These slides were presented at GLPC 2017 for the new Strategic Business Leader examination. The slides will look at the new exam and the approach to teaching and learning. We will set the scene and profile the curriculum before exploring the assessment structure, professional skills and the detail of the content of each section of our new syllabus. The following is an overview of the new Qualification and structure to show where SBL fits. 1
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These slides were presented at GLPC 2017 for the new
Strategic Business Leader examination. The slides will look at
the new exam and the approach to teaching and learning.
We will set the scene and profile the curriculum before
exploring the assessment structure, professional skills and the
detail of the content of each section of our new syllabus.
The following is an overview of the new Qualification and
structure to show where SBL fits.
1
This diagram shows the ACCA Qualification and the
progressive broadening and deepening of technical and
professional knowledge and skills.
And what students learn through the Applied Knowledge and
Skills exams all feed forward into the Strategic professional
exams, particularly Strategic Business Leader.
At the highest level – Strategic Professional, the most exciting
changes are the introduction of Strategic Business Leader: an
innovative case study which integrates the technical, ethical
and professional skills required by professional accountants.
This is the focus of our session.
2
You can read the aim for yourselves, with the key features
highlighted in bold.
The aim clearly lays out what the new exam sets out to
achieve, namely to assess leadership skills through a
substantial integrated examination.
3
This diagram sets out the innovative assessment framework of
this new exam; the main capabilities and the technical content
of the syllabus:
The main technical areas are Leadership, governance, strategy,
Risk, Technology and data analytics, Organisational control,
finance and innovation and change management. These are all
vital for the professional accountants of the future. But the
Strategic Business Leader case study will also assess
candidates on their professional skills:
The ones that employers have told us are most in demand in
the accountancy sector are communication, commercial
acumen, analysis, scepticism (particularly important for
auditors) and evaluation. In the integrated case study,
candidates will be marked on both their technical ability and
their professional skills. These will be discussed in more detail
by my colleagues.
In essence the Strategic Business Leader provides for a
combination and separation of theory and synthesis ie the
range of theories taught and embedded act as a tool box for
problem solving rather than each individual theory/tool or model
4
tested in isolation. More on this later.
4
Leadership
Apply excellent leadership and ethical skills to set the ‘tone
from the top’ and
promote a positive culture within the organisation, adopting a
whole organisation
perspective in managing performance and value creation.
5
Governance
Evaluate the effectiveness of the governance and agency
system of an
organisation and recognise the responsibility of the board or
other agents
towards their stakeholders, including the organisation’s social
responsibilities
and the reporting implications.
6
Strategy
Evaluate the strategic position of the organisation against the
external
environment and the availability of internal resources, to identify
feasible
strategic options
7
Risk
Analyse the risk profile of the organisation and of any strategic
options identified,
within a culture of responsible risk management.
8
Technology and Data Analytics
Select and apply appropriate information technologies and data
analytics, to
analyse factors affecting the organisation’s value chain to
identify strategic
opportunities and implement strategic options within a
framework of robust IT
security controls.
9
Organisational Control and Audit
Evaluate management reporting and internal control and audit
systems to ensure
compliance and the achievement of organisation’s objectives
and the
safeguarding of organisational assets
10
Finance in Planning and Decision-making
Apply high level financial techniques from Skills exams in the
planning,
implementation and evaluation of strategic options and actions
11
Innovation, Performance Excellence and Change Management
Enable success through innovative thinking, applying best in
class strategies
and disruptive technologies in the management of change;
initiating, leading and
organising projects, while effectively managing talent and other
business
resources.
12
These will be explored in more depth later. In essence they
seek to…
Apply a range of Professional Skills in addressing requirements
within the Strategic Leader examination and in preparation for,
or to support, current work experience.
13
This section of the presentation is about the professional skills
covered in Strategic Business Leader and how to demonstrate
them.
It will cover the following:
A quick overview of the syllabus, focusing on Section I –
Professional Skills
General principles in demonstrating professionalism in
answering questions or carrying out tasks in Strategic Business
Leader.
A detailed breakdown of the professional skills within Section I
A Task in Specimen exam 1 and the demonstration of one of
the Professional skills, Communication, in the published
Specimen answer
14
Let’s remind ourselves of the main syllabus content and in
particular the five professional skills in the red boxes.
The Strategic Business Leader case study will not only assess
technical skills and knowledge but also professional skills.
The ones that employers have told us are most in demand in
the accountancy sector are communication, commercial
acumen, analysis, scepticism (particularly important for
auditors) and evaluation. In SBL, candidates will be marked on
both their technical ability and their professional skills.
15
We‘ll start by looking at the main features of professionalism
and how to demonstrate it.
Making an impression and showing professionalism is an
‘attitude of mind’ and an approach that should be adopted in the
planning and completing of any task set in the Strategic
Business Leader examination. Being mindful of the general
principles of professionalism can help a candidate adopt a way
of answering that can earn the professional marks available.
However any specific task will be looking for particular aspects
of professionalism, as included within the syllabus and defined
in the question requirements. Candidates should always
remember that they are carrying out a professional task that
has a particular purpose for a defined user or stakeholder, so
the way they prepare answers is important.
16
In a moment we shall discuss the main areas covered by each of the professional skills
highlighted in the syllabus for SBL. First though we will cover general skills that will be
important throughout the exam and may influence the professional skills marks that candidates
obtain under each header.
Looking at the first bullet; a wide number of weaker points could potentially earn all the
technical marks available in a part-requirement, but making the most important points and
giving more emphasis to these is a way of showing professionalism. (In the current exam
marking rubric, candidates can earn all their technical marks while at the same time missing
the most important or crucial points. Professional marking allows this skill to be additionally
recognised and the abler candidates to be more fairly rewarded).
Drawing evidence from a number of sources to make points rather than just making the
obvious points directly obtained from one source of information given in the case is another
way to demonstrate professionalism. (This is slightly different to making the most relevant or
important points. This is about making points which show a greater or deeper understanding of
the issues, through making links between information from different sources, which the less able candidate would not normally have picked up)
Professionals do not include superfluous information or erroneous or unsupported points,
which under the current exam marking structure would not affect performance, apart from
wasting exam time, as there is no negative marking. (While there will be no negative marking in
the new examination, under the new exam format, a candidate who consistently makes valid
points is rewarded additionally for demonstrating their wider credibility).
Professionally competent candidates do not needlessly repeat information or points they have
already made. They may reinforce a previous point, but this is usually made as a development
of a point rather than repetition. Avoiding repetition can help candidates gain professional
marks.
Addressing the requirements as asked is an indication of professionalism. This is certainly not
evident when candidates either make significantly more points than would be required, for the
marks available (showing poor time management), or who deliberately choose to discuss more
issues than asked for in the hope that the marker will select their best answers. This practice is
unprofessional and shows poor judgement. (This is about showing professionalism as
17
expected in the work place and commercial awareness, personal effectiveness and integrity.) .
17
Candidates can demonstrate professionalism through presenting the answer
in the way that would be expected of the person being asked to carry it out in
the workplace and having a clear stakeholder focus to the style of answer
given. (This means clearly adopting the style of media and a ‘tone’ of
communication as specified in the requirement, including headings, tables
and figures, if relevant, and presenting figures or quantitative analysis
succinctly and logically.).
Candidates should construct their answers logically, building arguments
progressively rather than using a random or ‘scattergun’ approach to
answering the question. (This is about telling a coherent and compelling
story, not only to gain communication skills marks, but can also be used as a
way of earning other professional skills marks as identified.).
Applying broader knowledge from previous exams and from wider reading,
appropriately, to strengthen arguments and make points more convincing is
a good way to demonstrate professionalism. (This requires candidates to
recall the main relevant content from the Fundamentals Applied Skills level
of the qualification and read more widely.).
Demonstrating professionalism in Strategic Business Leader is not about
linguistic eloquence or having an extensive vocabulary, or even about good
grammatical style. English, for many of our candidates, is not their first
language, so what we are looking for, more specifically, is the ability to
express points clearly, factually and concisely, in a business like manner.
18
The next five slides reproduce Section I of the syllabus, which provides detail
of the ways in which candidates can demonstrate that they have the
appropriate professional skills under each of the five headers. They also sum
up what ACCA will be looking for candidates to show. For communication it
is very much the same as is required at Professional level now. A number of
the general points that we’ve already discussed are clearly particularly
relevant to communication – presenting answers in a professional manner,
making points logically and progressively, avoiding repetition, generally
being clear, factual and concise.
ACCA is also looking for candidates to express themselves persuasively and
to show credibility in what they say and how they say it. To do this
candidates will need to understand what will motivate and interest the
audience that they are preparing material for. This means that they must
have a good understanding of what their audience will regard as important,
what concerns they need to address and the level of understanding the
audience has – both of technical issues and the current situation.
A word on formats. Candidates will be expected to produce material in a
variety of formats and will need to know good practice for each. ACCA will
be producing updated guidance. However candidates must be clear that
much more is involved in good communication than putting the right header
on a memo.
We’ll discuss communication further shortly when we look at an extract from
one of the specimen exams.
19
For commercial acumen the stress is on showing awareness of
the wider business environment. Wider reading has been
emphasised as important for a number of exams and it will be
more important for Strategic Business Leader. Judgement is
very important here, ACCA will be looking for candidates to
make recommendations that are founded on sound reasoning
and understanding of the most important implications of the
business’s external environment and internal organisation.
Commercial acumen must always also be linked in with the
context of the scenario. In Specimen 2, for example, Question
3(a) asked candidates to apply commercial acumen in
determining the contribution that a successful Chief Executive
would make, but this had to be done in the context of the
person specification described in the question.
20
At present at Professional level analysis skills are important in
identifying what data in scenarios is significant and why . For
Strategic Business Leader, candidates will be given different sources
of information and will be judged on whether they use appropriate
frameworks to assess the insights from the information they’re given.
As now on various exams, candidates will be expected to use metrics
to analyse quantitative and qualitative data. They will not only need to
use a range of metrics, but also be able to identify which are the
most important metrics and which data is most significant for the
purposes of their analysis. In Question 2 of Specimen exam 2,
candidates needed to balance their time carefully so that they were
able to discuss a number of metrics, and spend sufficient time
comparing the organisation with competitors as well as analysing its
own performance. Their analysis particularly needed to highlight
value for money as this had been an important issue in the customer
survey that had been carried out.
Just as they are required to in current exams, candidates will have to
reflect and comment on what the analysis tells them. They should do
this bearing in mind the purposes of the analysis, examples are listed
in the syllabus – establishing the reasons for problems, confirming or
undermining opinions and, in particular, using analysis as a basis for
21
recommending action.
21
Scepticism is to do with questioning – probe and challenge, the
verbs mentioned in the summary, are strong verbs, so
candidates must not accept what they’re told at face value.
They will have to ask whether the reasons for issues or
problems that they are presented with represent the whole
picture or if they require further data. Candidates need to be
able to identify weaknesses in areas such as control systems
and recommend improvements. They need to be able to
recognise whether data and opinions they are given are
supported by sufficient evidence and question the assumptions
made. This could involves probing the assumptions made in a
financial forecast, such as in Specimen Exam 1 Question 2(b),
or the basis of the comments made by an important individual,
for example the Chief Executive in Specimen Exam 2, Question
2(b).
Candidates will also have to apply several tests – professional,
ethical, organisational and public interest – to determine
whether the information they have is adequate or the decisions
that have been made are sound.
It will not be enough to say that something is questionable or a
weakness – an essential component of scepticism is to provide
22
evidence that will support the challenge being made.
22
Evaluation means firstly being able to make a balanced
assessment of the value or importance of the data provided. If
candidates are to score full professional marks for evaluation,
the evaluation must be carried out in the context required.
Specimen 2 demonstrates this well in that data must be
evaluated in the context of the rail operator being a public
sector company. Another important aspect of context is who the
important stakeholders are. In Specimen 2 customers are
particularly important and in Question 5(a) evaluation marks are
given specifically related to customer relationship management.
As with analysis, evaluation is not being carried out for its own
sake and candidates must also be able to draw from their
evaluation ideas about the financial implications and other
consequences of the situation or proposals that are being
considered. They should be able to use the evaluation as a
basis for forecasting outcomes, and then use this assessment
to support decision-making.
23
This is the title page of the first specimen exam of the two
which are now available on the microsite. Both specimen
examinations are accompanied by comprehensive solutions.
We will now look at a particular task requirement from this
Specimen examination – Q1(c)
wider 24
We shall focus here on the professional skills from Question 1c)
in Specimen 1.
The above task relates to when the consultant to DCS
Company had to prepare slides for the board of directors,
highlighting the benefits and key opportunities presented by big
data analytics.
Note that there are two professional marks to be gained by
producing slides and notes which demonstrate good
communication skills. This means, not only does the marker
look for the candidate to highlight key benefits and identify
opportunities, they are also looking at how the candidate does
this.
25
To help us here, we’ll look again at the communications section
of Section I of the syllabus
The candidate needs to be be aware of these when framing
their answers.
Remember that communication is about providing clear,
concise and objective information to those that need it, but at
the same time being persuasive and compelling in the way that
you communicate and use the information. It is also important
to express points not only in a way that the audience can
clearly understand, but explaining the benefits of complex
issues like data analytics in a way that can motivate and
interest the user – being the board of directors in this case.
26
To help further we can look at the marking grid for the professional mark
component of this question which shows what the marker would be looking for
to award the marks available and how they would discriminate between good
and poor answers as far as professional skills are concerned.
For each professional requirement there will be a set of specific criteria that
markers will use to form an opinion of what a good professional answer would
contain.
To answer this very well and gain both marks, the candidate needs to have
‘appropriately, selected and prioritised the key points about benefits to the
customer (and the business) within a logically flowing bullet list which are
supported by notes which relate closely to the points selected’. Note that
prioritisation and making points in a logical order were among the general
skills discussed earlier.
Poorer answers would either include too many or too few bullet points in the
slides, some of which are either incorrect or so minor as not to be significant,
or which do not clearly link to customer or business benefits. Another
weakness in professionalism would be to omit the most important benefits or
opportunities, meaning that the slides and their content would not be as
compelling or persuasive.
27
Let us now look at the Specimen answer and identify where these criteria
would be met.
27
This shows the first slide showing the benefits of big data
analytics. This slide identifies the most important of these in about
five key bullet points, which are succinct and clear so that there is
not too much to read on the slide to distract from the presenter
and what they will be saying. The notes themselves highlight key
benefits such as for training clients to use this data effectively.
The last part of the notes demonstrates strong persuasive
language such as ‘gaining insight into customer purchasing
patterns’ to help focus their marketing initiatives.
28
Now let’s look at the second slide that was asked for in the Task
requirement.
In this slide the further points are made and restricted to five
bullets. Again the bullet points are succinct and show clear
benefits/opportunities. These relate to development of strategy
and also provide a better basis for decision-making.
The notes accompanying this slide are shown in the next slide.
29
In these notes the professional skills have been identified and
relate to the good use of language to emphasise benefits such
as ‘transparency and accurate and timely information’ , drawing
on qualitative aspects of useful information. The use of the
terms ‘at a fraction of the costs’ and ‘large amounts of data’
help create a persuasive selling argument, comparing this
technology with alternatives. The final part of the notes
continues the persuasive language, highlighting the key
benefits of targeting specific customer needs to ‘unlock more
customer value’ .
You can see that the whole ‘tone’ and style of these notes are
appropriate to use with the board of directors of directors of
DCS Company and should impress them mainly from seeing
that the technology is not only more cost effective than
alternatives, but allows DCS customers to drive real value from
their own customers, which is a great selling point as far as
DCS is concerned.
30
All the above tips for showing professionalism in completing
tasks set in the Strategic Business Leader examination are
helpful in developing good practice. So applying these
behaviours will help with time management and with gaining
more technical and professional marks. Note as in the answer
to Q1c) in Specimen 1 above, the markers will also be using a
set of specific criteria to form an opinion of what a good
professional answer would contain in relation to the specific
professional skills requirement.
While most tutors (and markers) are used to teaching towards
and awarding technical marks, they are probably most
concerned about how to support and reward students in
demonstrating their professionalism.
31
32
This section of the presentation is to provide some guidance to
lecturers on the approach to teaching Strategic Business
Leader .
There are 4 key aspects to consider:
1. Recognising the importance of teaching the Technical
knowledge and the professional skills in a integrated way
2. How to approach Professionalism
3. Understanding the role(s) played in the examination, the
variety of contexts and the potential formats presented
4. How to prepare students for success
33
Technical
No intention of covering how to teach Technical knowledge
here.
The syllabus is clear – and must be covered thoroughly, as any
syllabus area can be covered in any exam.
It is important to stress that the syllabus is about the role of a
STRATEGIC LEADER. We will expect strategic thinking and
understanding.
Professional
The technical knowledge covered above needs to be
approached and presented within the context of a
PROFESSIONAL leader, demonstrating clear professional skills
to support this technical knowledge
Knowing the syllabus is not enough.
That knowledge must be framed, presented and demonstrated
using a range of professional skills/ competences.
These will be integrated together within each question
34
Knowledge demonstration is currently awarded some marks
It could be in Strategic Business Leader, if it is appropriate in
the context of what is being asked as a professional.
For example, students may be asked to communicate
something effectively which may require the explanation of a
concept.
However, in other cases, depending on what is being asked and
by who and for what purpose, then this may not be required
and would show poor professional skills to do so. Students
need to understand and discriminate.
PROFESSIONALISM
About understanding the role being played and the skill required
for each question asked
Therefore technical skills need to be taught in the context of
how to answer a question on any particular syllabus area with
professionalism, by understanding clearly what the professional
competences are.
A sound answer must be technically correct and show sound
professional skills.
35
It will be very important for candidates to clearly understanding
the key requirements of the 5 professional skills in the syllabus.
These were covered in the previous section of this
presentation.
Students need to practice these as much as possible before the
exam.
Attempt to look at practice questions from a range of
professional skills i.e how could they be tested professionally
Integration whilst learning the technical knowledge must be
done
36
Specimen 2 – a quick overview of the variety of ways in which
professional skills can be examined
37
Key areas for students to focus on to enable them to be more
professional in their answers:
Clear / correct/ concise/ convincing/ credible – all important in
all professional skills
38
Role
The candidates will always play a role so it is important to get
them used to this in the classroom.
Old style essay answers no longer appropriate – they must take
on the role and practice answering questions like this
As part of the role students must understand why the task is
being asked this will likely drive the professionalism skill tested
Also – by who? Again, really important as it will likely drive the