Governance frameworks

What the model asks

A documented organizational governance framework makes clear how governance arrangements work throughout the organization and how the organization is governed. It should sit above everything else and explain how strategy, governance policies, governance structures (roles and committees) and accountabilities (authorities and responsibilities that have been assigned and accepted) fit together and function. Table 1 lists what it contains: intent (the reason for it, its objectives and outcomes); structures (the roles and committees delegated to, and what they do); mandate and commitment (authorities and responsibilities); design (context and stakeholders, policies, accountability, scope, how it links with other areas of governance, resourcing, and roles in communication); implementation (which roles are accountable for running it); and monitoring, review and improvement (oversight of how it runs, review of whether it still applies, and assessment and continual improvement).

What it means when one board controls another

The governance framework is the first condition as well as a component. In a group, the test is whether the entity frameworks are coordinated by a group framework or merely collected under a common owner. Record the coordination mechanism, not only the existence of the documents.

Evidence an evaluator asks for

A maturity rating is a claim about how the group governs. The evidence is what proves it operated. Keep both, and keep them together.

• Governance framework: Documented organizational governance framework covering the Table 1 topics

Where evaluations commonly find gaps

• Framework absent, or existing only as an organization chart
• No provision for its own review

How this requirement enters the rating

This unit supplies the evidence for the efficiency aspect. Rate it on the six-point scale, cite the record that shows it operated in the period, and read the aspect page before you assign a level. The level descriptions for this aspect are on /aspects/efficiency/.

It carries 1 evidence item and 2 common gaps in the model. One item is enough only if it is the artefact that proves the practice operated, not a policy that says it should. Both gaps are seen often enough in first evaluations that the evaluation design should test for them explicitly. The group application on this page is ours; the requirement and evidence are the model's, stated in our own words.

Requirements that sit beside it

• 4.4.1 General: governance efficiency and governance components
• 4.4.3 Governance strategies
• 4.1 General: the purpose of evaluating governance maturity and its three aspects

The three aspects The six-point scale All 35 requirements

Note on the draft: The requirement, evidence and gaps on this page are read from ISO 37004:2023, which the draft states it builds on. The draft's own clause body is not public, so this page does not state it. The clause reference at the top is the draft's public contents heading that this requirement sits under.