Introduction To Governance Risk and Compliance :
An organization is established with some long-term and short-term goals. To achieve those goals, an organization must use a sound managerial structure. Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is a set of disciplines that are helpful in maintaining the operational efficiency and integrity in an organization while having checks on minimal wastage of resources and minimal overlaps. GRC is formally defined as “the integrated collection of capabilities that enable an organization to achieve objectives reliably, address uncertainty, and act with integrity.”[1]
GRC consists of three components, which are:
- ‘Governance’ under GRC is the approach through which it is ensured that the ideas and vision of the makers of the organization are being applied to achieve the goals. It is critical incorrect, complete, and timely managerial decision-making.
- ‘Risk Management’ is the process of anticipating the risks and dealing with them with the most appropriate response. An organization is vulnerable to different kinds of risks, such as financial risks, competitive risks, technological risks, etc. These risks create a hindrance to organizational efficiency. Through risk management, the organization controls, avoid, accepts, or transfers such risks.
- Compliance: One of the most profound components is Compliance which involves the identification of different types of requirements that the organization is bound to fulfill. These requirements can be classified into two major categories, i.e., mandatory compliances including statutory, contractual, and regulatory requirements, and voluntary compliances including organizational policies and strategic requirements. The compliance process encompasses the evaluation of every compliance, its time and cost limitations, the repercussions of its non-compliance, and then arranging these risks with priority.
GRC is a system of processes aiming towards separate aspects while having a synchronization of information amongst them as to avoid any duplication. Apart from working on an organizational level, GRC can be applied to a particular function also, for example, in Finance, HR, IT, Legal, etc.
Governance Risk and Compliance ( GRC ) Tools and their Need:
GRC tools are technological software supporting an enterprise to regulate its functions in order to maintain organizational efficiency, the standard of risk, and adherence to the compliances. GRC tool framework in an organization is the integration of information technology with the business goals.
These tools are used to control managerial plans, make automation to save time, conduct swift audits, monitor risks, set deadlines, and perform other essential functions with the ease and support of technological features. A public enterprise is prone to failure without a GRC tool in action to minimize the multiplicity of steps and scattered information.
An organization can improve its performance and earn higher revenues next year by implementing a good GRC tool in the current year. Through the GRC tool, the organization can reduce its compliance cost in the forward years. A good GRC tool must have features like a dashboard, various assessments, risk analytics, cost evaluation, information security, priority filters, content management, workflow management, audit management, etc. Features like Real-Time Alerts can help in avoiding delays and timely actions.
Other than these features, a well-designed GRC tool must encompass the ability to customize according to the needs of a particular entity. It should provide suggestions and a recommendable set of actions for each risk analysis and compliance. The entity must be able to choose what features are critical to its use and what features it does not need.
About My Retail Care’s Governance, Risk and Compliance:
At My Retail Care, the idea is to provide a seamless, simple, and one-stop platform for all the requirements of the best possible Governance Risk and Compliance ( GRC ) framework any organization can have. The tool is constructed by professionals in a user-friendly manner to facilitate the needs of every potential user. An institution can quickly discover the upcoming compliances and risks. It can easily structure an automated course of action against such compliances, risks, and issues. The tool gives a range of options through which the data can be monitored, managed, and analyzed.
Universal accessibility is provided through cloud support, which can only be controlled and shared amongst peers by the enterprise only. The toolsets alert for any need of action from the user so that timely decisions can be made. Another exciting feature is the representation of data through a graphical interface, making it easy to decipher.
The tool is operable on plug and play, which minimizes functional struggle, time consumption, and also the cost of installation. One of the best features giving a competitive edge to the My Retail Care tool is the customization of services as per the particular needs of the user.
Conclusion:
A GRC system is critical to not only the income earning capabilities of an enterprise but to its very existence. It becomes necessary for a growing public company to adapt to a conforming GRC policy.
While GRC can be done through offline resources, it is more feasible to have a technological tool for it in this technologically driven and competitive era. It not only saves time and effort but also opens up a wide range of features that might not be possible otherwise.
There are numerous GRC tools on the internet feeding the wants of different establishments in their own ways. However, choosing the correct type of GRC tool that provides every facet of management and also conforms according to the needs of every particular user is an onerous task.
While selecting a GRC tool, what should be kept in mind is that the best of all might not be the best for each and every single user. One must look for a tool that consists of all the required features, with the possibility of choosing out of them.
[1] Scott L. Mitchell, A framework to help organizations drive principled performance, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 4, 279-296 https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jdg.2050066