Course Title: Corporate Governance and Ethics

Short essay: Compliance Framework

Date: 02/12/2020

Student: Karen Alvizouri A01168026

In business, a compliance framework is a structured set of guidelines that details an

organization's processes with the purpose to maintain order through established regulations

(Rouse, 2020). At Grupo SDP, the compliance framework of each employee is mentioned on

the job contract. In my case, the accounting department gave it to me and suggested me to read

it carefully before signing, I kept a copy of it. I remember that the specifications of such contract

mentioned things like the job schedule, salary, number of holidays a year, situations to elude

with the purpose to avoid getting fired, among others. I have signed 2 times because my first

position was Sales Assistant and nowadays I am Junior Sales Manager. Both times my boss

explained to me the suitable processes to achieve my proper jobs. I remember that on my first

weeks working there as Sales Assistant, many times I got stressed and angry because, for

example, if some coworker told me “I will share the project to you at 11am”, at 11:10am I

would be asking such coworker about the status of the project and he/she might tell me “Sorry,

it is still not ready, I will share it to you at noon”, and I used to get so angry because I felt like

there was lack of responsibility among my coworkers. But one day my boss talked to me about

such matter and told me that he was proud that my attitude was so responsive but suggested me

to relax because most of the coworkers were not so responsive, he advised me to be more

tolerant and patient, so since then I get less angry and stressed. But now I also know that if I

really need to deliver a project at a certain hour, I ask for it at least 1 hour before the due time

with the objective to avoid any inconvenient. Besides the job contract of each employee, Grupo

SDP does not provide any other written compliance framework, but each Manager often

determines and optimizes the processes of the corresponding area, sometimes notifying to the

company´s owner and sometimes not. If an employee faces an inconvenient, he/she should

notify his/her manager. If the manager does not contribute to a solution, the employee should

notify the owner.

About TriLinc´s document regarding the Audit Committee Charter (2019), Grupo SDP was

acquired by Grupo Televisa in 2017, so in 2019 Grupo SDP faced financial audits because

Televisa performs them every 2 years to its owned companies. Grupo SDP´s owner, Federico

Arreola, likes to be aware of the sales area performance every week, so every week my boss

shares to him a sales status of new opportunities, amount sold, among other details. Also,

Arreola likes to meet with the accounting team every month. I searched on the internet for the

company´s financial statements but found nothing, seems like they are not public. Besides,

every 3 months Televisa organizes a meeting with all the main shareholders of the companies

that it owns, with the purpose to talk about achievements and new opportunities, so it is a must

for Arreola to attend.

Concerning TriLinc´s document about whistleblowing (2018), I have worked at Grupo SDP

for two years and a half, where around 3 times I have heard that Arreaola has done businesses

with private companies and governmental entities without notifying Grupo SDP´s areas of sales

and accounting, so it has been revenue that goes straight to his pocket. As I know, no one has

notified Grupo Televisa about such actions, maybe due to fear or indifference.

To conclude, Grupo SDP´s written compliance framework is mentioned on the employees´

contracts, the rest is set up by each manager on the corresponding area. Comparing TriLinc´s

document regarding the Audit Committee Charter, Grupo SDP faces continuous financial

examinations due to the owner´s interests and Grupo Televisa´s regulations. Even though

employees know about Arreola´s profits deviations, no one has notified Grupo Televisa or

other entities that might help contribute to a fair business environment.

References:

1. Rouse, Margaret . (2020). Compliance Framework . 01/12/2020, de Search

Compliance Sitio web:
https://searchcompliance.techtarget.com/definition/compliance-framework

2. TriLinc Global Impact Fund. (2019). Corporate Governance. 01/12/2020, de TriLinc

Global Impact Fund Sitio web: http://trilincglobalimpactfund.com/governance/