Emerging Challenges in Information Systems Research for Regulatory Compliance Management

Managing regulatory compliance is increasingly challenging and costly for organizations world-wide. While such efforts are often supported by information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) tools, there is evidence that the current solutions are inadequate and do not fully address the needs of organizations. Often such discrepancy stems from a lack of alignment between the needs of the industry and the focus of academic research efforts. In this paper, we present the results of an empirical study that investigates challenges in managing regulatory compliance, derived from expert professionals in the Australian compliance industry. The results provide insights into problematic areas within the compliance management domain, as related to regulatees, regulations and IT compliance management solutions. By relating the identified challenges to existing activity in IS research, this exploratory paper highlights the inadequacy of current research and presents the first industry-relevant compliance management research agenda for IS researchers.