either case, the answer for humans seems to be around 150 (hence, the famed Rule of 150).  All this means that Harvard picking 94 as a section size allows us enough diversity to have the full breadth of the school in our section while still cutting it down to the point where the complexity of the group dynamics is tenable.  We’re small enough that we can assume some level of self-organization.

On the topic of governance, very simply, governments form to control for the negative externalities associated with living in a group.  If a group is large enough, then efficiency promotes the creation of a set-aside body to represent the people and decide on the philosophy and policies under which they will live.  In a small enough society, however, this same governance is done through peer pressure as each person knows everyone else.  It would seem to me that this would be dealt with through the same Rule of 150 as above.  If everyone knows everyone else, then the logical conclusion would be that peer pressure would allow our section to create our own section without too much autocratic leadership?  This would be why our only section norm is ‘Be an adult’.

So the questions arise, is this the right way of thinking about section dynamics?  Are we missing something?  Either way, we’ll see what happens and there’s no better experiment than this year.

Also, what is the actual optimal section size and why?  This is an open question, but it seems that the school is certainly doing a fair job with what they have.

Satu kata paling tepat untu menggambarkan manajemen tata kelola (governance) sistem produksi dan distribusi pupuk di Indonesia adalah karut-marut.

Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia memaknai kata karut-marut sebagai “kusut” dan “tidak keruan”. Banyak pihak, mulai dari produsen pupuk, pedagang, petani, hingga pemerintah bertanggung jawab atas kekusutan sistem produksi dan distribusi pupuk.

Di hulu, sistem produksi pupuk urea, misalnya, tidak mendapatkan dukungan bahan baku pasokan gas yang memadai. Kalaupun gas tersedia, harga yang harus dibayar produsen pupuk sangat tinggi, bahkan di luar jangkauan tingkat keekonomiannya.

Di tengah, sistem distribusi  pupuk sering bermasalah, walaupun Indonesia memiliki satu induk perusahaan yang mewadahi kerja sama antarprodusen pupuk, dan keterkaitan dengan distributor dan pengampu kepentingan lain.

Di hilir, pupuk sering langka dan harganya jauh di atas harga eceran tertinggi, justru saat musim tanam, satu fase amat vital dalam sistem produksi pangan, terutama beras, sebagai salah satu tumpuan ketahanan pangan di Indonesia.

Seberapa besar pangsa masing-masing aktor itu terhadap karut-marut tata kelola ekonomi pupuk di Indonesia, analisis berikut ini mungkin sedikit menjelaskan.

Produsen pupuk didominasi badan usaha milij negara, yang kini tersisa lima pabrik, yaitu PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) di Aceh, PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (Pusri) di Sumatera Selatan, PT Pupuk Kaltim di Kalimantan Timur, PT Pupuk Kujang di Jawa Barat, dan PT Pupuk Petrokimia di Jawa Timur.

Tahun 2008, produksi pupuk nasional 6,2 juta ton, lebih tinggi dari tingkat konsumsinya. Namun, produksi itu masih di bawah kapasitas terpasangnya, sekitar 8 juta ton urea. Kapasitas produksi pupuk non-urea 600.000 ton ZA, 900.000 ton SP3, dan 300.000 tin Phonska.

Indonesia mencatat surplus produksi sampao 1 juta ton per tahun hingga memungkinkan bagi produsen pupuk untuk menjualnya ke pasar ekspor.

Dimensi governance muncul setidaknya pada dua aspek, yakni batasan volume ekspor pupuk dan pasokan gas bumi. Ekspor pupuk berhubungan dengan kinerja produsen pupuk, yang berkepentingan memperoleh tambahan penghasilan, menjaga kesehatan perusahaan, dan memperbesar skala usahanya.

Gas bumi adalah komponen terbesar dari biaya produksi industri pupuk, dengan komposisi 50-60 persen untuk urea, 25-35 persen untuk ZA, dan 40-50 persen batuan fosfat dan asam fosfat untuk SP-36.

Sampai saat ini Indonesia tidak memiliki cadangan gas bumi jangka panjang yang khusus dimanfaatkan industri pupuk. Akibatnya, harga gas untuk industri pupuk mengikuti harga dunia, yang secara inheren ditentukan dengan suatu formula berdasarkan harga minyak bumi dunia.

Saat ini harga gas bumi dunia 4,14 dollar AS per MMBTU (harga rata-rata semester I-2009) sehingga biaya produksi urea Indonesia jauh di atas harga jual, yang berakibat terhadap kinerja usaha produsen pupuk.

Sistem distribusi

Pada sistem distribusi, sampai saat ini Indonesia selalu bereksperimen dalam sistem distribusi pupuk. Sistem distribusi pupuk yang terus berubah, dari tertutup, terbuka, semitertutup, dan saat ini tertutup lagi, adalah fungsi dan kualitas governance dua instansi besar, yakni Departemen Pertanian dan Departemen Perdagangan.

Kebutuhan pupuk ditetapkan melalui Peraturan Menteri Pertanian (Permentan) Nomor 42 Tahun 2008, yangselama ini selalu lebih kecil dari kebutuhan yang sebenarnya di lapangan. Fakta tingkat ketergantungan petani Indonesia yang sangat tinggi pada pupuk belum terakomodasi baik.

Misalnya, kebutuhan teknis urea untuk mencap[ai target pangan nasional 6,3 juta ton, sementara dalam Permentan hanya dicantumkan 5,5 juta ton. Kebutuhan teknis Superphos 3 juta ton (vs 1 juta ton), ZA 1,6 juta ton (vs 923.000 ton), NPK 3 juta ton (vs 1,5 juta ton), dan organik 4,7 juta ton (vs 450.000 ton dalam Permentan).

Akibatnya, pupuk bersubsidi di beberapa daerah sentra produksi langka karena ada kesenjangan antara jumlah kebutuhan dan pasokan pupuk selama ini.

Disam[ping itu, pola distribusi pupuk ditentukan melalui Peraturan Menteri Perdagangan Nomor 21 Tahun 2008 yang memungkinkan rayonisasi daerah pemasaran pupuk menurut produsen.

PT PIM melayani Aceh ; PT Pusri melayani Sumatera kecuali Aceh plus Kalimantan Barat, Banten, Jawa Tengah dan Yogyakarta ; Kujang melayanai Jawa Barat ; Petrokimia sebagian Jawa Timur ; dan Pupuk Kaltim melayani seluruh kawasan timur Indonesia plus sebagian Jatim dan Bali.

Dimensi governance pada sistem rayonisasi pupuk ini menjadi lebih pelik karena pupuk bersubsidi adalah barang dalam pengawasan sesuai Peraturan Presiden Nomor 77 Tahun 2005. Jika ada sedikit saja pupuk mengalir ke rayon lain, pelaku akan berurusan dengan berwajib, yang juga memiliki masalah governance sendiri.

Sistem harga

Harga eceran tertinggi (HET) pupuk diperkirakan naik signifikan pada 2010 walaupun Menteri Pertanian Suswono berniat mencegah kenaikan ini. Pangkal persoalannya, alokasi anggaran subsidi pupuk menurun, dari Rp 18,4 triliun pada APBN 2009 menjadi Rp 11,3 triliun pada APBN 2010.

HET yang ditetapkan dalam Permentan seharusnya ditegakkan dan dipantau. Namun, disparitas harga pupuk bersubsidi dan harga aktual di lapangan terlalu lebar sehingga membuka peluang spekulasi di semua level.

Pemerintah dituntut untuk meningkatkan rasa aman dan kepastian, yang mampu memberikan sinyal bagi petani untuk meningkatkan produksi dan produktivitasnya.

Penggunaan pupuk sebagai input pertanian kini berubah dibandingkan dengan awal Revolusi Hijau dekade 1980-an. Petani Indonesia kini sangat bergantung pada pupuk kimia, bahkan cenderung berlebihan penggunaannya. Karena itu, esensi subsidi pupuk kini berubah, bukan lagi soal adposi teknologi baru, tetapi strategi pemihakan dan langkah afirmatif manajemen risiko bagi petani miskin, dan pada sistem ketahanan pangan.

Pemerintah pusat dan provinsi wajib memperbaiki aransemen kelembagaan dari sistem produksi, distribusi, sistem harga, mekanisme subsidi, hingga manajemen keuangan publik secara umum. Langkah ini mensyaratkan suatu policy leadership yang berwibawa, sistem akuntabilitas dan kualitas tata kelola yang lebih baik.

Sumber  :

Mencari Manajemen Tata Kelola Pupuk, Bustanul Arifin | Guru Besar Unila ; Professional Fellow di Intercafe dan MB-IPB
Kompas, 23.11.2009

This morning, Iran dropped another bomb in their standoff with the West when they announced another 10 nuclear uranium enrichment sites. At the same time, members of their parliament are calling for their withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, pushing the nuclear envelope even further. In addition, the mullahs have taken over much of the education establishment and in a show of raw power the government  seized the Nobel Prize medal of Shirin Ebadi. Ms. Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, was awarded the Peace Prize in 2003 as one of the few outspoken critics of rights abuses in that country. The descent into Islamofascism continues. Mahmoud Achmedinejad, in the meantime, is being feted in countries such as Brazil and Venezuela.

It seems that in Israel and Palestine, it really can’t get much worse without the bullets flying. The Israelis continue to expand the settlements within their interpretation of the Oslo Agreements while the Palestinian government withers away into irrelevance. Both sides rejected Hillary Clinton’s intrusion a couple of weeks ago as she acted very undiplomatically. Special Envoy George Mitchell has also been politely told to pound sand.

In Afghanistan, the warlords and the Taliban are arming and reprovisioning  to face an ever more feckless ISAF as the president prepares to face the nation and explain why it has taken 95 days to come up with a new policy to replace the policy that was agreed to in March. The 2010 fighting season promises to be brutal.

And oh yeah, there’s Iraq. Is there a czar for Iraq, or have we forgotten about it entirely? In Iraq, the government is once again at war with itself as the factions battle for advantage. Bombings in Baghdad are increasing and the Kurds in the north are doing their best to set up a de-facto Kurdistan. The tremendous framework for peace and reconciliation established by Petraeus & Co. is in real danger of falling apart.

We are disengaged in the U.A.E., where Dubai World is threatening to default on $60 Billion in debt. In Saudi Arabia, the cancer of Wahabbism continues to be the second largest export. Pakistan is at war with itself. Luckily the Uzbeks, the Tadjik’s, the Armenians, the Kazakh’s, the Khyrgiz and the Turkmens are reasonably quiet. Syria has emerged as a critical player and yet we have done nothing.

One of the primary messages of the Obama Administration from the outset was engagement with the Islamic world. His speech in Cairo was supposed to be a milestone in U.S. – Middle Eastern relations. Instead, events seem to be spiraling out of control. Israel has clearly telegraphed their intentions if Iran continues along the nuclear path, and despite the lives lost and the cost, all of our efforts in Central Asia could be blown to pieces.

I do not want to be labeled as an anti-Obama agitator. But the reality is that our government’s policies are out of control. Measured diplomacy has been replaced with rhetoric and smoke. In the most complex and mine laden arena in the world, our policy is a disaster.

Having made their Guide Promise members of the Gipps Guides are choosing to begin their journey through the Olave Baden-Powell Award.

These 18 to 29 year olds are challenging themselves to that both their Guiding Promise and their Guiding into the wider community.

Quite often bringing back to those around them different lessons and influences that they have experienced. Often not realising just how much influence on other peoples lives, thoughts and interests that being involved with activities, events and programs which appeal to them can have.    Part of the Olave Award progress is to present what you have done to your peers.   If you are working in any youth organisation/ work place as a Leader/ teacher or Adult Carer your experiences will transfer to others.  When an event/activity/ service is described, it’s successes, and flops along the way, the struggles/ surprises and things that go right all combine to challenge others in how different to do their chosen things.

Setting out to do something is often a challenge rewarded and supported by others already travelling or who have travelled along that path too.  There are many friends you meet and make within this Olave Program.  people you may have met at school, work, camps or round the block even.

Negri UMNO Warloads seek to unseat Menteri Besar

By Adib Zalkapli( November 29, 2009)

Negri Sembilan UMNO warlords are using allegations of an illegal money transfer to unseat the unpopular Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, whose aides denied the mentri besar is under central bank probe.

“We believe that there is no point letting the issue being exploited by the opposition, the leadership must take action, now we are just waiting for the president’s return,” a Negri Sembilan division chief told The Malaysian Insider.

UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Razak is now attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Mohamad, who became mentri besar in 2004, is currently under Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) probe for allegedly transferring funds amounting to RM10 million to London through a money changer, Salamath Ali. An aide to Mohamad said the BNM probe has nothing to do with his employer. “The investigation is against the money changer and not against Datuk,” the aide told The Malaysian Insider.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Mohamad has privately blamed his staff for making him use the services of the money changer.

Pakatan Rakyat’s Batu MP Chua Tian Chang revealed the matter after the central bank said Salamath Ali Money Changer had contravened Section 30 of the Money Changing Act 1998 and its licence had been revoked on October 26.

State UMNO warlords are making their moves now to prevent the issue from being further exploited by the opposition. “He is already not liked by 80 per cent of the UMNO members here, so this case will not be ignored,” said the division chief.

The state Umno warlord pointed out that despite the blackout by the English and Bahasa Malaysia mainstream press, the issue has found its way to the party grassroots via text messages.

“UMNO members in Jempol, Kuala Pilah, Rembau they don’t access the Internet, so initially only civil servants talked about it, later people started sending SMS on ‘kes duit haram MB’,” he said.

Mohamad came under fire from Negri Sembilan opposition leader Loke Siew Fook during the state assembly sitting over the issue but the Rantau assemblyman kept mum and refused to give an explanation.

Opposition lawmakers have also called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct a probe into the scandal. Mohamad had also refused to talk about the matter openly at a press conference early this month.

At the end of each year there is a Formal Meal.  Begun by Debbie for the Unit it was previously organised by the Unit. At the end of September there were two Guides asked to speak to a restaurants chief .  Discussed were menus, colour schemes, times and dates, dress codes and preparation of food.  The meal was paid for by each Guides family  before the end of October. At home dresses were chosen, hair do’s and shoes sorted out weeks before the event.

2009 saw this change late in the planning procedure.  Firstly we had to get everyone registered.  By this time earlier plans had to be changed. The formal meal is now a District Event. With help the 2010’s Formal End of Year Meal is now Saturday – December 4th 2010.

• Notice of the Formal Meal will be in the District Calendar on the web. The Units calender – which in turn are created by the Guides.
• Activities will be throughout the year.  ie  place mats, invitations, table decorations [mugwomps], serviettes, grace and vespers sheets, serviette holders, place cards … These will be stored in a large plastic container [somewhere in the office]
• Invites to family, friends and people who have helped throughout the year will go out weeks before to this meal. The invites will be hardcopy cards, posters and emails.
• RSVP needs to be received by mid November.
• Please send a suggestion or two of the meal preparation  you are to bring with the RSVP.
• Your RSPV will be confirmed to you by mid November.
• Confirmation of what part of the meal preparation your family has offered  to bring will be sent to you as well.
• The District will supply the meat varieties and preparation.
• All parts of meals to have the actual ingredients within them printed / written out.
  
• Please supply the recipe.
  
• The Formal wear is good clothes for those attending the meal.
• The setting of tressel tables is to be in a horse shoe .
• Decoration of the main area will begin at 10.30.  All decorations will be made prior to the day so that all needing to be done is to place them up and around.
• Activities for free time sorted out well in advance.  A kitchen fly for shelter set up on the day at the back of the office grounds.
• Kitchen fly to be in place for erection by 10.30.
• First Aid kit and safety preparations will be made prior to the event. [as per every event]
• A Risk Analysis  Plan (created for the event [as per every event])  is to be on display in the entry hall.
• Sign in book to be in the entry hall.
• Photo release forms to be in the entry hall for those who are not members of the Girl Guides {Associate Adult, Adult or Youth members]
• Photos taken will be sent to each persons email address if indicated they would like a copy of their/ their Guides photos sent directly to them.
• Meal will begin at 1pm.

We are in need of:

• a kitchen co-ordinator,   [position filled]
• a hostess/ host co-ordinator.
• a decorator co-ordinator,
• an outside activities person  {will be taught about kitchen flies]
• a craft / artist and music coordinator.
• a Public Relations person for the event.
• a Photographic co-ordinator.
• a clean up co-ordinator.

Please note the adult coordinators job is just to make sure everything is there. Every so often check on progress.  The Guides are able to run things from this point.

Gary Hardy from ITGI wrote this article “ITGI Enables ISO/IEC 38500:2008 Adoption”  putting the case for using mostly CobiT and ValIT from ITGI portfolio in order to enable IT Governance according to ISO 38500 (it goes through all the six principles and three main tasks described on the standard).

[Found it reading the crystal clear and highly recommended "The journey towards enterprise governance of IT" by Geoff Harmer]

http://blogs.technet.com/tothesharepoint/archive/2009/09/04/3279276.aspx

The London Times today reports that the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia discarded the raw data that went back 150 years  on which their climate models have been based. Now, there is no easy way to reconstruct the basic research on anthropogenic global warming. There may be no way to confirm the results and conclusions upon which the U.N. and every major government in the world have based many trillions of dollars in planning.

Gordon Brown has said nothing, Barack Obama has said nothing, Angela Merkel has said nothing. When asked the other day about the scandal, Carol Browner, the Director of the White House Office on Energy and Climate Change Policy, another of Obama’s czars, was dismissive. If you scan the New York Times or Washington Post or ABC News or the Chicago Tribune or AP or Reuters, there is nary a word even after this latest news. Greenpeace is headlining “12 Days to Save the Climate”. No editorials. No opinion pieces. No discussion of what may be the largest scandal of the century. No one seems to have bothered to call Al Gore up and asked his opinion. There is a studied lack of curiosity.

So if the underlying data was destroyed in the 1980’s, does that mean that no one is able to confirm the methodology and conclusions reached by the CRU?  Did someone confirm the data before it was destroyed? If not, this would go against everything science stands for if true. Replication of the experiment and confirmation of the results is always, always required. Peer review means nothing if no one reviewed the complete file and correlated the data. The data at that point is simply fish wrap.

Half the disaster movies of the past 20 years have a brilliant but misunderstood scientist  rushing to the White House to warn the president of impending disaster.  This time, when potentially damning e mails are released wholesale and the underlying data has conveniently disappeared and it’s on the front pages of the Times and Telegraph, two of the most respected newspapers in the world, it’s as if the information has disappeared into a wormhole in officialdom and the American media.

There have been no cries for confirmation. There have been no statements from government saying “This is a serious matter and we will investigate it fully”. Nothing from the Obama Administration or the Government in the UK. Instead, we are led to believe that they will traipse off to Copenhagen without a care and burden society with additional trillions in debt on what is perhaps deeply flawed evidence.

What happened to the grown ups? The guys with the pocket protectors and slide rules? Climategate is becoming an insult to science. It will damage the environmental movement for decades if not fully addressed. The problem is that Earth Science is one of the newest of sciences.  Trying to understand something so vast and complex is truly daunting. But from the outset, it has not been held to the expectations of other scientific disciplines. Research has often ruled by the heart, not the mind. And now one its central tenets has fallen under a cloud of suspicion.

Our planet has a number of pressing problems that must be dealt with on a global scale. There is no margin for error. The climate scandal could do irreparable damage to the credibility of scientists and governments throughout the world.  This scandal can only be dealt with through a full and fair accounting. Politicization is not the answer, but without a thorough analysis and investigation, Copenhagen is nothing more than a sick joke.

Il 16 dicembre alle ore 14.15 avrà inizio il convegno: L’E-LEARNING PER LA GOVERNANCE DELLE ORGANIZZAZIONI, Dall’e-learning come progetto all’e-learning come sistema evolutivo: l’università, la pubblica amministrazione, le imprese. L’incontro avrà luogo presso la Facoltà di Giurisprudenza  (Aula Tesi) – Contrada Coste Sant’Agostino, 64100 Teramo.

E’ possibile iscriversi attraverso il sito ufficiale elearningeinnovazione.org in cui leggiamo:

Le tecnologie di e-learning sono ormai mature. E’ possibile oggi affrontare, e risolvere, problematiche che fino a pochi anni fa era impensabile gestire con strumenti di supporto alla didattica. Ora, però, quel che ci si para di fronte è l’obiettivo più arduo (ma anche più interessante): la gestione dei sistemi sociali e delle organizzazioni attraverso la progettazione non tanto di singoli corsi ma di “sistemi” di e-learning. E’ davvero possibile? Se si come?

Nel programma è previsto un intervento di Stefania Panini sulla “Certificazione dei Tutor”.

Scarica la locandina

Scarica il programma

November 29, 2009

Asia Sentinel (http://www.asiasentinel.com)

Written by Our Correspondent
Friday, 27 November 2009

The dogs bark, the caravan moves on

Malaysia’s massive port scandal, which has received enormous publicity, implicating a wide swath of past and present officials at the very top of the national coalition government, is confronting Najib Tun Razak, the prime minister, with an unappetizing list of choices given his public rhetoric about cleaning out corruption in his party and government.

The cost overruns in the disastrous attempt to turn the Port Klang seaport into a national multimodal transshipment involve top figures in the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second component of the ruling national coalition, as well as influential members of Najib’s own party.

As with a staggering number of industrialization projects dreamed up by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the Port Klang free zone appears to have served as a kind of gigantic smorgasbord from which officials picked out whatever they wanted to enrich themselves. In September, police froze the bank accounts of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, the corporate entity with the contract to build the port, while they attempt to sort out what happened.

“I believe they will nail a few people,” said a Kuala Lumpur observer with ties to the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). “The scandal is too big to ignore. But how severe their punishment will be remains to be seen. Some will certainly go to jail. Lots of UMNO guys are behind it, but they’re medium fry. The main culprits are the MCA guys plus Tiong.”

That is Tiong King Sing, an influential Sarawak lawmaker and chairman of the parliament’s Backbencher’s Club, who holds 70 percent of the shares in Kuala Dimensi. Although authorities may charge Tiong, sources say, he is likely to be the only one despite the complicity of a long list of MCA and UMNO figures. Tiong has denied any impropriety and one source said that “Tiong has hid his tracks very well.”

There is also the question of the involvement of the cabinet itself. According to June 22, 2007 documents classified under the country’s Official Secrets Act as secret (Rahsia), which were obtained and translated by Asia Sentinel, and other documents, it appears that the government, through the reigns of Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the current prime minister, Najib Razak, retroactively and illegally authorized payments and bonds that have driven the cost of the project from an original RM1.96 billion (US$577 million) in 1999 to a potential RM12.45 billion if the port defaults and is forced to pay interest on its debt, according to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services.

Two transport ministers who previously headed the Malaysian Chinese Association, and three of the four Port Klang Authority chairmen went along with the cost overruns, much of which appear to have stemmed from out and out corruption. The current chairman Lee Hwa Beng, is an accountant and has supported attempts to bring the scandal into the open.

In the classified memorandum, which can be found here, the cabinet agreed to “approve retrospectively costs related to the development of the PKFZ from RM1.088billion to RM4,632,732,000…and to give retrospective approval/validation of the government’s guarantee in issuing bonds at the estimated value of RM4,632,632,000 including coupons by Kuala Dimensi. This support must be based on the issuing of several Letters of Support by the Transport Minister, where these letters would become an implicit government guarantee that is legal.”

The letters of support referred to in the cabinet document were issued by the two previous Transport Ministers, Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy, that allegedly were issued without authorization from the Treasury Ministry. Now, according to the cabinet document, “The government needs to carry the financial burden of RM4,632,732,000.00 in the form of soft loan to PKB… the government’s contingent liability will increase to RM4,632,732,000.00 if PKB cannot repay the bonds which have been issued. This amount does not include Medium term Notes at RM85mil and RM75mil respectively which are yet to be issued.”

The port’s directors say it is now likely to default on billions of ringgit in loans, with the possibility, according to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, that accumulated interest could drive the cost up by more than a factor of six.

The scandal has caused havoc inside the MCA, with the current transport minister, Ong Tee Keat insisting that all the reports related to the affair be released to the public. Those efforts caused his enemies to overthrow him as MCA president. The party is now considering intra-party elections to install another leader.

The story started when, according to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, Kuala Dimensi sold the land to the Port Klang Authority for RM1.09 billion, or RM25 per square foot although by using Malaysia’s Land Acquisition Act, it could have been purchased for RM10 per square foot. Kuala Dimensi acquired the land from the Pulau Lumut Development Cooperative for only RM3 per square foot. A flock of UMNO officials were involved in various roles including the party’s permanent chairman, Onn Ismail, his son-in-law Faizal Abdullah, the former party treasurer Azim Zabidi and others. A Kuala Lumpur source called them “bit players who were there more for insurance and influence-peddling.”

Others named in the PWC report included UMNO officials Abdul Rahman Palil, Abdul Rashad Asari, Omar Latip and Idris Mat Jani, who served in various capacities either with the development cooperative, the supposedly independent surveyor, the law firm advising Kuala Dimensi or as shareholders in allied companies.

Kuala Dimensi, having acquired the land for the free trade zone, was appointed to develop it. That resulted in cost overruns mounting to the hundreds of millions of ringgit. According to The Sun, a Kuala Lumpur newspaper, the Dubai-based Jebel Ali Free Zone, originally appointed to manage the port, gave up and pulled out in 2007, allegedly because of interference from politicians and figures with vested interests, deliberate falsification of minutes, attempts at tax evasion by Malaysian negotiators and other issues. It appears that management was so substandard, according to a report by yet another committee, that the port didn’t even have revenue or cost projections.

If the government’s past track record of investigation is any harbinger, it is questionable what will be done. In 2007, the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission was asked to investigate the plethora of illicit payments and kiting of land prices. The MACC declined to do so in 2007 according to Mohd Sidek Hassan, the chief secretary to the government. Under pressure from the magnitude of the controversy, the MACC is now investigating how the price of land for the acquisition of the project ballooned out of control and will probe financial records pertaining to payment claims and other issues such as conflicts of interest.

It is a safe bet that none of those issues will involve how the Malaysian cabinet agreed to ratify the letters of guarantee issued by the Transport ministry despite the fact that only the Treasury Ministry can legally issue such letters, and how it authorized the backdating of billions of ringgit in bonds and other costs over the past several years.

Some of the actions would appear almost laughable, if the cost weren’t roughly RM500 for every one of Malaysia’s 25.7 million people according to one report. On Nov. 4, according to local media, a Corporate Governance Ad Hoc Committee on the free zone project recommended the creation of an Ethics and Integrity Monitoring Committee and the appointment of independent non-executive members who would constitute one-third of the port’s board of directors. A seminar on corporate governance and transparency will be scheduled.

But this time, judging from the numbers of bloggers and independent commissions – and the phenomenal size of the scandal – something might actually be done, and somebody might go to jail.

November 29, 2009

Gain Additional RMI billion in Revenue from GST and Lose RM28 billion to Corruption and Mismanagement of Public Administration

DAP has urged the Federal Government to reconsider the proposed 4 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST), claiming it would do nothing to narrow the nation’s current deficit budget and would only further burden the poor and the middle class.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that the Government should, instead, concentrate on fighting corruption and realising savings of at least RM28bil annually instead of a mere RM1bil in additional revenue from GST.

“This RM28billion was admitted by Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah as the cost of leakages from having closed tenders in government procurement or just failing to have open tenders for government contracts in an open manner.

“If the government focuses on changing this, there is no need to impose GST on the people to raise funds. But unfortunately, the Barisan Nasional is not brave enough to truly fight corruption,” he said in his opening address at the Perak DAP’sn 15th annual convention here today.

In fact, Lim pointed out the supposed RM28bil in losses to corruption annually may even be an under-reported figure.

“As Time Magazine had quoted Daniel Lian, a Southeast Asia economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore, saying that Malaysia might have lost as much as US$100billion since the early 1980s to corruption,” he said.

Lim said that the proposed 4 per cent GST, which is set to be tabled in Parliament early next year, would not widen the tax base much, seeing as the present budget deficit was over RM50billion.

“So what is an additional income of RM1billion annually? In fact, this GST would only serve to affect 85 per cent of the working population who currently do not pay taxes because their incomes are below taxable levels.

“The impact would be most severely felt on the 38 per cent of the 5.6 million households with income levels of less than RM2,000 monthly or 2.12 million households,” he said. Lim also voiced disappointment over the “unconditional support” for “UMNO’s GST” by MCA Gerakan, SUPP and MIC.

“No MCA minister has defended public interest but has continued to perpetuate this national economic divide by burdening the poor and the middle-class instead of fighting corruption to get more money. Why fear fighting corruption so much?” he said.

Lim also called for the withdrawal of the 15 per cent preferential income tax rates given to professionals in selected areas on the Iskandar Development Region, saying that the benefit should be offered to all professionals in Malaysia.

“Why is it that professionals in other states have to pay 26 per cent? How can there be 1 Malaysia when we have one country and two systems with double standards and discrimination in tax treatment?” he questioned.

The Vancouver Foundation hosted 2 more community conversations for us while in BC. Thanks to Faye Wightman and Dan Morin for bringing people together and the warm welcome we and participants received.
 
Here we talked about the opportunity to reinvent ourselves and find better ways of demonstrating the impact of our work. There are increasing demands for accountability and currently we often lack the metrics to be able to show impact.

The discussion also included the need to consistently show the true costs of fundraising. This is part of the increasing demand for transparency and it also ties in with the issue of understating the costs required to run our organizations. The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle recently appeared in the Stanford Journal of Social Innovation, talks about this issue.

We also need to look at different approaches to governance – there are many small organizations which may not be able to meet the demands of accountability and transparency and find members to sit on Boards. The current CRA guidelines and nonprofit legislation have impeded our thinking about how to govern ourselves. We need to think outside the box as to how govern the work of the sector. 
 
We need to learn to speak with one voice on the cross cutting issues. This does not mean that the subsectors (i.e. sports, arts, environment, social service, international cooperation, etc.) will not have issues specific to them; but we are losing out not coming together on the bigger common issues.    
 
Let’s harness the competitive aspects of the sector to work on the bigger issues together.
  
~Brenda