GLG Standard

The emergence of systems to help clients find, engage, and manage expert networks–like the GLG Councils– is transforming how decision makers conduct research and diligence. An increasing number of professionals at investment firms, corporations, consultancies, and non-profits are using Gerson Lehrman Group to simplify the difficult tasks of identifying, profiling and contracting with subject matter experts.

While these interactions can be essential to the education of decision-makers, there is also an understanding that many experts have important obligations surrounding how and the subjects on which they may consult. As the pioneer and leader of this industry, GLG has developed a framework to meet decision-maker needs while helping experts honor the obligations they have to the organizations with which they are affiliated.

Since its inception in 1999, GLG has worked with thousands of clients and experts. That experience has helped GLG develop a compliance framework around the following Standard of Conduct:

Standard of Conduct

Our compliance system begins with two essential conditions:

• Council Members must formally agree to the Gerson Lehrman Group Terms and Conditions before responding to any offered engagement. The Terms and Conditions is a binding contract that requires Council Members (a) to discuss only those matters that the Council Member is permitted to discuss and (b) to terminate immediately any consulting project that moves into subject matter that a Council Member cannot discuss. Council Members who terminate projects for this reason are paid for the time they set aside for the project.
• Council Members must honor their obligations to employers or third parties that apply to consulting activity, and GLG will subject Council Members to any known guidelines that a company has established for its employees.

Systems and Standards for Appropriate Engagements

In addition to the underlying contract signed by every Council Member, each specific interaction is governed and often constrained by standards and safeguards.

• Council Members have the responsibility and are always afforded the opportunity to assess and explicitly accept each consulting project before interacting with a client. For that reason, GLG asks that clients provide the specific topic of conversation and requires that Council Members assess that information and unequivocally express that they are able to discuss that topic.
• Council Members are systematically solicited to disclose specific restricted subjects. In addition to requiring Council Members to formally accept or reject proposed projects, GLG asks Council Members on a project-by-project basis to disclose restrictions on their ability to consult on specific subjects. GLGs innovative Disclosure Management System enables human-language questions to elicit restricted topics, and then stores the information provided to help block future projects on restricted subjects.
• Council Members who are employees of companies may not engage in projects about their own company. Based on both client and Council Member feedback, GLG requires that industry experts who are employees do not consult about his/her own firm.
• Council Members who are employees of companies may not consult with known competitors of their company. Similarly, GLG does not invite Council Members to participate in phone consultations with entities it knows to be competitors of the Council Members employer.
• Council Members may not engage in extensive or ongoing projects, which we believe entail a deeper relationship with our clients, unless they have been specially qualified in GLG Member Programs. Employees of companies must obtain the written consent of their employers to participate in GLG Member Programs. This safeguard provides a tier of Council Membership - GLG Member Programs for client requests to engage an expert for more than three telephone consultations a year; for any in-person meetings; or to provide any written reports.

Using Technology to Manage Conflicts

GLG has developed powerful technologies to identify and track potential conflicts. These systems include:

• GLGs contract management systems track the version and exact date of the Council Members agreement to the Terms and Conditions and systematically enforce annual recertification and upgrades. The precision of this tracking system has allowed GLG to ensure that only experts who have signed a recent, updated contract may participate in projects with GLG clients. This system also enables GLG to continually upgrade the agreement, based on feedback and requests from clients, Council Members, and their respective firms and industry groups.
• Council Members are systematically reminded of the rules and required to opt-in to each project.
• An Institutional Expert Registry enables institutions to register guidelines on the ability of their employees to participate in consulting projects. Employers may specify guidelines by individual, group, product, client type or subject, and GLG will apply those employer guidelines.
• A Disclosure Management System, based on the technologies and taxonomies that drive GLGs knowledge management efforts, stores and organizes information provided by Council Members about their respective abilities to consult on specific topics. GLG tracks disclosed conflicts to help prevent current and future invitations on the potentially restricted subjects. The Disclosure Management System uses a proprietary subject hierarchy of over 400,000 nodes to store and manage GLGs understanding of Council Member conflicts and expertise.
• Web-based tools empower clients to monitor and control interactions between the client’s staff and Council Members. The Research Management Platform allows GLG clients to set custom review workflow rules for all or specific users, including the ability to block, put ‘on hold,’ or add customized reminder notes regarding individual consulting projects or consultants.