BIG Conference Series – Welcome and Introduction
November 5, 2025
Helping an organisation scale from Micro to Medium – with integrated governance
Purpose:
To record a short conversation in preparation for the “Frankenorg” session of the BIG Conference Series, focusing on Alex Shapley’s real-world case study illustrating how integrated governance principles were applied in a fast-growing financial services organisation.
1. Context and Role
Alex described being recruited by a CIO (a former IT Director) into a small international financial services firm with ambitious growth plans.
The company grew from around 150 to over 1,000 permanent staff in two and a half years. Key Data was often inaccurate, inaccessible, incomplete, or non-existent (not recorded at all).
Initially brought in to fix an under-implemented ERP system, Alex was soon tasked with wider reforms in project, programme, and portfolio management (P3M), working under the CEO and CFO.
2. Starting Point and Challenges
- Lack of governance structure: Accountability was unclear as the company scaled beyond informal, small-company ways of working.
- Poor management information (MI): Data was any of inaccurate, inaccessible, incomplete, or non-existent (not recorded at all).
- Cultural issues: A “shoot the messenger” culture meant bad news was hidden, and accountability avoided.
- Fragmented systems: ERP and BI tools existed but were not properly configured or embedded.
3. Interventions and Governance Improvements
Alex led a programme of changes that closely align with Business Integrated Governance (BIG) principles, including:
- Technology enablement: Implemented and integrated ERP (PeopleSoft and Siebel), BI (Cognos), and EPM (Hyperion) systems to create a single, balanced source of truth.
- Transparency and accessibility: Introduced dashboards and real-time MI available to all levels, ending selective data use and spin.
- RACI adoption: Defined clear roles and responsibilities across projects, then expanded RACI into BAU operations despite heavy initial resistance.
- Standardised meeting agendas: Ensured every meeting (project or BAU) reviewed previous actions, issues, and risks first, forcing a cultural shift toward openness and accountability.
- Internal communications: Replaced hierarchical message cascades with a direct organisation-wide channel to prevent distortion of strategic messages.
4. Cultural Resistance and Overcoming It
The biggest obstacles were:
- Resistance to transparent MI, especially among directors now subject to visibility.
- Pushback on accountability (RACI) and risk reporting.
- A historic aversion to acknowledging issues.
These were only overcome because the CFO personally championed the reforms, using his authority and credibility to shield Alex and drive the agenda. Without this senior sponsorship, Alex believed such cultural transformation would have failed.
5. Outcomes and Benefits
- Clear line of sight from strategy to delivery.
- Faster and more accurate information flow across all levels.
- Balanced decision-making grounded in evidence, not selective data.
- A governance culture built around transparency, accountability, and shared understanding.
6. Reflections and Advice
- On leadership: C-Suite buy-in is non-negotiable for this level/type of significant cultural change; middle-management consensus alone is insufficient.
- For aspiring governance leaders: Introduce small elements of BIG to build credibility, but aim to secure a senior ambassador.
- With hindsight: The BIG Framework would have made implementation easier by providing structure, common language, and supporting materials.
- On effectiveness: True integrated governance enables organisations to act on balanced information, pivot quickly, and maintain alignment between strategy and execution.
Closing note:
David highlighted how Alex’s case reflects nearly all aspects of BIG in practice. Alex concluded that had the BIG Framework existed at the time, his CFO would have adopted it immediately.
Call to action
Watch Alex’s example as one example of the scenarios covered in FrankenOrg:
Read more about FrankenOrg!
Find out more and connect with other professionals at Business Integrated Governance Conference
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