Lecturer aces CIMA Strategic Case Study Examination

Wan (right) receiving the award from CIMA President Steven Swientozielskyj FCMA CGMA

Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) Department of Finance lecturer Wan Pui Yee received the Prize Winner 2018 award of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Strategic Case Study Examination during the CIMA Centenary Gala Dinner 2019 held at St. Regis Kuala Lumpur on 27 April 2019.

With four windows per year in the months of February, May, August and November, the case study exam examines the candidates’ understanding of their role in a virtual business role-play scenario. The candidates will have to produce answers which demonstrate their knowledge and also apply skills from across the syllabus learnt prior to the exam. Wan had the highest score among all the candidates in year 2018 in Malaysia.

To Wan, being the country’s top scorer was totally unexpected. “All I did was telling myself to try my very best in the exam and to complete the necessary steps for the CIMA Professional Qualification. It really never crossed my mind to be the top scorer of the exam,” said the lecturer, who is also a UTAR alumna.

With approximately six weeks to prepare for the exam, Wan had to make sure that she fully utilises the remaining weeks in order to sit the exam with confidence. Besides attending an eight-day intensive revision class by CIMA and learning from an online learning platform throughout the six weeks, Wan also disciplined herself to carry out her self-revision routine daily until the exam date.

“With only three hours to answer all the questions, one must have effective planning and answering skills on top of proper time management,” she explained, adding that candidates must be able to link the knowledge from the fundamental papers such as E3 (Entreprise Strategy), P3 (Performance Strategy), and F3 (Financial Strategy) to the case study. A firm believer of the maxim "practice makes perfect", the Accounting alumna completed all the mock exam papers retrieved from the online platform and handed out during the intensive classes in order to boost her confidence as well as to acclimatise to the types of questions.

“This recognition adds value to my qualification as a professional certificate holder. And by taking the CIMA strategic case study exam, I acquired plenty of knowledge and ideas on practical strategic issues, especially in the finance field. These will certainly be very helpful in conducting my lectures and sharing the knowledge with the students,” Wan remarked.

Also a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) graduate of UTAR, the Finance lecturer attributed the success to the alma mater for the quality education she had been receiving as an Accounting undergraduate and then as a postgraduate student. “UTAR’s Accounting programme had provided me with the comprehensive knowledge and skills, be it in accounting, finance, business or economics. I believe they have been essential in helping me to cope with the intense preparations for the CIMA Strategic Case Study exam,” remarked Wan, stating that the MPhil programme improved her critical thinking and writing skills, both of which are equally essential at carrying out work as well as at attempting the professional exams.

Besides thanking her family for the moral support, Wan also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the instructor of the intensive revision class Cheah Ai Ling as well as online instructor Channa Gunawardana and team for the guidance and motivation.

Offering her advice to UTARians interested in sitting the exam in the future, Wan said one must have good fundamental knowledge in accounting and finance, both of which are readily available from UTAR’s programmes of such fields. “Always have a good understanding of the case study given and then answer strategically by applying the answering skills you had honed and perfected. Therefore, make sure you train yourself well and do lots of practice using the mock exam papers,” she advised, and reminded that discipline, determination and commitment are keys to accomplish such feat.

Earlier this year, Wan and some UTAR Accounting alumni also passed the final exam of the CIMA A-Star Programme. Wan was also awarded the “High Achiever Award” during the CIMA A-Star Programme Award Ceremony.

A jubilant Wan (left) with her case study exam mentor Cheah

Wan in an all-smiles mood after receiving the award