Governance and Accountability 

 

Governance deals with the structures and processes by which an organization is directed, controlled and held to account. It determines who has power, who makes decision, how other players make their voices heard and how account is rendered. Good governance principles underlay the organization's ability to effectively respond to central agency requirements such as the Policy on Results, Policy on Government Security, and the Policy on Service.

Government departments and agencies are being subjected to pressures to meet legislative and central agency requirements for their operations while being asked to employ, for example, more security, more innovation, and more digital technology while achieving better results with fewer resources. Poor governance and accountability can lead to massive project failures, poor productivity, abysmal customer service, significant financial losses, malfeasance, security and privacy breaches, as citizens often see reported in the press and internal and external audit reports.

Organizations and the citizens that fund their operations should have assurance that these organizations are meeting the principles of good governance and that they have a clear plan for how they will achieve and maintain the policies, practices and procedures that underpin their decision-making processes.

QMR's Governance and Accountability business line offerings are directed at filling client needs in the following areas:

•    Governance assessments, in which we help managers understand and assess their organization’s adherence to the principles of good governance, including the review of existing governance mechanisms and processes that ensure sustainability.

•    Audit preparation and response, in which we help prepare organizations to derive the best benefits possible from various kinds of audit including compliance, operational and performance and/or in which we work with organizations to assess the recommendations from internal or external audits and determine the most effective means to implement sustainable solutions.

•    Organizational reviews, which assess organizational and decision-making structures to optimize the efficiency of service delivery.

•    Specialized management reviews, in which we employ modern and sophisticated methodologies to provide assurance to management on any area of the organization that may need to have a more independent type of assessment or in which we conduct assessments of complex horizontal accountability relationships with a view to proposing new or revised models and frameworks.