Professional
Qualification - Strategic level
Management
Accounting Business Strategy
First examined in May 2005
Syllabus outline
The syllabus comprises:
Topic |
Study
Weighting |
| A |
Assessing
the Competitive Environment |
20% |
| B |
Interacting
with the Competitive Environment |
20% |
| C |
Evaluation
of Options, Planning and Appraisal |
30% |
| D |
Implementation
of Strategic Plans |
30% |
Learning Aims
Students should be able to:
- identify and evaluate approaches
to strategic management,
- explain the place of the
enterprise in the broader economic and social environment,
- apply contemporary thinking
on strategic management,
- identify and utilise appropriate
tools for strategic analysis,
- evaluate appropriate strategic
options and make recommendations,
- evaluate the linkages between
strategic planning and the implementation of those plans,
- design and recommend appropriate
performance measurement systems.
Assessment Strategy
There will be a written examination
paper of three hours, with the following sections.
Section A - 50 marks
A maximum of four compulsory
questions, totalling 50 marks, all relating to a single scenario.
Section B – 50 marks
Two question, from a choice
of four, each worth 25 marks. Short scenarios will be given,
to which some or all questions relate.
Learning Outcomes and Syllabus
Content
A - Assessing the Competitive
Environment - 20%
Learning outcomes
On completion of their studies
students should be able to:
- identify relevant stakeholders
in respect of an organisation;
- evaluate the impact of regulatory
regimes on strategic planning and implementation;
- evaluate the nature of competitive
environments, distinguishing between simple and complicated
competitive environments;
- distinguish the difference
between static and dynamic competitive environments;
- evaluate strategies for
response to competition.
Syllabus content
- PEST analysis.
- SWOT analysis.
- Interacting with stakeholders
and the use of stakeholder mapping.
- Regulation in major markets
(WTO, EU, NAFTA, Asia-Pacific).
- Country analysis and political
risk.
- Porter’s Diamond and its
use for assessing the competitive advantage of nations.
- Porter’s Five Forces model
and its use for assessing the external environment.
- Qualitative approaches to
competitive analysis.
- Competitor analysis and
competitive strategies (both qualitative and quantitative
tools of competitor analysis will be used).
- Sources, availability and
quality of data for environmental analysis.
B - Interacting with the Competitive
Environment - 20%
Learning outcomes
On completion of their studies
students should be able to:
- evaluate the impact and
influence of the external environment on an organisation
and its strategy;
- recommend pro-active and
reactive approaches to business/government relations and
to relations with civil society;
- discuss how stakeholder
groups work and how they affect the organisation;
- discuss how suppliers and
customers influence the strategy process and recommend how
to interact with them;
- evaluate the impact of electronic
commerce on the way business is conducted and recommend
an appropriate strategy;
- evaluate the strategic and
competitive benefits of IS/IT and advise on the development
of appropriate strategies.
Syllabus content
- Derivatives of PEST such
as STEEP (social, technological, environmental, economic
and political factors) and PESTEL (political, economic,
socio-cultural, technological and legal factors)
- Approaches to business-government
relations and with civil society (Braithwaite and Drahos).
- Stakeholder management (stakeholders
to include government and regulatory agencies, non-governmental
organisations and civil society, industry associations,
customers and suppliers).
- The customer portfolio:
Customer analysis and behaviour, including the marketing
audit and customer profitability analysis as well as customer
retention and loyalty.
- Negotiating with customers
and suppliers and managing these relationships.
- The impact of IT (including
electronic commerce) on an industry (utilising frameworks
such as Porter’s Five Forces, the Value Chain) and how organisations
can use IT (including the Internet) to enhance competitive
position.
- Competing through exploiting
information (rather than technology), e.g. use of databases
to identify potential customers or market segments, and
the management of data (warehousing and mining).
- The relationship between
current and predicted strategic importance of IS/IT (the
applications portfolio).
- Implications of these interactions
for Chartered Management Accountants and the management
accounting system.
C - Evaluation of Options,
Planning and Appraisal - 30%
Learning outcomes
On completion of their studies
students should be able to:
- evaluate strategic options;
- evaluate the product portfolio
of an organisation and recommend appropriate changes to
support the organisation’s strategic goals;
- prepare a benchmarking exercise
and evaluate the results;
- identify an organisation’s
value chain;
- evaluate the importance
of process innovation and re-engineering.
- discuss and apply both qualitative
and quantitative techniques in the support of the strategic
decision making function;
- discuss the role and responsibilities
of directors in the strategy development process.
Syllabus content
- Mission statements and their
use in orientating the organisation’s strategy.
- Forecasting and the various
techniques used: trend analysis, system modelling, in-depth
consultation with experts (Delphi method).
- Scenario planning and long
range planning as tools in strategic decision-making (including
gap analysis).
- Strategic options generation
(e.g. using Ansoff’s product/market matrix and Porter’s
generic strategies)
- Audit of resources and the
analysis of this for use in strategic decision-making.
- Management of the product
portfolio.
- Benchmarking performance
with the best organisations.
- Value chain analysis.
- Acquisition and divestment
strategies and their place in the strategic plan.
- The role of IT in innovation
and Business Process Re-engineering.
- The role and responsibilities
of directors in making strategic decisions (including issues
of due diligence, fiduciary responsibilities).
D - Implementation of Strategic
Plans - 30%
Learning outcomes
On completion of their studies
students should be able to:
- evaluate and recommend appropriate
control measures;
- prepare and evaluate multidimensional
models of performance measurement;
- identify problems in performance
measurement and recommend solutions;
- evaluate and advise managers
on the development of strategies for knowledge management,
IM, IS and IT that support the organisation’s strategic
requirements;
- identify and evaluate IS/IT
systems appropriate to the organisation’s strategic requirements,
and recommend changes where necessary;
- discuss the role of change
management in a strategic context.
Syllabus content
- Assessing strategic performance
(i.e. the use and development of appropriate measures that
are sensitive to industry characteristics and environmental
factors).
- Non-financial measures and
their interaction with financial ones. (Note: candidates
will be expected to use both qualitative and quantitative
techniques.)
- Multidimensional models
of performance (e.g. the balanced scorecard, the results
and determinants framework, the performance pyramid).
- Business unit performance
and appraisal, including transfer pricing, reward systems
and incentives, and agency theory. (Note: Details of agency
theory will not be tested.)
- Project management: monitoring
the implementation of plans.
- The implementation of lean
systems across an organisation.
- Change management in a strategic
context.
- Marketing in a strategic
context.
- The purpose and contents
of IM, IS and IT strategies, and the need for strategy complementary
to the corporate and individual business strategies.
- The concept of knowledge
management and its role as a key element in an organisation’s
success.
- Critical success factors:
links to performance indicators and corporate strategy,
and their use as a basis for defining an organisation’s
information needs.
- The role of research and
development in an organisation, particularly the need to
integrate product and process development.
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