I apologise for the
huge scans. If you want to read them, please drag the scans to your
desktop to read them.
If accountability isn't important, I hope these news will make you
think a bit harder.
I have written something about accountability a few days back also.
And it seems that this theme is coming back.
The following is not meant as an insult to any religious group. Ok,
say you have god running your company now. Normally on fine days,
he's running the business well. He has all the decision power to
make investments for the company. He' friendly with colleagues,
delivers results and likes walking his dog. At the end of the
financial year, everyone gets their bonuses.
"Hey, that guy is good. Thanks to him we have bonuses," says one
coworker.
"Isn't it dangerous for him to have that much power and nobody is
looking over his shoulders?" said a new employee who had just
graduated from NUS.
"Are you nuts? Did you not receive your bonus this year? Isn't the
company doing well? What are you trying to imply" replied the
coworker with a little hostility.
"But what if one day he wants to try something naughty?" said the
new employee.
Everyone looked at the new employee and wonder what the hell is
wrong with him. Couldn't figure it out, they walked away. Suddenly,
he's left standing alone beside the water cooler.
The thing is, even if you're god, suppose that one day you do
decide to do something naughty to the company. Think investing $1
billion dollar into foreign exchange without consulting anyone,
because you think you're smart enough and there's not need to
consult anyone. And nobody was assigned to look over your
shoulders. One day, the foreign exchange crash, the $1 billion
dollar vanished, and the company has to go into red for the next
few quarters.
Are you still not seeing the picture? If there's no accountability,
you won't even know who's doing what to the company's money!
Corporate governance and accountability should be in place in all
organisation in Singapore if they are dealing with money, which
they WILL be dealing with money. That's the point I'm trying to
say.
It's not that I'm paranoid. It's a mechanism meant to protect the
company, making sure that the company is doing well financially.
That's why you're able to get your bonus at the end of the
year.
