Preventing corporate collapse through Accountability

The Indian company Satyam Computer Services balance sheet manipulation which has now been revealed to have taken place over several years and the collapse of select financial institutions in Sri Lanka are not uncommon incidents in the world of business. They are just two incidents which are very close to home!

The common factors in these instances is the lack of management accountability by these companies due to poor corporate governance, resulting in creating severe impact on stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, lenders etc. In this context, the launch of the Corporate Accountability Rating scheme in LMD’s January 2009 issue could not have been more timely.

According to STING Consultants which designed and launched this initiative, the objective of this rating which is open to any company in Sri Lanka is to establish a stronger commitment to approaching corporate accountability holistically.

By adopting a strategic approach, and by viewing the process as an integrated stakeholder engagement, it can be made to become a part of the culture of the organization, thereby avoiding such costly blunders.

This approach moves CSR from a pure project basis, to a business oriented engagement with all of its stakeholders. “After all, what is the point of doing charity work if you are not accountable to your stakeholders, because eventually you will not have a business to run” said CEO of STING Consultants Ruchi Gunewardene.