A financial strategy forms a key part of an organisation’s overarching strategic plan which details acceptable sources of raising funds and states where these funds should be spent or invested to maximise the wealth of its shareholders and satisfy other stakeholders. It encompasses issues such as mergers and acquisitions, divestments, declaring dividends and valuing entities etc. As it relates to a crucial aspect of an organisation, i.e. its finance, it is important that top management prioritises its efforts to ensure it is fit for purpose and can enable the organisation to achieve its objectives.

In this module you will develop the competencies and skills needed to formulate and implement a financial strategy which can support the overall business strategy of an entity. You will appraise the merits of alternative sources of finance for an organisation and propose an ideal finance mix. You will also evaluate the merits of potential investment opportunities for which you will be required to valuate corporate entities for mergers, acquisitions and divestments.

This module will also offer additional reading material with optional activities for students who aspire to sit CIMA’s F3 exam. These optional activities will also be available to those students who wish to widen their knowledge on Financial Strategy, in which case the module tutor will do a skills diagnostic based on the individual student’s formative activities prior to recommending these optional activities.

Please note the optional activities are intended to support you for your CIMA exam but will not lead to an exemption from it. In case you wish to attempt CIMA’s F3 it will be your responsibility to confirm eligibility and to enrol yourself with CIMA.

The module will seek to equip students with the necessary skills to prepare, design and carry out complex business research projects using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods.

The nature of the independent study will vary from student to student and from programme to programme. The study could take the form of a critical case study or a dissertation on a subject of the student’s choice, with the supervision of a member of staff. The content will include an elaboration of the background factors involved in the situation, an evaluation of the relevant theories and concepts from the programme pathway, and a critical analysis of the subject selected.

This module will cover the following:

Introducing business research
Developing research skills
Understanding research philosophy
Understanding research ethics
Reviewing the literature
Understanding research methodology and design
Developing a research proposal
Understanding research methods, populations and sampling
Using secondary data and archival sources
Using observation
Using interviews and focus groups
Using questionnaires and scales
Managing data and introducing data analysis
Analysing quantitative data
Analysing qualitative data
Drawing conclusions and presenting research

Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module

Research design

Primary and secondary data collection techniques

Quantitative data gathering and analysis, eg normal distribution, confidence interval, parametric and non-parametric tests, correlation and regression, variance analysis, sample size

Qualitative data gathering and analysis, eg observation, interviews, focus group research, open questionnaires and surveys, documentary analysis, case studies

Contextualising qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods

Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative, quantitative and mixed methods

Data presentation methods

Ethical issues in research

Theoretical principles of using mixed methods

Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module

Types of risks facing an organisation

Response to risk

Information needed by different decision makers and how this impacts their risk perception

Use of management accounting principles and techniques and internal control systems to mitigate risks

Auditing internal control systems

Ethical issues facing an organisation and ethical impacts of risk

Financial risks facing an organisation and using ratio analysis to identify these financial risks

Limitations of tools of management accounting to mitigate risk

Alternative risks management tools

Investment appraisal and risks associated with capital budgeting

Sensitivity analysis, risk and uncertainty

Contemporary themes in risk management

The following content contains optional activities with formative/automated feedback for students aspiring to sit the CIMA’s P3 exam:

Quantification of risk exposure

Risk map exposures

Assurance mapping

Appropriate measures for strategic control and direction

Solutions to risk of dysfunctional behaviour

CIMA’s code of ethics

Financial risks associated with international operations and debt finance

Conflicts from capital investment decisions

Project post implementation

Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module

Tools of strategic analysis

Influence of key external factors on an organisations strategy

Ethical issues arising from the organisations interaction with the environment

Process, tools and techniques used by management accountants for strategy formulation and making strategic choices

Evaluate tools and methods to implement a change programme

Recommending change leadership process in support of strategic implementation

Tools and techniques of strategic implementation

Information system requirements for successful strategic implementation

Strategic impact of IT and IS on an organisation

Contemporary themes in strategic management

*The following content contains optional activities with formative/automated feedback for students aspiring to sit the CIMA’s E3 exam:

Drivers of external demand for environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility

Building and managing strategic relationship with stakeholders

Responsibility of directors in strategy formulation and implementation

Manage product portfolio

Value chain

Impact of organisational change

Leadership styles for organisational change

Strategic performance management