OCEG is a nonprofit think tank that is dedicated to achieving a world where every organization and every person strives to achieve objectives, address uncertainty and act with integrity. This approach to business, and to life, is what we call Principled Performance.
We were founded in 2002 to promote Principled Performance as the universal goal of any organization, team and individual.
We invented GRC (integration of governance, risk management and compliance) and the GRC Capability Model as the means to achieve Principled Performance.
We provide standards, resources, and certifications to help key professions become more effective across all disciplines.
At the turn of the century, in the early 2000s, scandals rocked the global economy evaporating millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth.
At the root of these scandals were siloed, misguided, and ineffective systems intended to address governance, risk, compliance and ethics.
For example, strategic systems were separate from performance management systems, which were separate from risk management systems, which were separate from compliance management systems, and so on.
Unfortunately, this "siloed approach" was all too common and the seeds of future problems continued to grow in this deficient current state.
OCEG wanted to create a future state that was more effective, more efficient and able to address modern challenges.
So, with a panel of over 100 experts, we invented and innovated the ideas behind Principled Performance and GRC to break down silos between governance, strategy, performance management, risk management, compliance management, internal audit and other departments
We published open source standards so that everyone could have access.
What this means is that people from diverse backgrounds and professions can get on the same page and be more principled performers:
We created a streamlined education and certification program to give professionals an opportunity to kickstart a career -- or to add to their existing career.
Our members include professionals from small and midsize businesses, large international corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies. Our members represent the full spectrum professionals with GRC responsibilities and job titles such as:
Our philosophy and values stem from experience as Fortune 50 executives, auditors, lawyers, IT professionals, research analysts and startup entrepreneurs. We use this diverse experience to shape what we do and how we do it. We use the “Well, I should hope so / hope not” test for all of our values (we hope all of these pass the test).
Allow anyone to join and participate, for FREE. Make most of our resources openly available, for free. Allow other organizations to build on our resources, for free.
The community is strongest when it comprises many professions (auditors, compliance managers, lawyers, risk officers, business operators), industries, sizes, geographies and cultures.
At times, we must lead the community in our mutual journey. At other times, we must listen and be led by the community.
Our passion for Principled Performance, GRC and all of our themes is evident in the way that we take firm positions in the community.
Documenting current best practices ensures that companies can reach parity. Inventing and experimenting with new practices pushes us forward.
Perfect can be the enemy of the good. We employ “Lean Startup” approaches to all of our work so that real world feedback is captured early and often.
OCEG was founded in the wake of the “dot com bust” and notable corporate failures such as Enron, Worldcom, and Healthsouth. Our initial mission was to improve corporate compliance and ethics, and so we were named the Open Compliance and Ethics Group. Very rapidly, our members found conversations expanding beyond compliance and ethics — moving into performance management, risk management, governance, and assurance. So now, we simply go by OCEG.
Our inaugural Advisory Board was composed of senior leaders from the corporate and academic communities. It was responsible for guiding and shaping OCEG’s initial mission, vision, and statement of principles. GRC was invented as a shorthand reference to the critical capabilities that must work together to achieve Principled Performance — the capabilities that integrate the governance, management and assurance of performance, risk, and compliance activities.
After months of analysis, collaboration, and vetting, the first GRC standard emerges. Originally called the Capability Model, the cover was a deep red. It quickly became known as the OCEG Red Book. It detailed practices for GRC “the integration of the governance, assurance and management of performance, risk, compliance and ethics” (from GRC Glossary).
After defining GRC and developing high-level concepts, the OCEG community begins work on version 2 of the GRC Capability Model and the standard gains wide adoption with over 100,000 downloads in a single year. The desire to audit governance, risk management and compliance leads the OCEG community to develop the GRC Assessment Model (known as the “Burgundy Book”).
OCEG and GRC as a concept were fully recognized. Analysts at Forrester, Gartner, and IDC began using GRC as a way to organize software that addressed governance, assurance and management of performance, risk, compliance, and ethics. OCEG and its executives were recognized by Business Finance Magazine, Treasury and Risk Magazine and others.
“Principled Performance” is defined to describe the goal of GRC and OCEG founder, Scott Mitchell, writes the first academic journal article on the topic (published in the International Journal of Governance and Disclosure in 2007).
The acclaimed GRC Illustrated Series begins and OCEG begins more broadly distributing though leadership about GRC and Principled Performance.
The OCEG GRC “Desk Set” comprised of the GRC Capability Model (Red Book), GRC Assessment Model (Burgundy Book) and GRC Solutions Model is created.
Certification begins via GRC Certify to help formalize the education and credentialing of GRC knowledge and skills.
GRC Glossary is finalized and version 3.0 of the OCEG Standards is authorized by the OCEG Leadership Council.
The GRC movement reaches over 50,000 members. We reach thousands of professionals on 6 continents and 2,500 cities.
Join the movement! and help us make this a banner year.
Behind the big ideas of Principled Performance and GRC, we have hundreds of resources, standards, and certifications to upgrade your skills.
Standards
eBooks and Guides
Webinar Recordings
Illustrations
Certifications
In-person Training