Funmi Ogundare

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) recently unveiled its syllabus that would enable professional management accountants and finance professionals to enjoy a more robust and all-encompassing certification.

Following the review, the new syllabus will now enable students acquire new skills and competencies that are relevant to a digital market place.

The accounting management body in a statement said the updated professional qualification and CGMA competency framework address emerging digital skills gaps and that the change was necessitated by a study it carried out, which showed a clear need for a review.

According to CIMA, over the course of 18 months, it consulted finance professionals from over 2,000 public and private organisations in 150 countries, including through face-to-face interviews, roundtables and a global survey.

“The goal was to bring together different organisational views to understand and build a composite picture of the role finance professionals play in business, identify competencies and skills employers expect and map how these are changing in a digital world.“

The study titled ‘Reinventing Finance for a Digital World’, according to the statement, showed that over 50 per cent of finance leaders globally say the competencies of their teams must change significantly over the next three years as new technologies take over traditional tasks. The upside is that businesses expect a stronger focus on value creation with the automation of repetitive tasks.

The Executive Vice-President, Academics, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Dr. Noel Tagoe, who oversaw the unveiling, highlighted the three key areas that were updated and the expected benefits to professionals.

“The updated CIMA Professional Qualification focuses extensively on digital finance to deliver finance professionals who can harness the full power of technology and data to create and add organisational value while supporting businesses to mitigate new risks, including cybersecurity threats.”

He said the CGMA Competency Framework was also updated which both adds and incorporates the new area of digital skills to the four core existing knowledge areas of technical, business, leadership and people skills.

Tagoe said the third is the digital mind set professional development course to enhance competencies and skills through a free CPD bundle based on automation, blockchain, cybersecurity, data analytics and ethics.

He added that the body will continue to explore innovative ways to enhance the learning experience of its students to match new skills and competencies required in the market place.

Rotary Club Provides Safe Drinking Water for Lagos School

Motivated by the need to provide access to safe drinking water, which is critical to human health and development, Rotary Club of Lekki Phase I, RI District 9110, recently inaugurated a water project at Ebute Elefun Secondary School, Sura, Lagos Island to promote and encourage good health and well-being among students and staff in school.

The project, which was officially inaugurated by the District Governor, Rotarian Kola Sodipo, was courtesy of Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1, with the support of the Rotary International through the Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee (NNPPC).

Speaking at the event, the National Coordinator of NNPPC, Tunji Funsho explained that the collaborative initiative was designed to create awareness of the importance of adequate water intake among students as part of a healthy and active lifestyle.

“Access to safe drinking water will create a plentiful source of low cost refreshment throughout the day for the students. It will encourage good health and wellbeing among students, staff and others, as well as reduce tiredness, irritability and distraction from thirst”, he said.

In his remarks, the President, Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1, Dimeji Ajayi stated that the water project would have a positive effect on students’ concentration throughout the day and would demonstrate to parents and the local community that the school values students’ health and wellbeing.

Lauding the initiative, the Director, Education District, Mrs. Ajayi Aderonke, who represented the Lagos State Ministry of Education, thanked the club for providing water free of charge, adding that safe drinking water is critical to human health and development, yet millions of people lack access to safe drinking water from an improved source, many of these in sub-Saharan Africa.

On her part, the Principal of the school, Mrs. Omolara Oyebanji said the project would encourage consumption of water by the students and staff, adding that the school would ensure that the water remains hygienic, available and maintained.

New technologies require new skills and obviate existing ones. The appearance of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), based on blockchain and smart contracts, shift the skills that future professionals will need to thrive. These skills will center on problem definition and consensus building, but each with a new twist.

Artificial Intelligence

Of course, to help me explore this topic, I asked ChatGPT to identify the business skills necessary to optimally use ChatGPT. It generated generic results: communication, problem-solving, analytical, technical, interpersonal and project management skills. Not helpful.

This example perfectly highlights the vital skill of asking the right question. This has always been a valuable talent, but its significant has changed. Recall the allegory of a person looking for their keys at night under a streetlight. A passerby asks, “Did you lose your keys here?” The person replies, “no, but this is where the light is.”

When data was scarce, an errant question lacked the information to answer it. There was limited consequence of asking silly questions. Now that ChatGPT has tapped the wisdom of the entire internet, any question has an answer. Even irrelevant or misguided questions have seemingly plausible replies.

In using ChatGPT in my classroom, I ask students to document the question that finally generated a useful reply. And I ask them to take cross-check ChatGPT’s response with other reliable sources. (See my article on teaching with ChatGPT.) The skills that managers will require in the Age of AI is iterative persistence and a persistent responsibility for the output.

Decentralization

A database holds information. Right now, most databases are owned by a single entity. For example, Visa owns and control your purchase history. The company decides the rules for collecting, using and storing your data. The new technology of blockchain stores the same information, but in a way that nobody owns it. It is decentralized.Just as data can be decentralized, so too can decisions. “Smart contracts” are automatic rules that users accept before they enter into a binding obligation. If the pre-determined conditions are met, then the smart contract exchanges funds. These are considered human-less trust-less mechanisms because they perform – or refuse to perform – based on pre-set conditions. There is no interpretation and no adjudication.

At the confluence of decentralized blockchain and automatic smart contracts lie decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). (See my article on DAOs.) These are founded by humans who set the goals the rules of the entity. Thereafter, DAOs are automatic. Because they are so simple to establish and enact, they do not charge a commission. This is dramatic compared to the 25% that Uber takes or the 6-12% that Airbnb takes as commission from each transaction, and ensures their proliferation.

A DAO’s rules can be changed if a majority (i.e. 51%) of its participants so agree. For popular DAOs with hundreds or even thousands of participants, this is the only route to change the rules. It is a high hurdle, so only amendments that are clearly widely beneficial will win sufficient backing to be implemented. This problem has been researched thoroughly under the theory of Collective Action: how to achieve consensus in the absence of a central authority. We see it in international agreements, community cohesion and team collaboration. Yet these instances presume that the participants can monitor each other’s actions. This requires that the participants are known. However, in DAOs, the participants are anonymous. With DAOs, we are in unfamiliar territory.

As a further complication, DAOs must be able to work quickly to react to changes in the market. Yet in most instances, consensus is not quick. This is the second skill that the next generation of managers will require: how to garner support from a diverse audience.

Leading Diversity

Throughout the business world, we value diversity as a key input to achieve better outcomes, both for the company and for the communities that they serve. The reciprocal of this declaration is that there are skills to Strengthen the management of diverse groups that we have yet to understand or appreciate.

As a student and professor of strategy, I do not have deep insight into these necessary skills. Many scholars of leadership – including my peers – have solutions to this problem. What I do know is that one way to forge this skill is to force managers – and business students – to participate in teams of widely diverse participants – people from different cultures with different values and methods of communication – and to hold them accountable for the team’s outputs. This is the foundation of the next generation of skills that accompany the next generation of technologies.

Mutual Pathway Agreement enables members of ICAN and CIMA to use both CA(NAM) and CGMA designations.

Tariro Mutizwa, ACMA, CGMA, regional vice president Africa at Cima

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN), the premier accounting institute in Namibia, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the world’s largest professional body of management accountants, have entered into a five-year dual-designation agreement to enable their members to use both the Chartered Accountant, Namibia CA(NAM) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designations.

This Mutual Pathway Agreement will afford the qualifying ICAN members to enjoy the benefits of the CGMA designation which will set them apart as having advanced proficiency in finance, operations, strategy, and management. While the CIMA members holding the CA(NAM) designation will appreciate the premier benefits that come with being part of the leading and reputable accounting professional body in Namibia.

Tariro Mutizwa, ACMA, CGMA, regional vice president Africa, at The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, said: “CIMA is pleased to have partnered with one of the leading accounting professional bodies in Southern Africa. Our members will enjoy the premier benefits that come with having the CA(NAM) status.

“Equally, we are pleased to welcome the ICAN members to the extended family of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing 689,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students, and engaged professionals worldwide. The CGMA designation is held by over 150,000 accounting and finance professionals, and this makes it the most widely held management accounting designation in the world. We are therefore proud to formalise our presence in Namibia through ICAN.”

Fenni Nghikevali, chief executive officer at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia, said: “As the premier accounting institute in Namibia, ICAN is committed to develop chartered accountants who are globally competitive with highly regarded professional expertise and leadership insights to contribute to the Namibian country and economy.

“Through this groundbreaking agreement, we would like to reiterate our commitment to steering a vibrant and diverse accounting profession that is armed with the tools to navigate a rapidly changing world. Our partnership with CIMA will empower our members to add strategic value to organisations and respond strategically to pressing matters such as value creation, management reporting, and organisational strategies.”

Eligible ICAN members looking to acquire the CGMA designation will be exempted from 15 of CIMA’s 16 CGMA examinations and will only need to complete the Strategic Case Study Preparation Course with a registered training provider and the Strategic Case Study Examination, the final milestone of CIMA’s professional qualification.

While CIMA members looking to gain the CA(NAM) designation will need to be active holders of the ACMA, FCMA, or CGMA designations and will only need to complete an accredited ICAN Professional Programme preparatory course, the ICAN taxation case study and the ICAN Assessment of Professional Competence, the final qualifying examination for Chartered Accountants in Namibia.

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing the American Institute of CPAs and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (AICPA & CIMA) will be operating from new premises in Accra as of 1st February 2023.

The new office will be located on the 3rd Floor SSNIT Emporium, Airport City in Accra, with the digital address – GL-126-5328.

AICPA & CIMA, the world’s largest body of professional accountants, has been present in Ghana for about 2 decades.

Aligned with the organisation’s commitment to strategic growth on the African continent, the Ghanaian office relocation will allow AICPA & CIMA to offer better services to CIMA members and CGMA candidates, while continuing to support the development of the accounting and finance profession in Ghana.

Paul Aninakwah, ACMA, CGMA, Country Director for Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone, at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, said, “We are extremely happy to relocate to our new office space at the Airport City.

This move represents our continued commitment to serving our members and candidates at the highest levels and reaffirms our commitment to growing the accounting and finance profession in Ghana. We look forward to welcoming everyone in our new space.”

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants® (the Association), representing AICPA® & CIMA®, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 689,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 196 countries and territories.

Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license, the CGMA designation and specialised credentials, professional development and thought leadership.

We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs® (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organisations, and federal, state and local governments.

It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants® (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants.

CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Founder & Head Coach/CEO, The Funds2Orgs Group.

Let’s face it: Conflict is a natural part of any workplace dynamic. That’s because the best working environments are the ones in which team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas. In the worst working environments, they fear expressing their views and thoughts because of how they may be received. But this may very well be due to an undercurrent of mistrust and negativity.

The reality is that, at times, conflict is almost inevitable. Moreover, people management is one of the top five skills every business leader should possess. So, in a fast-paced world where metrics and productivity lead to constant pressure, how can you minimize conflict in the workplace? And as a leader, how can you handle workplace conflict productively?

First, remember healthy conflict is beneficial for your team’s long-term success. For example, it allows people to question and challenge edge initiatives and new ideas. The fact is that new ideas should get tested so they’re well thought out and possible. This doesn’t have to mean you feel paralyzed by analysis, but I do suggest having team members go through risk and viability assumptions.

So, what more should you do as a leader? Here are five steps to implementing a strong conflict management protocol within your workplace.

1. Acknowledge and understand emotions.

Conflict can bring up many emotions in all parties involved, especially if the conflict becomes personal. Before looking to resolve issues within your team, take a minute to acknowledge your feelings. For instance, you might feel frustrated. But taking a moment to realize your emotions helps you approach the situation with a clear head and reduces the chances of letting your emotions get the best of you. Whatever puts you in that diplomatic headspace is best.

Furthermore, it’s essential to empathize with the feelings of the other people involved in the conflict. If you don’t know the root cause of their emotions, you can’t see whether they’re misreading the situation. Understanding where they’re coming from helps you navigate the problem in a way that benefits everyone. Most importantly, it helps you react appropriately to the situation so you can be of service to those involved.

2. Define the problem you’re trying to solve.

Not all problems have to fall under the category of conflict. Sometimes, issues arise because two people have different ideas about handling something. Other times, two people don’t understand what each other is saying. You don’t have to solve these problems with stern directives or trite, dismissive commands like “get it together.” Instead, approach issues as problems to be solved.

For example, let’s say two sales representatives disagree on who should lead a meeting with a new customer. One sales rep wants to lead the discussion because she’s been in that role for the past year. The other sales rep thinks she should lead the session because she received the highest sales award in the past three months. Neither side is in the wrong, but neither is willing to budge. In this scenario, there’s no problem to solve. The disagreeing parties need to realize that it doesn’t matter who leads the meeting—it’s about achieving the company’s customer goals.

3. Communicate with transparency.

When approaching persons in conflict situations, communicate with transparency. That means approaching the situation in a clear manner. Even if it means practicing what you have to say beforehand, do it. When you know what you want to say, the people you’re speaking to are more likely to be receptive. Be upfront, direct and honest. Don’t try to hide your emotions, and don’t try to be something you’re not. Doing so only makes the situation worse.

People often follow their gut instinct, and if their gut says that you’re truthful, they’re likely to respond positively. When you approach the other party with transparency, you show them that you’re genuine and not trying to hide anything. They’ll also appreciate your being open and honest and feel more comfortable talking to you. This makes it easier for you to resolve the conflict and for your team to trust one another again.

4. Develop a resolution that works for everyone.

Remember, conflicts don’t always have to get solved. Sometimes, the workplace can’t solve tensions or conflicts. You can’t force people who don’t like each other to be two peas in a pod. That’s okay. Everyone doesn’t have to get along at all times. However, if there’s a conflict, if you can’t come up with a solution that works for everyone, or if one party isn’t interested in finding a solution, everyone has to let the conflict go.

On the other hand, if you can come up with a solution that works for both parties, do so. Resolving a conflict benefits your company and team because it helps you build a culture of trust. Moreover, as a leader, it shows that you’re willing to put the team first. It’ll also allow you to build trust directly with your team members because you’re willing to try to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Remember that conflict is natural.

Conflict is a natural and sometimes necessary part of any workplace. The key is managing it in a way that’s healthy for everyone on the team. People can disagree on how to approach a project or workplace issue. But when you approach conflict the right way, it can benefit your team by making you stronger and bringing you closer together.

In summary, remember it’s essential to acknowledge your emotions, define the problem you’re trying to solve, communicate with transparency and develop a resolution that works for everyone. By following these tips, you’ll be able to develop a stronger team by tackling workplace conflict in a level-headed and constructive way.

Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?

Faculty of Management, Comenius University Bratislava, offers a program Management accredited in the English language.

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