As part of its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, DuPont has itemized every control process performed within the company. It has then categorized some 30,000 control processes according to business unit. For each, the "owner" of the task has completed a survey describing what the task involves. The end result is an enormous catalog that organizes all processes in key areas (such as sales and revenue, or production costing), then by business units, legal entity, and other categories. "I have to admit this: I've actually read [the catalog]," says Shannon. "It's good for a long plane ride." The documentation is also good for training, IT planning, audits, and much more. As Shannon notes, "One man's compliance is another man's view of control."
Underlying all the measures is an application suite to which the company is now in the process of migrating. The goal is to standardize information systems across the group and, ultimately, the corporation. "DuPont used to be very, very decentralized," recounts Shannon. "Over the last couple of years, people have begun to realize they can't afford it. So there is going to be a movement to standard platforms and standard systems. I think that's a real positive."
Reader Comments» Post a comment