The Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) on Monday organised an open forum on "SWOT Analysis of Cost and Management Accountants."
Muhammad Azam Khan Shad, FCMA, Honorary Treasurer of ICMAP, Mirza Munawar Hussain, FCMA, Member National Council, Shahzad Ahmad Awan, ACMA Chairman, Lahore Branch Council of ICMAP, Zia Mustafa Awan, ACMA Secretary, Lahore Branch Council and Waheed Hasan Siddiqui, FCMA, Director Central Region were present on the occasion.
The speakers were unanimous in their views that SWOT analysis is a powerful technique for understanding the strengths and weaknesses, and for looking at the opportunities and threats.
The purpose of SWOT analysis is to build and highlight the strengths of Cost & Management Accountants and to correct their weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of potential opportunities while formulating a plan to deal with potential threats. Therefore, it's a wonderful idea to perform a SWOT analysis on the occasions especially when one is doing strategic planning, contemplating a change in direction or formulating new strategies.
They discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the Cost and Management Accountants (C&MAs). They also said that C&MAs are the members of sole body of Cost and Management Accountants in Pakistan. The C&MAs have specialised knowledge of Cost Accounting & Management Accounting and distinctive expertise in Risk Management & Decision-Making. They have a large representation in public and private sector and have procession of infrastructure in major cities of the country. They are feeble communicators and lack in presentation skills and practical exposure. They are weak in research & publication and need backup support in technical areas, the speakers said.
They said that the cost and management accountants should have sole cost audit rights and strategic alliance should be enhanced with the international management accounting bodies.