A word from the president.

AuthorGlass, George
PositionChartered Institute of Management Accountants - Column

I am delighted that CIMA has started the year with a revitalised magazine and I hope that its contents will encourage members and students to move forward with fresh insights and ideas. Financial Management has been given a makeover to enhance all your favourite pages and add some new slots to keep you up to date with the latest developments in business and finance. In addition, our 172,000 members and students in 168 countries will now be able to access the latest institute news and features in FM at the click of a mouse as well as in print.

Looking at the year ahead, it is heartening to learn that CIMA members are poised to be at the cutting edge when it comes to business sustain-ability. My optimism comes after seeing the results of a new survey of 2,000-plus finance professionals who are members of CIMA, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The survey found that 89 per cent of the larger companies employing our respondents currently have a formal sustainability strategy in place--or plan to. This figure was lower for SMEs (56 per cent), but it is encouraging to see that a growing number of businesses of all sizes are seeing the bottom-line benefits of making their companies leaner, greener and more socially responsible.

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In a world where our consumption patterns out-pace the planet's ability to regenerate resources by about 30 per cent, businesses that deliver enhanced value by radically reducing material inputs--and engaging consumers on product usage--will be well positioned for long-term success. This is also good news for CIMA members. The same survey concluded that, despite the growing appeal of sustainability as a driver for lowering capital costs, reducing risk and increasing shareholder value, too often the information is not produced and managed with the necessary rigour.

I'm sure that we would all concur with the survey's assertion that sustainability programmes can be truly effective only if they are transparent...

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