CMA webinar on ‘Finance leadership during crisis’

• Prof. Paul Mather from LaTrobe University Australia to share key insights

Prof. Paul Mather

The Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA) will conduct a webinar on ‘Finance leadership during a crisis’ on Wednesday 3 March from 11 a.m. to 12 noon via online Zoom platform. 

The resource person will be Professor Paul Mather Advisory Council Member CMA Sri Lanka, Adjunct Professor at La Trobe Business School at La Trobe University in Melbourne and previously Head of La Trobe Business School and Professor of Accounting and Corporate Governance. Prior to joining the school, he was an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, Melbourne and has received a number of awards and commendations for teaching excellence over the years. Paul’s current research interests are in corporate governance and boards. He has won several best paper awards and continues to publish papers in highly ranked international refereed journals. He has a MA in Accounting and Finance (awarded with Distinction), University of Lancaster; PhD in Accounting and Finance, Monash University; FCA (England and Wales); FCPA; GAICD.

This presentation addresses in a crisis such as COVID-19 has simultaneous impacts on organisations. A shock of this scale is likely to result in quantum shift changes to the post-crisis economic and business landscape that will create major changes in the preferences of consumers and all stakeholders including, but not limited to, how they use technology. Strong financial leadership is needed to help organisations reinvent themselves to survive and capitalize on new opportunities that arise. 

This needs to be over three horizons: respond, where an organisation addresses immediate operational continuity; recover, during which it recalibrates and pivots when feasible; and reimagine, where it explores new opportunities and shapes the next normal. Accountants are integral in each phase given their multiple functions in financial control, risk management, strategic planning, scenario analysis and as business partners.

The webinar will conclude with a question-and-answer session where participants will also have an opportunity to discuss practical applications and obtain clarifications via chat option. 

Those who wish to attend are requested to send an e-mail to: [email protected].

CMA Sri Lanka was established in 1999 with the technical support of CMA Canada (now CPA Canada) and the financial assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) by its Founder Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala. 

The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) of Sri Lanka was thereafter incorporated in April 2009 as the National Professional Management Accounting Institution in Sri Lanka by Act of Parliament No. 23 of 2009 under the Ministry of Internal Trade and Cooperatives and then Industry and Commerce and now under Ministry of Finance. CMA Sri Lanka is member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) the global body for the accounting profession, South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) the regional body for the South Asian Region and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) the accounting body for the Asian and Pacific region.