After 13 years in the life and general insurance business, Mumbai-based Aarti Porwal has switched tracks and transformed into a missionary of business efficiency and productivity in her new role as chief representative of the London-based Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and head of its Indian liason office.
Established in 1919 as the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants, CIMA claims a membership of 171,000 worldwide and students in 165 countries. Essentially a finance and business management education and certification organisation, CIMA study programmes culminating in certification by the institute, require post-Plus Two students to write ten professional qualification exams. Usually completed in four years, CIMA exams can also be written by undergrads or postgraduates parallely with college exams. Registration fees are £1,200 (Rs.86,400). The Indian liason office (estb.2003) currently has 2,500 students registered in affiliated study centres in Mumbai, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Kerala, Bangalore, Karnataka and Chennai.
“CIMA study programmes train students to utilise financial resources most optimally to build busin-esses,” says Porwal, an alumna of Mumbai University who heads a small team of eight full-time and four part-time employees based in Mumbai.
According to Porwal, CIMA certified graduates tend to rise high in the corporate world with remuneration averaging Rs.8.1 lakh per year and bonuses averaging 11 percent of salary. “By creating increased awareness of CIMA’s carefully designed study programmes, we plan to increase India’s pool of problem solvers — rather than number crunchers — who will be able to deliver managerial, operational and strategic business planning and execution,” says Porwal.
Nisha Khiani (Mumbai)