Boundary Managementsm

 ¾ An Extensive Policy Governance® Resource for Boards of Directors 

¾ Proven Expertise in Basic to Advanced Governance Design

¾ The Authoritative Source for Boundary Management 

 

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Boundary Management Consulting

As a professional practice, Boundary Management Consulting has been serving organizations for over 38 years.  It has worked with large and small organizations across the United States in both the non-profit and profit sectors.  For more than a decade, Boundary Management Consulting has been developing and expanding the concepts of Boundary Management and promoting the use of Policy Governance.  (contact information)

Policy Governance® Expertise

John Carver's model of Policy Governance for boards of directors is based on many of the same principles as Boundary Management, but was developed with board processes and responsibilities in mind.  In the last twelve years, over 65 boards have used Dr. Walker's services to help make the transition to Policy Governance.  These boards have ranged from large national financial cooperatives, multi-campus university systems, to small local social service agencies.  Presentations are made on a regular basis to help executives and boards better understand the model and how it might work within their organization.  

Past Events

  • "Why Ownership Makes Such a Difference," co-authored with Caroline Oliver - published in Credit Union Management, September, 2003
  • IPGA Regional Conference Presentation Proposal Review Team - Fall 2003

Future Events

  • Creation of Lutheran Social Service Policy Governance Network - Winter 2004
  • "Setting Boundaries: Don't manage your credit union -- govern it," Article to be published in Credit Union Management - Early 2004
  • "Create a Research Strategy for Policy Governance," presentation workshop for the IPGA Regional Conference - June 2004

Future Strategic Direction

Over the last year the Boundary Management web site has grown considerably in size and scope.  Originally, it was designed to promote the use of Boundary Management Consulting' expertise in Policy Governance and to promote the organization as the authoritive creator of Boundary Management.  In late 2002, the site was refocused to be a more complete resource for individuals and organizations that are seeking additional help with the application of Policy Governance.  Two knowledge oriented pages were added: Policy Governance Simplified and an Annotated Policy Governance Glossary.  A web directory of Policy Governance sites was added, with new sites listed on a regular basis.  The web site became more inclusive, giving full attention to successes, failures, promotion and criticism of Policy Governance.  Additional Board Guides have been drafted and added to the original ten guides.  A full scale board assessment manual has been completed and made available for purchase, with the core sections available as a free Board Guide.  A 50 question quiz was added to help individuals test their knowledge. Segments of this quiz have been used by the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care Board for continuing education.

The strategy is to make as much as possible, free and easily accessible.  This is based on two assumptions.  First, Policy Governance is inherently logical, understandable, and naturally leads to its principles and conclusions when individuals have enough information.  Individuals can be just as authoritative about Policy Governance when they have access to information as those that have gone through specialized training.  In fact, self-guided learning may provide a better, more rounded, independent thinking group of governance practitioners than a more structured approach.  Policy Governance is simply not that complicated, and if it were complicated, most boards would find it impossible to implement. The objective is to help advance the usage of Policy Governance by providing fewer constraints on access to its concepts and principles.  The second part of the strategy is that the initial group that has embraced Policy Governance has been cutting-edge leaders in governance and Policy Governance now needs to be positioned to be adopted by the middle mass of organizations.  Accessibility to information on Policy Governance will be one of the key determining factors in making this transition. 

Future efforts for this web site and the distribution of Policy Governance knowledge are:
  • Develop a long-term research strategy to assess Policy Governance's effectiveness
  • Create a Policy Governance research data warehouse
  • On-line board assessment tools
  • Creation of a St. Louis Metropolitan Area Policy Governance Network
  • Creation of a Board Assessment Network and Examiners - based on the MBNQA process
  • Reviews of published Policy Governance books and articles
  • Generic drafts of policies for specific types of organizations
  • New Board Member Orientation Manual
  • Policy Governance Industry Networks
  • Continued promotion of Ownership Awareness Meetings for Cooperatives and Associations

Boundary Management Consulting
        Lynn A. Walker, Ph.D.

Telephone 314-576-5797
Mailing Address 12411 McKelvey
St. Louis MO 63146
Email WMPsych@email.msn.com