Distinguishing governance from management – a view from the USA

Barry S Bader, a distinguished board governance consultant in the United States, has a great website on boards and writes on various board matters.

Barry has published a paper providing his views on the differences between governance and management.

Here at Healthcare Governance Review, we are constantly concerned about the fact that the National Health Service by and large does not seem to understand the difference. To many NHS organisations, ‘governance’ is the new term for ‘management’ and you’ll find many organisations with a ‘head of governance’ and a ‘governance department.’

Barry states that “What is the difference between governance and management?” is by far the question that not-for-profit executives and directors ask most often. He further says that “Effective boards understand the difference between governing and managing; dysfunctional boards do not.”

In his paper he sets out his views on board and management roles and provides a useful ‘Seven guiding questions’ to help boards and managers differentiate between governance and management.

Barry’s paper Distinguishing Governance from Management can be freely downloaded on his ‘Great Boards’ website here.