Selected Brief Case Studies (Cont'd)

ANATOMY OF AN EVACUATION

An IMG consultant provided proactive and emergency evacuation planning and operations oversight for a major oil company client. An overview of the services provided is as follows:

The consultant mointored an overseas location and determined that the in-country security situation was steadily deteriorating.
On day one the corporate crisis team, receiving regular threat updates from the consultant, activated the Staged Evacuation Plan that had been ﬁnalized six months previously. Using the existing warden system, company employees and dependents were in constant communication with each other, key embassies and consulates and the crisis teams of several other foreign companies.
Having moved through all the stages of evacuation preparation, on day ﬁve the decision was made by the in-country manager, in consultation with the crisis team, to move to the pre-designated safe haven. At the same time, the onsite contract security support team (activated previously to provide security around company residences) was moved into place to initiate the ﬁnal evacuation process. The air evac contractor, put on standby earlier, was instructed to proceed to the designated airport where government clearances had been obtained.
The contract security team completed the ﬁnal sweep of alternative routes and initiated movement to the airport in ﬁve specially prepared and pre-positioned vehicles, two serving as lead and follow vehicles. (Departing personnel had previously been provided with communications, GPS and individual departure packets.)
As the air evac plane taxied to a halt the company employees were expedited through departure procedures with the support of local contract expediters and proceeded directly to the aircraft which departed after 22 minutes on the tarmac.
The plane ﬂew directly to the pre-determined reception site where they were met by a company support team, provided with temporary housing and logistical support and offered immediate access to onsite, contract crisis counselors.
The evacuation, while traumatic for all involved, was successfully managed because of extensive pre-planning, regular testing of evacuation and business continuity plans, the availability of carefully vetted contract security, logistical support and continuous liaison with host and foreign government ofﬁcials.

MANAGING THREATENING COMMUNICATIONS

A multinational corporation received word that an anonymous newsletter ﬁlled with proprietary information and unﬂattering comments concerning the personality and activities of its senior management . . . had been mailed to many of its distributors and suppliers. The newsletter compromised sensitive marketing information and had the potential to cause serious morale problems within the company.

IMG was asked to assist the client in identifying the source of the newsletter and to reduce the likelihood of future similar publications. A multi-disciplinary team, led by a skilled investigator with extensive FBI experience, was immediately dispatched to the site.

Within a short period of time, IMG personnel quickly developed an investigative strategy and initiated a plan of action based on a coordinated collection and analysis along three operational lines:

As part of the investigation, IMG subjected the written communication to a forensic psychological analysis that provided insight into the thinking and mindset behind the anonymous news letter.
A further examination was conducted by one of the nation’s best known psycholinguistic analysts who analyzed the language structure of the communication. This revealed the likely level and area of education, indications of a substantial period spent in a particular part of the world, and many other pertinent and helpful clues.
The ﬁnal part of the inquiry involved equating the above data with the results of investigator interviews and other information from various sources that became available.

Subsequently, a senior manager admitted during interview to have been responsible for the damaging article.

SECURITY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

A multi-national client requested IMG assistance in developing a complete security program for the company and its numerous overseas manufacturing plants. IMG conducted security surveys and comprehensive risk assessments of several of these facilities and then developed a security standards document for the company. The standards in the document provided a base-level standard of security, including contingency plans, for each of the client’s plants and were useful in determining the prioritized needs for security upgrades at these facilities.

REDUCING LOSSES ACROSS A GLOBAL LOGISTICS NETWORK

A global high-technology company requested IMG’s assistance after they had suffered major losses of product in the United States and a number of Latin American countries. Many of the losses were simple disappearances and inventory shortages while others resulted from hijackings, burglaries, robberies, and pilferage in US ports and South American destinations.

IMG helped the client to develop a clear understanding of its logistics operations and implemented reasonable, system-wide procedural enhancements to manage and reduce its losses. Starting from an analysis of the various supply chains, IMG traced the movement of product through warehouses, distribution centers, ports and airports, customs checkpoints, etc., to end-user delivery, and identiﬁed existing and foreseeable vulnerabilities. IMG examined the transportation lanes used to move the product from the United States to Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and reviewed the contractual relationship between the client and its network of logistics providers who had access to the product.

Our solutions were systematic and practical. The resulting recommendations addressed weaknesses across the full span of the client’s operations and provided speciﬁc best practice solutions that optimized business operation, and supporting systems, and deﬂected future risk by contractual indemnity. IMG inaugurated a continuous business improvement program using self-audit components and subsequent mechanisms to monitor progress and apportion risk.

Our efforts provided the client with a clear understanding of its logistics processes and a blueprint for continuous improvement.
IMG was commissioned by a major US pharmaceutical client to examine certain international supply chains from the point of manufacture of bulk materials to delivery to the end user to determine and rectify losses involving a well-known product that were in excess of $1 million per month. IMG was also asked to review an overseas manufacturing plant with a view to preventing cross-contamination and theft of ﬁnished product.

The study resulted in numerous improvement options, one of which was that worldwide personnel did not have a clear perception of supply chain activities and its vulnerabilities. When corrective procedures were implemented further losses were avoided.

Likewise, recommendations were made to reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination and theft of valuable product. These embraced technical and security process improvements to product movement, storage and packaging areas as well as site security enhancements.

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS

Many clients have beneﬁted from IMG managing partner Dr. Harley Stock’s commitment to translating forensic psychology into practical business applications. One result has been the development of a model of risk assessment based on forensic/ actuarial data that is in use by high-technology and many other clients worldwide.

This Risk Assessment Model permeates all of IMG’s programs and takes the “guess” out of a situation that is likely to be dangerous. Since the guesswork is taken out of critical decisions, the development of a “crisis within a crisis” is avoided. IMG maintains one of the largest databases on people who have threatened to kill in the workplace and who have been evaluated by Board Certiﬁed Forensic Psychologists.

EMPLOYEE APPLICATION PROCESS

An IMG client had already acknowledged that it was far more efﬁcient to keep a problem employee out of the workplace than it was to hire him/her and then try and deal with ensuing risk issues. The client contracted the use of IMG’s Bio-Data Application Form©, based on organizational behavioral delinquency literature, to help select the best applicant.

While most companies expect an applicant to ﬁll out an application form, very few companies have a systematic way to evaluate the information provided, a situation that can lead to poor hiring decisions. Traditional application forms are not capable of identifying applicants who are intentionally distorting their answers on the application blank. Psychological literature, however, suggests a signiﬁcant number of applicants lie on their application – it has been estimated that falsiﬁcation of credentials among job candidates across the board occurs in about 30% of all applications and 15% of applications of candidates for higher level positions.

A Biodata Application Form is different from a traditional application in many aspects. The Form is not a psychological test, but is a sophisticated application process that identiﬁes self-reported areas of concern. The result assists Human Resource and Safety/Security professionals in the task of interviewing their prospective employees. To meet client needs, the Biodata Application Process has been reviewed by expert panels of board-certiﬁed forensic psychologists and Human Resource professionals. Additionally, all items have been screened by labor attorneys to ensure governmental compliance.

THREATS, INTIMIDATIONS AND ASSAULTS

Many major clients have utilized Dr. Harley Stock’s proactive and response services to assist in workplace violence issues, since threats, intimidations and assaults can be a signiﬁcant category of reported events for companies with large workforces. Clients have used Dr. Stock and his global network of Board Certiﬁed Forensic Psychologists for expert advice and intervention and, in some cases, in-depth evaluation of the persons involved.

Clients that include a micro-processor manufacturer and others with worldwide operations who have used IMG’s forensic services including pro-active prevention programs, threat intervention, case management, and post-incident response. Many subscribe to a unique Behavioral Risk Program used to prevent most episodes from happening, or manage those episodes that actively threaten the safety and security of our client’s personnel and facilities, as well as to respond to situations of catastrophic proportions. IMG is also contracted to provide organizations with Crisis Intervention Stress Management (CISM) services.

SECURITY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

A US-based data services company asked IMG to provide turnkey, comprehensive design services to coincide with the construction of a new headquarters complex. Some of the components included:

Development of a protective model and access control plan based on a current risk assessment and mirroring the client’s organizational culture.
Development of RFP’s, vendor selection and oversight.
Comprehensive implementation services that reduced overall cost and added signiﬁcant value.

Utilizing IMG’s design expertise at an early stage provided timely consensus on design and execution issues, avoided subsequent retroﬁt costs and provided a robust system that effectively fulﬁlled its purpose.

LITIGATION SUPPORT

IMG was hired by an automotive manufacturer to provide litigation support services and post-incident expert witness testimony subsequent to a catastrophic workplace event. Clients are routinely advised to seek expert intervention at an early stage thus avoiding the possibility of “a crisis within a crisis”. Thankfully, these services are not routinely required, but IMG’s forensic psychologists have given evidence in support of countless clients regarding homicide, rape cases, harassment, stalking, wrongful termination suits, etc.

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