The Great Wall of Compliance

Climbing on the Great Wall of China made me think of Great Protection. If I would define what that Great Protection is, I would say that it is a good and solid compliance program within organisation. It is already a strong defence, however not enough at all!

The Great Wall was built to protect the weakest parts of the country’s borders. Likewise, compliance programs are created to set up a frames of requirements and control processes and interactions.

Walking by that difficult route reminded me that even the best security tools are not enough when t

there is no culture of acting legally, ethically and according to all.

Our organisations are constantly interacting with external environment, as China interacted with their neighbours and used the Great Wall also for trade and transport purposes.

Strong governance and effective compliance requires to proactively react and constantly interact with business environment, ethics, social norms, and laws.

Even the strongest Great Protection 

will not protect company 

if the business is run in illegal way. 

That is why the key to success 

is to run business according to 

the law and to run it in a good fashion.

You need to remember and always take into consideration your surroundings in order build the best Great Wall for your organisation!

Just a reminder:

What is an organizational environment? It is a composition of forces or institutions surrounding an organization that affect performance, operations, and resources. It includes all of the elements that exist outside of the organization's boundaries and have the potential to affect a portion or all of the organization. Examples include government regulatory agencies, competitors, customers, suppliers, and pressure from the public.

Internal Environment

An organization's internal environment consists of the entities, conditions, events, and factors within the organization that influence choices and activities. It exposes the strengths and weaknesses found within the organization. Factors that are frequently considered part of the internal environment include the employee behavior, the organization's culture, mission statement, and leadership styles.

External Environment

Consists of entities, conditions, events, and factors surrounding the organisation that influence choices and activities, and determine its opportunities and threats. It is also called an operating environment. Examples of factors effecting an organisation’s external environment include customers, public opinion, economic conditions, government regulations, and competitors.