Stakeholders and conflict systems mapping on why the founding charter compact becomes the mainstay of corporate governance

Abstract

In this paper we put forward an alternative approach to dealing with the Charter of any organization, that essential document which ought to be regarded as the mainstay of governance. In the first place, we show that an organization carries out its tasks by becoming a responsive mechanism to fulfill stakeholders' demands. In the second place, organizations behave like conflict-systems within which political issues are of the essence when coping with power, influence, control and authority; on these grounds, we give heed to agenda building and the problem of factions. We argue that such two-tiered structure stands for the preconditions of any Charter. Lastly, we set up the Charter as a compact of regulatory and discretionary governance, comprised not only by the articles and certificate of incorporation, but also internal bylaws of the organization, the Statute of Governance, the Code of Good Practices, and provisions for upgrading, overhauling, and even changing the architecture of governance in its entirety.