8 key initiatives to make compliance a strategic advantage.

• Author: Wells, Jefferson
• Position: COMPLIANCE - Brief article

1 Become an Early Adopter. By not delaying compliance, companies can better leverage resources, implement continuous process improvements and develop enterprise risk management methodology.

2 Have an Opportunistic Approach. By approaching Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) as a broader business opportunity to improve processes rather than an ad hoc tactical problem, organizations can manage risk holistically across the organization and improve compliance and business performance.

3 Integrate Processes. Rather than having an "audit cop," companies should bring governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) together to create a strategic partnership that will create a sustainable process.

4 Account for Change. By embedding SOX into the business plan, companies will ensure compliance programs are sustainable and can evolve with changing business requirements.

5 Empower Process Owners. Approaching compliance as a business process will empower process owners to ensure they play a key role in compliance and...