Global Retail Solutions $($GRS$)$ is a multinational retail organization operating in $15$ countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. Founded in $1998,$ GRS has grown rapidly through both organic expansion and a series of acquisitions. The company operates both physical stores and a robust e$-$commerce platform, with annual revenue of approximately $$3\mathrm{.}5$ billion.$$

GRS$\text{'}$s IT landscape has evolved organically as the company expanded. Recent acquisitions have resulted in the integration of disparate systems, creating a complex IT environment. The company has traditionally operated with a decentralized IT governance approach, where regional IT departments maintained significant autonomy over technology decisions and implementations.$$

In the past two years, GRS has encountered several significant challenges:$$

$-$ A major e$-$commerce platform upgrade experienced severe delays and ultimately cost $250\%$ more than initially budgeted$$

$-$Integration issues between legacy systems and new acquisitions have created data inconsistencies and operational inefficiencies$$

$-$Several regional IT projects appear to duplicate functionality already available elsewhere in the organization$$

$-$ Cybersecurity concerns have increased following two minor data breaches$$

Compliance with various regional regulations $($GDPR in Europe, etc.$)$ has become increasingly complex$$

$-$ The CIO position has experienced high turnover, with three different executives in the past four years$$

The newly appointed CIO, Ms$.$ Sarah Chen, has been tasked with transforming GRS$\text{'}$s approach to IT governance and strategy. She has identified the need for a comprehensive IT governance framework to address these challenges and to better align IT investments with the company's strategic objectives. She has engaged your consulting team to help define and implement this framework.$$

Question $1($Marks: $25)$

Analyze GRS$\text{'}$s current IT governance situation and identify key issues:$$

Q$\mathrm{.}1\mathrm{.}1.$Evaluate the current IT governance maturity level at GRS using an appropriate framework such as COBIT or similar.$(8)$

Q$\mathrm{.}1\mathrm{.}2.$Identify and analyze the specific governance challenges facing GRS$,$ relating these to IT governance principles and frameworks covered in the course$(7)$

Q$1\mathrm{.}3.$Assess the relationship between the identified governance issues and the business challenges described in the case.$(6)$

Q$1\mathrm{.}4.$Evaluate the potential risks $($operational$,$ financial, strategic, and compliance$)$ that GRS faces due to its current IT governance approach.$(4)$