Meeting On The Bosphorus

Does human resources have anything in common with corporate governance?

I arrived at Ataturk International Airport early in the morning on Wednesday 14 May. The Turkish Airlines flight from Lagos was an enjoyable experience. I paid for visa on arrival and I took an airport taxi for the 20 kilometre ride to the Marmara Pera Hotel situated at Mesrutiyet Cad. Tepebasi in Istanbul's trendy area in Beyoglu, where the ancient history meets modern life. The area is popular for soaking up to local culture, shopping and entertainment. 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a leader in board effectiveness training and development of local capacity in corporate governance picked Istanbul as the venue for a two-day network meeting and consultation on corporate governance and board effectiveness from Wednesday 14 to Thursday 15 May. The meeting was hosted by the Corporate Governance Association of Turkey (TKYD) with the support of the the Governments of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. 

Istanbul was a perfect choice for 42 participants from 28 countries to meet. It is a transcontinental city in Eurasia, hugging the Bosphorus strait which separates Europe and Asia. It is Turkey’s economic, cultural and historic centre. Countries represented at the meeting were Turkey, Brazil, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Macedonia, Serbia, Mongolia, Russia, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, Philippines, Thailand, Albania, Morocco, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, USA, Peru and Slovenia. 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with and helped develop corporate governance associations in a number of emerging markets. Its Global Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF) has worked with leading bodies to develop key global tools and publications, including Building Director Training Organizations (Toolkit 1) and Board Leadership Training Resources (Toolkit 3) and associated training supplements. The Istanbul meeting provided an opportunity to showcase the work the IFC does and the relevant tools and good practice guidance it has developed. It served as an important input into the updating and revision of some of IFC’s corporate governance tools and good practice. I benefited from the world-class interaction and knowledge shared by leading authorities in corporate governance and board effectiveness such as Morgan Landy, Phil Armstrong, David Robinett, Chris Pierce, Chinyere Almona, Heloisa Belotti Bedicks and Jane Valls. 

We reviewed the new Organisation for European Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines on State-owned Enterprises, and discussed how to promote the use of scorecards to rate corporate performance of companies in conjunction with local regulators. In my quest for knowledge, I obtained copies of IFC publications and resources to assist me in building capability and competence. They included:

a. Raising the Bar on Corporate Governance: A Study of Eight Stock Exchange Indices

b. Corporate Governance Scorecards: Assessing and Promoting the Implementation of Codes of Corporate Governance

c. Building a Successful Corporate Governance Institute in Less Than One Year – How the Baltic Institute Became a Reality and What Others Can Learn From It

d. Arming Directors with Skills for Effective Management of Board Disputes

e. Behind Directors Certification Program: Key Points To Consider

f. Corporate Governance: Women on Boards

g. Corporate Governance Media Training

h. Practical Guide to Corporate Governance: Experiences from the Latin American Companies Circles (CD)

i. Corporate Governance Success Stories (CD)

j. Corporate Governance and Development – An Update

k. Who’s Running the Company? A guide to reporting on corporate governance

l. Corporate Governance Codes and Scorecards

m. Diversity at the Head Table (Bringing Complimentary Skills and Experiences to the Board

n. When Grandpa is Also the CEO – Resolving Differences in Family-Owned Businesses

o. Integrity, Culture, and Other Intangibles for Building Long-Term Value – The Board’s Critical Responsibility

p. When Do Companies Need a Board-Level Risk Management Committee

q. South-South Knowledge Transfer: How Brazil and Mozambique Cooperated on Corporate Governance Capacity Building

r. Network of Corporate Governance Institutes in Latin America: Bonding over Common Objectives while Meeting Local Needs. 

Like human resources, corporate governance pays attention to diversity and inclusion, competency development, capacity building, succession planning, culture, and knowledge transfer.

Meeting over, I retired to the hotel rooftop bar and enjoyed the view of the Bosphorus strait, the narrowest, natural but significant international waterway that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from Thrace. 

I left Istanbul with a clear view that human resources and corporate governance have a lot in common.