The Role of the Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) Capabilities Model in the Planning Process

The planning process currently confronts numerous challenges and obstacles that hinder decision-makers from developing and implementing effective strategic plans that contribute to fulfilling potential visions and targets. These challenges include limited human and financial resources, in addition to rapid changes in the external environment, including technological and legislative developments (Smith & Brown, 2021) [1]. Moreover, obstacles include unknowingness, poor coordination across different entities, a misunderstanding of planning terminology, the absence of follow-up mechanisms, a lack of flexibility in dealing with variables, and a failure to address existing issues before setting targets (Al-Hassan, 2020) [2]. This is in addition to a lack of accountability and excessive focus on the implementation phase at the expense of other phases of the planning process, along with resistance to change, which is one of the most prominent obstacles confronting planning processes (Jones et al., 2019) [3]. Indeed to address these challenges, a new concept known as the Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) Capabilities Model has emerged, which is an integrated framework aims to align organizational objectives with IT practices through effective risk management, enhanced information security, reduced costs, and uncertainty control, while meeting regulatory compliance requirements (Williams & Kumar, 2022) [4]. The GRC Model contributes to improving decision-making processes and raising performance efficiency by providing a comprehensive and integrated vision that ensures the combined efforts of various stakeholders (Chen & Lee, 2023) [5]. This study aims to explore the role of the GRC Model in supporting the planning process. It examines the general concept and framework of the model, its underlying pillars, the software tools and techniques used in its implementation, and the steps involved in its implementation. It also highlights the most significant challenges confronts its adoption. Moreover, the study highlights preferable practices that ensure the successful implementation of GRC, while discussing potential trends and recent developments in this field, which will reduce planning obstacles and enhance integration and effectiveness in the planning process (Nguyen et al., 2024) [6].