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certification resources
Announcement & Request for Interest to Participate in Upcoming National Roundtables on Enabling Bottom-Line Impacts for Business Resilience through Certification
February 17, 2009 11:12 AM
InterCEP is pleased to announce the upcoming series of National Roundtables on Enabling Bottom-Line Impacts for Business Resilience through Certification. These roundtables, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will build on continuing InterCEP Working Group activities and focus on five main economic and potential incentive areas that could be advanced through the new Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Certification Program, currently in development by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These roundtables will address how the certification can forward business incentives in:
- Supply chain management,
- Legal liability mitigation,
- Insurance acknowledgement,
- Rating agency acknowledgement, and
- More rationalized business reporting.
Key stakeholders' from businesses, industry organizations and professional associations will come together to both explore bottom-line impacts of resilience and provide input on enabling bottom-line incentives for resilience.
Based upon Roundtable participant comments and those of the five InterCEP Working Groups on these topics, the Center will produce recommendations on the design, development and implementation of the developing certification program. Following participant review, InterCEP will provide these to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), charged under recent legislation to initiate and direct the overall program, and ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB), the accrediting body responsible for the operational administration of the program. Both bodies have requested ongoing input from the InterCEP convened forums.
Each of these roundtable forums will target key stakeholders in each topical area. To support the most productive interaction and discussion, we anticipate the need to limit the size of each forum. Thus, participation in each roundtable will be by invitation only. However, we welcome indications of interest in attending from the private sector community in advance.
If you are interested in attending these forums, please review the information below and indicate your interest. From these interested parties and other recommendations, the Center will endeavor to assemble the most productive forum and issue invitations as appropriate.
Supply Chain Management & Resilience: Bottom-Line Impacts & Incentives
March 30, 2009
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
New York University Campus
Profitable supply chains are based not only on the price and availability of goods and services, but also on the reliability with which those goods and services can be provided, most especially if the good or service provided is "critical" to the operations of the company purchasing it. Growing outsourcing and just-in-time inventory policies increase vulnerability of organizations to supply chain disruption. Currently, few corporations assess the preparedness of their suppliers, arguably due in part to the difficulty and costs in assessing the preparedness of multiple suppliers. Firms that do, currently have to develop their own assessment processes, potentially involving questionnaires, calls and/or audit visits. This is time and resource intensive both for customers with multiple suppliers as well as suppliers with multiple customers. Some see a need for a commonly accepted supplier assessment process that can potentially streamline these processes and eliminate unnecessarily redundant efforts. The new certification program could provide such a solution if tailored to the needs of customers and suppliers in supply chains, much like the ISO 9000 certification did in confirming quality in manufacturing supply chains. Input from key stakeholders in the supply chain management community will be critical to assuring that the new program is effective tool for confirming resilience of critical suppliers.
I am interested in attending (Please indicate Supply Chain Roundtable in subject line)
Business Reporting & Resilience: Rationalizing Existing Reporting on Emergency Preparedness and Operational Risk Management
April 15, 2009
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
New York University Campus
Existing federal legislation and general accounting practice require the disclosure to investors in publically traded companies of a business's risks, practices and financial condition in order to support informed investment decisions. Furthermore, for some industries there are additional existing, sector-specific requirements to report on operational risks. The current financial crisis has focused an unprecedented level of government, investor and media attention on risk management practices, and it is likely that these practices will undergo increased scrutiny at all levels going forward. At this point, there is no standard approach to disclosing preparedness in public reporting on a voluntary basis. The new certification program presents a potential vehicle for such reporting. Yet, as the new private sector preparedness certification program advances, there is also a clear need to reduce potential overlap and duplication among existing preparedness reporting frameworks. This could be accomplished in part through acknowledging these existing efforts by "crediting" them in the certification program. Key to success will be a collaborative effort undertaken with key stakeholders and an approach that reflects an integrated strategy for taking into account existing general and sector-specific reporting requirements, a strategy which optimally de-conflicts and reduces redundancy with existing reporting.
I am interested in attending (Please indicate Business Reporting Roundtable in subject line)
Corporate Ratings & Resilience: Bottom-Line Impacts of Resilience & Potential Acknowledgement in Ratings
May 12, 2009
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
New York University Campus
The rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced in 2008 a new policy requiring a review of "enterprise risk management" (ERM) practices for all corporations that it rates. Management from all companies rated by S&P in the United States will now have to present and discuss their ERM practices at regular meetings with ratings analysts. ERM requires a firm to address all its risks on a firm-wide basis; this includes the full range of risks including credit risks, market risks, as well as hazards to a firm's operations (operational risks). Since preparedness addresses operational risks, a real opportunity now exists to move preparedness to a board-level priority as firms across the country address this new ratings policy, and to effectively link preparedness, at least in part, to a firm's cost of capital. However, since operational risks are but one of several categories of risks encompassed by ERM, it will be important to clarify the significance of operational risks and the role of preparedness in addressing these risks both to rating analysts and to rated companies, and to identify a potential methodology to assess and acknowledge preparedness in the ratings process. There may be an opportunity for the new certification program to inform the ratings process by providing a convenient and effective measure of preparedness that could be considered as indicative of effective operational risk management.
I am interested in attending (Please indicate Rating Agency Roundtable in subject line)
Insurance & Resilience: Bottom-Line Impacts & Incentives
June 2, 2009
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
New York University Campus
Many factors come into play with respect to resilience and insurance. To date, there has been no common definition of "what" is effective programmatic business preparedness in the insurance industry nor "how to measure it." Furthermore, individually assessing corporate preparedness can be expensive in terms of onsite audits, making it economically unfeasible for insurers to pursue for most policies. Lacking a measurement of general programmatic "preparedness" by insurance companies, there is no common actuarial database that can be used to correlate loss histories with whether or not a firm was "prepared." Thus, the financial acknowledgement of preparedness by insurance companies has been constrained by a lack of data on the impact of programmatic preparedness on loss reduction. The new certification program presents a number of compelling opportunities. The certification program could provide insurers with a clear definition and verification of programmatic preparedness which could be acknowledged in an easy, check-the-box format. This information could inform some short term acknowledgment by the insurance industry. It could also be captured and later correlated with future losses of the insured businesses. The resulting database could allow for the first time an accurate valuing of preparedness with regard to reducing insured losses which could in time justify significant incentives in insurance underwriting (including pricing and terms) as well as enable more informed investment in preparedness by all corporations.
I am interested in attending (Please indicate Insurance Roundtable in subject line)
Legal Liability & Resilience: Bottom-Line Impacts & Incentives
June 8, 2009
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
New York University Campus
Core legal concepts of liability suggest that a firm can be held liable for losses that occur due to a lack of preparedness. It has been advanced that a firm essentially has a duty to prepare for those emergencies that can be reasonably anticipated. If an event does occur and there is injury or other loss, it can be argued that a firm did not prepare adequately. However, certification to an industry standard can support an "affirmative defense" strategy. With such an approach, a company may prepare in advance of a crisis in accordance with a recognized standard and use this status to demonstrate prudent preparation, thereby mitigating potential liability. Ongoing input from the legal community will be critical to assure that the new certification program is designed so that it can most effectively mitigate corporate liability by supporting an affirmative defense strategy.
I am interested in attending (Please indicate Legal Liability Roundtable in subject line)
Background: On August 3, President Bush signed into law, ''Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007'', H.R. 1 (Public Law 110-53.). Title IX of this Act calls for the creation of a voluntary private sector preparedness accreditation and certification program. The purpose of this program is to enable the assessment of business preparedness and facilitate potential benefits to these businesses as a result.
N.B. InterCEP acknowledges that the business case for preparedness certification may additionally depend on a wide range of other issues, including especially: the importance of sector-specific program elements (e.g., for critical infrastructure sectors); the unique considerations pertaining to small- and medium-sized enterprises; etc. We encourage individuals interested in forming a roundtable around a topic other than those identified above to contact InterCEP if it is felt that the Center can potentially assist to addressing these issues.
Additional information about InterCEP's efforts regarding the Voluntary Certification Program for Business Preparedness can be found at:
http://www.nyu.edu/intercep/certification/