Chamber needs to change approach to decision making

08.June.07

Editor: The recent controversy surrounding the issuing of a statement by the immediate past President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce has highlighted what might be a procedural weakness of the Chamber and the uncertainty about who exactly is “the Chamber” and the respective roles of the “the President”, “the Executive” and “the Membership”.{{more}}

In fairness to Mr. Bollers, he seemed to have followed the long-standing policy of “the Chamber” that strangely allows its President, with (or without) a few members of the executive council, to huddle together on important national issues and to propagate their own opinions as being representative of “the membership” of the Chamber.

A much safer and more democratic approach for Bollers and the “Executive Council” would have been to arrange for discussion from among its knowledgeable and extensive “membership” and to arrive at a consensus by an acceptable means. This would have taken the President almost entirely out of the equation.

Of course, such an approach would necessarily require

special meetings and some lengthy debates. The result though, would be a Chamber with a greatly enhanced credibility and independence and an organization which is far less open to manipulation or the influence of any political or other interest groups.

It is therefore vital that the new President and Council address this approach to decision-making, and with few exceptions, seek to canvas the views and opinions of the wider membership well before making public pronouncements on very important public, trade and commercial issues.

G E M Saunders