Accreditation of prior learning (APL) – portfolio of evidence documentation

IIA Advanced Diploma

M1 Strategic Management

Outline
You should complete and submit this documentation if you wish to make a submission for accreditation of prior learning for the module indicated above, once you have registered for the qualification. Guidance notes are provided in a separate document available on the Institute’s website.

In this document you will find sixteen defined knowledge areas each requiring you to provide and discuss evidence of learning. You will also find a concluding testimonial sheet for completion to accompany the entire submission.

Initial submission: You should complete any two of the evidence pages for two separate knowledge areas from within this pack and return electronically to the IIA via the address , using the title APL- Initial submission. You will receive comments and feedback from an assessor to help you with your full submission.

Full submission: On receipt of your feedback from your initial submission, you will be given advice for completion of all sixteen knowledge areas and concluding testimonial. Following review and signature by your authenticating signatory or signatories (electronic insertion of name and date constitutes signature), you should submit the complete document electronically to address , using the title APL- Full submission.

Payment details

An assessment fee of £137.50 + VAT is payable (current to 31 March 2015). We can invoice you or your employer. Your employer may require a purchase order number to be supplied with the invoice. Please note the required purchase order number in the box below or state "Not required". If no purchase order number is supplied then submission of this application will be taken as confirmation that your employer does not require a purchase order number. Please complete the options below:

Invoice me / Invoice my employer
Purchase order number

Submission confirmation

I supply the information below as my submission for the accreditation of prior learning for the module named above. I also supply a copy of my Curriculum Vitae showing my internal audit experience totalling more than five years. I understand that my submission will be assessed under the process outlined in the APL policy and supporting materials:

Full Name
Membership number
Date

April 2014

- 2 -

Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.1  / The principles of effective governance as they impact on strategic management / 1.1
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
How to evaluate the effectiveness of the structure and functions of the board and its sub-committees, including: understanding the roles and responsibilities of the board and its sub-committees; and assessing the resources of the board in relation to the achievement of its roles and responsibilities.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.2  / The requirements for effective performance by the board and it sub-committees / 1.2
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
How to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the board and its sub-committees including: leadership in setting the organisation’s values and standards and understanding obligations to stakeholders; determining the direction of the organisation and assisting in the achievement of its objectives; monitoring and evaluation of managerial structure and performance; appropriate levels of skills and experience to contribute effectively to the decision making process; ability to manage and resolve conflict; ability to manage internal and external relationships through effective communication; and ability to respond appropriately to issues such as corporate social responsibility, legal and regulatory requirements, environmental, ethical, risk management and assurance.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.3  / The principles of business ethics and values / 2.1
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
The role of business ethics and values of the organisation, including: business ethics and values and how they can differ between organisations and cultures; and the role and contribution of ethical leaders and employees to the organisation.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.4  / The processes for embedding ethics and values / 2.2
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
How ethics and values can be embedded within the organisation including an assessment of: codes of business conduct and policies and the way in which these are endorsed by the board and senior management; organisational culture and the means by which a positive attitude to ethics and values is encouraged among all employees; monitoring, improvement and disciplinary actions including escalation procedures and whistle-blowing; and relationships with third parties such as suppliers and other contractors.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.5  / The principles and processes of strategic management / 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
The role of strategy within an organisation, including definitions of strategy, formal strategic processes and emergent strategies, and the impact and consequences of improperly formulated or imposed strategies; the concepts of corporate and business strategies; how decisions relating to the product/service offered, the geographical area of operations and in-house vs. outsource options can determine corporate strategy; and the determinants of business strategies, including how the organisation competes within a particular sector or market and how the organisation delivers its products/services effectively and efficiently.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.6  / The principles of strategic analysis and development / 3.4
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
Value creation and strategic analysis, including: the concept of value creation, how performance management impacts on value creation, how to appraise current performance, how to evaluate alternative strategies, and how to set performance targets; performance improvement; the linking of strategy with the creation of stakeholder value; methodologies for value assessment; and values, mission and vision and the link to strategy.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.7  / The principles of strategic planning / 4.4, 4.5, 4.6
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
How to evaluate strategic option; how to identify opportunities for improving existing portfolio of activities; how to move into new areas/speed to market and/or exit from existing activities; the process for developing strategic objectives, ensuring they are challenging, linked to risk assessment, allocated to specified owners, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely (SMART); the importance of ensuring ownership of the strategy and how strategy is agreed and communicated; the role of the board in discussing, challenging and approving the strategy; and the role of internal audit .
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.8  / The external environment and its relevance to strategic management / 4.1, 4.2
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
The components of the environment and how to analyse the impact of political, economic, technological, government, environmental, social structure and demographic issues; the relationship of organisations within different industry sectors to their customers, suppliers and competitors; how industry sector can influence the level of profit/value for the organisation; the rationale of Porter’s Five Forces and how organisations use this in analysing the competitive environment; the rationale of game theory and the impact of competitive interactions and co-operation among organisations; how to identify optimal strategic choices; competitor analysis and the type of information/intelligence that enables an organisation to better understand its competitors, such as competitors’ current strategy, objectives, assumptions about industry, resources and capabilities; how to predict competitor behaviour through assessment and evaluation of competitor intelligence; the ethical dimensions of sourcing and use of competitor intelligence; how to apply the results of competitor evaluation through assessing the optimum segmentation of markets and customers in terms of attractiveness, scope and profit; and how an organisation fits within its strategic group and identifying the organisation’s strategic position.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.9  / The internal environment and its relevance to strategic management / 4.3
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
The role of the organisations resources and capabilities, including its management information systems, in formulating strategy; how to appraise the resources and capabilities of the firm to enable the success of the strategy; how to apply the results of resource and capability analysis to formulate strategies; how an organisation can develop its resources and capabilities through for example human resource planning; how knowledge management, both tacit and explicit, can be used as a strategic resource; how knowledge can be developed and exploited within the organisation; and barriers to effective knowledge management, eg extracting tacit knowledge and how this can be managed.
Source(s) of evidence – what specific evidence sources can you produce that demonstrate you have the required knowledge and understanding? These must be listed with a brief description and must be reviewed by the person who is authenticating your submission.
Explanation of how the evidence satisfies the knowledge and understanding requirements – how does the evidence cited demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and understanding? (Word count: 500)
Authenticating signature: I have viewed the evidence quoted above and in my opinion it demonstrates the candidate has the required knowledge and understanding of this subject.
Name / Signature / Date
Ref / Knowledge area / Syllabus reference
M1.10  / The principles of strategic risk management / 5.1
Indicative knowledge and understanding requirements:
The risk profile of the organisation and the relationship of aggregating and monitoring risk with the achievement of strategic objectives; how an organisation determines its risk appetite in relation to its regulatory/competitive environment and its industry sector; how corporate and business strategies are influenced by the risk appetite of the organisation and the personal risk appetite of employees; how risks are aggregated across the strategy of the organisation and how the risk profile is monitored in relation to the corporate and business strategies; and how the use of risk assessment in the strategic process may help organisations to improve stakeholder value.