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Investigating recertification and other means for enhancing the perceived value of AST&L certification.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Professional organizations frequently use recertification as a tool to maintain the integrity of their professional certification and to ensure the proficiency of their certified members. A survey of the AST&L membership holding the Certified in Transportation and Logistics (CTL) was performed to obtain their perceptions regarding the value of the certification and how to potentially structure and administer a recertification program. The study found most certified members do not prefer advanced certification or recertification. However, their responses provided useful information regarding how a recertification program should be structured and administered.

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Professional certification has represented one of the primary means in which the American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L) has differentiated itself from other leading transportation and logistics professional organizations. AST&L has the objectives of establishing, promoting, and maintaining high standards of knowledge and professional training; formulating a code of ethics for the profession; advancing the professional interests of members of the organization; serving as a source of information and guidance for the fields of traffic and transportation, logistics, and physical distribution management; and serving the industry as a whole by fostering professional accomplishments (AST&L 2004). The Certified in Transportation and Logistics (CTL) professional certification represents the principal vehicle AST&L has used to accomplish these objectives. AST&L awards the CTL to individuals passing an examination process consisting of five modules and a creative component. Undergraduates from universities that have applied for a blanket waiver of their logistics and transportation curriculum may apply for the CTL without taking the examination.

Certification is an important component of an individual's professional development and career advancement. Certification programs provide a set of standards and guidelines for professional recognition that are accepted industry-wide (Miller 2000). The certification provides a demonstrable level of expertise and education recognized within the profession. Individuals typically attend a series of seminars, obtain relevant experience, and successfully pass a battery of comprehensive examinations as part of the certification process. Employers value the certification as it recognizes those individuals who have achieved a specific level of competency and have demonstrated a career-long commitment to keeping up-to-date and proficient in the discipline. Individuals seek the certification as a means to set themselves apart, achieve a sense of personal accomplishment, and to become competitive for advancement. AST&L has offered the certification since 1948 "... as a means of proving the attainment of personal and professional skills of persons in transportation, traffic, distribution, materials management, providing a tangible measure of professional accomplishment" (Thomchick and Humphrey 1996).

None of the other major transportation and logistics professional organizations offer a professional certification program. Organizations including the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), Warehouse Education Research Council (WERC), National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA), Delta Nu Alpha, and Traffic Clubs International currently do not have a program for certifying their membership. The only other professional certification in transportation or logistics is the Certified Professional Logistician (CPL), offered by the International Society of Logistics (SOLE). The CPL traditionally has focused on logistics engineering and systems management and consequently has not received significant recognition outside the defense industry or the military. Related organizations such as the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) and the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) offer well-recognized professional certification programs, but their primary focus is not on transportation or logistics.

Organizations such as APICS (APICS 2004) and ISM (ISM 2004) require periodic recertification of their certified members. Periodic recertification ensures the integrity of the certification program by ensuring the members' certification credentials remain current. However, recertification provides several additional benefits. Members continue to expand their knowledge of latest industry practice by attending national conferences or approved seminars. Certified members obtain continual exposure to new technology solutions through workshops and training classes. Follow-on education reinforces previously learned skills and improves the members' job performance. By remaining current, the members demonstrate their commitment to excellence and can achieve a competitive advantage in the workplace.

This study provides the results of a survey of AST&L members holding the CTL. The study had several objectives: to obtain information regarding their demographics, views regarding the certification process, perceptions regarding the value of advanced certification and recertification, and recommendations for a recertification program. The article begins by describing the survey methodology used in the study. The methodology employed a survey instrument similar to a previous study published in the Transportation Journal (Thornchick and Humphrey 1996). A detailed and tabulated analysis of the data is contained in the results section. The results of this study are compared with those obtained in the 1996 survey of the AST&L certified members. The final section contains a summary of the key findings resulting from the study and several recommendations for future research.

METHODOLOGY

The research employed a survey instrument (Appendix 1) for collecting demographic data and the certified members' perceptions of the value of certification and recertification. The survey instrument was adapted from the questionnaire developed by Thomchick and Humphrey in their 1996 study of the value of AST& L certification. Questions regarding recertification and recertification programs supplemented those in the previous survey. The surveys were sent by e-mail to the 284 certified members contained in a database maintained by AST& L. One hundred and two usable surveys were returned, yielding a 35.9 percent response rate. No follow-up mailings, phone calls, or e-mails were conducted. Data analysis consisted of tabulating the responses to the questionnaire, and the results are shown in the tables and charts contained in the Results section.

Non-response bias was tested using an extrapolation method comparing early to late respondents (Armstrong and Overton 1977). The midpoint of the data collection period was used as the cutoff point for distinguishing between early and late respondents. A comparison of the responses between the two groups produced no significant differences (p<.05). Both the early and late respondents closely approximated the overall population demographics of the AST&L certified membership. Based on these results, non-response bias should not be a factor in this study.

RESULTS

The survey instrument included...