IIW History 1990-2015

approval by the Assembly but as some countries didn’t agree so the President decided to postpone the decision – that was a pity. It is almost impossible to get 100% of the votes.’ 28 It now fell on the shoulders of Dr Baldev Raj (India) to take over the duties of IIW President for the subsequent three-year period from 2011-2014, while Dilthey assumed the duties of the Chair of the IAB. Raj was quite different to Dilthey in his approach to his role. He viewed things from a more holistic point of view and had a wonderful way in his elaboration of the English language, whether spoken or by the written word. Coming from a developing country and being the first President

Baldev Raj

of IIW from India, he was a fervent supporter of regional activities and IIW’s mission to improve the global quality of life. His comments in his opening statement on becoming President matched this belief. ‘In order for the planet Earth to remain a viable and blissful habitat for humanity, there must be less disparity amongst her citizens in terms of quality of life, stability of societies, and true sustainability must be realised.’ 29 Such vision equated to IIW’s stated mission, ‘To act as the worldwide network for knowledge exchange of welding technologies to improve the global quality of life’. Whether or not this was meant to signal a more idyllic pace for IIW, his words were quickly overtaken by an earthly passion to quicken the pace of reform. It seems that Raj’s words were more an expression of the consciousness of the human state and good karma to accompany the Institute on its travels through a multitude of causes and objectives. The Institute by now had developed a forward way of thinking and a new edition of the Business Plan for the period 2013-2017, mentioned earlier, was subsequently

adopted by the General Assembly in September 2013. In concert with the Business Plan, governance structure was reinforced to facilitate maximum transparency for IIW and its stakeholders based on sound principles, to act in good faith, with care and diligence, and in the organisation’s best interest. 30 The new IIW Constitution, after being in place for one year, clearly defined Member Societies as possessing the ultimate decision-making authority in the IIW organisation. Raj was to reinforce this change in attitude by saying that the new governance structure created effectiveness through openness, transparency, accountability and integrity. 31 Ultimately this was to lead to the publication of a brochure on IIW’s website titled IIW Values detailing the ethos and guiding principles of the International Institute of Welding. 32

Gary Marquis

THE ART OF GOVERNANCE