1. Lay the Foundation for Profits, now and in the future
2. Seek a true, aligned path from customers to profit objectives (and back again)
3. Incorporate true Marketing philosophy and processes commensurate with its strategic position at the top of the management process
4. Ensure that the intelligence is there for every major decision, operational activity and tactical change so they all become evidenced as an example of good corporate governance and supporting a focus on win-win for all stakeholders.
5. Drag itself from 'counting correctly and reporting efficiently, in line with shareholder, legal and city requirements and massaging expectations' to 'counting what actually matters, and reporting effectively, in line with the evidenced route to major profit-making capability for all stakeholders by ensuring expectations are met'
6. After all, if we are really that good at Corporate Governance, in that what we do is happily evidenced and orchestrated through examination of our figures and financial management structures, why the hell are we all managing from one crisis to the next?

> The Trouble with existing Corporate Governance ...

Wrong Measurements

1. It is all playing to the city, financial backers and the ego - at best
2. There is too much emphasis and credence given to historical data and financial figures
3. 'Future unit sales' and Cost based assessments, reductions and other such markers lead where the vacuum of poor market and customer understanding exists
4. It doesn't all add up to Profit! The best bit is missing - the value the customer places on everything ....
5. "We know our Gearing Ratios, but we cant even determine the value our prospects or customers place on our offers"
6. The value of both your existing and 'future-casting' Customer intelligence is not managed appropriately, and is seen as less important than the historical data
7. Strangely, it doesn't take a holistic view of its world - it still looks at the infinite number of micro-components of the value chain and subsequently loses the precision and means to leverage the organisations main improvement aspirations and activities

Upside down view

1. When things go wrong, staff blame management. Management blame the Board. The Board blame the market and everything else. Why? Good corporate governance should overcome this long held problem.
2. There is not any kind of balance between surveillance and sensing internally in the organisation and that performed with the external marketplace
3. We can measure more processes, activities and bits of data now than we ever could! So we have no excuse for not being able to 'mechanise' measurement and control of the 'costs' and other easily measured items - and change the focus for our wonderful and creative human brain-power on to the subjects that matter more to profitable existence.
4. We are still taking a 'retroactive approach' that was identified by Deming ... and we have a long way to go to get away from that habit.
5. We need a proper systems approach. As I said, we can now measure almost anything (much more now, in real time too). Yet, although our breadth of information gathering and sensing is astounding compared to the pre-IT revolution, we still haven't moved on and recognised that with this new capability we could actually adopt a more fruitful and profitable systems approach.
   
   The result of which, were we both able and of course more willing, would be to better hone in to the major problems that stand in the way of significant profit improvements. Having a systems approach is the best way to capitalise on our improvement efforts as we would know precisely where to aim them and precisely WHERE NOT. This is unlikely however to catch on in a world that still perpetuates the 'lets measure everywhere and tweak and twiddle with the controls of everything' ....
   
   The components of a system - the people, departments, processes, etc etc are not as important in terms of our obsessions about structure and unit cost, than the importance of the system as a whole where we should obsess about examining our weakest link in the system by better understanding the relationship between the individual components of the system rather than their individual so-called efficiencies, thereby focusing on overall deliverability.
   
   We can start this by pulling marketing out of its physical (marketing department) and spiritual (its only about polishing the turd) ghetto and making it THE fully fledged corporate-leading process that it should be.

It doesn't encourage or enable Governance by Need

1. Corporate Governance is much too focused on internal 'compartmentalised problems'
2. It isn't focused on the Customer
3. The balance is always in favour of shareholder and/or internal politicking rather than the Customer (and by extension, Profit!)

It doesn't Govern with a Customer-Centric Dashboard

• There is no 'Evidential' road to making good and responsible Corporate decisions

Accountants!

I could start off on my usual rant and rave about accountants and the accounting norms that bedevil business, but .....

1. Isn't it strange that it is management accountants that are asked to audit and gauge effectiveness of the business, or to 'save it' when times get tough? What do they know about the whole value chain?
2. Accountants and Financial big-wigs give the impression that all you need to do is massage the figures ....
3. They all measure the EASY things .... its the hard things to measure that are important (so says Einstein)
4. They deal in nothing but historical data
5. And lets face it, they know the proverbial costs of every bleeding thing but not the value of the important things (or indeed what they actually are: true value and benefits and profits for customers for example)
6. The Accountants, Financial Directors and Boards look to Marketing only in terms of Ethics and 'Speaking to the Market' rather than the mainstay of revenue-making
   

Everyone thinks Marketing is all about Marcomms and 'Polishing PR'

1. Have the claims for some products and services come a long way to being more 'legal truthful decent and honest'?
   
   One just has to look at the example of the exorbitant and outrageous claims of certain yogurt 'live bacteria' drinks in televised ads to see that it patently has not. In most walks of life - business or domestic/consumer - the product or service rarely lives up to where it has 'been positioned' or billed as.
   
   Buyers are usually happy and surprised when the product or serice just matches up to their basic expectation. Witness the call back record of any company you deal with. How many times are you passed around, ignored or handled inappropriately, even before you have felt the need to complain!
   
   
2. At best, marketing is now including 'Ethics' ...
   
   ... but not practicing meaningful 'good corporate citizenry', take a look at some of the many large corporations' supply chains to see just what they are doing to individuals, communities, society and the environment. The consumer ultimately knows who you are! All customers are taking a more marked interest in those companies from which they buy. The effect of consumer interest and other forces on supply chains and environmental impact for business is unstoppable and unavoidable. Let us all take heed.
   

> It is still about controlling rather than having the ability to be in control

Although we genuinely wish our organisations to improve, we act against this intuition by focusing on withering initiatives - one after the other in and endless quest - based on erroneous measurements and in our attempt to 'be more in control'.

We end up just controlling - to ensure that our ineffective initiatives are driven along efficiently. New initiatives, new year, new quarter, new disclosure, new heat from Shareholders - you name it, we want to 'improve' control to silence all those who question our ability. But to do this means we should control everything and everyone - we surely shouldn't have to do so if we had the buy-in from all stakeholders and ensuring that we are making the improvements that are categorically shown to be a) the most important and b) based on the right measurements?

We have an incredulous reliance on numbers that are just that - numbers. They are mostly just arbitrary and are dynamic, different depending on one's perspective and at what time they are harvested and therefore by definition not finite, exact or absolute.

> Importance of Alignment

As asserted above, we have a major discord between the figures at top-level Corporate Governance and the figures from the front line sales. What I wish to reiterate is the lack of a direct and unassailable link from customer need to top-line corporate governance measurements and actions. Can any company drill down from the 'Vision' of the organisation right down to the customer need that props it all up and is the reason for its existence? Proper alignment benefits:

• The Company
• The Shareholder
• The Profession
• Society
• The Supply Chain
• The Environment (incl less wastage of hard earned corporate cash on initiatives that lead to nothing and other wasted efforts)
• The Marketer
• THE CUSTOMER
  

How can we Align Marketing with Corporate Governance?

1. Improve the concept and standing of Marketing as the organisation's best and most effective 'sword and shield' against market dynamics and competitive challenges.
   
   
2. From the TOP - undertake a Copernican Shift in Marketing ^TM
   
   
3. Develop a 'Customer Dashboard' rather than a financial one - to check value, credibility, the 17 Ps of the Marketing Mix, customer scoring etc ...
   
   
4. See Marketing as a Process, and make sure it pervades all areas of the organisation
   
   
5. Create a sensing, measurement and operational engagement process that marries the market with profits
   
   
6. Ensure that a good 'corporate value system' exists and is translated to appropriate thoughts and actions at all levels
   
   
7. Realise that the company is part of an 'ecosystem' and is profitable only where there is a realisation and subsequent realignment towards customer-centricity. Rationalisation and cost reduction are ultimately self-defeating and result in implosion.
   
   
8. Break down barriers:
   
   - Between departments
   
   - Between the organisation and its customers and suppliers
   

   - Between individuals

   - Between conflicting, confusing and lets face it, downright desperate initiatives - create common purpose through disposing of unnecessary improvement initiatives and regimes and gain agreement on what we should measure (people are often seen as 'items for production' rather than profit-makers).

9. Make the board realise that the only way to long term profitability and competitiveness is by customer-centric, market-friendly activity.
   
   Good corporate governance is not about 'making concessions and compromises' by massaging things in order to survive. It is about making evidential actions based on the best way for all stakeholders to thrive.
   
   
10. Provide the evidence that great Marketing - philosophy, processes and orientation - is arguably the best means to defend against corporate problems and ensure the best chance of creating value for all.
    
    
11. Be courageous enough to challenge the norms of business and what measurements we make - shake it up!
    
    
12. Instigate a powerful and lasting understanding from all Stakeholders that a company that is providing superior profit through a marked understanding of, and delivery to, the Customer is a better long-term financial prospect than any other form of approach.