Message from. Reena Dsilva. Student and Member Support Manager. Welcome to the seventh edition of CIMA

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1 April-May 2013 Vol VII Content Message from Reena Dsilva...1 Recap... 2 GBC final round Revision Lectures...3 Faculty Development Program...3 Up Next... 4 Whiz competition Referral Campaign Guest Column... 5 Latest Vacancies on CIMA MYJOBS...6 Important Dates...6 CIMA Applause March 2013 (resit )...7 New Members March April CIMA Business Leaders Submit CIMA in news...8 Contact Details...9 Message from Reena Dsilva Student and Member Support Manager We have 24 new members joining the global network of CGMA ACMA professionals so far in 2013! Congratulations on acquiring the CIMA Membership. Dear CIMA Students and Members, at select centres. We have also now Welcome to the seventh edition of CIMA introduced strategic level re-sits on PC in Pulse. It gives us immense pleasure to March and September. connect with you through this bi-monthly There are now a large number of students newsletter. therefore, who are at the TOPCIMA or Exams For those who don't know me yet, I am complete stage. PER workshops over web Reena Dsilva and I head the Student & conferences have been started to help them Member team at CIMA in India. file their membership applications. We are also working towards conducting face-to- It is therefore my pleasure and privilege to face membership assessments in India, by write the introduction to this edition of Pulse the end of the year. and to update you on the activities & milestone achievements of the Student and We have 24 new members joining the global Member Support team network of CGMA ACMA professionals so far in 2013! Congratulations on acquiring the The student and member support team is CIMA Membership. responsible for ensuring that you remain engaged with CIMA, are supported to In the calendar for the rest of the year are complete your qualification and acquire CPD activities for members, the India membership. We also support new students Membership Advisory Committee, a photo to register with CIMA. We conduct a number shoot in Bangalore, to add to our repository of activities to meet these objectives, of student and member testimonials and such as revision lectures, PER workshops, many more exciting new initiatives. CPD activities and networking events, Most of our initiatives are borne by your member testimonials and case studies, ideas and feedback and implemented due to counselling and registration support for your support. So please keep the feedback new students, etc. and opinion coming in. We would love to see, I am ably supported by other two team hear and meet you at our various online and members Tasneem Kapasi who takes of offline forums. prospects and new students and Sweedrina Always, feel free to get in touch with me or Dsouza, who supports existing students the Student and Member support team at and members. india@cimaglobal.com. This year, our activities have helped to see a considerable increase in the number of students appearing for the May 2013 exam diet, as compared to previous exam diets. Top CIMA exams are now held four times a year, of which two diets are PC based exams Hope you enjoy this edition. Regards, Reena Dsilva Manager Student and Member Support CIMA India. 1

2 recap Keeping a tab on the world of business GBC final round The Ambers from IIT Delhi emerge champions at the India Finale of the Global Business Challenge 2013 The winning team will represent India at the Global Finals scheduled in South Africa 08 April 2013, Mumbai: (CIMA) announced The Ambers from IIT Delhi as the winners of the India finale at the CIMA Global Business Challenge 2013, held at Mumbai. The day witnessed interesting ideas from participants and in-depth insights from industry representatives on the Toy industry. The winning team was declared after a competitive presentation and will now contend at the Global finals in South Africa with winning teams from 24 other countries. The eight teams that qualified for the national finals were NIT Surathkal, Loyola College, IIT Guwahati, IIT BHU Varanasi, Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, IIT Delhi and Shri Ram College of Commerce. This year, CIMA also announced additional awards apart from the Winners and Runners-up awards, like the Best Video and the Best Speaker awards. While Sahebjeet Singh Arora from the winning team won the Best Speaker award, Shri Ram College of Commerce won the Best Video award. Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics were declared runner-ups of GBC The 5th CIMA GBC 2013, a unique global case study competition for undergraduates, flagged off with a huge response from students across the country. After an unparalleled success for the last four years, the 5th edition of the CIMA GBC 2013, witnessed over 470 teams from various colleges of immense repute across India registering for the competition. This year's case challenge is based on the Toy industry. The finalists went through a rigorous selection process, which included a case study report submission and a regional final before they made it to the India Finals. The Ambers from IIT Delhi was declared the winner by a panel of eminent judges comprising of Mr. Sridhar Ramamurthy, CFO, Hindustan Unilever, Ms. Deepa Dev, Director Finance, Barclays Bank Plc, Mr. Ramesh Swaminathan, CFO, Lupin Pharma, Mr. Siddharth Viswanath, Executive Director & Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Mr. Neville Dumasia, Partner & National Leader, Risk Advisory services, Ernst & Young and Mr. Sumit Dhanuka, Senior Manager, Ncubate Capital Partners. The winning team will represent India and compete with teams from countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Middle East, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in the Global Finals to be held in South Africa in August The 2013 CIMA Global Business Challenge is sponsored by Barclays India who is the official partner for this competition. We thank all the CIMA students and members who helped us evaluate the case study submissions and the regional and national finals of the Global Business Challenge Runner-up team Winning team 2

3 recap Revision Lectures As a continuation to our efforts to support students, revision sessions were conducted via Web conferencing for the May 2013 Exam diet. The web conferencing facility used for this purpose is interactive and students can see and speak to the trainer, during the session. Its convenience has increased the geographical reach of the lectures as well as the number of participants. Lectures were conducted for almost all the papers at the operational, management and strategic level, on weekends from April 20th to May 15th, These were supplemented by lectures conducted by the CIMA Sri Lanka office, on their new M Learning platform. This platform is also an interactive web conference based set up for revision lectures. Some of the feedbacks shared by our students: I would like to thank you all for the support being provided for the Strategy level May-13 examinations. Also, yesterday's P3 revision class was very helpful. Overall E3 & P3 revision classes have been very informative and provided an overall understanding of the requirement for the examination. Regards Mukund Dear Reena, Thank You very much for arranging such a wonderful session on Performance Strategy. Thanks & Regards Hemant Dear Reena, Thank you very much for conducting the F2 session. It was very helpful. Regards Amla Kadwadkar Thank you Reena, The study material itself for E3 is very helpful. Thanks, Nupur Hi Reena, Thank you very much for organising the E3 session. It was a wonderful session. Regards, Mahesha Faculty Development Program We at CIMA India have been working closely with Learning Partners across the country to ensure better progression of CIMA students. To enable the partners with the latest developments in CIMA curriculum and exam taking strategies, we organised a Faculty Development Program (FDP) in Mumbai and Bangalore in the last week of May. MMM Tariq, the renowned specialist faculty from Sri Lanka, conducted the program that was spread over 16 hours across 2 days in each location. Apart from the hosting cities, FDP 2013 had more than 50 participants from cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi. the application based questions and valuable tips on how to maximise the chances of their students passing the CIMA exam. The specific focus of the program was on Gateway routes for professionally qualified. During a course of interactive discussions, Tariq highlighted how CIMA evaluators look at specific answers. The participants discovered ways of answering 3

4 Up ne t A case study competition for professionals working in different job roles across reputed organisations nationally. The competition aims to bring together tomorrow's business leaders on one common platform and help them think and take decisions like a business leader. The Whiz competition will challenge the participants to evaluate an industry based business scenario. The emphasis on the evaluation would be on analysis, judgment & creativity based on the financial and non financial data provided in the business scenario. The competition has received extremely good response from the industry with more than 150 teams registering for the competition from more than 50 leading organisations. Some of the organisations that participated were, Ashok Leyland, American Express, Cognizant, Essar Genpact, JCB, L&T, Prudential Infosys, Shell, SCOPE, TVs Unilever, Vodafone, WNS etc. The competition schedule is as below: Dates 1st June 8th June 15th June 22nd June 29th June Event City Finals Chennai City Finals Delhi City Finals - Mumbai City Finals - Bangalore National Finals - Mumbai Referral Campaign We are pleased to initiate the Referral Campaign for June - July If you have a friend or colleague who can benefit from the CIMA qualification, all you need to do is visit and complete the form by 25th July If your friend registers before 31st July 2013, as a token of appreciation, you stand to receive exciting gifts. Terms & Conditions for the ipad contest : 1) Minimum of 3 references should register before July 31, ) In case of more than one student being eligible, there would be a lucky draw. Gifts: 1) Student for each registration, you stand to win Rs 2000 book voucher 2) Member for each registration, you stand to win Rs 2000 CROMA voucher 3) Over and above, this 1 student and 1 member (with maximum referral registrations) would receive an ipad. 4) T&C applicable 4

5 Whistleblowing in India Guest Column Keeping a tab on the world of business Kirsty Matthewson Marketing Manager Expolink Europe Whistleblowing is historically an area of cultural contention in India, though things are beginning to change. The reticence stems from post-colonial times and the general attitude of mistrust towards line management, reported unethical behaviour by officials and a lack of faith that business leaders will take reported concerns seriously and fear of retaliation. The Companies Act does not yet contain a provision that makes it mandatory for companies to have whistleblowing policies and any moves to make it so have come to nothing. Under Clause 177 of the Act every listed company must establish a vigil mechanism for directors and employees to report genuine concerns. Such a channel is the first step though effective implementation and protection mechanisms are the true litmus test of a well-functioning whistleblowing process. Too often hotlines are adopted in a tokenistic manner with no board involvement, weak investigation processes and poor communication regarding accessibility, protection and general rights. Subsequently, management bury their heads in the sand, convinced their business plays no part in the corruption that blights the subcontinent. What our whistleblowing data shows Expolink cover around 750, 000 employees, contractors and third party suppliers throughout the subcontinent, in 29 Indian languages. Considering the Kirsty Matthewson is Marketing Manager and Senior Copywriter at Expolink Europe Ltd. Kirsty is responsible for managing external and internal communications across three business sectors at Expolink, including a respected industry blog. Kirsty also writes for CSR Wire, the Corporate Social Responsibility website and ICSA. Kirsty's specialisms include whistleblowing, corporate governance, business ethics and risk. number of people we cover for the region, the call volumes are still relatively low- we deem India to be an emerging whistleblowing market. The vast majority of the reports Expolink get from India relate to general grievances and HR issues. Far less common are more serious reports relating to bribery, particularly facilitation payments to public officials. This is considered ethically questionable, and of course illegal, but an effective way of speeding up a process or transaction. Our data shows that males employees report considerably more than women. Women feel much more reluctant to report and require reassurance that they are doing the right thing when they do so. It is notable on our communications with whistleblowers from India that they proactively seek feedback on reports that they have made, particularly if clients haven't been forthcoming or the whistleblower feels the investigation is taking an unnecessarily long time. This is encouraging and shows a faith in the process. There is a cultural change occurring, though not due to western influence as some might expect. Attitudes are shifting towards encouraging and fostering ethical behaviours and accountability, awareness of individual rights and expectations within the workplace. The government and judiciary are also reviewing initiatives to tackle, and raise awareness about, corruption and general unethical concerns. The Whistleblower Protection Bill was passed in December 2011 with the intention of protecting both whistleblowers against retaliation and businesses from false or malicious complaints. While the bill vows to act against seeking reprisal, it doesn't outline penalties or punishments for federal officials found guilty of doing so and it doesn't allow for anonymity. It also fails to define key terms like victimisation, leaving too much room for contextualisation, interpretation and subsequent misuse of the law. The Bill is mainly concerned with safeguarding those exposing corruption from public officials but commentators believe, if the Bill is implemented correctly, it could have wider implications for the private sector it could become a useful working model for successive schemes that benefit employees from all sectors. Read more articles about whistleblowing at Expolink provides a Global Guidance Line service to CIMA members and students, aimed at regions outside the UK and ROI. This is not a reporting line or substitute for legal advice, but it may help guide you in deciding next steps with regard to an ethical concern. Find out more at Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are that of the author and are not necessarily representative of CIMA's views. 5

6 Latest Vacancies on CIMA MYJOBS Current opportunities for CIMA qualified professionals Designation : Executive-MIS Organisation : Meru Cabs Location : Mumbai Qualification : CIMA part qualified Link : searchjobs/?keyword=& Location=1320 APPLY For more vacancies, log on to Exams dates - November 2013 Paper Based Important Dates Closing date for Exemption Application Exam entry opening Exam entry deadline Pre-seen material for tutors/students Admission advice Exam days 31 July 1 August 13 September Mid July Week commencing 14 October 19, 20, 21 November 2013 Exams dates - September 2013 Exam Dates Exam entry deadline Deadline for applying for extra exam time Pre-seen material for tutors/students Exam fee deadline Admission advice Exam days Exam results released 19 July 24 July Mid July 9 August week commencing 12 August 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 August 20 September You can also view the 2013 exam dates and deadlines by visiting 6

7 CIMA Applause! March Resit 2013 (paper based) CIMA is delighted to announce the names of students who have achieved top ranks in the various papers of the March Resit exams. Congratulations! You make us proud! Name Test for Professional Competence T4 Part B Case Study Mr Moiz Izzy T4 Part B Case Study Examination 1 Ms Jyoti Mehta T4 Part B Case Study Examination 2 Mr Pradeep D T4 Part B Case Study Examination 2 Strategic Level Paper Paper Name Country Rank Mr Vinod Gopalakrishnan E3 Enterprise Strategy 1 Mr Jaganathan Ramachandran E3 Enterprise Strategy 2 Mr Prashant Ojha F3 Financial Strategy 1 Mr Rupesh Anand F3 Financial Strategy 2 Ms Priyal Bhosale P3 Performance Strategy 1 Mr Rajesh Paliwal P3 Performance Strategy 2 New Members, March - April 2013 CIMA Congratulates all new members for earning their designation. Name Mr Manoj Kumar Mr Shrenik Shah Mr Chandan Khaitan Ms Gauri Vaidya Mr Jitendra Pipara Mr Balaji Anand Mr Anand Sharma Mr Syam Sunder Gunda Designatory Letters 7

8 CIMA Business Leaders Summit 2013! 1-2, July, Cinnamon Grand, Colombo A survey of 100 best companies helped conclude that efficient leadership is the driving force when it comes to business growth. This CIMA leadership conference will address how individuals can do things differently in order to be excellent leaders of tomorrow. Read more about this upcoming event at; CIMA in News CIMA Members from India on the Board. Here is a quick update of all members from CIMA on the global/regional council and board of CIMA Phillie Karkaria, FCMA, CGMA, Executive Director - Tata Reality and Infrastructure Ltd and on the CIMA Council since Girish Bhat,, CFO - Gammon India Limited, Deputy Chairman MESANA Board Sriram Kameshwar,, Director - Finance and Corporate Facilities, Prudential Process Management, Member MESANA Board 8

9 Contact Keeping a tab on the world of business CIMA India Representative as per region Bengaluru Lata Murli Priyanka Dogra E: Lata.Murli@cimaglobal.com E: Priyanka.Dogra@cimaglobal.com M: M: Chennai Bhagyalakshmi Althea Paul E: Backia.Lakshmi@cimaglobal.com E: Althea.Paul@cimaglobal.com M: M: Cochin Fenil Vadakken Sunny E: Fenil.VadakkenSunny@cimaglobal.com M: Delhi Aditi Gupta E: Aditi.Gupta@cimaglobal.com M: Mumbai Saifuddin Lokhandwala E: Saifuddin.Lokhandwala@cimaglobal.com M: Student and Member Support Team Tasneem Kapasi Sweedrina Dsouza E: Tasneem.Kapasi@cimaglobal.com E: Sweedrina.Dsouza@cimaglobal.com T: T: Reena Dsilva E: Reena.Dsilva@cimaglobal.com T: Thank You To Mark Bevan, FCMA, CGMA for his continued support to Pulse and for being our editor, mentor and biggest supporter! 9