Enterprise Risk Management at Google Research Paper

Enterprise Risk Management at Google - Research Paper Example Google has emerged as the front-runner in the market through its search engine and despite the present recessionary trends, the Company reported gross revenues for the third quarter of 2008 of $5.4 billion, which reflects an increase of 3% compared to the second quarter of 2008 and an increase of 31% compared to the same period last year (www.google.com/ financial release). But the Company also faces an increasing level of challenges on grounds of privacy and cultural issues on its websites.   ERP has been defined has been defined as â€Å"the discipline by which an organization in any industry assesses, controls, exploits, finances, and monitors risks from all sources for the purpose of increasing the organizations short- and long-term value to its stakeholders.† (www.casact.org, p 10). Before many of the accounting scandals such as the one at Enron erupted, risk assessment standards were considered a separate niche from regulating and auditing standards. But this has now been made a part of corporate governance, which is important in ensuring the economic health of corporations. Including risk assessment as a part of corporate governance provides investors the opportunity to periodically assess any potential risks that may arise. The Treadway Commission (COSO) issued a landmark report, in which it identified internal control measures that were necessary to ensure financial accountability and transparency in corporate governance. The three primary objectives of internal control according to this report are: 1) efficient and effective operations, (2) accurate financial reporting, and (3) compliance with laws and regulations.