HCDI Foundation Certificate
Part A Orientation
Part A - Orientation
A1. About HCDI
Basis: HCDI methodology fact (Edition 0.3, Unit 1.2). The HumanCorp Due Diligence Index (HCDI) is an assessment of whether the people of an organisation, and the way it is governed, are ready for a transaction or a major change. The public methodology page puts the idea in two sentences: financial and legal due diligence answer whether a company's numbers and structure hold up, and HCDI answers a different question: will the people hold up? The HCDI Certification Scheme, which awards the credential this manual leads to, is operated by HCDI GLOBAL PTE. LTD.
A2. Why human due diligence exists
Basis: general professional knowledge. A transaction is decided on numbers and delivered by people. A financial model can be sound while the people who must run the combined business leave, the two cultures clash, a founder cannot let go, or the board is not ready for new obligations. These are failures of readiness, not of arithmetic, and they rarely show in the accounts. Human due diligence is the discipline of examining them before commitment, on evidence, in a form a decision-maker can read.
A3. How it relates to other due diligence
Basis: HCDI methodology fact (Unit 1.2) and general professional knowledge. Financial, legal, tax, operational and commercial due diligence each answer their own question. HCDI is an addition, and not a replacement for any of them. It also gives no verdict. An HCDI report gives a conclusion, never a verdict, and it contains no proceed or do-not-proceed recommendation. The decision stays with the people who must make it.
A4. Who does what
Basis: HCDI governance rule (Units 1.3 and 1.7). People gather evidence and score it. AI assists with drafting and proposes no score. The methodology governs how evidence is read. The decision-makers decide. The approved Level 1 text states this as follows: a person enters every score, no model produces a score, and the platform provides no control to adjust a score or close a gate by hand.
A5. Training, certification and authorization
Basis: HCDI governance rule (Unit 1.1). Training is a programme. Certification is a credential awarded by the Scheme after an examination. Authorization is permission from HCDI to act on one specific engagement. None implies the others. Unit 1.1 develops this.
A6. The four levels
Basis: HCDI governance rule. Titles and scope statements as the approved certificate designs print them. Level Title Scope of certification, as printed 1 HCDI Foundation Certificate "Foundation knowledge of the HCDI methodology and its principles" 2 HCDI Certified Indexer "Evidence collection and review; establishment of observable facts; escalation of evidence conflicts." 3 HCDI Lead Indexer "Leads assessments; quality-checks Indexers; analyzes evidence conflicts and proposes resolutions for HCDI decision." 4 HCDI Certified Independent Reviewer "Independent review of another firm's assessment before issuance, on engagements assigned by HCDI from the independent pool." Level 1 is the only certificate of knowledge. Levels 2 to 4 are professional credentials. Level 1 has no prerequisite for Level 2.
A7. Credential scope
Basis: HCDI governance rule (README section 2). The scheme has three scopes: Listing & Institutional Readiness, Governance & Succession Readiness, and Transaction Human Due Diligence.
A8. Role boundaries
Basis: HCDI platform rule (Unit 1.6). A Level 1 holder has no engagement role. On an engagement, the delivering firm's team has a Deal Lead and a Reviewer. The assessed company's people take part as Respondents, and its HR contact supplies the list of employees. HCDI's own roles sit outside the delivering firm and are covered in Unit 1.6. "Indexer" is a credential level, and it is not a platform login role.
A9. Ethics and professional conduct
Basis: HCDI governance rule (Unit 1.8) and general professional knowledge. A decision-user holds reports of sensitive matters. Do not forward a report beyond its intended recipients without HCDI's written consent, do not circulate an edited Word file, and do not copy methodology wording into your own material. Do not use the Foundation Certificate to suggest you are a practitioner. Chapter 14 develops these points.
A11. How to use this manual
Basis: HCDI governance rule (README section 3.1). Study is self-paced. There is no start date, cohort, timetable or attendance requirement, and you do not need any course to sit the examination. Study hours are estimates, not a schedule. Read a unit, answer its self-check questions without your notes, and go on. Book the examination when you judge you are ready. No one signs you off. The practice questions at the end are practice only.
A12. The learning pathway
Basis: HCDI governance rule. Level 1 stands alone. It confers nothing beyond the knowledge it attests. If you intend to go on to Level 2, 3 or 4, Level 1 is not required, but its content is the common ground on which the others build.
How to study
Read a chapter and distinguish its source-derived content from the general discussion. Attempt the fictional exercise before reading Part G. For a source case, state the facts before the judgement and identify the actor with authority. Complete the sandbox questions before consulting Part F. A wrong answer is useful when its explanation reveals a scope or evidence error. No study score is a scheme pass mark.