The goal of any system of governance is to achieve the best performance within the overall context of the prevalent economic environment, so as to secure maximum benefit for all the stakeholders. For this to be achieved, governance cannot only be systems, processes and metrics. It also has to integrate within itself the beliefs, values, culture and ethics of an organisation, ultimately leading to the cornerstones of transparency and accountability, which is what good governance is all about.

In the recent past, corporate India has been flooded with several prescriptive principles of governance, the result of intense deliberations of eminent commissions. Ironically, the corporate failures in developed countries regulated by highly disciplined capital markets have only brought home the stark reality that good governance can never be the result only of legislation. It must have real commitment from the management.