Commercial Governance & Process Design
Practical governance and decision-making design for organisations where commercial approvals are slow, inconsistent or unclear — and where the business needs control without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
Governance problems rarely announce themselves as governance problems. They show up as contracts waiting in inboxes, teams making different decisions in similar situations, suppliers receiving mixed messages, and senior leaders being pulled into issues that should have been resolved earlier. Good governance is not bureaucracy. It is the structure that allows the right people to make the right decisions at the right time.
When this is useful
Organisations where commercial decisions are slow, unclear, inconsistent or creating risk. If people don't know who can approve what, if obligation ownership is unclear, if escalation routes don't work, or if different parts of the business are making commercial decisions in fundamentally different ways — the governance framework needs attention.
Problems it solves
- Unclear approval routes — no one knows who has authority to approve what, so everything escalates unnecessarily, or nothing does
- Decision bottlenecks — commercial decisions backing up behind a single individual or committee
- Inconsistent commercial practice — different teams making materially different decisions in similar circumstances
- Governance gaps — commercial risks falling between legal, procurement and operational governance frameworks
What it includes
- Current-state review — mapping how commercial decisions are actually made today (not how the policy says they should be made)
- Governance design — designing a fit-for-purpose governance framework with clear principles, roles, decision rights and escalation paths
- Process mapping — visual, practical process maps for key commercial activities
- Approval route design — clear delegation of authority with financial thresholds, risk categories and escalation triggers
- Role and decision clarity — defining who recommends, approves, contributes and owns each type of commercial decision, including obligation ownership and change-control
- Implementation and embedding — supporting the organisation to adopt the new framework, with training and change management
Expected outcomes
- Clear decision rights — everyone knows who can decide what, and when to escalate
- Faster approvals — decisions reach the right level without unnecessary steps
- Consistent commercial practice — the organisation makes decisions in a coherent, defensible way
- Reduced risk — governance gaps are closed, and commercial decisions are properly overseen
Governance and process design engagements are scoped according to the size of the organisation, the number of processes being designed and the depth of implementation support required.