Corporate Governance in the Social Age: A Case for Expanding the Reach of Enterprise Software

In his recent 7 Rules for Corporate Governance Success in the Social Age blog post, Barry Libert, CEO of Boston-based OpenMatters, urges companies to begin thinking about governance - or, the set of systems, principles and processes by which a company is governed - from the social perspective. That means that in addition to all of their existing roles, boards now have the added responsibility of shepherding their leaders and organizations into today's socially connected world.

"Boards that avoid this obligation risk having their organizations fall prey to the speed and might of today's social networks as they seek corporate reform and accountability," says Libert, who points to the boards and executives of Best Buy, Kodak, Blockbuster, Hewlett Packard, and Susan G. Komen as examples of firms that have "all learned this reality the hard way."

Libert points to technology as a strategic asset that companies can leverage in their quest to attain corporate governance success in the social age. While ERP solutions are based on "old-style methodologies," according to Libert, solutions like Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM can potentially play important roles in helping companies hone their corporate governance strategies.

That can only happen if enterprise software vendors like Microsoft migrate their product strategies in a way that helps users expand their networks outside of their respective companies, countries, and/or industries, according to Libert. "The enabled technologies of ERP are either going to be antiquated and only manage a small part of a company or a portion of resources," he points out, "or they will think beyond the enterprise itself and factor in today's more social and mobile world."

The bottom line, says Libert, is ...