AICD CDC / GAICD study plan

Map the statutory and fiduciary duties of an Australian company director against a one-page matrix of obligation, source, and personal liability

Explain, in writing, the distinction between the role of the board, the role of management, and the role of the chair using three original scenarios

Draft a director's personal conflict-of-interest register and decision protocol covering disclosure, recusal, and minute-taking

Define organisational values and ethical culture indicators, then identify five observable board behaviours that signal or undermine each

Design a board calendar that allocates agenda time across strategy, risk, performance, and compliance in defensible proportions

Construct a board-paper template that states purpose, decision required, options, risks, and recommendation on the first page

Compare board, committee, and individual director performance-review methods and select one approach with stated trade-offs

Analyse how board composition, independence, and diversity affect decision quality using a worked example

Distinguish strategy formulation, strategic planning, and strategic oversight, and assign each to the correct board or management activity

Apply a structured environmental-scanning method to identify five external forces that could reshape an organisation's competitive position

Build a theory-of-change style logic model linking mission, strategic priorities, initiatives, and outcome measures

Critique a weak strategic plan by identifying vague objectives, missing assumptions, and unmeasured claims

Construct a risk appetite statement with quantified tolerance thresholds for financial, operational, and reputational risk

Distinguish risk appetite, risk tolerance, and risk capacity, and apply each correctly to four given scenarios

Read a set of financial statements and derive liquidity, solvency, and profitability indicators with interpretation

Explain how the board monitors going-concern, cash-flow, and covenant positions without duplicating management's role

Evaluate a management performance report against pre-agreed KPIs, identifying gaps in measure definition and data quality

Design a board-level dashboard that separates leading and lagging indicators and states data source and refresh frequency

Explain the board's role in budget approval, capital allocation, and financial delegation limits

Diagnose three common financial oversight failures and specify the control or board behaviour that prevents each

Map stakeholders by influence and interest, then specify an engagement approach and escalation route for each segment

Draft a whistleblower and speak-up framework outline covering reporting channels, protection, investigation, and board reporting

Design a culture-diagnostics approach that combines survey, turnover, incident, and exit-interview data into a board-readable view

Plan a chair-to-CEO and board-to-management relationship model that clarifies challenge, support, and information flow

Synthesise all five domains into a single integrated governance case analysis with explicit trade-offs

Practise timed written responses to scenario-based director-dilemma questions and self-mark against a rubric

Identify and close the three weakest knowledge areas revealed by practice performance

Rehearse articulating a dissenting director position with evidence, respect, and a documented rationale

Consolidate condensed revision notes for all five domains into a single recall sheet

Re-test the three remediation gaps and confirm improvement against the week-7 baseline

Rehearse exam-day time allocation and question-selection strategy across two full-length simulations

Finalise a personal director-development statement linking exam readiness to ongoing professional development