Pointers on Exam/Assignments

POINTERS ON “OPEN-BOOK” EXAMS OF THE ICMA

Students must wait for at least one month after the end of the programme prior to sitting for their examinations. This is because ICMA expects students to take one month to fully digest the content of the programme along with the readings, etc., while preparing for their exams. This one month is the equivalent of the university ‘study period’ prior to the student’s final assessment.

As ICMA exams are OPEN BOOK exams, marks in the theory questions are not given for those who copy everything in the notes!

Most questions have a “quote” on which the student is asked to comment in their own words. Unfortunately, many students used to the closed-book style of exams completely ignore the “quote” and simply copy everything relating to the topic in the time given. This will result in an automatic FAIL.

Memorising and regurgitating knowledge is often the norm for ‘closed-book’ exams, but not for open-book exams in which integrated understanding of the wider issues is expected.

Points to Note:

The ICMA expects students to:

Answer the question as relevant to the “quote” they have been asked to comment on.
Use their own words.
Use their own examples from practice, if relevant.
Show that they are familiar with the readings for each topic.
Examiners like ‘quality,’ not ‘quantity’. Usually, a well-thought-out answer would be approximately 2 pages of average handwriting that answers to the point.

POINTERS ON ASSIGNMENTS OF THE ICMA

ICMA Assignments are related to students’ current or previous places of work. Students must follow the requirements of the assignment and cannot resubmit previously assessed work or another person’s work or submit plagiarised work.

Students are asked to describe the implementation of a technique they covered in one or more of the topics of the CMA programme or discuss the applicability of (and a possible role they can play in introducing) some of these key tools and techniques in bringing about organisational change. This latter alternative discussion is future-oriented and does not require any sensitive past information.

There are plenty of areas in any organisation that can be used, such as Benchmarking, Balanced Scorecard, ESG, SWOT, Ansoff, Strategic Audit, etc., that do not require sensitive financial information.

Students must wait for one month after the end of the programme prior to submitting their assignment. This is because ICMA expects students to take one month to fully digest the content of the programme along with the readings, etc., while working on their assignment. This one month is the equivalent of the university ‘study period’ prior to the student’s final assessment. Assignments must be submitted within 3-months of completion of CMA program. [Students can apply for extension of this time by providing valid reasons to ICMA appointed representatives].

Points to Note:

The assignment topic is to discuss the relevancy of one or more of the areas studied in your programme and the application of such in the company the student currently works for.
The assignment must be the student’s own work.
The assignment must be about the company the student currently works for.
The assignment must be ‘original’ work that is done for the CMA assignment exclusively. Students cannot take a company report or an assignment done for other studies (e.g., like an MBA report) and rehash it as their CMA assignment.
A student cannot use a consultancy project, audit client, invested company, etc., in which he/she has worked on a part-time basis (see reasons below).
Students must clearly state (at the start of the assignment) that they currently work (or have previously worked) in the organisation that is the focus of the assignment and what their current position is.
A student must provide a current CV showing the current organisation they work for. If using a previous company or a company in which a consultancy was carried out, this must show on the CV. The CV must show educational achievements.
If the student uses a fictitious company name, they must submit a separate document (to their assignment report) as to what the actual name of the company is and the student’s relationship to it.
Students are discouraged from using templates developed by instructors, past students, or professional firms, as these will breach the plagiarism rules. The assignments must be strictly the student’s own work.
Any detailed or confidential information must be averaged or modified in order to remove sensitivity.
Students are not permitted to use AI Platforms (like ChatGPT) and Search Engines (such as Google) and Text editing software (such as Grammarly). All references must be only from material covered in the Course Modules and Case Studies provided by ICMA to participants. These rules will be strictly enforced, and students will automatically fail if they are breached.
Students must limit the assignment to 3,000 words, including bibliography, notes, figures, tables, etc.

Plagiarism

With the advent of the Internet and Google, plagiarism in assignments has become a serious issue. Any one of the following is considered plagiarism:

Turning in someone else’s work as your own.
Using templates developed by instructors, past students, or professional firms.
Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit.
Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks.
Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation.
Not referencing when AI platforms (e.g., ChatGPT) have been used.
Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit.
Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not.

Therefore, even though a student enumerates ALL the sources used in the Reference section of the paper, he/she would plagiarise as per points (3) and (6).

Those found to plagiarise will be banned from resubmitting their assignment for 2 years and will not be given any form of membership in the ICMA.

Reasons why students cannot take a company report or an assignment done for other studies as their CMA assignment.

With the advent of the Internet and Google, plagiarism in assignments has become a serious issue. Any one of the following is considered plagiarism:

ICMA examiners have no way of verifying the existence of the company or the nature of the work done for the client, project, etc. (no website, references, etc.).
Unfortunately, in the past, students have downloaded a case from the internet, changed the name, and submitted it as their invested company (or consultancy project, or audit client, etc.). See plagiarism rules below.
This practice could get worse, as such assignments can be written by AI.
As a result, all such assignments (on invested companies, consultancy projects, audit clients, etc.) are no longer accepted as an assignment.
A student can also use a regular company or organisation he/she has worked for in the past.
If a student has never held a job or has never worked before, then they could not be CMAs, as 5 years’ experience is required.
If a student is working in a regular company or organisation (even if part-time), that company must be used for the assignment (as it can be verified).
The student does not have to use sensitive information, as the assignments allow for student “recommendations” of what the company/organisation can implement relating to SWOT and Gap Analysis, Industry and Competitive Analysis, Balanced Scorecard, etc.

FAQs on Assignments

1. Regarding the submission process, should I email my completed assignment directly to you, or is there a specific submission portal I should use?

Yes, your assignment as a Word document and your CV as a PDF should be emailed to your course coordinator.

2. Could you please confirm my specific deadline based on my programme completion date?

It is one month after the completion of the CMA programmeme and a maximum of Three Months from the date of completion of the programme attended.

3. What level of detail is expected in the CV that must accompany my submission?

A student must provide a current CV showing the current organisation they work for. If using a previous company or a company in which a consultancy was carried out, this must show on the CV. The CV must show educational achievements.

4. If my organisation has confidentiality policies, what is your recommended approach for handling sensitive information while still providing meaningful analysis?

You can use a fictitious company name. If the student uses a fictitious company name, they must submit a separate document (to their assignment report) as to what the actual name of the company is and the student’s relationship to it.

Any detailed or confidential information must be averaged or modified in order to remove sensitivity.

5. What is your process for verifying my employment with the company I’ll be analysing?

Employment is verified via various sources if there is concern as to its veracity.

6. Could you clarify the procedure for requesting an extension in case of exceptional circumstances?

Please email your course coordinator in the first instance with any issues.

7. When and how will feedback be provided on the assignment?

No feedback is provided in professional body assignments. You will get a grade at the end of the marking process, without any explanation or reason given.

The assignments must be strictly the student’s own work. If students are found to be using templates developed by instructors, past students, or professional firms, as these will breach the plagiarism rules, they will be graded as a fail.

With more and more students using AI platforms, referencing and plagiarism rules given in the assignment guidelines will be strictly enforced, with students automatically failing if these are breached.

9. Do you use specific tools to detect AI-generated content, and are there any additional guidelines beyond those mentioned in the document regarding AI usage?

Yes, ICMA(ANZ) is certifying the person (and not the AI platform) as a Certified Management Accountant.

Students are not permitted to use AI Platforms (like Chat GPT) and Search Engines (such as Google), and Text editing software (such as Grammarly). All references must be only from material covered in the Course Modules and Case Studies provided by ICMA to participants. These rules will be strictly enforced, with students automatically failing if these are breached.

As such, specific tools are used to detect AI-generated content, so it’s best that you strictly adhere to the referencing and plagiarism rules given in the assignment guidelines.

Note that the assignment topic clearly requires a discussion of how (1) The tools and techniques that were covered in the Strategic Cost Management and the Strategic Business Analysis courses are (2) very useful in providing decision-oriented information to senior management and (3) will ultimately enhance its corporate value.

None of the above 3 discussion issues requires additional research using Google, AI etc., beyond the information available in the Course Modules.

The bottom line is that to do the assignment additional theoretical research is not required to complete the assignment.