Senior Leadership in Procter and Gamble Information Governance

Discuss about the Procter Gamble and Information Governance.

Information is one of the most important and critical assets of any organization. The same holds true for Proctor and Gamble (P&G) as well.

Information governance is a set of disciplines that include numerous processes, methods and procedures for the efficient management and organization of information in a secure manner such that the organizational goals and standards are met. There are various resources that are assigned and play a significant role in the management and governance of information. Senior leadership has a great role to play in this regard. (Ico, 2014)

P&G is a company that was started in the year 1859 and has now spread to over 180 countries. There are a huge number of data sets that the company is required to manage and organize. There were many steps that were taken by the senior leadership at P&G so that the efficient information governance could take place. Global Business Units (GBUs) were set up that included the major product categories associated with the company as beauty, health care and likewise. Market Development Organizations (MDOs) were also set up by the senior management and leadership to gain local competitive edge. Global Business Services (GBSs) and corporate functions were also carried out for efficient governance so that over 129,000 employees could be assigned to these four verticals and it could become easier to manage the employees (Wolverhampton, 2017).

Passerini, was given the charge of GBS in 2003 who transformed the IT capabilities that were associated with the organization. Information and Decision Solutions (IDS) were adapted for better information handling, information organization, analytics and decision making. Bob McDonald became the president and CEO of P&G in 2009 and emphasized on the enhancement of information technology and related capabilities.

Analytics was launched as organized services using better data and technological capabilities through the contribution of senior leaders.

Senior leadership, therefore, plays an extremely significant part in the information governance and organization. There are several tasks and activities that are carried out by the senior leaders in terms of monitoring, evaluation and control. There are processes, such as, reviews, walkthroughs and inspections that are executed so that the areas of improvement in terms of information governance can be highlighted and the necessary changes can be made.

Also, the senior leadership is always aware of the set of operations that are carried out by the organization along with their purpose and utility. The clarity on the business goals to achieve along with authority to manage the resources is available to the senior leadership only as is in the case of P&G. The senior leadership must remain actively involved in the several governance tasks and activities that are carried out (Arma, 2011).

P&G could gain benefits out of the transformations that it did to its information technology processes and structure. This was because of the involvement and the skills of the senior leadership along with the enhanced decision making activities that were involved in the same.

Organization Overview

XYZ is an organization that provides financial services and solutions to the clients. The company is based out of Australia and has four different units across the country. There are over 250 employees that are engaged with the organization.

A number of information systems and technologies have been adopted by XYZ Company for the management of the business tasks and operations along with the information sets.

Cloud computing is a type of computing that makes use of networks for the execution of business process and for the storage, management and retrieval of information.

XYZ Company makes use of cloud services and activities in terms of cloud database, digital marketing, and cloud based finance management systems along with resource tracking and communication. There are a lot many files and data sets that are transmitted and shared with other resources using cloud (Iyoob, 2015).

These cloud delivery model that is followed in the organization is cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS). The cloud deployment model used and adapted by the organization is the hybrid cloud model.

Social media has become an integral parts of the organizations in the current times. There is social media presence that is ensured by every organization and there is a specific department that has been set up for the social media management (Modeus, 2013).

This policy and set of practices are also followed by XYZ Company. The company makes use of social media platforms for information sharing, customer relationship management, marketing and advertising purposes. 

The social media accounts set up by the organization are managed by the social media managers and advertisers. These accounts are used for posting the details of the financial services being provided by the company along with providing the details of the new services and offers (Cvijikj, 2011). The customers are informed about the recent developments being done in the organization so that the customer engagement and relationship improves.

These platforms are also used for the resolution of customer queries and complaints along with incident recording and reporting.

There are information systems and information technology being used in the organization in other areas as well.

The use and adoption of these IS & IT elements have laid positive impacts on the organization as the information sharing and communication capabilities have improved for the employees along with the stakeholders. The employees are connected to each other in a better manner leading to enhancement in their levels of efficiency and productivity. The decision making processes have also improved as a result, since, the information required by the management and leadership is readily available. There are automated Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Management Information Systems (MIS) that are used for the purpose (Esmt, 2016). These systems ensure that the decisions that are taken by the managers and business leaders are in accordance with the entire information sets that are associated with the organization.

Possible Improvements

Technology is improving and advancing itself since every passing day. There are many latest enhancements that are being done in the area of technology. XYZ Company can also adapt and include these changes in its architecture and infrastructure.

The company is located in four different locations and each of these locations has a set of staff members that are engaged in the office location that is set up. There are networking and cloud computing facilities that are set up for every location. However, integration and information sharing is one of the issue that is being witnessed that often leads to inefficient communication and information sharing.

The organization must work on the capabilities to improve the network integration and the resource sharing abilities. These can be done by enhancing the network management system and integration capabilities. There must be a cloud data centre that shall be set up in the first place. The use of Virtual private Networks (VPNs) shall also be done so that the cloud services are utilized in a better manner. There are newer cloud databases that have been released in the market. Many of the NoSQL databases are also cloud based databases that offer enhanced information storage and management capabilities. These databases also support Big Data tools and technologies. MongoDB is one such cloud database that shall be used (He, 2014).

The organization must also include Business Intelligence tools and information systems capable of these tools. In terms of financial services and solutions that are provided by the organization to its clients, there are a lot many data and information sets that are involved. These information sets can be better analysed using the Business Intelligence tools under the category of data analytics tools. The tool will provide the results on the financial services that must be designed, specifications that must be included, customer preferences and choices, market trends and patterns and likewise. The end result along with customer satisfaction level that will come out as a result will be improved.

Security is one of the aspects that needs to be enhanced for the organization. There are a number of cloud services, social media integration, information systems and technologies that are being used and applied in the organization. These capabilities and technologies offer numerous benefits; however, there are also a number of security risks and threats that have emerged as a result. There can be various security attacks that may take place on the data and information sets present in the organization’s database, networks and systems (Utica, 2014). These attacks may have an adverse implication on the information properties, such as, confidentiality, availability and integrity of the information. There may be attacks, like, denial of services and distributed denial of service, malware attacks, phishing attacks, man in the middle and eavesdropping attacks, information breaches and leakage along with SQL injection and insider threats that may take place. There are a number of technical security controls that have been developed that shall be analysed and applied in the organization for improved information security (Msb, 2015).

Security is one of the most important aspects of information management that needs to be developed and maintained. This is because of the reason that there are various information sets that are associated with an organization. These information sets comprise of information that may belong to different categories, such as, sensitive, critical, private, public, internal etc.

The occurrence of security risks and attacks may impact the properties of information, such as, confidentiality, privacy, integrity and availability in an adverse manner. There are also additional implications that may result out from these occurrences in terms of reduced customer trust and engagement with the organization, negative brand image in the market, reduced revenues and profits earned along with legal obligations and punishments as well (Kissel, 2013). 

In case of XYZ Company, security is one of the aspects that needs to be enhanced for the organization. This is because of the critical and sensitive nature of financial data sets that are associated with the company. These data sets cannot be exposed to the unauthorized entities as the misuse of the same can lead to legal attacks and risks. There are a number of cloud services, social media integration, information systems and technologies that are being used and applied in the organization. These capabilities and technologies offer numerous benefits; however, there are also a number of security risks and threats that have emerged as a result. There can be various security attacks that may take place on the data and information sets present in the organization’s database, networks and systems. These attacks may have an adverse implication on the information properties, such as, confidentiality, availability and integrity of the information. There may be attacks, like, denial of services and distributed denial of service, malware attacks, phishing attacks, man in the middle and eavesdropping attacks, information breaches and leakage along with SQL injection and insider threats that may take place. There are a number of technical security controls that have been developed that shall be analysed and applied in the organization for improved information security (Geant, 2010).

The security controls that shall be applied in the organization must include the installation of network based intrusion detection and prevention systems for protecting cloud data and information sets. There shall also be automated network scanners and monitors that shall be set up along with firewalls, proxy servers, and anti-denial and anti-malware tools for enhancement of network security. The social media content shall also be developed in such a manner that the necessary and relevant information is imparted to the public along with the protection of private and sensitive details. This would prevent the risk of attacks by the competitors to gain a competitive edge in the market. Many of the technical tools have been developed to analyse the attacking patterns being used by the attackers. These tools shall also be integrated so that the type and nature of the attack can be detected and corresponding security measures can be developed. These countermeasures will lead to the attack detection, control and prevention.

References

Arma (2011). Senior Leadership Imperative to Information Governance Success. [online] Arma.org. Available at: https://www.arma.org/r1/news/newswire/2011/07/27/senior-leadership-imperative-to-information-governance-success [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Cvijikj, I. (2011). Social Media Integration into the GS1 Framework. [online] Available at: https://cocoa.ethz.ch/downloads/2013/05/1230_AUTOIDLAB-WP-BIZAPP-058.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Esmt (2016). The Evolving Role of Information Systems and Technology in Organizations: A Strategic Perspective. [online] Available at: https://www.esmt.org/sites/default/files/peppard-c01.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Geant (2010). Information Security Policy. [online] Available at: https://services.geant.net/sites/cbp/Knowledge_Base/Security/Documents/gn3-na3-t4-ufs126.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

He, X. (2014). Business Intelligence and Big Data Analytics: An Overview. [online] Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55334437.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Ico (2014). Information governance strategy 2014-16. [online] Available at: https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/policies-and-procedures/1043029/information-governance-strategy-2014-2016.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Iyoob, I. (2015). Cloud Computing     Operations Research. [online] Available at: https://www.columbia.edu/~ad3217/publications/cloudOR.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Kissel, R. (2013). Glossary of Key Information Security Terms. [online] Available at: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2013/NIST.IR.7298r2.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Modeus, G. (2013). Social media – Integrate it and perform better?. [online] Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:632477/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Msb (2015). Strategy for information security in Sweden 2010 – 2015. [online] Available at: https://www.msb.se/RibData/Filer/pdf/25940.PDF [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Utica (2014). The Need for Security. [online] Available at: https://www.utica.edu/faculty_staff/qma/needforsecurity.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Wolverhampton (2017). Information Governance Board – Definitions, Roles and Responsibilities. [online] Available at: https://wolverhampton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4114/Appendix%20B%20-%20Information%20Governance%20Board%20Definitions%20Roles%20and%20Responsabilities.pdf [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].