Mambo Foundation

Governance vs. Management

The Mambo Foundation, Inc was not setup to make day-to-day management decisions for the Mambo Open Source CMS project. There are clear distinctions between Governance issues and Management issues.

The Mambo Foundation addresses Governance issues. The Mambo Steering Committee, formed by the Mambo CMS project Team Leaders, addresses management issues.

In management theory the distinction between management and governance was first made by Henri Fayol, a French engineer and one of the pioneers of modern management, in 1916. For those with a background in management theory, the distinctions between governance and management, especially when applied to a volunteer, not-for-profit organisation such as the Mambo Foundation, are still difficult to define.

For our purposes, we separate the two functions along these lines:

The Mambo Foundation Board deals with policy and strategic planning (the outcomes);

The Mambo Steering Committee handles the implementation of policy as it relates to the project, and deals with the outputs.

On an organisational level, the Board is responsible for everything.  This includes both governance and management of the Foundation itself. As governors, Directors accept a "contract" of responsibility and accountability for the actions, impact, and future of the organisation. Even if it delegates certain responsibilities to the Team or other professionals, the Board is still responsible for ensuring that the resources of the organisation are being effectively applied to meet its mission.

The governing functions are those that provide the essential direction, resources and structure needed to meet specific needs in the project and the community.
These include:

• Strategic Direction - setting a direction for the organisation that reflects community needs.
• Resource Development - developing financial resources that support project activities.
• Financial Accountability - managing financial resources that ensure honesty and cost-effectiveness.
• Leadership Development - developing the human resources that lead the organisation today and in the future.

The management functions are those that provide the project activities and support to accomplish the goals of the organisation.
These usually include:

• Project Planning and Implementation - planning software development, roadmaps, and the future direction for the Mambo CMS and putting it into action.
• Administration - ensuring the effective management of the details behind the project.
• Policy Implementation - taking the strategic direction set by the Board to the next level of detail and putting it into action.
• Team Development - developing the human resources that are needed for the development of the Mambo CMS.

These management functions are the responsibility of the Mambo Steering Committee. Project Team Leaders, who are elected by their teams, form the MSC.  At times, Directors are also Team Leaders - when this occurs Directors do not take their seat on the MSC and only attend meetings by invitation. To avoid any conflict of interest, Directors, who by nature of their position as a Team Leader would normally be members of the MSC, do not vote in any decision made by the MSC.