Improving Corporate Governance Through Information Management

What is Information Management?

Information management refers broadly to the cycle of an organization acquiring information, storing it within the organization, and distributing it to those who require it to achieve corporate purposes. It helps to inform decision making at the board and management levels, and it has a regular, often daily, impact on those performing operational tasks. 

Good information management increases productivity and efficiency, facilitates effective corporate governance, promotes compliance, and increases creativity and innovation. It also helps to prevent important corporate information from walking out the door when employees leave.

Information management is an essential piece of the corporate risk management puzzle. 

Yet, information management isn’t something that’s prioritized in early-stage and growing companies. Even mature and multinational companies don’t always manage information well.

So, how can companies achieve information management? 

Our top tips for managing information within your organization are:

Tip 1: Create a Knowledge Bank where you store important account details. 

Tip 2: Know (and document) Who Knows What Within Your Company.

The following information should be documented, at a minimum:

• Formation documents, as well as corporate compliance documents, like Minutes and bylaws;
• Financial records and reporting;
• Processes and policies in place;
• Where operational information is stored (ideally with links to it); 
• Corporate accounts and subscriptions; and 
• Contact details for your companies network. 

Tip 3: Put accountabilities in place to ensure important corporate knowledge doesn’t walk out the door when team members leave.

Tip 4: Strong processes and a culture of corporate hygiene promote efficiency at every level. It pays to put it in place. 

Tip 5: The way you store your organizational data and information matters. Create processes for storing information. 

Bear in Mind, No Universal Information Management Framework Exists.

Unfortunately, no universal framework or technology exists to solve information management challenges across all companies and all industries. It is, instead, a matter of prioritizing developing an intelligent framework for mapping, storing, and managing corporate information as early as possible. It is essential that, at a minimum, board members and management team members know what information exists and who is responsible for that information. 

Information management technologies are also developing rapidly and may be worth considering. Many of them leverage automation and cloud storage to securely store and manage corporate information, ensuring that a central repository contains relevant and accurate corporate documents, information, and contact details.

If you’d like to explore this topic in more detail, listen to this week’s podcast: “Don’t Lose Your EDGAR Codes”. 

Otherwise, if you need help with your corporate governance, reach out. Our corporate attorneys would love to help!

• Corporate Governance
• Startup Advice