A. Business and process change
1. Business change
- Explain how business change projects are initiated to address strategic alignment
- Apply the stages of the business change lifecycle (alignment, definition, design, implementation, realisation).[
- Assess the value of the four view
2. The role of process and process change initiatives
- Advise on how an organisation can reconsider the design of its processes to deliver a selected strategy
- Appraise business process change initiatives previously adopted by organisations
- Establish an appropriate scope and focus for business process change using Harmon’s process-strategy matrix
- Explore the commoditisation of business processes
- Advise on the implications of business process outsourcing
- Recommend a business process redesign methodology for an organisation.
3. Improving the processes of the organization
- Evaluate the effectiveness of current organisational processes
- Describe a range of process redesign patterns.
- Establish possible redesign options for improving the current processes of an organisation
- Assess the feasibility of possible redesign options.
- Assess the relationship between process redesign and strategy
4. Software solutions
- Establish information system requirements required by business users
- Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a generic software solution to fulfil those requirements
- Establish a process for evaluating, selecting and implementing a generic software solution
- Explore the relationship between generic software solutions and business process redesign
- Information technology
B. Information technology
1. Principles of information technology
- Advise on the basic hardware and software infrastructure required to support business information systems
- Identify and analyze general information technology controls and application controls required for effective accounting information systems
- Analyze the adequacy of general information technology controls and application controls for relevant application systems
- Evaluate controls over the safeguarding of information technology assets to ensure the organizational ability to meet business objectives
2. Principles of e-business
- Discuss the meaning and scope of ebusiness
- Advise on the reasons for the adoption of ebusiness and recognise barriers to its adoption
- Evaluate how e-business changes the relationships between organisations and their customers
- Discuss and evaluate the main business and marketplace models for delivering e-business.
3. E-business application: upstream supply chain management
- Analyse the main elements of both the push and pull models of the supply chain
- Discuss the relationship of the supply chain to the value chain and the value network
- Assess the potential application of information technology to support and restructure the supply chain
- Advise on how external relationships with suppliers and distributors can be structured to deliver a restructured supply chain
- Discuss the methods, benefits and risks of eprocurement
- Assess different options and models for implementing e-procurement.
4. E-business application: downstream supply chain management
- Define the scope and media of e-marketing
- Highlight how the media of e-marketing can be used when developing an effective e-marketing plan
- Explore the characteristics of the media of emarketing using the ‘6I’s of Interactivity, Intelligence, Individualisation, Integration, Industry structure and Independence of location
- Evaluate the effect of the media of e-marketing on the traditional marketing mix of product, promotion, price, place, people, processes and physical evidence
- Describe a process for establishing a pricing strategy for products and services that recognises both economic and non-economic factors
- Assess the importance of on-line branding in emarketing and compare it with traditional branding.
5. E-business application: customer relationship management
- Define the meaning and scope of customer relationship management.
- Explore different methods of acquiring customers through exploiting electronic media
- Evaluate different buyer behaviour amongst online customers
- Recommend techniques for retaining customers using electronic media
- Recommend how electronic media may be used to increase the activity and value of established, retained customers
- Discuss the scope of a representative software package solution designed to support customer relationship management
C. Project management
1. The nature of projects
- Determine the distinguishing features of projects and the constraints they operate in
- Discuss the implications of the triple constraint of scope, time and cost.
- Discuss the relationship between organisational strategy and project management
- Identify and plan to manage risks.
- Advise on the structures and information that have to be in place to successfully initiate a project
- Explain the relevance of projects to process redesign and e-business systems development.
2. Building a business case
- Describe the structure and contents of a business case document.
- Analyse, describe, assess and classify benefits of a project investment
- Analyse, describe, assess and classify the costs of a project investment
- Evaluate the costs and benefits of a business case using standard techniques
- Establish responsibility for the delivery of benefits
- Explain the role of a benefits realisation plan
3. Managing and leading projects
- Discuss the organisation and implications of project-based team structures
- Establish the role and responsibilities of the project manager and the project sponsor
- Identify and describe typical problems encountered by a project manager when leading a project.
- Advise on how these typical problems might be addressed and overcome.
4. Planning, monitoring and controlling projects
- Discuss the principles of a product breakdown structure
- Assess the importance of developing a project plan and discuss the work required to produce this plan
- Monitor the status of a project and identify project risks, issues, slippage and changes
- Formulate responses for dealing with project risks, issues, slippage and changes
- Discuss the role of benefits management and project gateways in project monitoring
5. Concluding a project
- Establish mechanisms for successfully concluding a project
- Discuss the relative meaning and benefits of a post-implementation and a post-project review
- Discuss the meaning and value of benefits realisation
- Evaluate how project management software may support the planning and monitoring of a project
- Apply 'lessons learned' to future business case validation and to capital allocation decisions
D. Financial Analysis
1. The link between strategy and finance
- Explain the relationship between strategy and finance [
- Discuss how the finance function has transformed to enabling an accountant to have a key role in the decision making process from strategy formulation and implementation to its impact on business performance
2. Finance decisions to formulate and support business strategy
- Determine the overall investment requirements of the business
- Evaluate alternative sources of finance for these investments and their associated risk
- Efficiently and effectively manage the current and non-current assets of the business from a finance and risk perspective.
3. The role of cost and management accounting in strategic planning and implementation
- Evaluate budgeting, standard costing and variance analysis in support of strategic planning and decision making
- Evaluate strategic and operational decisions taking into account risk and uncertainty. (Including using decision trees
- Evaluate the following strategic options using marginal and relevant costing techniques
- Evaluate the role and limitations of cost accounting in strategy development and implementation
4. Financial implications of making strategic choices and of implementing strategic actions
- Apply efficiency ratios to assess how efficiently an organisation uses its current resources
- Apply appropriate gearing ratios to assess the risks associated with financing and investment in the organisation
- Apply appropriate liquidity ratios to assess the organisation’s short-term commitments to creditors and employees
- Apply appropriate profitability ratios to assess the viability of chosen strategies
- Apply appropriate investment ratios to assist investors and shareholders in evaluating organisational performance and strategy.
E. People
1. Strategy and people: leadership
- Explain the role of visionary leadership and identify the key leadership traits effective in the successful formulation and implementation of strategy and change management.
- Apply and compare alternative classical and modern theories of leadership in the effective implementation of strategic objectives.
2. Strategy and people: job design
- Assess the contribution of four different approaches to job design (scientific management, job enrichment, Japanese management and re-engineering
- Explain the human resource implications of knowledge work and post-industrial job design
- Discuss the tensions and potential ethical issues related to job design.
- Advise on the relationship of job design to process re-design, project management and the harnessing of e-business opportunities
3. Strategy and people: staff development
- Discuss the emergence and scope of human resource development, succession planning and their relationship to the strategy of the organisation
- Advise and suggest different methods of establishing human resource development.
- Advise on the contribution of competency frameworks to human resource development.
- Discuss the meaning and contribution of workplace learning, the learning organisation, organisation learning and knowledge management