Our twin daughters are now adults of 25. When they were younger, we sometimes played the game “Inconvenience Store”. What could you buy in a store that is the opposite of a convenience store? Everyone can make up something in turn.

Christmas lights already tangled in the box, toilet paper that can only be torn off vertically, cleaning tissues for glasses that are as greasy as butter, 100 percent polyester socks, a corkscrew of rubber, deodorant with red colorant, a suitcase already weighing twenty kilos without content, a store that is only open from 9:00 until 9:15 a.m., used diapers, paying each article at a different cash register, only being allowed to enter after having made an appointment by telephone in advance, no bags, mirrors everywhere, music at full volume, no wheelchairs allowed, every three meters a parking space for goats, passport identification required, every five minutes all sprinklers are activated, no staff, only one shop attendant: a seven-year old girl only speaking Swahili, every product you want to buy has to be liked by you on Facebook first. In short, nothing is too far-fetched in this store, but you do not want to go shopping in such a store.

What would be for sale in the inconvenience store for state-owned corporations and foundations in Curacao?

The meetings of the Supervisory Board take longer than planned, the meetings are about nothing, the members of the board are not prepared properly, they do not read their documents, are mainly interested in party politics, every supervisory director has his own agenda, supervisory directors do not respect the confidentiality of what has been discussed, the company’s interest does not count, they talk too long about unimportant issues, the important subjects are not discussed or dealt with in about three minutes, or decisions are endlessly postponed, power games are played, money is wasted, the shareholder gets involved in the concrete management, in short, nothing is too far-fetched in this store. But you do not want to go shopping there.

Do you have a question about corporate governance yourself? Please e-mail it to governance@vaneps.com and perhaps your question will be discussed in the next blogpost!