Operations is the only major business function without a standards body.
Finance has the CPA. Project management has the PMP. Human resources has SHRM-CP. Operations has nothing, which means there is no agreed answer to what a competent operator actually knows.
NBOP is being built to change that. It publishes a standard for business operations practice and certifies experienced practitioners against it.
The credential is NBOP-CP. It is not a course and not a career change programme. Candidacy requires documented prior operations experience. You have to already do the work to be certified in it.
Where operations sits today
| Function | Standards body | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | AICPA and state boards | CPA |
| Project management | Project Management Institute | PMP |
| Human resources | SHRM | SHRM-CP |
| Supply chain | ASCM | CPIM, CSCP |
| Quality | ASQ | CMQ/OE |
| Business operations | — | — |
Adjacent bodies certify parts of the work. None is scoped to general, cross-functional business operations, and none publishes a schedule on which its body of knowledge is revised.
How NBOP is being built
The standard is public
The body of knowledge is published openly, dated, versioned, and accompanied by a changelog. Anyone can read what the credential assesses without paying for anything. What is assessed is public. What is scarce is passing.
Experience is a prerequisite, not an outcome
Candidacy is open only to people who already hold operational responsibility. The credential validates practice that already exists. It does not qualify anyone to enter the field.
The standard is revised on a published cadence
Operations practice changes faster than most bodies of knowledge are maintained. NBOP commits to a stated revision schedule with version end-of-life, published in the changelog rather than asserted in marketing.
Assessment is separated from instruction
NBOP sets the standard and administers the assessment. It does not require candidates to buy preparation from any particular provider, including any provider connected to its founder.
Status. NBOP is in formation. The standard is being drafted in the open and the standards committee is being assembled. Candidacy is not yet open, and no fee, date or outcome is being represented.