“Companies today must prepare for what was previously inconceivable,” said Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and chief executive officer of Aon Corp. “Merging our expertise with that of Rudolph Giuliani, whose leadership skills have set a crisis management standard for the world, made perfect sense,” he added.

“We saw Mayor Giuliani in action first hand after the World Trade Center attack,” in which Aon lost 175 of its workers, Mr. Ryan noted in an interview with National Underwriter. “His response was quite impressive to us. He was clearly an inspiration in dealing with all the issues involved when losing your people in an attack.” He added that “we saw an opportunity to do considerably more together than we could each do alone.”

At the moment, terrorism is front and center in the public's consciousness. On Sept. 11, “the rulebook was rewritten, and its still being rewritten” to deal with the threat, Mr. Ryan said. “I don't think anyone was as prepared as they could have been for Sept. 11.”

However, while the former mayor made his mark in history with his cool command under fire following the devastation of Sept. 11, Aon is eager to tap a much deeper well of expertise.

“The tendency on behalf of everyone is to say about the Giuliani team: 'They went through the World Trade Center disaster, so they know what they're talking about,'” said William Harrison, managing director of Aon's Crisis Management Practice in Princeton, N.J., which was launched in 1999.

However, he added, “while that's true, and while that was an unparalleled event, the Giuliani team also managed hundreds upon hundreds of events that would be a crisis for anyone. They are certainly tried and tested.”

“A lot of people have crisis management plans, but they're not sure they're really prepared–not now, after all we've been through lately,” added Michael Schoenbach, managing director of Aon Financial Solutions in New York.

“By consulting with us and Giuliani Partners, it could reassure company management as well as their shareholders, employees and the general public that they've had their plans run past the best crisis manager in the field in Mr. Giuliani, and they're as prepared as anyone can possibly be,” he added. “There's tremendous value in such an assurance for a company and its constituencies.”

While Aon is certainly not the only game in town when it comes to offering crisis management consulting (see related story on page 11), a partnership with the highest-profile expert this side of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge gives the Chicago-based brokerage a formidable ally when pitching its services, particularly to firms concerned about terrorism.

“I assume we will be attacked again,” Mr. Giuliani said in a recent address to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers 2002 Leadership Forum at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. “I hope not, but it would be irresponsible if we did not think it.”

However, even beyond terrorism, “there is a tremendous need for corporations to prepare for any type of major crisis–from a physical disaster to a product recall to sabotage,” said Mr. Giuliani, chairman and CEO of his consulting firm, when the initiative with Aon was announced. “This innovative partnership will enable companies to tap into the expertise of Giuliani Groups executives, while benefiting from Aon's global reach and corporate consulting knowledge.”

What exactly will the two partners do? The goal is to help private companies and public entities prepare for the worst-case scenario, and to survive a crisis if one hits.

Specifically, the Giuliani Group will provide corporations and public entities with “short- and long-term crisis management solutions, aid in the development and implementation of comprehensive crisis operations protocols, and advise on internal and external emergency communications procedures,” Aon said. The services offered will include:

Planning for preservation of corporate reputation and shareholder value following a crisis.

Crisis management and risk reduction planning.

Planning for continuity of business operations.

Pre-incident crisis communications consulting–including planning and training.

Consulting on design and creation of fully integrated crisis response centers.

Threat assessments and security consulting.

Litigation settlements and buyouts.

The partnership will address not only terrorism but also more mainstream risks such as lawsuits involving product liability, employment discrimination, or charges of accounting manipulation against corporate officers or directors.

In such instances, crisis management often boils down to “brand protection,” Aon officials explained. “What is it worth to a company to defend its brand? To show that the company can respond to a crisis with total command, and to take care of all their constituencies–workers, shareholders, clients, the general public, government entities?” said Mr. Harrison.

He added that Aon and the Giuliani Group would work with clients to prepare for such possibilities, including being on the scene to help put the crisis management plan into action if an event occurs.

Mr. Giuliani is not a one-man band. Indeed, the entire theme of his enterprise is synergy, as he looks to combine his in-house expertise with compatible partners who bring complementary skills and experience into the equation.

Among the 30-plus people included on Mr. Giuliani's staff, for example, are many who helped run the crisis management centers of New York City, including former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, and Office of Emergency Management Director Richard Sheirer.

Ernst & Young is also a Giuliani partner. “Their troops are available to us if we need them, including thousands of MBAs,” said Michael Hess, a senior managing partner with Giuliani Associates in New York. “The marriage with Aon will prove to be equally synergistic, as Aon brings tremendous resources of its own to the table, including specialists in all the various risk management and insurance areas.”

“Each of us offers unique services and expertise, and each provides bench strength to the other to offer more comprehensive products and services,” said Aon's Mr. Schoenbach.

Mr. Hess emphasized that Mr. Giuliani will be “personally involved at a key level” with the accounts generated in conjunction with Aon. “His philosophy is to be hands-on, to come to meetings, share his advice, personal experience and insights with each of the clients.”

Aon's Mr. Ryan was equally emphatic on this point. While Mr. Giuliani has a large, experienced team to help him handle any crisis, “he will be quite personally active in working with clients,” said Mr. Ryan. “This is not a situation where we are just using his name.”

Having a federal terrorism reinsurance program in place should help all crisis managers be better prepared, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Giuliani agree.

Terrorists are looking for one catastrophic event and are limited in the number of targets they can hit, Mr. Giuliani suggested in his speech to the CIAB conference. With the number of buildings that need to be insured, there should be no reason why the risk cannot be spread around adequately enough to make insurance coverage viable for buyer and seller, he added.

Passage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act “introduced a whole new set of variables to the situation,” but overall the law will be a positive development for everyone, said Mr. Ryan.

“It gives us the opportunity to sell coverage that's desperately needed, and it acknowledged the point that the risk was so great that the industry could not take it on alone,” he said, adding that the law is “so important to commerce. People would not be constructing buildings in terrorism-prone areas without this coverage.”

(Additional reporting by Mark Ruquet was included in this story.)

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, January 6, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.