Governance, risk and compliance expert Jeffrey Thomson is the
acting president and chief executive of the US Institute of
Management Accountants (IMA), replacing Paul Sharman, who has left
the institute to pursue other opportunities.
Thomson has been with the institute since 2005 and was previously
the vice-president responsible for research and applications
development. In that position he conceived and launched the IMA
Research Centre of Excellence, which the institute said has
delivered global applications, tools and guidance enabling
management accountants to perform as strategic business
partners.
In addition to his expertise in governance, risk and compliance,
which is a core area of focus for the IMA and its members, Thomson
has also spoken globally on topics such as financial leadership,
enterprise risk management, internal controls, business performance
management, strategic costing methods, lean accounting, strategic
planning and competitive analysis, the IMA said.
Blue chip background
Prior to joining the institute, Thomson worked at
telecommunications giant AT&T for more than 20 years, serving
in various financial, strategic and operational roles, most
recently as the chief financial officer for business sales, which
was an $18 billion revenue operation.
Thomson told The Accountant that during his three years
with IMA he has tended to “wear many hats” in addition to heading
research. “This gave me a really good glance into what the
practitioner community was looking for in terms of solutions and
other actual research that they could apply on the job to better
their careers or their organisational capabilities,” he said.
Thomson’s personal goals for the institute are tied to its strategy
(for details see IFRS adoption presents
opportunities).
“Achieving the outcomes in strategy starts foremost with creating a
strong team here [at IMA central office] in Montvale. It starts
with the people and whether they have the skills and capabilities
and are inspired and passionate,” he said.
