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Now more than ever, businesses need CIMA professionals to keep a steady hand on the helm.

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Vincent
PositionIn business - Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

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"May you live in interesting times" is an old Chinese phrase that's actually a curse rather than a blessing. Well, we certainly live in interesting times and it's a fascinating juncture for me to become CIMA's new president.

It's clear that the world economic order is changing: a quick skim through the business pages reveals a marked shift in power from west to east. It's surely a sign of the times when Jaguar and Land Rover are bought by Tata, an Indian car manufacturer, while European and American banks hit by the credit crunch are being bailed out by sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia. This change, coupled with the global skills shortage and the changing dynamic of the finance function, may be putting extra strain on business, but the market conditions provide an ideal platform for CIMA to put members in their rightful place as captains of financial management.

PricewaterhouseCooper's recent global survey of chief executives bears this out. According to the 1,100 CEOs it's surveyed in 50 countries, the war for talent ranks second only to the economic downturn as the biggest perceived threat to business growth. At the core of this issue is the scarcity of business partnering skills.

The survey also reveals that CEOs are finding it most difficult to find professionals whose skills include combined technical and business knowhow, global work experience and leadership skills. As far as accountancy is concerned, this wish-list reads like a summary of the CIMA syllabus. It would be wrong to make light of the financial crisis, but it's also reassuring to know that CIMA members as a community are sailing on the right tack.

Our gold-standard, internationally recognised qualification is ideally placed to meet this global demand for finance professionals who are prepared to take hold of the financial management tiller. The institute's report The CIMA Difference: our relevance to business provides independent evidence that CIMA...

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