Probably the most popular complaint in business today is that the burden of conforming with a raft of related corporate governance issues distracts management from dealing with real business matters. It is argued that, so great is the regulatory burden, that the real effort of expanding a business in size, scope and profits has started to take a back seat. Like all such arguments, it is exaggerated to make its point more dramatic.
But there are signs that business is trying to square the circle and make allies out of business success and disclosure requirements. The latest indicator is the work which CIMA, the management accounting body, is carrying out into the idea of an enterprise report. This follows on from the work it carried out last year on behalf of the Professional Accountants in Business committee of IFAC, the world accounting body, on enterprise governance. That work was significant in that it too was on a similar mission. It was based on research and case studies.
