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In this Dec 2005 issue of On Target :
President's Message: 2005 A Watershed Year!
What's On
Bookshelf
President's Message : 2005 A Watershed Year
The Institute is now into its tenth year, and probably a watershed year. Some important milestones have been achieved, the most important being the agreement obtained from the Council of the Institute of Management Accountants (USA) to put to our members a proposal to merge the two professional bodies.
The key points of the understanding reached between the executive of the two bodies are as follows :
The Australian ICMA will become the Australasian Regional Council of the IMA.
All Australian CMAs (in good financial standing) will become full CMAs of IMA.
Australian GMAs & AMAs (in good financial standing) would be granted full CMA status of IMA on completion of the required 5 years of relevant practical experience (without further examination).
Australia would continue to run preliminary programs to prepare candidates for a final IMA CMA “certification program” and examination, administered by the USA and globally standardised.
Adequate arrangements will be put in place in terms of a transition phase with regards to the existing contracts of ICMA with their educational program providers.
The President (or Chairman as the case may be) of the IMA Regional Council in Australia would be entitled to one seat on the existing IMA Board of Directors or its successor structure.
It would be desirable to complete the process of establishment and fusion by the 31st March 2006.
Therefore, at the 2005 AGM of the ICMA our members overwhelmingly passed the following resolution :
That, noting the understanding reached between the Directors of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA USA) and the Executive of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA Australia) whereby the two institutes would pool their respective resources in order to establish a regional council of the IMA (USA) active in the Australasian Region and based in Australia, this Annual General Meeting of members, endorses the proposed merger of ICMA Australia with IMA (USA) on the proviso that existing membership statuses are appropriately preserved on transfer of membership to the merged entity.
Whilst the merger discussions dominated the discussions of our Executive in the last year, the ongoing activities of the Education, Membership and Finance committees continued. The Institute has strong and very active Branches now in the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Hong Kong and Singapore have been slow, but a new strategic alliance in Singapore and the reinvigoration of our alliance with Hong Kong University should see those locations grow strongly in the coming year. Some alliance problems arose in Malaysia, and these are currently being sorted out. As usual, China continues to be elusive, and the Institute in still to appoint a reliable partner there. We have long learnt that patience in China is a virtue!
The Global Business School initiative in which CMA subjects are incorporated within MBA programs of the Royal Roads University (Canada), Educatis University (Switzerland) and the Indonesian Institute of Management is now offered both online and via face-to-face teaching modes.
Last year saw the appointment of ICMA as a Registered Training Organisation, enabling it to offer an Advanced Diploma in Accounting (Associate Degree) in Australia and overseas. This year saw the launching of the first stage of the program in Australia (via the Australian Institute of Finance and Management (AIFM), and in the Philippines via cmaphilippines. The Advanced Diploma is equivalent to the first year of university studies, and the ICMA has now contacted a number of universities seeking subject for subject credit exemption.
CMA House is now fully operational and most secretarial matters now handled at this address. Within this, the ICMA houses its Reference Library, in which one of the most comprehensive collections of management accounting books and journals in Australia. Members are welcome to use its reference library, by appointment.
Our web page, cmawebline.org attracts significant interest from around the world especially the online journal, The Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research (JAMAR). Two further issues were published last year. The journal is available in both print and electronic form, and members are encouraged to submit papers that will be then appropriately refereed to ensure that adequate academic and professional standards are maintained I wish to thank the Editors and the international panel of referees for their work in assisting us to create this excellent resource that has become an important tool in our public profile.
Membership continues to grow healthily both in Australia and overseas, now mainly due to our Education programs. It is always difficult picking exact numbers at this initial point in the financial year because of the uncertainty surrounding renewals. It would appear, however, that our current membership is now over 1,000 CMAs a good benchmark target to have achieved as we start our 10th year of existence! Of course, should we merge with the IMA, we will be joining an institute with 77,000 members and about 35,000 CMAs.
One of the foremost issues always confronting the executive is the need to continue raising the public profile of the Institute. The Executive has now focused on a theme of 5-Star Reporting™, incorporating Economic, Environmental, Social, Governance and Empowerment aspects of corporate reporting. We are also actively lobbying Government appointed Regulatory Bodies to legislate as mandatory (or at least recommended as best-practice) the various audits required to ensure the veracity of such reports, via Strategic Audits, Cost Audits, Environmental Impact Audits and Risk Audits.
Once more I must express my deep gratitude to a hard working executive and council. It is unfair to single out individuals but I am sure my colleagues will agree that the input of our Education and Membership Committee Chairmen, and our Treasurer, has been remarkable and well beyond the call of duty. I would also like to thank our Secretary John Ortner, Sandy Stewart, our Newsletter Editor, Bill Richardson our Bookshelf and Book Review Editor and Dr Themin Suwardy, our webmaster, for their dedication and professionalism brought to the tasks entrusted to them.
Finally a vote of thanks to our auditor Ben Kaplan who has once again given his time to discharge his duties very professionally.
Leon Duval
President
What's On
December 1 – 7, 2005
Advanced Management Accounting & Advanced Strategic Management Accounting program, Mumbai, India with First Canvas and ICMA
December 10 – 11, 2005
Advanced Management Accounting & Advanced Strategic Management Accounting exams, Beirut, Lebanon, invigilated by cmalebanon for ICMA
December 15, 2005
ICMA Executive Seasonal Dinner
December 17 – 20, 2005
Advanced Management Accounting 3-Day Seminar in PNG Conducted by the Graduate School of Management and ICMA
January 30 – February 2, 2006
Workshops at the Institute of Management Accountants, USA, attended by the President and the Education Committee Chairman, regarding merger details with ICMA Australia.
March 2 - 5, 2006
Advanced Management Accounting 4-day Seminar in Mercure Hotel, Sydney, conducted by the Australian Institute of Finance and Management and ICMA
March 6 - 20, 2006
Advanced Strategic Management Accounting 4-day Seminar in Mercure Hotel, Sydney, conducted by the Australian Institute of Finance and Management and ICMA
March 31, 2006
Proposed completion date of merger with IMA, USA
Book Shelf
You may have read elsewhere of the death at 95 of Peter Drucker. “An Appreciation: Peter Drucker 1909-2005” by Geoffrey Colvin in Fortune (28 November 2005, p.8) describes how Drucker did not suffer from Great Man Syndrome but was “smiling, cheerful and funny”. Indeed, Colvin relates Drucker’s comment (as a former journalist) about management consultants who are low on substance: “The reason reporters call these people gurus is that they they’re not sure how to spell ‘charlatan’.” Drucker didn’t care for conventional views. For example, on leadership Colvin quotes Drucker as saying: “The three greatest leaders of the 20th Century were Hitler, Stalin and Mao. If that’s leadership, I want no part of it.”'
As part of a clear-out due to a move to a new building, I came across a couple of older articles about conversation in organisations. Although from AFR Boss magazine of March, 2000, “The New Untouchables” by Viv Read still made me think (and I still recommend this magazine). This article refers to the use of semi-autonomous teams and empowerment in the workplace. Read suggests that “empowerment seems more like abandonment, and an excuse for managers to avoid having face-to-face contact on a regular basis”. Lest you think Read is suggesting a return to Taylorism and “command and control”, Read notes that one of the key roles of managers is “to make meaning for their staff – about what they are doing and why they are doing it, about the environment and the choices, the risks and the opportunities”. The analysis required for effective decision-making requires the working relationship to move beyond simply communicating and sharing information, to having debate, dialogue and conversations, exploring options, learning from glitches – and, most importantly, integrating the knowledge and experience of others.”
In a more recent article, “Defend yourself” (CFO, April 2005) Ann-Maree Moodie adopts a less encouraging line in writing about argument. “Today, argument is popularly regarded as adversarial and damaging. … To defend a position, or to form an opposing view, is to be overtly and unnecessarily critical. Argument is seen to be a personal attack – a form of bullying, an act of intolerance. … It follows that robust debate is actively avoided … and, as a result, we have created a society of mediocrity.” Moodie writes about the principles of argument in the days of Aristotle and suggests that “a return to the principles of argument … promotes the healthy exchange of ideas, the ability to evaluate an argument, the expectation that assumptions should be challenged, and the eager exploration of alternative perspectives and disparate views.”
Bill Richardson
Please feel free to share anything that you have found interesting. You can send your ideas to: Bill Richardson, Dept of Accounting & Finance, Monash University, PO Box 197, Caulfield East VIC 3145.
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