The Board Report is the final evaluation stage of the Strategic Leadership Program (SLP). In small groups candidates demonstrate, both orally and through a written submission, their mastery of the knowledge and competencies they have acquired up to this point in their CMA education. This is accomplished through a large-scale integrative case study provided to candidates in the last few months of the SLP. This case study considers quantitative and qualitative factors from the CMA competency model and is designed to ensure candidates consider all of these factors when completing the Board Report. The Board Report process builds on the teamwork aspect of the SLP and is reminiscent of a team working together on a project for an employer. It also allows for the evaluation of candidates in a group setting.
CMA competency map
There are two components to the CMA Board Report: a written submission and an oral presentation defending the recommendations provided in the written component. Both the written and oral components allow CMA Canada to assess whether candidates have acquired the six functional and four enabling competencies. Candidates must clearly demonstrate they have met at least the basic level of proficiency expected of a CMA as defined by employers and clients, thereby ensuring CMAs are fully trained as strategic financial management professionals.
Written Board Report
The objective of the written Board Report is to determine if candidates have satisfactorily demonstrated the proficiencies within each of the six functional competencies and four enabling competencies as defined in the CMA Competency Map. Since they have approximately four months to complete this component, the expectations of the written Board Report are very high. The submission must be (approximately) 10,000 words in length. However, the complexity of the Board Report case is very high and the challenge for candidates is to address this complex business situation succinctly, especially as most groups find that their first drafts will be over 30,000 to 40,000 words.
Oral Board Report
The objective of the oral presentation is to evaluate candidates’ ability to develop a coherent, integrated, and comprehensive report that would be useful to a board of directors as a guide for action. It defends and advances the ideas put forth in the written Board Report rather than simply repeating the recommendations candidates provide in the written submission.
Candidates are required to pass the Board Report to successfully complete the Strategic Leadership Program. Once they have passed the written and oral components of the Board Report, they become eligible to attain their CMA designation. If the SLP is the cornerstone of the CMA accreditation process, it can be argued the CMA Board Report is the cornerstone of the SLP.
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Read this article and more in the winter 2010 issue of Update magazine.
Other article(s) of interest:
The CMA Strategic Leadership Program: an Overview -Update Magazine, Summer 2009, page 27 (see archives)
