It's time to reshape your business!

'Reshape your business' is the topical theme of this year's CIMA Technical Symposium which will be held on December 3, at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel; and will focus on business critical areas of enterprise governance, risk management, shareholder value creation, sustainability, strategic execution, and performance measurement.

An eminent line of local and foreign academic leaders who have fairly explored the breadth and depth of their specialised subjects, and business leaders who have successfully ventured and experimented the practicality of revolutionary and progressive management accounting principles to generate greater value to stakeholders will deliberate at this thought provoking forum.

The recent financial crisis which led to a global economic meltdown, the increased pace of corporate collapses due to fraud and malpractice, the present chaos and flux in the business community question the commitment to governance and sustainable business practices in the corporate world.

Most often short-term gains tend to override long-term stability. However, there is a magnitude of responsibility and accountability vested on an entity in its pursue for wealth maximization.

Focusing on long-term strategic direction of the organization, understanding its risk appetite, key value drivers and decision making points, and conforming to governance and regulations play a keyrole in determining the long-term success of an organization.

And it is important to strike the right balance between conformance and performance.

So how do you draw a line between short-term gains vs. long-term stability? Can the deteriorating confidence on boards, governance models, business transparency, and corporate reporting ever be restored? In this backdrop, Gillian Lees the Thought Leadership Specialist at CIMA Head Office in London will deliver the key note on `Enterprise Governance - restoring boardroom leadership' .

The Symposium will further feature five intriguing technical papers titled, 'Data, Information and Intelligence - Using Business Intelligence to enhance profitability in uncertainty' delivered by Ravi Raman, Chief Risk Officer, Butterfield Fulcrum Fund Services (India) Private Ltd.; `Creating shareholder value' delivered by Malinga Arsakularatne, Chief Financial Officer, Hemas Holdings; `Strategic corporate sustainability and enterprise governance' delivered by Ravi Fernando, Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (Pvt) Ltd.; 'Strategic Execution' delivered by Bharatendu Kapoor, Vice President (Vehicle Sales), Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, India; and 'Are your performance measurements driving the right behaviour?' delivered by Ronnie Peiris Executive Director, John Keells Holdings PLC, Main Board and Group Finance Director, John Keells Group CIMA Sri Lanka division CEO commenting on the Technical Symposium "Today the companies that will probably survive are the ones who are built to change.

In this context the CIMA Technical Symposium is appropriate both in timing and content, and would provide the participants the learning opportunity to help them `reshape' the business they are engaged in".