Hello Everyone,
In the spirit of not repeating past comments on the revised CMA curriculum announced a few weeks ago, I wanted to offer two new thoughts...
- I want to sincerely thank the ICMA Board of Regents for their 2+ year journey in revising the CMA curriculum, the first change in 6 years. On the staff side, Dennis Whitney, CMA and Senior Vice President of ICMA, deserves credit for listening to CMAs, candidates and the marketplace over a 15+ year period. The Regents are a dedicated group of esteemed volunteers with broad backgrounds in companies and academia. They took on the challenge of listening to the specific needs and wants of CFOs and Controllers, and listening to members of our profession in creating a highly rigorous and challenging exam that is relevant to today's marketplace. More highly qualified CMAs in the global marketplace means that investors and other stakeholders will be better protected, higher levels of organizational performance will be achieved, and real sustainable value will be created to grow economies.
- Much like with the products and services you launch in your own businesses, success of the CMA program goes beyond the actual core content/curriculum - it requires a true global supply chain approach. IMA has increased the level of marketing expenditures on the CMA program. In the past 6 months, full page ads promoting the benefits of Certification have appeared in Business Finance Magazine, CFO Magazine, La Cuenta Newsletter, The CPA Journal, and numerous other global publications. We also aired 30 second radio spots on Bloomberg Radio. On August 19, 2009, USA Today published a "snapshot" which indicated that CMAs earn over 30% more than non-certified members based on our independent annual salary survey. From a corporate development perspective, Johnson and Johnson, Caterpillar, Wal-Mart, Bayer, Saudi Aramco and many other companies around the globe are strong supporters of the CMA. They recognize that the CMA is the certification of choice for financial and accounting professionals in business serving as trusted business advisors in the areas of financial planning and analysis, risk management and internal controls, performance management and more. Finally, I recently returned from a 2-week trip to China and the Middle East - IMA is committed to representing the global tapestry comprising our proud profession by investing internationally in new alliances, products and services. We recently opened offices in Beijing and Dubai to reflect this commitment.
As IMA members, CMAs and/or CMA candidates, thank you for making your association stronger - your support is inspiring!!
Jeff