ImpACT. CIMA Business Case Awards GUIDE

Transcription

1 ImpACT 2014 CIMA Business Case Awards GUIDE

2 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Business case awards 2014 ImpACT The CIMA Business Case Awards is a competition that recognises organisational success and turnarounds, whilst identifying what drove such outcomes. This year, we invite corporate professionals, to submit business cases, which created and sustained impact that really stuck, through eloquent execution and achieved stra to pheric success. ImpACT 2014 will feature impactful corporate action that resulted in sustainable winning outcomes. Participants will identify and narrate specific real-life occurrences in their own organisation through a business case indicating the ImpACT to organisations and industries. The key objectives of the competition are: To enhance knowledge on how success is achieved and sustained in an organisation, and the ability to effectively communicate such knowledge. To facilitate cross-company knowledge sharing by giving exposure to cases that depict organisational success stories. CIMA Business case awards ImpACT

3 1. Benefits to participants and their employers Intellectual benefits i. Deepen knowledge about management concepts and its application to businesses. ii. iii. iv. Deepen understanding about one's own workplace (company) strategies, value chain, processes, competitive environment etc. Contribute to organisation's learning and growth beyond one's area of responsibility. Participants will be provided guidance and training on narrating an interesting and insightful case study. Material benefits ii. The winners placed in the first three positions will be awarded the titles 'winner', 'first runner-up' and 'second runner-up' of the CIMA Business Case Awards 2014, respectively; team members and their employers will be awarded trophies and certificates. ii. The teams placed first, second and third will be awarded Rs.200,000, Rs.150,000 and Rs.100,000 respectively Recognition ii I. The winners, along with their employers will be announced and recognised in local print media. ii. iii. iv. The winner will be provided the opportunity to present the key learning from their case at the CIMA Business Case Awards Night The CEOs of the top 3 teams will be interviewed on the case content and the video recording will be aired at the CIMA Business Case Awards Night Shorter narration of the winning case will be incorporated into a relevant global/local CIMA publication subject to meeting required standard of quality. v. Publications showcasing the best cases formulated by CIMA vi. The top 5 business cases will be published in the business section of a local newspaper. ImpACT 02 CIMA Business case awards 2014

4 2. Entry requirements All participants must be Sri Lankan resident employees of the organisation. The team leader will be the primary point of contact with the CIMA Sri Lanka Division. Teams of two to three participants from any organisation incorporated in Sri Lanka may register for the competition. Each team should include at least one participant who is an active CIMA Sri Lankan resident member or student as of 10 July One organisation may have more than one team participating for the competition provided each team submits a case based on a different theme, addressing a different situation or occurrence within the organisation. A team can include participants (including team leaders) from external organisations, subject to submitting written consent from the organisation on which the case is based. Permission from the external participant's employer will have to be obtained if required. All external parties should disclose this to CIMA at the registration stage of the competition. A non refundable registration fee of Rs. 3000/= is payable with submission of the registration form. Deadline for registrations is 20 July Submitting your business case All completed cases must reach CIMA Sri Lanka division by post and on or before 10 September 2014 by 4.30pm, and should be addressed to: Post Dharshan Cooray Manager - Member Development & Thought Leadership CIMA Sri Lanka Division, 356, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 05 dharshan.cooray@cimaglobal.com Case-studies submitted via should be sent as Microsoft Word documents. If the soft copy cannot be ed, it may be submitted on a CD along with the hard copy of the case. CIMA Business case awards ImpACT

5 4. Rules of the competition Data provided must be relevant to the overall objectives of the case. Please follow the format given in section 6.3 as a guideline to narrate and present the case. The business case should consist of 4000 words excluding appendices and references. A deviation greater than +/- 5% from this word limit will be penalised. The participant should identify and narrate a specific real-life occurrence within the organisation in which they are employed, under a preferred theme relating to one of the topics given by CIMA Sri Lanka. These topics, along with examples of possible themes are given in the next section. (The possible themes given alongside the topics are only examples, and participants should not limit themselves to these). The case should be based on data and information extracted within the last 5 years of the submission date (approximately between June 2009 and June 2014). It is the applicant's responsibility to obtain prior approval from the company in which they are employed for usage of company information (if required). An endorsement letter from the company concerned is required, confirming that information submitted through the case is not sensitive and may be published. Submissions cannot state that information relevant to analysis and communication of a business case is withheld due to sensitivity of such information, as this will not allow judges to evaluate cases based on the assessment criteria used. The teams placed within the top 3 in previous competitions cannot submit the same case. However, other participants may re-submit their case for consideration. Business cases will be screened to check whether the format and guidelines specified have been followed at the point of submission. Deviation from the required format and/or submission of reports or documents which have been formulated for different purposes will result in rejection upon submission and these cases will not be marked by the judging panel. Only cases that are in line with basic requirements will be marked by the judges. The narration of the case should be based on sound concepts/principles underpinned by a thorough literature review (usage of concepts/principles synonymous with CIMA curriculum will work to the participants' advantage). CIMA strongly recommends that a mentor to support the team is appointed within the company or externally. Team members of the top 5 shortlisted business cases are expected to deliver a fifteen-minute presentation to the panel of judges, which will be followed by a five-minute interview. The aim of this presentation is to serve as a validation of the case already presented and no new information is required to be presented at this stage. ImpACT 04 CIMA Business case awards 2014

6 5. Topics for the business case No. Topic * Examples of possible themes that can be covered under the topic Change management Sustainability Performance management Enterprise risk management Business transformation Enterprise governance Supply chain management Leadership Branding Process excellence SME economy Private and public sector partnership Strategic management of competitive environment Innovation Stakeholder management Project management Value chain Successful system rollover, organisational restructure Sustainability project such as new compliance to UNGC principles, conversion to green manufacturing, carbon neutral project, strategic changes addressing climate change, using sustainability as a competitive strategy, access to new value networks and markets through sustainable strategy BSC, optimizing potential of human capital and benchmarking exercise Managing the risk of changing customer needs/demand, competitive pressure, product related risk, reputation risk Conversion to a shared services model, BPO project undertaken, successful business partnering activity Use of governance framework to enhance reputation and performance Backward and forward integration for effectiveness and efficiency Transformational leadership within the organisation driving higher levels of performance, emergent leadership in organisations during a time of crisis Branding as a strategy to create greater value and access new market segments, enhance existing market share BPR, Kaizen, 5S for cost efficiency Micro financing project, successful SME start-up, a SME successfully launching a new product/service Case on an existing private and public sector partnership for economic growth Formulation and implementation of effective competitive strategy resulting in improved market share, entering and gaining a significant share in a new competitive market. Strategies and processes to effectively manage competition in the long run. Continuous innovation through new products/ markets, external, internal innovation, encouraging innovation in processes, innovation through new technology and people Cases of how effective stakeholder management strategies have resulted in value maximization, stakeholder management systems for improved performance Cases of effectively managed projects delivering value to the organisation Effective use of an organisation's value chain/ value network to create/maintain sustainable competitive advantage CIMA Business case awards ImpACT

7 Human Capital Business models Information intelligence/ big data Knowledge management Modern trade/ retail business performance excellence Public sector performance improvement Entrepreneurship/new ventures Human resource value optimization, human resource planning and development for driving business strategy Sustainable business models, innovating/ creating new business models, creation/ enhancement of value through a business model Strategic management of information for better decision making, the use of big data to drive value enhancement, information use for sustainable competitive advantage Creating a knowledge management culture that drives improved performance, setting up a knowledge management system, evaluating the success of a knowledge management drive Successful transition to/ implementation of e-commerce platforms, social media marketing, new retail solutions Increased efficiency through systems overhaul, performance improvement through process optimization in the public sector Intrapreneurship the entrepreneurial employee that drives improved performance, maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset for continuous improvement, successful new ventures * The possible themes given alongside the topics are only examples, and participants need not limit themselves to those examples 6.Assessment of the business case 6.1 Panel of judges Professor Uditha Liyanage (moderator and chairman) Dr. Travis Perera Mr. Chanakya Dissanayake Dr Arul Sivagananathan Mr. Manil Jayesinghe 6.2 Assessment criteria Criterion Weightage Clarity and relevance of theme 10% Methodology 20% Analysis and findings 30% Structure and presentation of case 15% Recommendations 15% Practicality/ Applicability of findings 10% 6.3. Presentation of the business case General presentation requirements Business case should be accompanied by a cover page indicating the name of competition (CIMA Business Case Awards 2014), title/theme of case study, name of the organisation, names of the participants, CIMA reference number of the member or student, and date of submission. ImpACT 06 CIMA Business case awards 2014

8 It should be printed on A4 size paper, and typing should be single sided. Twelve point Arial-font with 1.5 line spacing should be used throughout the narration. A margin of 1-inch should be kept on all sides of the sheet with the exception of left-side Text should be justified on left-side and right-side margins. Bibliography and references should be clearly stated to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism will result in disqualification from the competition. Usage of another's ideas, References and bibliographic material should be listed in the following manner: Non-periodical: Author surname, Author initials. (Year). Title of work. Location: Publisher. Periodicals: Author surname, Author initials. (Year). Title of article. Title of periodical, vol. (issue number/month(s),pages. Web sources: Author surname, Author initials. (Year month date). Title of work. Retrieved date, from URL Format of the business case study Introduction (case background) Provide organizational information as a backdrop to the case. where 1.25 inches should be kept., work or other material without providing due credit to the source will be considered as 'plagiarism' for the purposes of this competition. In a case study, the writer identifies and describes in narrative form, an underlying organizationspecific theme. The format of the case study is given below: Identify and briefly describe a particular theme with respect to the selected organization. For example, sustaining market leadership through innovation; turnaround strategies; enhancing productivity, etc. State the purpose/objectives of the case study: what do you want to achieve/highlight? State the scope and limitations of the case: what are the confines of the narrative? Theoretical description The identified theme should be described and contextualised by a review of literature with regard to key terms that underpin the theme. For example, if your theme is about turnaround strategies, then what does the literature say about turnaround strategies, and what are their drivers? A case study must rest on a sound theoretical foundation. At least five articles must be used for the study, including articles from CIMA research, available on the CIMA/CGMA websites ( and Case framework Based on the above, your theme must now be conceptualised. A case framework must be developed. For example, you may identify key determinants (independent variables) of successful turnaround strategies (the dependent variable). You should clearly define the variables and show the linkages between variables. This will lead to the formulation of clearly stated propositions(s). CIMA Business case awards ImpACT

9 Methodology Specify and justify the type of data to be collected, instruments of data collection, population and samples of study, and data-analysis techniques. The choice of the various elements of methodology will have to be guided by the objectives and proposition of the study. While the data can be primary, secondary, quantitative or qualitative, analysis should be logically consistent, convincing and triangulated. In the case study, a minimum of five in-depth interviews and one focus group should be used to gather data. In addition, company performance data should be presented as quantitative data. Further, data can be gathered based on observations, newspaper reports, correspondence, etc The case study includes the four sub-headings above. The completed report, in addition to the preceding sub-headings, will include the following: Case narrative Once the data has been gathered, you will begin to write the case in narrative form. All writing must be in relation to the specific theme selected and the case must be written in a style that would engage and sustain the interest of the reader. Focus on the critical challenges faced by the company,strategies adopted and internal business processes supporting the strategy, points of departure, competitor actions etc. the sequential unfolding of events around the developed thematic framework will provide interesting reading and lead up to an understanding of the connections between performance drivers and outcomes; actions and results of the organization. There will, of course, be gaps in the story you narrate. In this regard, the reader will attempt to find answers to specific questions (say, five) that you will pose at the end of the case. The case narrative must be self-contained and a stand alone chapter which could be published separately. Discussion of findings As in a research paper, discuss the key findings of the study. Findings must be derived from the data analysis and should not be based on your own impressions and assumptions. The discussion must relate to the framework that was formulated. It should be a descriptive account of the implications of the findings, and their relevance and usefulness in particular organizational/market settings. Conclusions and recommendation Conclusion and recommendations must flow directly from the discussion of the findings. At the end, the writer must set out questions in order that the reader can make reasonable assumptions and offer solutions, and fill the gaps in the case. The writer should also recommend a continuity plan or a way forward useful in sustaining the positive outcomes of the case and minimising negative effects. (Adapted from PIM Presentation Guidelines, Postgraduate Institute of Management,2013) ImpACT 08 CIMA Business case awards 2014

10 7. Additional support provided by CIMA Sri Lanka A workshop will be held on developing the case framework and narrating the case at the CIMA auditorium. Last years' winning case will be presented at the launch of the CIMA Business Case Awards 2014 and the CIMA Management Accountants Conference 2014 Several issues of Sri Lanka Journal of Management carrying case narrations will be available in the CIMA library. Copies of cases from previous competitions are also available. These cases can be used for guidance only and may not be consistent with the CIMA Business Case Awards 2014 format. For detailed clarification as regards the competition, please contact Fuhuma Deen by fuhuma.deen@cimaglobal.com or by telephone on ext Register now To register for the competition please download and the completed form to tlevents@cimaglobal.comand post/ hand deliver the original form with the non refundable fee of Rs by cash/ cheque in favor of CIMA Sri Lanka by 20 July CIMA Business case awards ImpACT

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12 CIMA Sri Lanka 356, Elvitigala Mawatha Colombo 5 T F E. colombo@cimaglobal.com Platinum sponsor Follow@CIMASriLanka