Management

Management is the part of the organisation that actually runs it: executives who hire, spend, operate and deliver every day. Governance needs this term to be precise, because the whole architecture of accountability rests on the line between those who direct and oversee, the board, and those who execute, management. For an owner the distinction answers a simple question: who do we hold to account for results, and who checks on them. Blur the line and both jobs are done badly.

The split is fixed in a delegation of authority matrix, executive job descriptions and the charters of the board and its committees. Management decides within delegated limits and escalates what sits above them. A concrete example: the CEO appoints named owners for each critical business service, and management reports recovery readiness to the board twice a year; the board challenges the report but does not rewrite the plans. That is the division working as intended.

The common failure is symmetrical: boards that slide into managing, and executives who treat resilience as something the board or a coordinator owns for them. Accountability for keeping the business running sits squarely with management; the board oversees but cannot substitute. Another trap is assuming a specialist function can carry executive accountability, which it cannot. The ERGP programme addresses this division of labour in module M1, Resilience governance and the board.