Governance, Risk and Compliance, or GRC, refers to an innovative new set of technologies and strategies that are meant to integrate the areas of governance, risk management and compliance. When people discuss GRC they could be discussing one of its four pillars: Regulations, Policies & Procedures, Controls and Remedial Action. The different aspects of Governance, Risk and Compliance are each a separate entity of their own that is handled at different levels of an organization by a variety of people like the General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, CFO, and Corporate Secretary.
Governance includes the duties of senior managers in a company, specifically the duty of maintaining a transparent organizational system in which everyone understands the established policies and procedures they are to follow. There is strategy that goes into this aspect of Governance, Risk and Compliance, including monitoring business activity, ensuring compliance with all policies, and correcting misconduct when necessary.
Managing Risk is also a very important component of GRC. Organizations, whether they are corporations, nonprofits or law firms, must set their tolerances for risks, identify which risks they could possibly be facing, and put those into the perspective of the organization’s objectives. The final entity that makes up Governance, Risk and Compliance, Compliance, is basically the process of recording and monitoring controls. These controls could be physical, logical or organizational – in any case, they must be complied with.
Now that the information age has pushed the envelope of organizational systems, there are even software programs for managing Governance, Risk and Compliance. These software solutions set clear strategies for addressing the corporate governance role and deliver capabilities for board and entity management. With entity management software, GRC software and early case assessment solutions at their fingertips, corporations have the capabilities to manage legal, compliance and security risks at their fingertips with absolute accuracy.