Transforming leadership with CIMA C-Suite fast-track routes

In today’s world of accelerated change, remaining relevant with the right mindset, competencies and skill sets are a must to survive as well as thrive. Obtaining a globally-accepted and recognised qualification such as The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), on a faster route with exemptions provided for managerial/strategic experience and already obtained academic/professional qualifications, certainly helps a professional climb the career ladder even faster. 

CIMA is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants with many of their members holding leadership positions and driving organisations to achieve success.

CIMA members can excel in diverse industries as the qualification covers a unique blend of topics from strategic planning, risk management to management and financial accounting that is required to thrive in a given business environment.

CIMA launched the Global C-Suite Business and Finance Program (C-Suite) a few years ago to help professionals join a fast-track route to achieve the prestigious Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation. Through successful completion of the examinations and with relevant work experience, one can qualify for the CIMA membership (ACMA/FCMA) and earn the professional global designation of CGMA conferred by CIMA and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) – the combined strengths and unified voice under The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (The Association). 

CIMA C-Suite pathway is one such special pathway available for C-Suite professionals to enhance their professional standing with the highly-acclaimed global professional qualification.

Damith Pallewatte

Damith Pallewatte ACMA, CGMA, an experienced banking professional currently working as the Deputy General Manager Risk/Chief Risk Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC was a successful candidate who took up to complete CIMA via the exclusive pathway. He shares his story on the experience he had with the program.

Answering the question as to why he chose CIMA, he stated that he has been a career banker and believed that a good business acumen is needed to sustain in a volatile environment. He said that CIMA’s holistic view and global approach to the business context made him decide to start studying the qualification.

He believes that it helps him better analyse and identify his customer requirements, thus contributing to carry out the banking operations better. He further stated that while doing CIMA he realised that CIMA provided the resources to be confident via its knowledge and that had assisted him in achieving better in the current job he is entailed with. He also takes pride and feels motivated to be a part of the largest professional network in the world, which adds value to himself as an individual.

In talking about the C-Suite program and the CIMA syllabus content, he commended how the C-Suite program was structured in a manner that was convenient and supportive to a busy professional. He said that the practicality of the course made it interesting to learn. “The structured online study program made it easier to follow the course, the mock exams that were available helped to overcome timing challenges and helped me structure answer scripts to be on point.”

“The syllabus was very relevant and covered many aspects of business and the case studies gave an understanding on the various business challenges faced by organisations. The study also helped me to get a good assessment on the applicability of theory and concepts in the real world,” he further added. 

Damith concluded by stating, “CIMA is a real-world examination and that makes you a logical thinker and helps you to resolve issues in a different and a more practical manner.”

Aroshi Nanayakkara

Aroshi Nanayakkara, a senior corporate professional, currently functioning as the CEO of Global Consulting company and holding directorships in a leading bank and an apparel manufacturing company was also a successful candidate who took up the C-Suite Business and Finance Program.

She is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA and holds a MSc. from the London School of Economics (LSE) UK.

She stated that the reason for selecting to study CIMA was her interest in finance and accounting that originated earlier in her career as a banker. Talking about the CIMA C-Suite program she said that it was the ideal study program for a senior level professional to update themselves on the financial and strategic knowledge that CIMA covers and that it also gives a professional qualification highly recognised globally and locally. “The moment you say you are a CGMA, it is evident that you are conversant in the financial aspects of an organisation,” said Nanayakkara. 

She further stated that the CIMA C-Suite program itself is very well-designed, taking into consideration the busy schedules of C-level applicants, as the program can provide the knowledge required in a concise manner.

It understands that an applicant to the program has acquired the relevant basic knowledge coming up the career ladder and therefore mainly covers the knowledge on key strategic areas in terms of the C-Suite, which are necessary to add value to an organisation. 

Nanayakkara also noted that the program is designed well, and the lectures are condensed to three-four weekends, lecturers are also available to clarify any questions and to provide guidance, and the batch of applicants who come from diverse industries also support each other based on their expertise. Exam papers/mock exams graded by the lecturers give direction on what a candidate needs to work on in their answers.

“At this level it’s very rare to challenge the brain in a technical and an academic manner and therefore I found it interesting. The content is relevant and is covered in enough depth for C-Suite,” she added further. 

She also mentioned that there needs to be a level of self-study and that one needs to be disciplined to put in the work that is required as in the case with any project in life and at work. Talking about the online examination she stated that it is the future and it is going to be the norm and therefore the C-Suites need to be geared for it. 

Summing up with advice for those planning to enrol with the program she said that the C-Suite program is an important one that showcases your knowledge and professionalism, and that it adds onto one’s knowledge and proves that you have that knowledge. She also recommended the program to anyone in any field as a finance background is necessary to help an organisation be successful and sustainable in the future.

Hiran Bibile 

Hiran Bibile was a successful candidate who took up the C-Suite pathway and completed the strategic case study exam in mid-2019. He is an engineer who is into general management. He functions as the Country Head, Walkers CML International Ltd., Republic of Maldives. 

Bibile stated that CIMA was exactly the qualification he was looking for to upskill himself in the field of finance and business strategy. The fact that CIMA is a globally accepted and recognised qualification also contributed to his decision to follow CIMA. He was tasked to set up international operations of the company and had to report to the Board on the physical and financial progress, while maintaining a satisfactory level of reporting, he identified that he needed to further add to his finance knowledge to better report on the financial performance of the venture, therefore he believed that the C-Suite pathway was introduced to him at the most opportune time.

Speaking on the study program he stated that it was conveniently structured, the four-day workshop held in Dubai gave him a thorough understanding on the course requirement and what needed to be looked at to pass the exam. The online local study program was also immensely helpful as there was access to ample reference material and practice mock exams. 

He further added that the Dubai training program allowed him to meet and interact with many C-Suite professionals from different industries and countries, share ideas on how to face different problems and solve all within the strategic framework of CIMA. He said he hugely valued the learning opportunity he had through the four-day training program.

Talking about the computer-based assessment he stated that it is relevant in keeping with the times of ‘real world application’ in a corporate setting. 

Hiran said, “The entire ‘setting’ is actually very relevant in today’s corporate context of building up and challenging Management personnel to think outside the box and ensure timely action for a ‘solutions-based approach’ in their every-day work.”

Finally looking at the decision he made to follow the C-Suite program he stated that based on his career plan, doing CIMA was a strategic decision for him. He believed that developing his overall financial acumen has helped him to look at business problems more strategically and believed that it would help in his future goal of climbing the corporate ladder. 

“As senior managers, we all want to climb the corporate ladder and look at a board seat and I believe having the financial knowledge via CIMA facilitates this.”

For more details on the C-suite fast track program please contact: Hasanji on 0773627733; Thamali on 0776436059; Tharindu on 0773277727.