Short Programs

Crisis Management and Business Continuity

Date: July 15-19, 2013 | Tuition: $3,000 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 2.4
*This course has limited enrollment. Apply early to guarantee your spot.
Application Deadline »

Overview  |  Participant Take-Aways  |  Who Should Attend  |  Program Outline  |  Course Schedule  |  Participants' Comments  |  Course Lecturers  |  Location  |  Tourist Information  |  Updates

Overview

Preparing for a crisis is not a luxury; it is a necessity. You know the odds are high that your company will suffer a disaster or crisis at some point. You cannot say you weren't ready; today's extreme public and government scrutiny demand that you should have been prepared.

MIT's "Crisis Management & Business Continuity" will help prepare you for the inevitable.

This comprehensive course provides up-to-date assessments and knowledge on issues that affect you - terrorism, pandemic, cyber security, communications, news media - from the experts involved with these efforts. You will have the opportunity to interact with these lecturers and with peers from industry and government.

By the end of the course, you will have the tools, knowledge, and understanding to benchmark, assess, and improve your business continuity, disaster recovery, and crisis management program. This includes the Course Manual (print and/or e-files), templates, and current articles. You will gain valuable contacts, have plenty of networking opportunities, and acquire insights for immediate implementation.

Participant Take-Aways

• Discussions with Industry and Government Leaders/Subject Matter Experts
• Current status of issues that affect you and your organization
• Interactions with peers from industry and government
• Lessons learned from multiple Case Studies
• Benchmark your BCP/DRP/CM program
• Course Manual – printed and/or e-files
• Various templates for your immediate use
• Current articles by industry authors
• Personalized MIT Professional Education Certificate of Course Completion

Who Should Attend

This course is for the Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, and Crisis Management practitioner or responder as well as for the executive who oversees these disciplines. Other staff who would benefit from this course include corporate executives, directors, and staff from IT/MIS, Environment Health & Safety, Risk Management, Public Relations, Human Resources, and Security. This course is also suited for federal, state, and local government officials and Emergency Managers.

Both novices and experienced personnel will benefit greatly from this course. If you cannot go, tell your director/executive so he/she can attend to better understand your complex profession.

Program Outline

The course offers an effective combination of lecture, case studies, and class participation activities conducted by knowledgeable and experienced instructors who are leaders in their fields. Many case studies of actual crisis situations are used to emphasize and enhance the concepts. Several interactive class activities provide additional hands-on experience. Students will also practice what is learned: the course concludes with a crisis exercise in which students take active roles in a simulated disaster, including a realistic news media briefing.

In addition this year, we will be offering sessions on the following recent events and their impact:

• Boston Marathon bombings: panel session with key responding agencies
• Hurricane Sandy: panel session of successful business responses
• Newtown School shootings: Lt. Paul Vance, Connecticut State Police
• Recent CERT congressional briefing; the latest cyber threats and initiatives

Day One

Welcome and Introduction; the Basics

• Course Information and Outline; the MIT Experience
  • Steve Goldman, Bill VanSchalkwyk, Dick Larson, Lou Diberardinis
• The Basics of Crisis Management and Business Continuity
  • Dr. Steve Goldman, MIT
  
• BCP Legal Issues and Industry Standards
  • Julie Keefe, Of Counsel at Grossman, Furlow & Bayó, LLC

Lunch break

The Practice of BCP/DRP

• You are not alone: partnerships, industry organizations, government agencies, conferences, and tools to help you
  • Cheyene Marling, President, BC Management Inc.
• Case study: BCP/DRP/CM for a small regional corporation
  • Mark Carroll, SVP and Business Risk Officer, Income Research + Management, Inc.
• Case study: BCP/DRP/CM for a large multi-national company
  • Rick Reed, Issue and Crisis Management, Intel Corporation
• Your Boston Survival Guide: How to speak, eat, and drive like a Bostonian
  • Dr. Steven Goldman, MIT

After-class complimentary networking activity: Reception for Students and Faculty

Day Two

Current Issues

• Terrorism update
  • Onofrio “Nooch” Minafo, Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Cyber security threat update
  • Dr. Nader Mehravari, MBCP, MBCI, CERT Cyber Resilience Center, Carnegie Mellon University
• IT and Disaster Recovery: Trends and Technology
  • Rachel Dines, Analyst - Infrastructure & Operations, Forrester Research

Lunch break

• Pandemic Update: Issues, plans, response, and case studies
  • Professor Richard Larson, MIT
• The Newtown, CT School Shooting Tragedy
  • Lt. J. Paul Vance, Chief Spokesperson, Connecticut State Police
• Emergency Preparedness & the Five Dimensions of Meta-Leadership
  • Dr. Eric McNulty, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, Harvard University

After-class complimentary networking activity: Duck Tour and New England dinner (optional)

Day Three

Today's class to be held at the FEMA/DHS Regional Response Coordination Center

Implementation and Response

• Local and Hazmat Emergency Planning and Response
  • Bill VanSchalkwyk, Director, MIT EH&S and Lieutenant, City of Groton Fire Department
• State Emergency Planning and Response
  • Allen Phillips, Operations Manager, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency

Lunch break and tour of the FEMA RRCC

• Federal Emergency Planning and Response
  • William “Russ” Webster, Preparedness Division, FEMA Region I, Department of Homeland Security
• Case Study: Workplace Violence at the Discovery Channel
  • Karen Kiley, Vice President Building Operations and Security, Discovery Communications
• Panel discussion on Hurricane Sandy: Response Success Stories
  • Andrew Smith, VP, Business Continuity Management, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, New York
  • Howard B. Price, News Editor and Director, Business Continuity, ABC News, New York
  • Allen Phillips, MA EMA, detailed to work at NY State EMA
  • William “Russ” Webster, FEMA Region I, detailed to work at FEMA Region II

After-class networking activity: Restaurant sign up & go (optional)

Day Four

The Media, the Internet, and Your Crisis

• The news media: what we are going to do to you. Individual presentations by newspaper, radio, and TV news reporters/editors; each will also address the implications of social media
• Newspapers/Websites
  • Joe Sciacca, Editor-in-Chief, The Boston Herald
• Radio
  • Peter J. Casey, Director of News & Programming, WBZ News Radio 1030 - CBS Radio
• Television/Visual Media
  • Howard B. Price, News Editor and Director, Business Continuity, ABC News, New York

Lunch Break

• Social Media: Current Use and Future Trends
  • Heather D. Read, Social Media Issues & Crisis, DuPont
• The Boston Marathon bombings: Exemplary response amid horror
  • Invited representatives from:
     • Boston EMS
     •The Boston Police Department
     • Local hospitals
     • MIT
     • Local businesses
     • Local news media
• Panel discussion and open forum
  • All the day's lecturers

Day Five

Class Exercise

• Course instructors present a table-top simulation of an unfolding, multi-incident crisis. Students take active roles as federal, local, corporate, news media, or other responders to manage and recover from the events.
  • Steve Goldman, Bill VanSchalkwyk, Howard Price, Dick Larson, Lou Diberardinis
  

Summary

• Leadership Insights for the BCP Manager position
  • Steve Goldman
• The top 5 things to do when you return to your office
  • Steve Goldman

Course Critique and Graduation

Course schedule and registration times

View 2013 Course Schedule

Class runs 9:00 am - 5:00 pm on Monday; 8:00 am - 5:15 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday; 8:00 am -5:00 pm Thursday; and 8:00 am - 12:00 noon on Friday.

Optional no-cost after-class networking activities include a reception on Monday evening and a Duck Tour & New England Dinner on Tuesday evening.

Registration is on Monday morning from 8:15 - 8:45 am.

Participants' Comments

Tijan Drammeh, Data Protection Manager, University of Maryland University College
"The course lecturers were all subject matter experts in what they do, or had acquired great first hand practical experience in BC/DR and or crisis management. This allowed them to provide useful and valuable examples that can be quickly applied on the job."

"The breadth and depth of the material covered was great and unexpected. Other courses I have attended were too narrowly focused on methodology of developing and creating plans, and not enough 'big picture view of BC'. This course blended all the different aspects of BC."

Kevin O'Reilly, Senior Global Security Specialist, CA Technologies
"Great combination of effective communicators and subject matter expertise. No "duds" and that is saying a lot."

"The course validated my company's internal processes while still providing some cutting edge information for me."

Gary Bennett, Business Assurance - Global BCM Coordinator, Pearson
"In addition to copies of the presentations, other pertinent materials were provided that can be taken back into the work environment and used immediately."

"Excellent - I had an opportunity to interact with peers in a setting that promoted an open and candid discussion about the issues and application of principles."

Patricia Dischinger VP Business Continuity, First Community Services
"Just a marvelous group...could have spent forever listening...sharing thoughts...and asking questions!"

H. Leland Smith, Business Administration Instructor, Holmes Community College
"The practice exercise was phenomenal!"

Ifeanyichukwu Otudoh, Information Technologist, Oceanic Bank International PLC
"It is a great course. An eye opener to business continuity management, especially at this period when the business world is filled with so much of uncertainty."

"It was a very great experience. An opportunity to learn and share experience with leaders and professionals from over the world. The course really prepared me for task of putting i place an effective and realistic plan to address uncertainties or emergencies that may arise during business."

Course Lecturers

As seen from the course outline above, Course lecturers are knowledgeable and experienced industry, academic, and government agency experts, including the program organizers below.

Dick Larson
Dr. Larson is Mitsui Professor in the Engineering Systems Division. He is author, co-author, or editor of six books and author of over 85 articles, primarily in the fields of urban service systems (esp. emergency response systems), queueing, logistics, disaster management, disease dynamics, dynamic pricing of critical infrastructures, education, and workforce planning.

Steve Goldman
Dr. Goldman is an internationally recognized expert in Business Continuity, Crisis Management, Disaster Recovery, and Crisis Communications. A Fortune 500 Company's former Global Business Continuity Program Manager, he has over 30 years hands-on experience in all aspects of these disciplines.

Bill VanSchalkwyk
Managing Director, MIT Office of Environmental Health and Safety

Lou Diberardinis
Director, MIT Office of Environmental Health and Safety

Location

This course takes place on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We can also offer this course for groups of employees at your location. Please contact the Short Programs office for further details.

Tourist Information

The greater Boston area offers world-class music, art, literary, sports, recreation, shopping, restaurants, and history resources to explore. The Short Programs Travel page offers information and resources for things to do during your stay in Boston. Also, bring your family! While you are in class, your family can enjoy the unique experience of the Boston and New England area in summer!

Updates

There are no updates at this time.