Introduction
The annual CIMA thought leadership update aims to increase awareness on the practical application of management accounting principles and is circulated to CIMA members in the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa region. ‘Managing innovation for sustainable growth’ is appropriate from a regional perspective as the need for innovation in business is increasingly becoming vital in the context of increasing local and global competition, complexity of demand and escalating costs of production.
Businesses will have optimise value generation extracted through investments and cost of production by innovative strategies, mindsets, and processes to remain competitive. Optimising use of existing technology and anticipating changes in use of technology exploiting global business opportunities is critical and will pave the way for developing the corporate innovation agenda.
The CGMA report related to this theme clearly articulates the importance of the management accountant’s role in strategising and implementing innovation. From influencing innovative thinking as the starting point of positive change, to taking a balanced view of risk when driving innovation, management accounting is increasingly becoming vital for the ‘right innovation’ to take place.
This edition of the thought leadership update features article contributors from Pakistan and Sri Lanka covering a range of important facets of innovation such as financing, business models and sustainability. This signifies the need for innovation in all aspects of business and how everyone in an organisation must contribute towards organisational, industrial and national growth in a sustainable manner.
Dharshan Cooray ACMA, CGMA
Manager – Member Development & Thought Leadership
Request your hard copy of the thought leadership update by contacting us on [email protected]
InfoMate innovates: a case study in innovative solutions for shared services
Jehan Perinpanayagam ACMA, CGMA
Chief Executive Officer – InfoMate Private Limited
‘This case study provides an overview of innovative solutions deployed by InfoMate, entailing a mixture of IT solutions, process improvements, automation, new recruitment and business models.’
Integrated finance: a sustainable, innovative working model
Faheem Aslam ACMA, CGMA
Assistant Manager, Management Audits – Bank Alfalah Limited, Pakistan
‘The finance function holds the canvas to imagine and draw the organisational picture more accurately, deriving additional demand for finance to be involved in the sustainability thrust.’
The need for sustainable innovation in business
Ravi Fernando FCIM
Operations Director – Malaysia Blue Ocean Strategy Institute
‘Unlike at any time in history, the planet is faced with a crisis of unimaginable proportions which the world’s leaders have intentionally rejected and ignored.’
Creation of success through innovation: an outlook from the insurance industry
Shantha Jayakody FCMA, CGMA
Head of Operation Control – Orient Insurance Ltd
‘Chief finance officers and management accountants are well placed, not only as facilitators but to actively get involved in the process of innovation. There are ample lessons to learn from the recent past to sharpen their skills, to identifying risks and come up with innovative solutions to manage them within their own organisations.’
Innovating the role of finance through microfinance
Maria Alam ACMA, CGMA, CPA (Australia)
Relationship Manager (Assets), Islamic Banking – Habib Bank Ltd
‘The active role of finance in innovative microfinance models cannot be emphasized enough. Innovative cultures are a result of open minded finance functions. Encouraging and investing in innovation requires a different way of thinking and a rethinking of standard practices.’
Managing innovation – harnessing the power of finance
Gillian Lees
Head of Governance and Risk, CIMA UK
‘The impact of new technology and the integration of emerging markets into the global economy means that established businesses face competitive threats from both new entrants and traditional rivals. To respond effectively, they need to embrace change in all aspects of their business; in short, they must innovate.’
How cloud based software solutions drive innovative performance management
Srinivasan Sanker
Global Transformation Head – BPO Connect Australia and Director – BPO Connect India Pvt Ltd
Beenu Nishani Dewasurendra
Finance Executive – BPO Connect
‘Cloud computing gives you the ability to make better relationships with customers in different countries in order to gain competitive edge over your rivals.’
Read the original article on: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Email/Markets/Sri-Lanka/56827/
