Editorial comment.

AuthorPrickett, Ruth
PositionChartered Institute of Management Accountants annual conference - Editorial

Every business has its own set of tired cliches, and many financial managers will have experienced the temptation to reach for their guns (or at least an enormously heavy tax manual) when told that we live in an ever-changing world. This truism is made even more irritating by the fact that it is usually cited as a prelude to a sales pitch for new software or a comprehensive insurance offer. But, however irritating you find it, responding with a sarcastic question about the static quality of life during the industrial revolution or lack of innovation in the 15th-century publishing industry misses the fundamental point. The pace of change in the wider world is more or less irrelevant; it's your own pace of change that really matters.

If you can thrive in fluctuating business conditions without constantly developing your skills and experiences, good luck to you, but you are unlikely to be working in management accountancy. Most of us, of course, learn from our experiences every day without really noticing it, yet there are times when more formal learning is effective--whether this involves a course, a conference or development through mentoring.

And what is true for individuals is equally true for organisations. CIMA began this year by announcing its new syllabus. A few months later, the focus shifted to members and the institute launched a consultation into a new policy on continuing professional development (CPD). Last month the council elected a new president, Professor Roland Kaye. He is dean of the Open University Business School and, as one of the pioneers of using computers in education, there isn't much that anyone could teach him about reacting to...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT