CMGA - how much work?

Anonymous asked:

I  am an MBA, and have over four and a half years of experience. I am planning to do CMGA. I would like to know how many hours of preparation time, on average, are required for CMGA.

Well, that's a very good question. The answer has to be, as you probably guessed, "it depends". Let me explain...

CMGA, while it's only one exam, covers three papers from the syllabus - E2, F2 and P2. This means that, assuming you have not covered any of the material from these three before, CMGA requires three times as much study as any 'normal' CIMA paper. This is, of course, a worst-case scenario.

As an MBA, you are likely to be familiar with some or more of the topics. The more you've done before, the less work you will have to do. As I've mentioned before, CMGA is only the best option if your MBA had a strong finance content. If not, you may well be better off taking the conventional entry route. The more finance content you studied in your MBA, the easier you should find CMGA. Also, it depends on how good a student you were when you studied your MBA, and how long ago it was. You also have to consider how relevant (to the three papers) your work experience has been. Oh, and it also depends whether you are a native English speaker, and whether your MBA was taught and examined in English.

CMGA, while it is a 'fast track' for entry into the CIMA qualification, is definitely not an easy option.

Any one of the normal CIMA papers has a rough guideline of 200 hours study time. If you are lucky enough to attend lectures, each hour in the classroom (because of the 'added value') is probably worth three hours of self-study. There aren't many courses available for CMGA, however, as the number of students attempting the exam seldom makes it cost-effective for colleges to run them.

I would guess, therefore, that you are likely to need somewhere between 200 hours (the guideline for one normal paper) and 600 hours (if you covered very little of the P2/E2/F2 syllabus in your MBA). Remember - CMGA is not 'easy', and the more time you can spend on it, the better prepared you will be for the CMGA exam, and the exams that follow it (Strategic Level and T4). You shouldn't be aiming to 'scrape through' CMGA - that would just leave you ill-prepared for what follows.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I would need to know far more about your education, your MBA, and what work you've done.

Theories in E3

CAUTION - THIS POST RELATES TO THE CIMA 2010 SYLLABUS, SO IS NO LONGER VALID


Anonymous wrote:

With reference to paper E3 Enterprise Strategy and Change Management in particular - based on your past experience in this paper would you say that we need to know all the different theories regarding dealing with change management. I know a few of the theories, ie Unfreeze, Change & Refreeze and Forcefield Analysis however there seems so many other theories and models I really cannot remember them all. Is it likely we would be asked to use one particular model in the exam? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Good question. Bear in mind that, at the Strategic Level, most questions will be testing skills at the highest levels of the verb hierarchy. Questions of this sort seldom identify specific theories, as they are phrased in a very practical way ('analyse the problems....', 'advise the organisation...'). Such questions allow you to choose the theoretical model(s) that you feel will help. Obviously, the examiners have certain theories in mind, when writing the questions, but there is always a high degree of flexibility in the marking guides, to allow for different approaches. At this level, a practical approach (based in theory) is what is required, rather than a theoretical approach.

Bad handwriting

CAUTION - THIS POST RELATES TO THE CIMA 2010 SYLLABUS, SO IS NO LONGER VALID


Jono asked:

My writing is quite untidy and when I write on both sides of the page, reading is difficult. Are we allowed to leave each alternative page blank in the exam in order to avoid a mess and just have a longer answer?


Yes. It's your paper. You've paid for it. Use it how you wish. If you need another book, just ask.
 
I often recommend that students who press on the paper quite hard do this, as the writing can show through on the other side.
 
Also, as I said in the post below, "think more and write less". This will allow you to write more slowly, and therefore more neatly. Most students write far too much in their exam answers.

Completing T4 in the time

CAUTION - THIS POST RELATES TO THE CIMA 2010 SYLLABUS, SO IS NO LONGER VALID


Anonymous said:

"Do you have any suggestion regarding the preparation of case study T4? Despite my having a timetable, I always find time insufficient for me to develop my ideas, resulting in cutting short to be able to finish on time. What do you suggest?"

Time management in the T4 exam is a nightmare - there are so many things to do. I have the following suggestions, which may help...

1. Practise, practise, practise! The more case studies you do, the faster you can do them. I think you should attempt at least five case study mock exams, under simulated exam conditions, before attempting the real exam.
2. Do not plan to do what cannot be done. You are the only person who knows how fast you think and write in an exam. It is better to complete a report that has slightly less content (fewer issues, fewer options) than might be considered 'ideal', than to fail to complete the report.
3. Try writing less. Never write anything in your report that the recipients already know, or that is 'just commonsense'. Make sure that everything you write adds value. Think more - write less - get more marks!

I hope that helps.

Nov 2010 (and Mar 2011) pre-seen for Strategic Level

Neil asked

Do you have any comments on the pre-seen for November? (Strategic Level)

Well, Neil. Yes, I have lots of comments, but you'll need to be more specific. If you look at the other posts on this blog about the Strategic Level pre-seen, they all apply equally to the new stuff. I'm not going to analyse it, and try to predict what questions may come up, as others have done that (on the CIMA website) and I think it has more value for you to do it yourself. If you have specific questions, I'll happily answer them here. Just comment...

I have a Learning Burst, about how to use the pre-seen.

If the rest of you want to post your comments about the pre-seen here, that's fine, but there are threads on CIMASphere already.