These are the audiences who can benefit from conference messages

• Senior executives and management teams
• Heads of strategy
• Transformation directors
• Sponsors, programme managers, and stakeholders involved in initiating a BIG initiative.
• Operations heads who are stakeholders in Business-as-Usual and Product Management.
• Existing support offices, such as strategy execution offices and project/program management offices
• Governance, risk, and compliance teams
• Enterprise, business, and solution architects
• Those responsible or impacted by uncertainty whether impacting on organisation or a more granular level

Welcome and why are we here

Introduced by David Dunning – Original Founder of the BIG CIC and Veronica Edward-Smith

This session set the scene for the entire series. It clarified the purpose of the BIG CIC and the BIG Conference: to introduce and activate the Business Integrated Governance (BIG) community and show how BIG helps organisations bridge the persistent gap between strategy and delivery. It outlined the evolution of the BIG framework, highlighted its components and principles, and described the current state of the community and its resources. Clear emphasis was placed on the need for integrated governance as a response to fractured organisational approaches to strategy execution.

Core takeaways

• Integrated governance is posed as a systemic solution to strategy delivery failure.

• Clarifying organisational purpose, measurement, and decision rights is foundational.

• Early dialogue with stakeholders and building readiness are essential first steps.

Event Report Here

Case Examples – “FrankenOrg”

This session used composite real-world scenarios to illustrate how integrated governance works end-to-end.

What we learned

• Despite differences in industry or context, organisations face structurally similar problems: unclear accountability, siloed decision-making, fragmented information, and weak linkage between strategy and execution.

• Integrated governance bridges these fractures by linking strategy to operations through shared data, transparent roles, and accountable processes.

• The composite cases highlighted that governance struggles often stem from culture and leadership commitment, not just technical capability gaps.

Please see one of the case examples – an international telecoms company AND a financial services company on the Blog Page.

Event Report Here

BIG Readiness Assessment

This was an advice and content laden workshop for individuals (protagonists) looking to champion integrated governance within their organisations.

Key lessons

• Successful integration of governance and strategy delivery depends less on tools and more on stakeholder engagement, curiosity, and consensus building.

• Participants learned methods to assess organisational readiness across dimensions such as governance clarity, accountability alignment, and stakeholder attitudes.

• Techniques like applied curiosity help reduce defensiveness and open space for constructive dialogue about strategy delivery challenges.

• Readiness assessment is a stepping stone toward building support for integrated governance initiatives — it helps protagonists frame the problem and engage sponsors effectively.

Please see our background blogs which talk about:

Improving Strategy Delivery – De-Risking the Conversation

Are you ready for strategy delivery?

Event Report Here

Integrating Strategy Delivery

Strategy community – represented by David Booth and David Worsley –From the International Association for Strategy Professionals – Focusing on – Strategy Delivery: Rigour vs. Agility — Do We Need Both?

This session took a broader view and tackled the ongoing challenge of making strategy work in practice.

What we learned

• Traditional approaches to strategy are often linear and static: formulate a plan, cascade objectives, monitor progress. In reality, organisations operate in dynamic environments where strategies drift and execution falters

• Strategy should be treated as a flow rather than a one-off playbook. This requires stronger feedback mechanisms, governance and execution structures that connect strategy with day-to-day work (including operational priorities and innovation).

• Organisations increasingly need dynamic strategic capabilities — the capacity to respond to uncertainty, adjust course intelligently, and sustain strategic focus over time.

• Strategy delivery requires shared ownership and accountability across multiple functions, not just strategy teams.

Illustrative context
The rail industry case example reinforced how misaligned strategy and accountability structures contribute to costly execution failures, and how integrated governance could strengthen strategy delivery.Big CIC

Please see our background blogs and a discussion:

Why is it so hard to see that Strategy Delivery needs fixing?

Event details

Governance and Oversight (OCRUM Session)

Governance community – represented by Tim Leech

Core insight

• Boards and leaders often receive compliance-oriented outputs (risk lists, audit reports) instead of objective-centric insights that reflect the uncertainty in achieving mission-critical goals.Big CIC

• Effective governance requires confronting uncertainty openly, assigning clear ownership for critical objectives, and cultivating a culture where leaders want honest information.Big CIC

• Methodologies like OCRUM complement BIG by providing discipline and language for governance that focuses on the risks and opportunities around strategic outcomes.Big CIC

Please see our background blogs which talk about:

From Risk Lists to Certainty: How BIG and OCRUM Can Close the Mission-Critical Oversight Gap

Event details

Strategy, Execution & Portfolio Management

Portfolio Management – represented by Stephen Jenner

Please see our background blogs which talk about:

Fertile Ground for Projects

Mind the Gap: Strategy, Execution and Portfolio Management

Building the Fabric Between Strategy & Delivery

Event Report

Cross-Cutting Themes Across the Conference

Integrated Governance Is the Unifying Framework

Across all sessions the central message was that strategy delivery problems are not primarily technical, but systemic — rooted in fractured governance, accountability, and information flows. BIG positions integrated governance as the operating system that binds strategy, execution, and oversight into a coherent organisational capability.

Strategy Is a Flow, Not a Plan

Repeatedly, speakers emphasised that good strategy* formulation is necessary but not sufficient. Strategy must be continuously translated into measurable objectives, governance routines, decision criteria, and execution plans that adapt to changing conditions.

Accountability and Transparency Matter as Much as Process

Portfolio practices, readiness assessments, and governance dialogues all highlighted that clarity of roles and accountable ownership across functions makes strategy delivery visible and manageable. This depends on culture, not just frameworks.

Bridging Domains (BAU, Change, Strategy) Is Essential

The conference emphasised that organisations cannot treat business-as-usual operations, strategic change, and value creation as separate silos. Integrated governance structures balance these domains — ensuring strategic priorities are not crowded out by operational demands.

Practical Readiness and Engagement Are Foundational

Several sessions focused on readiness and stakeholder engagement, reinforcing that technical models matter only if individuals can build consensus, gain sponsorship, and communicate the value of integrated governance in organisational terms.

The BIG Conference is available to FULL Members, and those who have temporary Conference Membership.

• FULL Membership – Become a BIG Full Member and get access to multiple benefits over open access, plus Conference Access – £120
• Conference Only Membership – Access to Conference content for 1 month – £20 (Content available until 6th Feb 2026)

To see Membership options, please visit the Membership page – when the benefits of all membership profiles is provided.

Please remember that the BIG CIC is not for profit, with no profit taking shareholders. Your membership essentially provides a donation to help the community interest company run.

Existing regular Members have access to the Body ok Knowledge and can upgrade their Membership to be Full Members for entitlement to Conference access. Simply:

1. Log in as a Member
2. Go to the Register as a Full Member or for Conference Only Membership
3. If the system tells you your membership already exists – this is because you are not logged in as a member, and the system is trying to create a new membership for your existing ID (which you can’t do)

Once you have a FULL or Conference Membership – you can then access the FULL Member Resources Page – which includes links to session recordings.

The event has secured the following speakers

• David Booth and David Worsley from the International Association of Strategy Professionals. David B is author of Strategy Journeys, David W is Rail Strategy Manager at Transport for the North.
• Governance community – represented by Tim Leech who has received awards for outstanding contributions to the risk and assurance field – one the top 10 internal audit and risk thought leaders of the decade globally.
• Portfolio Management – represented by Stephen Jenner whose publications on Project Portfolio Management and Benefit Management have set the standards in the P3 domain. Steve Jenner is a pracitioner, trainer and writer on the subjects of project portfolio and benefits management. He is the author of, and chief examiner for, APMG’s Managing Benefits™ (3rd edition, 2024) and Managing Portfolios™ (2024). He was also co-author of the OGC/Axelos, Management of Portfolios.  Steve is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA), with an MBA, and holds a Masters of Studies degree from Cambridge University.

In addition to our speakers, the following people are collaborating to define and develop the event

• Alex Shapley
• Chris Bragg
• Bekka Prideaux
• David Dunning
• Marjana Skubic
• Veronica Edward-Smith
• Danny Harris
• Chris Pond

The purpose of Business Integrated Governance is to align strategic objectives, governance structures, and business operations to ensure cohesive decision-making and execution across all levels of the organisation Please see Chapter 1 of the BoK for more information.

The BIG-CIC promotes a unified framework that connects strategic intent with governance practices and business execution, More on what is BIG here

The BIG CIC Purpose is:

• Knowledge Growth & Sharing – Further develop and share knowledge on Business Integrated Governance (BIG) with members, professional bodies, partners and the public.
  • Community Engagement – Encourage volunteer participation in knowledge advancement and sharing.
  • Collect and publish knowledge – about the value, practice and implementation of BIG based on real life incidents and practices of BIG and observed impacts of poorly integrated governance
  • Domain Integration – Work with relevant professional bodies to align and integrate knowledge within and adjacent to BIG.
  • Partner development – Support organisations to define and develop consulting, services, training and solutions leveraging BIG.
• Education & Accreditation – provide the Body of Knowledge, oversee exams, and issue BIG credentials.

The BIG CIC has been supported by many contributors, and some of their motivations and viewpoints are provided in the BoK Foreword.