CIMA Professional Development
The institute has launched a suite of internet-based resources – freely available to members – designed to support their continuing professional development.
CIMA members are increasingly expected to possess a wide range of qualities, such as technical know-how, management competence, personal skills and a sound, up-to-date understanding of the business environment. The institute’s new suite of continuing professional development (CPD) products is designed to address these expectations and deliver resources to help you maintain and develop all the relevant knowledge and skills.
Whatever your professional development needs – for example, enhancing your personal skills, gaining a deeper understanding of advances in finance and other business areas or managing your CPD online – CIMA Professional Development Solutions will provide instant help at the click of a mouse, whatever your role, at whatever time suits you and wherever you are based.
CIMA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNER
This online planning tool has been specially designed to support members in their CPD activities. Through the planner, users can assess their professional development requirements, choose appropriate activities through the ideas generator (which includes links to supporting resources such as Harvard ManageMentor PLUS), create action plans, evaluate the outcomes of activities and record the details.
KEY FEATURES
Roles. View and add competencies that are specific to roles, and share these with others.
Ideas generator. Browse through a wide range of suggested learning activities.
Action plan. Document your progress.
Analysis. Reflect on and evaluate your development activities.
Development cycle navigation. Refer to best-practice learning as outlined in the CIMA professional development cycle.
HARVARD MANAGEMENTOR PLUS
A powerful and well-respected online personal development tool for CPD, Harvard ManageMentor PLUS provides accessible, practical information on key management topics at both operational and strategic levels. More than 35 modules cover subjects ranging from project management to presenting and marketing.
Each module offers practical advice, tips and tools developed under the guidance of experts, practitioners and business leaders.
KEY FEATURES
Topic overview. Familiarise yourself with your chosen subject using a helpful summary.
What would you do? Consider the practical application of a topic through a scenario (with audio functionality), complete with a suggested solution.
Core concepts. Go over the main ideas in the topic.
Test yourself. Assess your learning on key points with a ten- question quiz.
Tools. Refer to checklists, forms and worksheets.
To learn more. Research the subject in greater depth by following links to further reading on the topic in hand.
BUSINESS SOURCE CORPORATE
This extensive e-journal service includes news articles, country reports and company profiles. It provides members with online access to a database of more than 3,000 full-text business and academic journals, with an archive going back as far as the 1920s in some cases.
Updated daily, this new service also allows users to access research as soon as it is published and ensures that they have the latest tools and techniques at their fingertips and can apply these at work.
KEY FEATURES
Basic search. Conduct simple searches by author, company, industry, key word, publication or subject.
Advanced search. Refine your searches by combining different categories.
Browse. Scroll through an A to Z of company and industry profiles, country reports and Swot analyses.
Country reports. Access up to 1,400 economic reports from sources including EIU, Global Insight, Icon Croup and CountryWatch.
Industry profiles. Search through an extensive collection of 3,900 industry profiles and yearbooks.
Company profiles. Take your pick from 10,000 substantial profiles by DataMonitor.
CIMA INFORM
CIMA Inform has been developed by the institute in partnership with world-renowned information provider Thomson GEE. The service has been designed to help you keep up to date with changing business legislation and regulations, focusing on financial management and company compliance. Users will find more than 100 checklists, procedures and model documents that can be downloaded for everyday use at work. Up-to-the-minute news stories are also included to ensure that you have the very latest information. Users will be able to set up news alerts on chosen topics straight to their desktop.
KEY FEATURES
News. View current stories or search the archive.
CIMA Insight. Link to the institute’s e-newsletter to read about key issues for accountants in business.
Useful docs. Search for specific documents by subject and type.
My alerts. Set up personal alerts for up to ten preferred topics.
Latest updates summary. Keep up to date with policy announcements and major decisions or events.
KEY BENEFITS OF THE INSTITUTE’S ONLINE CPD RESOURCES
* They provide extensive coverage of material from both UK and international markets to suit the institute’s global membership profile.
* They are updated regularly.
* They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
* They are free to all members.
For easy access to these new and innovative products, visit www.cimacpdsolutions.com.
Copyright Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Jul/Aug 2005