Answer
What is a governance maturity model?
A governance maturity model is a structured way to rate how well a governing body applies a set of governance principles, usually on a scale of levels, so that the body can see where it is and what to improve. ISO 37004:2023 is the ISO model for groups, and ISO/DIS 37014 is draft guidance on applying it to a controlled group.
What the model measures
The ISO model rates each governance dimension on three aspects: behaviour, effectiveness and efficiency. A dimension is either one of the seven governance conditions or one of the eleven governance principles. Each aspect gets a level from 0 to 5, and the levels combine into a maturity level for the dimension.
Why three aspects
Because they fail separately. A board can behave well and run ineffective practices, or run effective practices that are undocumented and inconsistently applied. Rating the three separately stops a single impression from standing in for the whole picture.
What it is not
It is not an audit, a certification or a score of individual directors. It does not prove compliance with law, and the level found is not automatically the level a group should be at; the model asks the governing body to decide what level is appropriate for each dimension.
Where this leaves a group
A group that has never measured should not start by buying a tool. Start with the boundary map and a single entity, rate the three aspects against the scale, and record the evidence behind each rating. The first result is a calibration, not a verdict, and the model expects the next evaluation to move.
Check it yourself
All 35 requirements The 21 terms The publication record Run the free check
Source for this page
- ISO/DIS 37014 official record. The designation, title, edition, committee, ICS, stage, stage date, page count, price and abstract. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ISO/DIS 37014 free OBP preview. The foreword, introduction, scope, normative references, terms and definitions and the full table of contents, which ISO publishes for free. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ISO 37004:2023, Governance of organizations, Governance maturity model, Guidance. The published text of the organizational governance maturity model, which the draft applies to controlled groups. Supplies the three aspects, the measurement framework, the six-point scale, the dimensions and the 35 model requirements stated on this site.
Retrieved 2026-10-21. The requirement above is our statement of the clause in our own words; the official text is linked so you can check it.