Corruption in business is alive: Can data spoil it?

away from a bad decision, walking towards doing the right thing, preventing data breaches.

One ethics software developer is a company called CONVERCENT which has raised US$ 78 million, according to Pitchbook. It is joined by other startups such as AI-powered chat-bot Spot, aimed at pointing powerful algorithms at company’s data to clean up their corporate messes, or help companies to do gap analysis, risk assessment and recommend appropriate solutions, like the software developed by Straits Interactive Pte Ltd of Singapore.

For decades, compliance was not taken that seriously, but that’s yesterday. Market pressure and legal pressures are increasing and forcing companies to create ethical corporate cultures that attract talent and shade out rivals. Studies suggest that more ethical companies that create ethical supply chains outperform the market with higher returns, faster growth and lower volatility. Some companies I have visited recently have created substantial compliance departments and are ahead of regulators’ standards.

Many companies are attempting to catch bribery, corruption and fraud by using rules-based tests pulling on spreadsheets. But these are easily evaded. In response, the companies mentioned above, but also competitors like Naves and Metricstream, have moved their reporting systems online, automating the processes. Predictive analysis will eventually head off ethical issues.

The new software solutions are ingesting data from the whole organizational structure of companies, their national or international affiliates, and are supervising their supply chain management. Data alerts can go directly to board members ensuring that suspicious reports are not hidden.

What makes data protection with the use of software truly unique is that it helps organizations manage organizational data privacy compliance, with the enhanced automation, collaboration and productivity. As Straits Interactive says: “Our platform contains intelligence to generate policies and recommendations tailored to your organization.” The EITSC team works with Straits and its software which is well accepted by clients.

Comments are welcome / assistance is available – contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com