CMA Annual Conference 2013
 

Concurrent session topics

GENERAL LEADERSHIP STREAM:

  • The Risk Scorecard: A Critical Tool for Executives and Boards
  • Become a Master Negotiator
  • Evidenced-Based Decision Making: Guidelines for Better Results

 

ACCOUNTING/ FINANCE STREAM:

  • Part One: The Act of Raising Capital: Best Practices, Tips, and Guidelines for Corporate Financing
  • Part Two: Tax From a Strategy Point of View: What You Need to Know for Smart Planning
  • Your First 100 Days as CFO: Best Practices, Tips, and Common Mistakes 




Concurrent Session A
The Risk Scorecard: A Critical Tool for Executives and Boards

Strategy drives risk — as you focus on strategic priorities you create additional risks in those areas, and reduce the risk in the other areas.  This linkage between strategy and risk lead the CPA and the AICPA to ask Brett Knowles, the CPA Competency Leader for Performance Measurement and Performance Management, to create a Risk Scorecard that links best practices in Strategy, Risk and Measurement to create a predictive tool around the occurrence of risk.  This methodology has now been implemented in many organizations and a remarkable but unintended benefit has occurred – almost instant alignment between the Board and Executives around risk management, mitigation activities and go-forward strategies.

This session is a “must see” for any Executives or Board members who have been searching for a fast and effective way to take ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) to a new level – whether your organization has 100 people or 10,000.

Brett Knowles, MBA, CMC

Over the last 25 years, Brett has established a global reputation for his work in the performance measurement and management area. Brett has worked as VP alongside authors Kaplan and Norton at the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative.

Brett’s work with clients has been profiled in Harvard Business Review and
leading performance measurement books. Brett and his organization have completed over 2,000 engagements around the world. His clients have included Citi Bank, Bank of America, TD Waterhouse, State Farm, CIBC Mellon Bank, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Sun Life, Meridian Credit Union, and Merrill Lynch.

Brett is a globally recognized speaker, moderating and presenting at over 20 conferences a year. He produces over 50 papers and webinars each year, and he is an instructor in the CMA Strategic Leadership Program.




Concurrent Session B
Part One: The Act of Raising Capital: Best Practices, Tips, and Guidelines for Corporate Financing

Coming soon!


Kevin Fraser, CA, CFA

Kevin is a partner in advisory services within the Nova Scotia Business Unit and is based in Halifax. He specializes in the area of corporate finance with a specific focus on financing and transaction advisory services, financial and operational due diligence and financial modeling support. Kevin plays a lead role with the firm's Atlantic Canadian mergers and acquisition practice, and has significant experience in areas such as investment analysis, financial modeling, balance sheet restructuring, business case development, negotiation support and financing analysis.




Concurrent Session C
Become a Master Negotiator

Whether negotiating a multi-million dollar contract, terms with a new supplier, a raise with the boss, more vacation time or your child’s allowance, everyone makes deals and forms partnerships on a daily basis. Master Negotiators come to the table incredibly well prepared while their less masterful counterparts come to the table overly confident and under-prepared. This will help you come to the table as well prepared and confident as possible. It will become one of your most important tools in business and in life.

Dr. Brad McRae

Brad is the Director of the Atlantic Leadership Development Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a keynote presenter, consultant, and best-selling author and was trained in negotiating skills at the Project on Negotiation at Harvard University and leadership at the Harvard Business School's Leadership Best Practices Program and the Kennedy School program on the Art and Practice of Leadership Development.




Concurrent Session D

Part Two: Tax From a Strategy Point of View: What You Need to Know for Smart Planning

Coming soon!

Heath Moore, CA

Heath is a partner at the Halifax office of grant Thornton LLP, having joined the firm in 1996. Heath is an income tax specialist with extensive experience dealing with corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning and general corporate tax planning. Heath leads the firm's successions and estate planning group for Nova Scotia and is a member of the firm's national Succession and Estate Planning leadership group. He has assisted clients with a wide range of business and tax issues including expansion and strategic planning, leadership succession, restructuring and divestiture planning.




Concurrent Session E
Evidenced-Based Decision Making: Guidelines for Better Results

Leading management scholars at Stanford University, Jeffrey Pheffer and Robert Sutton, claim that “if doctors practiced medicine the way many companies practice management, there would be far more sick and dead patients and many more doctors would be in jail”.

Given the busy nature of many of our workplaces, managers and practitioners are faced with making decisions with very little time. As a result, they are often heavily influenced by and over rely on habits, fads, convention, and guesswork when making decisions. The concern is that managers and practitioners are currently making their decisions without paying sufficient attention (or any attention) to formal research findings or their own local experimentation on the issues they face. Instead, managers often rely excessively on their own experience, which is usually limited to the context of only one or two organizations, and on truisms that are not supported by the evaluated research evidence.

Jean Kimpton, MBA, CMA

With over 20 years of experience in both the private and public sector, Jean Kimpton brings extensive management, accounting and strategic leadership to the Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning  in her current role as Controller.  As Controller, Jean is responsible for the financial management of over $ 150 M budget and acts as a senior representative of the Department providing advice and guidance in relation to financial and strategic matters.   In addition Jean is responsible for collaborating with federal and provincial counter-parts to foster relationships and develop efficiencies between and within government.

Jean holds a CMA designation as well as an MBA from the University of Prince Edward Island and is actively involved in both organizations.   She is currently President of CMA PEI and has held various council positions over the past number of years as well as being a mentor to many CMA students.   She is also a member of Financial Executives International Canada and the Financial Management Institute.  Jean also shares her knowledge and experience as a sessional instructor in the field of Accounting and Corporate Finance for the University of Prince Edward Island, School of Business, and brings real life practical experience to the classroom with an evidence based approach.




Concurrent Session F
Your First 100 Days as CFO: Best Practices, Tips, and Common Mistakes

Blair Cook will help participants to understand the competencies of the modern CFO, build a team that delivers, set a finance management strategic plan, and implement the plan while adding value at every stage.

Blair Cook, CA, CPA, MBA

Blair Cook, CA, CPA, MBA serves as a corporate director for a number of Canadian publicly listed companies including: Clarke Inc., Royal Host Inc. and Terravest Capital.  As founder of the FinanceLearningAcademy.com, he also designs, develops, and delivers innovative blended learning development programs for financial professionals working in the fields of finance, accounting, and auditing.  He is currently working on a project for CPA Canada to design the new professional certification program.  In addition, he continues to be a regular instructor at St. Mary’s University and the Atlantic School of Chartered Accountancy. In recent years, he has fulfilled the CFO role in a number of privately held and publicly traded entities.