Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants

Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants

Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants

Recapping the Knowledge

Youmayhavebeenexemptedfromsomesubjectsorpassedtheexamsafewyearsago.Itwillthereforebeimportantforyoutorevise/recapthetheoryinthesesubjectsandensureyouarefamiliarwiththecontent.

Rememberthatthecasestudywillbefocusingonthehigherlevelskills,thereforeitsimportanttomastertheabilitytounderstand,evaluateandapplywhatyouknowtoarealbusinesscontext.Pastexamquestionswhichfocusonprovidingthistypeofanswerwillhelpyoutomastertheseskillsandalsotorecapanygapsintheoreticalknowledge.

Itisstillimportanttobeawareoftheleveloftheverbwithineachcomponentlearningoutcome.Thisshowstheskilllevelwhichyoucanexpecttobeexaminedinthecasestudyexam.CIMAconnecthaspastquestionslinkedtocomponentlearningoutcomeswithintheresourcessectionofeachsubjectandisthereforeagoodstudyresourcetouseinpracticingpastexamquestions.

Mosttechnicalcalculationswillbeexaminedintheobjectivetestexams,thereforetherewillbeminimalfocusonthisskillinthecasestudyexam.However,interpretationofresultsandunderstandingremainsvital,asthiswillhelptoprovideamorecomprehensiveanswerintheexam.

Toseedifferencesbetweenthe2015syllabusandthe2010syllabushavealookatourtransitionguides.Theseguideswillhelpyouidentifyanyknowledgegapsyouhave.Gotoconnect.cimaglobal.com/resources andsearchfortransitionguide

how to Recap theoRy foR each subject?

Ifyouneedtorevisethetheory,youcanbuytheCIMA-KaplanPractice&RevisionKit(bit.ly/ciMa-Kaplan)andrevisethetheorythroughquestionpractice.

Ifyouthinkyouneedtolearnfromthebeginning,youcanbuytheCIMA-KaplanStudyTextorifyoupreferonlinelearningusecimastudy.comtolearnbyyourself.Self-StudyGuidesareavailableinCIMAconnectandtheycanhelpyouorganiseyourstudies.Gotoconnect.cimaglobal.com/resources andsearchforselfstudyguide

Ifyoupreferface-to-faceteaching,youcanthinkaboutjoiningaCIMAtuitionproviderforarevisioncourse(cimaglobal.com/colleges).

KicK-start the STRATeGIC CASeSTudYexAM

the case study exams are intended to demonstrate that students can apply the technical, business, people and leadership skills from the learning outcomes in the three subjects at the strategic level (e3, p3 and f3) in a business context. there is no separate syllabus content for the case study exam.

ThetechnicalcontentandtheoryforthethreesubjectsatalevelwillhavealreadybeentestedthoroughlyintheObjectiveTests;thestrategiccasestudyexamaimstotesttheapplicationofthisknowledgetoreallifebusinessscenariosand,insodoing,teststhehigherlevelskillsofapplication,analysisandevaluation.

it is useful to familiarise yourself with the terminology we are using to describe our case study exams.

pre-seen material overviewinformationaboutafictitiousorganizationwhichisbaseduponareallifebusinessorindustrypublished7weeksinadvanceoftheexamwindow.

additional informationnewmaterialintroducedduringtheexam,maybeintheformofdocuments(reports,articles)oremailsfromworkcolleagues.

scene settingthepresentationofthescenarioforthecasewhichgivescontexttothetriggers.

triggers somethingthatchangesthethinkingrequiredaroundthecasestudyandrequiresyoutotakesomeactionwithinthecontextofthecasestudy.Thiscouldtakeanumberofforms,suchas:newinformationaboutthecompanyormarket(Forexamplesetofaccountsormediaarticle;anopinionthatprovidesadifferentperspectiveonexistinginformation)orachangeinthepriorityofatask.

tasksessentiallythequestionrequirements,whatyouhavetodoinresponsetothetriggers.

business skills, leadership skills, technical skills, people skills

https://connect.cimaglobal.com/resourceshttp://bit.ly/CIMA-Kaplanhttps://connect.cimaglobal.com/resourceshttp://www.cimaglobal.com/colleges

pRe-seen MateRial and its puRpose

pre-seen material will be published on ciMaconnect seven weeks prior to the exam. Itconsistsofintroductoryoverviewinformationandanumberofotherdocumentstosetthesceneorprovideadditionalbackgrounddataonthe(fictitious)organisation,itscompetitors,marketsandsoon.Thesameorganisationandpre-seenmaterialswillfeatureinalloftheexamsinaparticularexamwindow.

Thepurposeofthepre-seenmaterialistoallowyoutofamiliariseyourselfwiththe(fictitious)organisation,itsbusiness/industry,market,competitorsandsoon.Althoughfictitious,theorganisationinthecasestudywillbemodelledonreallifebusinessexamplessothatyoucandemonstrateyourcompetenceinapplyingtheoreticalskillstomoreorlessrealbusinessscenarios.Thereisnoneedforyoutoover-researchreallifefactsandstatisticsonthebusinessorindustryonwhichthecasemaybemodelled.Yourtimewillbebetterspentimmersingyourselfinthepre-seenmaterialandgettinguptospeedwithallaspectsoftheorganisationandbusinessportrayedinit.

Althoughthepre-seenmaterialwillbeavailabletoyouintheexamroom,thetimepressureswithintheexammeanyouwillnothavetimetoreaditindepthbutsimplyhaveitthereasareferencepointtocheckadetailorfigure.Thismeansyoumustbetotallyfamiliarwiththematerial,andtohaveanalyseditindetail,beforeenteringtheexam.However,youwillnotspecificallybeexaminedonbackgroundfactsanddata;itishowyouusethisinformationinyouranswersthatwillcount.

Itwillbeusefulforyoutoreferthepre-seen material for the strategic case study exam.

scene setting and tRiggeR

once in the exam, the scene will be set by:

Theintroductionofascenarioinwhichyourrolewithintheorganisationwillbeintroduced(note:therolemayhavealreadybeenintroducedinthepre-seen).

Additionalinformationpresented,forexample,onthemarket,competitors,keyemployees,financialhighlights.Yourrolewillreflecttheleveloftheexam.Forexampleatstrategiclevel,therolemightbeaSeniorManagerwhosejobistoadvisetoplevelmanagement,whoformulatethestrategyforthebusiness,andthetaskswillreflectthat.

Then,youwillbepresentedwithatrigger,whichsetsthecontextfortheactualtaskstobeundertaken.Thetaskwouldbeaboutrespondingtothetriggerbutmighthavemorethanoneelementwithinit.Forexampleananalysisandawrittenreportmayberequired.

specified tiMe foR each section

Asthecasestudiesaredesignedtosimulaterealbusinessscenarios,thereisarealtimeelementbuiltin.eachnewtriggergivesrisetooneormoretaskswhicharecontainedinadefinedtimeframewithintheexam.Taskswillappearintheformofarequestoraninstructionfromacolleaguetoprovideinformation,analysisoradviceinresponsetoissuesarisingfromthetriggers.Therefore,thetaskswillnotbestructuredinthesamewayasthecurrenttraditionalexamquestionrequirementsandtheCIMAverbhierarchywillnotbeusedexplicitly.Asyoumoveupthroughthequalification,therequirementsinthecasestudieswillbecomelessstructuredandyouwillneedtoidentifyandprioritiseissues,makejudgements,considerpotentialsolutionsandsoon,justasyouwouldinanactualbusinesssituation.

Thetimingsforeachsectionareclearlyshownonscreenandgiveanindicationofthemarksavailable.So,forinstance,asectionallocated45minuteswouldbeworth25%ofthemarksintotal(whichmaybespreadacrossmorethanonerequirement).Youaremovedonautomaticallyafterthetimeallocatedtoeachsectionrunsoutandyoucannotgobackandcheckoramendyourresponses.Thisensuresthatyougetasenseofurgencytocompleteataskorrespondtoarequestfromaseniormanager,justasyouwouldinareallifeworksituation.Itisinthiswaythatyouareabletodemonstratethecompetencieswhicharecoretothisassessmentconcept.

tiMe ManageMent

duringthetimeavailableforasection,youareexpectedto:

Readthematerialprovidedinoraroundtheunseentrigger

Identifythetaskortasks,distinguishingseparatecomponentswithineachtask.

Planananswerwhichcoversalltherequiredissues

Producetheanswer

Checktheanswer

identify and inteRpRet the tasK

this requires careful reading. students have to be sure to identify all separate components within a task

Forinstance,taskoneofthestrategiccasestudypracticeexamasksfortwodistinctareastobecovered:

1. Prepareabriefingnotefortheboardonthestakeholdersinthedecisiontoseekaquotation;and

2. Recommendanappropriatestrategyfordealingwithamajorshareholderwhoisnotinfavouroftheproposaltoseekaquotation

Youwouldneedtoconsiderthewaysinwhichaquotationwouldaffecttheshareholdersofacompanythatwasformerlyprivate.Forexample,youcouldconsidertheadditionalliquiditythattheshareholderswillenjoy.Youmustbeabletoidentifytheinterestedpartiesandtheirmotivesifyouaretofullyunderstandtheconsequencesofyourrecommendations.

fiona (a typical senior Manager)

Atthestrategic level,Fionaadvisestoplevelmanagement,astheysetthestrategyforthebusiness.Thismeansanalysingstrategicoptionsthevariouscoursesofactionthebusinesscantakebasedontheorganisationsenvironmentanditscurrentstrategicposition.

Consideringrisksisparamount;theyneedtobeidentified,classified,evaluatedandthenmanaged/reported.Strategicoptionsrecommendedwillrequirejustificationandsheneedstoadviseonwheretosourcefinanceforthestrategies.

https://connect.cimaglobal.com/groups/strategic-case-study-examhttps://connect.cimaglobal.com/groups/strategic-case-study-exam

chartered institute of Management accountants

26 Chapter Street London SW1P 4NP United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8849 2251 cima.contact@cimaglobal.com

Two of the worlds most prestigious accounting bodies, AICPA and CIMA, formed a joint venture

to establish the CGMA designation to elevate the profession of management accounting.

CGMA,CHARTeRedGLOBALMANAGeMeNTACCOuNTANT,andtheCGMAlogoaretrademarksoftheAssociationofInternationalCertifiedProfessionalAccountants.ThesetrademarksareregisteredintheunitedStatesandinothercountries.

plan the answeR

as a rough rule, planning an answer should take up one third of the time available. there are three tools you can use to create your answer plan:

Theon-screenscratchpadThiscanbeaccessedatanytimeduringtheexam,minimized,movedacrossthescreenandresized.Whatistypedontothescratchpadcannotbecopy-pastedontothemainanswer.

Thewipecleannotepadgivenoutatthetestcenter.Ifyoufillupthiswhiteboard,youcanaskforanother.

Thespaceavailableforpresentingyouranswersonscreen.Onceyoucompletetypingthefullanswer,pleasemakesureyoudeleteyouranswerplantoavoidconfusiontothemarker.

Inpreparingtheplan,youneedtoensurethatyouhaveaddressedthecompetenciesexpectedateachlevel.Itwontbeenoughtoprovidetechnicallyperfectdefinitionsoftermsrequiringdiscussion,youwillhavetoapplythemtotheorganisationinthescenario.

Theweightingsforthecompetenciescanbefoundinthesyllabusandyoushouldbeawareofthesewhenpreparingyouranswers.dependingonthenatureofthetaskandtheweightingsofthecompetencies,theremaynotbemarksforeachofthefourcompetenciesineachtask.Firstandforemostyouneedtomakesurethatyouaddressthetaskathandandallaspectsofit.Ifyoudothatcorrectlythenyouwillbegainingmarksacrossthecompetencies.

pRoduce the answeR

Youmustappreciatethatagoodanswerisnotnecessarilyalonganswerand,inallprobability,alonganswerisnotnecessarilyagoodanswer.Itisfarmoreimportanttofocusonqualityratherthanquantity.

Communicationisgoingtobeimportantinmanyofthetasks,appreciatingwhotheaudienceisineachtask,whattheywanttoknow,inwhatdepthandinwhatleveloftechnicaldetailisanimportantskillwhichneedstobepracticed.Targetedcommunicationswhichprovideappropriateinformationwithaclearcommentary(ifrequired)willearnmostmarks.

Theseassessmentsarenottestsoftypingspeed.Atypingspeedof20wordsperminute,arateachievedorbetteredby90%ofofficeworkers,willbesufficientintheexam.Basicformattingtoolsareavailabletocandidates,suchasbold,italic,underline,cut,copyandpaste.

checK the answeR

you will receive a warning when there are five minutes of a section remaining. at that point, you should review your answer to check it:

Coversthepointsintheplan

Presentsalogicaldiscussion

Prioritisesissuesaccordingtowhatyouunderstandtheconcernsoftheorganisationtobe

conclusion

Thesecasestudyexamsarequitedifferenttowhatyouhaveencounteredsofarbutbyintroducingthemfromoperationallevelonwards,CIMAaimstohelpyoudevelopthebusinessskillsrequiredtoapplyknowledgetorealworldscenarios.doingthisunderrealtimetimeconstraintswillhelpyoudemonstratetoyouremployeryourcompetenceandbusinessreadiness.

TheexamswillbehumanmarkedbyCIMAshighlyexperiencedmarkersandresultsdeliveredtoyouwithinanumberofweeks,intimetoallowyoutoenterandprepareforthenextsittingifunsuccessful.

Aswiththeobjectivetests,feedbackonareasofstrengthsandweaknesseswillbeprovidedtobothsuccessfulandunsuccessfulcandidates.

all the best for your strategic case study exam.