Publication: SME Governance Guidebook
Loading...
Published
2019-01
ISSN
Date
2020-03-03
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) share distinctive challenges that require specific governance practices. This guidebook presents a tailored governance framework with structures, policies, and practices that mitigate the risks and support sustainable growth of business while recognizing the resource constraints typical of SMEs. The objective of this guidebook is to help SME entrepreneurs and their investors develop a highly tailored governance improvement plan to support sustainable growth of their companies. The SME governance methodology in this guidebook represents a governance innovation by tailoring specific recommendations to the evolutionary stages of SME growth: stage one: start-up; stage two: active growth; stage three: organizational development; and stage four: business expansion. This guidebook provides an international perspective - focusing on characteristics that are common to small and midsize businesses in many different countries. Guidebook is structured as follows: chapter one, SME governance: what is it? why is it important? explains what corporate governance is and how it differs for SMEs. Chapter two, SME governance framework defines the stages of growth for SMEs as well as governance-related risks and opportunities associated with each stage. Chapter three, key governance topics and leading practices takes a deep dive into select governance concepts and practices for each of the five governance topics. Appendix, SME governance action planning tool distills the key recommendations of the SME guidebook and presents them in the form of worksheets to help identify high-priority actions appropriate to your SMEās stage of growth.
Link to Data Set
Citation
āInternational Finance Corporation. 2019. SME Governance Guidebook. Ā© International Finance Corporation. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33404 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.ā
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Russia Corporate Governance Manual : Part I. Corporate Governance Introduced(Washington, DC, 2004-09-22)The Russia corporate governance manual has been divided into and is published in six parts: (i) corporate governance introduced; (ii) good board practices; (iii) shareholder rights; (iv) information disclosure and transparency; (v) special focus section; and (vi) annexes model corporate governance documents. The first four parts contain chapters that focus on core corporate governance issues, such as a company's board structure, information disclosure practices, and shareholder rights. Part five focuses on corporate governance issues of particular importance in the Russian context, namely corporate governance concerns during a company's reorganization, within holding structures, and relating to enforcement. Part six, finally, offers practical tools in the form of model documents, for example company codes, by-laws, and contracts. All issues are closely examined through Russian law and regulations; the Federal Commission for the Securities Market's Code of Corporate Conduct (FCSM Code) Code and, when applicable, internationally recognized best practices. This manual also provides government officials, lawyers, judges, investors, and others with a framework for assessing the level of corporate governance practices in Russian companies. Finally, it serves as a reference tool for the educational institutions that will train the next generation of Russian managers, investors, and policy makers on good corporate governance practices.Publication The Russia Corporate Governance Manual : Part VI. Annexes, Model Corporate Governance Documents(Washington, DC, 2004-09-17)The Russia corporate governance manual has been divided into and is published in six parts: (i) corporate governance introduced; (ii) good board practices; (iii) shareholder rights; (iv) information disclosure and transparency; (v) special focus section; and (vi) annexes model corporate governance documents. The first four parts contain chapters that focus on core corporate governance issues, such as a company's board structure, information disclosure practices, and shareholder rights. Part five focuses on corporate governance issues of particular importance in the Russian context, namely corporate governance concerns during a company's reorganization, within holding structures, and relating to enforcement. Part six, finally, offers practical tools in the form of model documents, for example company codes, by-laws, and contracts. All issues are closely examined through Russian law and regulations; the Federal Commission for the Securities Market's Code of Corporate Conduct (FCSM Code) Code and, when applicable, internationally recognized best practices. This manual also provides government officials, lawyers, judges, investors, and others with a framework for assessing the level of corporate governance practices in Russian companies. Finally, it serves as a reference tool for the educational institutions that will train the next generation of Russian managers, investors, and policy makers on good corporate governance practices.Publication The Russia Corporate Governance Manual : Part V. Special Focus Section(Washington, DC, 2004-09-17)The Russia corporate governance manual has been divided into and is published in six parts: (i) corporate governance introduced; (ii) good board practices; (iii) shareholder rights; (iv) information disclosure and transparency; (v) special focus section; and (vi) annexes model corporate governance documents. The first four parts contain chapters that focus on core corporate governance issues, such as a company's board structure, information disclosure practices, and shareholder rights. Part five focuses on corporate governance issues of particular importance in the Russian context, namely corporate governance concerns during a company's reorganization, within holding structures, and relating to enforcement. Part six, finally, offers practical tools in the form of model documents, for example company codes, by-laws, and contracts. All issues are closely examined through Russian law and regulations; the Federal Commission for the Securities Market's Code of Corporate Conduct (FCSM Code) Code and, when applicable, internationally recognized best practices. This manual also provides government officials, lawyers, judges, investors, and others with a framework for assessing the level of corporate governance practices in Russian companies. Finally, it serves as a reference tool for the educational institutions that will train the next generation of Russian managers, investors, and policy makers on good corporate governance practices.Publication The IFC Difference : 2001 Annual Report, Volume 1(Washington, DC, 2001)This 2001 Annual Report for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) presents financial highlights, IFC products and services, the investment portfolio, regional reports, project evaluations, and the organization's financial statements.Publication Doing Business 2014 Regional Profile : OECD High Income(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-10-29)This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in OECD High Income. It also shows the regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: European Union, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, and Latin America. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across countries in a single region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Housing Finance in Sri Lanka : Opportunities and Challenges(Washington, DC, 2007-11)Sri Lanka has embarked on a gradual transition from a system of directed credit in a highly segmented market toward an integrated market-driven housing finance system. This transition has included an increased role of private universal banks in the immediate term and a functioning secondary mortgage market in the long term. An active system of housing finance provides real economic benefits and positively affects savings, investment, and household wealth. It provides an investment option for long-term funds in the economy as an alternative to investment in treasury bonds. In turn, each dollar invested in the housing sector catalyzes economic activity in other sectors, exerting an indirect positive impact on employment levels, the retirement system, fiscal returns, and consumption. Housing finance enables households to accumulate assets that can provide the collateral for their investment needs, thus stimulating small business. Housing finance development boosts equitable economic growth and reduces poverty by improving living conditions, empowering the middle and lower-income population, and strengthening communities. Housing policy focuses on improving government land use and maximizing the use of the existing housing stock by providing basic public services and upgrades.Publication Sri Lanka : Improving Access to Financial Services, Selected Issues(Washington, DC, 2005-01)Sri Lanka has made significant achievements in the provision of financial services in some areas, but there are still critical market segments that remain underserved, especially for small and rural enterprises. Low-income households could also benefit from access to a more diverse set of financial products, such as enhanced remittances and payment services, longer-term savings instruments, insurance products, and improved access to housing finance. The complexity and diversity of the needs suggest that various approaches have to be examined and that a broad range of institutions can be engaged in the delivery of financial services. This report analyzes opportunities for expanding services to key underserved markets. Chapter 2 looks at the expansion of financing opportunities for small businesses. Chapter 3 complements the analysis of Chapter 2 by examining how to improve finance for agriculture through supply chains. Chapter 4 focuses on delivery channels for rural remittances. Remittances to Sri Lanka have been growing rapidly, and the risks posed by informal networks need to be minimized. Moreover, linking migrants to formal financial institutions will yield additional benefits by exposing them to a broad range of financial services (such as savings, credit, and insurance) that can help them manage their economic risks better. Chapter 5 explores the potential role of the postal network in broadening access to financial services in rural areas. Chapter 6 summarizes the main findings of the report.Publication Taxes, Spending, and Equity: International Patterns and Lessons for Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-17)Taxes and public spending underpin the basic administration of government and finance the human capital and infrastructure investments needed for economic growth. They can also have a significant and immediate impact on poverty and inequality. The question of how public finance can support longer-term growth objectives while promoting equity has become even more important in recent years, given the high fiscal deficits and debt levels most countries emerged with in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the increasing cost of debt and the need to restart environmentally sustainable growth while helping households address the learning losses and other social scars caused by the pandemic. This paper examines the global evidence on which households pay which taxes and who benefits from what spending, and critically, the net effect on different households across the income distribution. The aim is to identify the patterns and lessons that emerge for designing progressive fiscal policies. A global dataset of 96 countries is assembled, spanning all regions of the world and all national income levels, grounded in the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) approach to fiscal incidence.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countriesā short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africaās uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africaās population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomesāin addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet servicesāand in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earningsādampen peopleās willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africaās countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumersā ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforceāone projected to become the worldās largest by the end of this century.Publication Direct and Indirect Impacts of Transport Mobility on Access to Jobs: Evidence from South Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-12)Access to jobs is essential for economic growth. In Africa, unemployment rates are notably high. This paper reexamines the relationship between transport mobility and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on the direct and indirect effects of transport connectivity. As predicted by theory, wages are influenced by the level of commuting deterrence. Generally, higher earnings are associated with longer commute times and/or higher commuting costs. Local accessibility is also important, especially for individuals with time constraints. Both direct and indirect impacts are found to be significant in South Africa, where job accessibility has been challenging since the end of apartheid. For the direct impact, the wage elasticity associated with commuting costs is significant. Returns on commute are particularly high for women. Local accessibility to socioeconomic facilities, such as shops and health services, is also found to have a significant impact, consistent with the concept of mobility of care. To enhance employment, therefore, it is crucial to connect people not only to job locations but also to various socioeconomic points of interest, such as markets and hospitals, in an integrated manner. This integration will enable individuals to spend more time working and commuting longer distances.