The Strategic Case Study
The Strategic Case StudyBy Amit Kumar JugiaIntroductionThe
Strategic case study exam is set in a simulated business
context.The aim of the exam is to put you in a real life business
situation and to get you to perform tasks which a management
accountant could be expected to complete in the workplace.Report
writing is often a key part of a management accountants role.You
may be asked to write a report during your case study exam so you
should be prepared to do so.2Guidance on Report writingBe
professionalThink about your audience.Is the report for the Board
of Directors, employees at a similar level to you or an external
party?Can you assume that the audience are all accounting/finance
staff or will some readers of the report have little or no
accounting background.If this is the case you will need to think
about the technical detail you use and explain it clearly and
concisely.3Why are you writing the report?What is the purpose of
the report?Have you been asked to present some information and/or
data, do you need to give a recommendation on how to resolve an
issue? Make sure that your report covers exactly what you have been
asked to do in the requirement.4Starting point the titleYour title
should be clear and simple so your audience can immediately see
what you will be discussing and who the report is for.For example A
report to the Finance Director on change management issues or A
report to the Board of Directors on how to write a report in an
exam.5The IntroductionThis is where you state the purpose of the
report and let the audience know what you will be covering.For
example you may have four different areas that you want to cover so
you could write:This report will cover the following;Background
information onOur current position onOur options for the futureMy
recommendations for the future6The body of the reportTake each of
the points that you made in your introduction and give it a
sub-heading.Breaking your report into sections with clear
sub-headings will make it easier to read (and write!).Think about
the information that you have been given in the exam - which parts
of it are relevant for the purpose of the report? For example, do
you have any financial data that would be useful to show in the
report or any background information that you should refer to?
Think about how you can format this data and information so it is
easy for your reader to understand.While you are writing your
report keep reminding yourself about the purpose of the report and
the audience dont get bogged down in detail which is not
relevant.7Conclusion and recommendationIf you have been asked to
give a recommendation then you should do so at the end of your
report.Make it clear that you are making a recommendation and state
what your recommendation is. For example Having considered all of
the issues in this report I recommend that this company....Your
recommendation should be supported by information and facts that
you have included in the main body of your report.You may not be
required to give a recommendation in which case you can conclude
the report with a sentence such as This report has identified a
number of key issues on moving to activity based costing if you
have any questions please contact me.You may want to summarise what
you think are the key points in your conclusion.It can be useful to
put your name and position in the company (if known) at the bottom
of the report.8And finallyRead through your completed report now is
the time to edit or add anything.
9A summary of other formatsIn your case study exam you may be
asked to produce an answer using a format other than a report such
as by email, briefing notes, a memo or a discussion paper (this
list is not exhaustive).An email:Briefing notesBriefing notes are
usually short papers that quickly and effectively inform the reader
(often a decision-maker) about an issue. Briefing notes give
someone a short, clear and concise version of the key points and
considerations about an issue.
10Format of briefing notesThe purpose of the briefing notes
outline the issue or topic that you will be addressing.Summary of
the facts/information break this section down into a number of
topics and use subheadings (which are relevant to the exam
requirement) such as a summary of the history of the topic,
relevant background information, reasons why is there now an issue,
key considerations, what can you do to resolve the issue and so
on.Conclusion and/or recommendations make sure your conclusion
covers the most important points that you want to get across to the
reader. If you need to make a recommendation make sure it is clear
and direct and you can back it up with the information presented in
your main summary.11A memoMemos are used to remind people about
something they are used internally within a company. They should be
brief and concise and state:Who the memo is to;Who the memo is
from;The date;Subject; andThe content of the message.12A discussion
paperA discussion paper should give its reader(s) a thorough
understanding of a topic; it needs to cover all issues, from all
angles and perspectives so that an informed decision can be made.
The format of your discussion paper will be similar to that of a
report with an introduction, the body of your discussion paper (you
could divide this into arguments for and arguments against), a
conclusion and recommendation(s).13Case Study examBefore we look at
whats new and how to prepare for it, lets consider why the
institute is obliging people to take these exams so much earlier in
their studies. CIMA has designed a framework that splits the
management accountants role into four generic skills or
competencies: technical, business, people and leadership. At
Strategic level, the assumption is that you are a senior manager
reporting directly to the board of directors, who will also need
your guidance in dealing with problems and evaluating
opportunities.At Strategic level, the expectation is that you will
be able to adapt what you have learnt during your studies to
address the issues arising in the scenario. These will of course
depend largely on the nature of the organisation concerned and its
business. Your position as a manager means that youll often have to
give senior executives very specific advice, because they wont
necessarily have the time to analyse a problem in depth themselves.
14Case Study Exam The Case Study Exam will enable you to show your
ability in analysing various scenarios (demonstrating technical
skills) and determining how these affect the organisation concerned
(business skills).You may need to explain the key issues to
non-accountants who are senior managers (people skills) and
indicate areas that require improvement (leadership skills).
Remember that these exams are less of a test of what you know;
theyre far more about what you can do. At Strategic level, each
skill is given equal weighting, which means in effect that
displaying technical skills alone would score you 25 per cent at
most.15Example to apply your technical skills in the three Case
Study Exams
16Case Study ExamAt Strategic level, you may be presented with a
serious threat to the business and be asked to come up with a
strategic response. The technical skill is to identify a suitable
response. The business skill is to ensure that this response is
appropriate to the industry and company Zs position in it. The
people skill is to explain your choice in a concise and
understandable way to Zs directors, who may not have an accounting
background. The leadership skill may be to manage the
implementation of the strategy.17Case Study ExamSeven weeks before
each exam youll be able to access the pre-seen material. This
concerns a fictional company but is based on a real business or
industry. The new material provided in the exam will be broken down
into a series of triggers and tasks. A trigger is an extra item of
information about the company, usually describing a development or
a problem that needs resolving. This may come in the form of an
email, a set of accounts or a newspaper report just as it might
when you are at work. You will then be asked to perform one or more
tasks based on each trigger.The CIMA Case Study Exams require you
to demonstrate integrated knowledge across all three pillars of the
syllabus, with a focus on application, analysis and evaluation.The
aim is to reflect the reality of cross-functional working and to
get you performing the kinds of tasks that management accountants
might be expected to do in the course of their work.The emphasis is
on skills eg, research, analysis and presentation rather than
knowledge, as the technical content of the syllabus has already
been covered in the objective tests.18Case Study ExamA number of
factors combine to ensure that the Case Study Exam is a suitably
difficult hurdle to overcome before you can proceed to the next
level of the qualification:The fact that a single exam will cover
all three of the learning pillars.The need to integrate your
knowledge.The need for good time management.You wont be expected to
perform detailed calculations in any Case Study Exam, although you
may need to prepare some brief illustrative numbers.Do remember
that you may have to interpret someone elses calculations, so you
will still need to understand all the numbers.
19Case Study ExamYou are provided with material before the exam
so that you can absorb yourself in the affairs of the organisation
concerned and be able to attempt the tasks required as though you
were actually a member of its finance department.You therefore need
a full understanding of the scenario and an appreciation of the
firms industry.The pre-seen material has been designed to give you
all of the necessary information, so there should be no need for
separate detailed industry research.An awareness of real issues and
companies can make you feel more confident, but no marks are
directly available for presenting the findings of research
conducted in real world.Its possible to use pre-seen material to
generate ideas about the tasks that might be required of you in the
exam and thereby identify technical content that could prove
relevant.20Case Study ExamOne vital activity when preparing for the
exam is to practise writing full answers. It is tempting, when
faced with practice exercises, to make a few notes and then look at
the suggested solution and tell yourself that this is exactly what
you would have written.Resist this temptation - you dont want to
make your first proper attempt at writing an answer in the
exam.Proper practice here will also help with time management. This
is particularly important in the Case Study Exams because they
impose a time limit for each task. Once this expires, you must move
on to the next task.
21Case Study ExamWhen you have completed a practice exercise,
you can review the model answer alongside your own response. Its
possible to make a number of points that may not be in the
suggested solution that would earn credit in the exam, so dont feel
disheartened if the answers dont match exactly.
22Writing an email in the Case Study examsEmail is now a very
common form of written communication in the business world it is
quick, cost effective and efficient. You may be asked to write an
email during your case study exam so you should be prepared to do
so.Be professionalEmails can be seen as being less formal than
letters, but in a business context it is still important to be
professional and not too casual.Pay as much attention to grammar,
spelling and punctuation as you would in any other correspondence.
Try to keep your sentences short and clear and be concise when
making a point.Dont use all capitals (IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE
SHOUTING!) and avoid any text speak so no LOLs plz (no laughing out
loud please!).23Starting the emailThink about who you are sending
the email to.If it is to a colleague in your company at a similar
level to you it would be appropriate to use the first name only for
example, Dear Mark.If the recipient of the email is your Director,
or a client, you should be more formal and write, for example, Dear
Mr Harris.If you are contacting a company and you do not have an
individuals name you could use To Whom It May Concern or Dear
Sir/Madam.
24OPENING TEXT Why are you writing the email?Think about the
purpose of the email and briefly state why you are writing the
email.Here are some examples:Thank you for your email of 25
February regarding the costing schedule, below are my responses to
your requests for information.I am emailing you in reference to our
meeting on 4 January when we discussed the budget, below are my
responses to the issues raised.Once you have stated your reason for
writing your email you can move onto the main text of the email and
carry out the required task.25Main body of the emailIf you have a
lot of information to write in the email then it is a good idea to
use sub-headings throughout the email to break it into easily
readable chunks.Do use bullet points if you have a list of
information that you want to communicate but remember to still make
a valid point when using a bullet point.Consider the person who
will receive the email if they do not have a finance or accounting
background (perhaps, for example, a colleague who works in Human
Resources or Marketing) they may not understand all of the
accounting terms that you are familiar with so you may need to
explain these briefly and clearly.26Ending the emailThink of an
appropriate way to end the email.If you have responded to an email
and given the recipient some requested information you could write
If you have any questions please do contact me or Please let me
know if you need any further information.If you have asked the
recipient for some information you could put I look forward to
hearing from you.There are a number of ways that you can sign off
an email using Kind regards, Best regards or Yours sincerely are
all acceptable examples.
27Ending the emailPut your name at the end of the email and if
you wish to you could also include your position in the company and
company name (remember this will be the fictitious company name in
the exam not your real company name!).Read through your completed
email now is the time to edit or add anything.
28Thank you.29
