08 October 2008
London, October 9 2008
CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) has today launched a short course on business management based on new computer technology.
Following trials by developer Metapraxis, CIMA's Business Flight Simulation Certificate uses the visual technology that powers aircraft flight simulators to deliver a fundamental understanding of how business works within a matter of weeks, giving users an immediate understanding of financial cause and effect.
Developed via a joint partnership between CIMA, Metapraxis and the British Computer Society (BCS), the
Business Flight Simulation Certificate is a tool for corporations to educate their employees on the financial and business goals of their organisations, which can help improve overall performance.
Users create a 'company' from scratch and if it goes bankrupt, they are able to quickly start again in about 10 minutes. The simulator runs on the internet and can be applied to retailing, manufacturing, banking, insurance, property and other business sectors.
The Business Flight Simulation Certificate course material is accessed over the internet and delivered in-house by accredited trainers in two carefully designed modules. The Certificate is issued after participants pass an assessment at the end of the course. Both modules are supported by a series of interactive simulation models for use during the team training sessions and during self-study.
The Certificate is initially being launched as a programme delivered via training courses at employers' offices and at accredited training organisations.
The BCS has been involved in the development and testing of this new certificate and recommends it to its members as a fast-track method for non-financial staff of coming to grips with financial fundamentals.
Senior Executive Workshop sessions are available to company directors so they can assess the value the Business Flight Simulation Certificate can have on their business. The software can also be customised to reflect the financial structure of an existing business, enabling everyone involved to see what drives their company's bottom line.
Speaking at the launch of the Business Flight Simulation Certificate today, Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA said:
'The current credit crunch is providing stark evidence of the importance of understanding the fundamental financial aspects of business. The Business Flight Simulator is an ideal way for businesses to go back to basics and test their business model in a safe environment ' enabling them to act on their strengths and address their weaknesses. The course is also a great way for non-finance people to gain a better understanding of the finance function in their own organisations. Young people looking at starting careers in finance will find the Business Flight Simulator very useful in determining if they have the financial acumen to cut it in the world of finance and business.'
David Clarke, CEO of the BCS said:
'The CIMA Business Flight Simulation Certificate is a natural fit with the BCS, which has a proven record of devising high quality, business-focused IT standards and qualifications. This certificate will benefit those of our 65,000-plus members who want or need to quickly learn the language of business in a format that is easily accessible. Members will be able to obtain special terms for the certificate through the website.'
Robert Bittlestone, Chairman of Metapraxis said:
'The Business Flight Simulator makes learning about finance really enjoyable, and it also helps users to understand the behaviour of companies or banks that declare inflated profits which are not backed up by positive cash flows - one of the underlying causes of today's financial problems. Senior Executive Workshop sessions are also provided for the top management team, so that everyone from the Boardroom to the shop-floor can benefit from this new approach.'
For further details and course booking information, refer to the website http://www.amplifying-intuition.com/ or
see the announcements at the CIMA, BCS and Metapraxis websites (http://www.cimaglobal.com/, http://www.bcs.org/,
http://www.metapraxis.com/).
ENDS
Press enquiries:
Anne Stephenson, anne.stephenson@metapraxis.com, 020 8541 2743
Annette Heninger, annette.heninger@cimaglobal.com, 020 8849 2427
Sarah Chidgey, sarah.chidgey@hq.bcs.org.uk, 01793 417637
Notes to editors
CIMA (www.cimaglobal.com)
CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) is the only international accountancy body with a sole focus on business. It is a world-leading professional institute that offers an internationally recognised qualification in management accountancy, focusing on accounting in business, in both the private and public sectors. It is the voice of 164,000 students and members in 161 countries.
BCS (www.bcs.org)
Established in 1957, the British Computer Society (BCS) is the leading body for those working in IT. With a world-wide membership now over 60,000 members in over 100 countries, BCS is the qualifying body for Chartered IT Professionals (CITP).
Metapraxis (www.metapraxis.com)
Metapraxis is a consultancy and software group specialising in Directors' Early Warnings and Business Performance Visualisation for multinational clients. The company has advised the CEOs, CFOs and other decision-makers of over 250 multinational enterprises on how best to define, diagnose, predict and present Board-level management information.
Charles Tilley joined CIMA as chief executive in 2001. A former London partner of KPMG and Finance Director of the Hambros Banking Group, Charles has overall responsibility for developing and implementing CIMA's strategy and leads its management team. He is regularly involved in the issues affecting the global accounting profession and takes an active role in CIMA's Thought Leadership programme.
David Clarke joined the BCS as Chief Executive in May 2002. He has spent nearly thirty years involved with IT systems, firstly in the supply side and then from 1995 to 2002 as Chief Executive in the Virgin group of companies, and then Trinity Mirror plc, both companies being highly reliant on the use of IT-based systems for their success. Prior to joining Virgin, David spent the previous eighteen years in increasingly senior UK, European and Global roles with three global technology companies, Hewlett Packard, Digital Equipment Corporation and Compaq Computers. His final role there was European Marketing VP of Compaq.
Robert Bittlestone founded Metapraxis in 1979. The author of many business articles and columns for management publications, Robert holds an MA in Economics from Christ's College, Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). He is also well-known amongst classicists and ancient historians for the announcement in September 2005 of new and compelling evidence in support of the location of the island of ancient Ithaca described in Homer's Odyssey, documented at www.odysseus-unbound.org
Technology
The Business Flight Simulator has been developed by software engineers from Metapraxis Ltd based on a set of financial principles set out by Robert Bittlestone in the 'Amplifying Intuition - The Hidden Art of Management' series of booklets. The Business Flight Simulator has been implemented via a set of design modules based on the Adobe Flash® programming language. Customised versions of the Business Flight Simulator can rapidly be developed by Metapraxis for different applications and a Software Development Kit for application builders is also planned for future release. The Business Flight Simulator is the subject of a patent application with serial no. US 11/963,302.
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