Page 49 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

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American Management Association

valuation and forensic and litigation services, information The philosophy of the AMA is to be a nonprofit,
technology, taxation, firm practice management, financial membership-based educational organization that assists
management, and accounting education. Each center is individuals and enterprises in the development of organi-
accessible from the home page of the AICPA Web site. zational effectiveness, which is the primary sustainable
competitive advantage in a global economy. A major goal
of the AMA is to identify the best management practices
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
worldwide to provide assessment, design, development,
Organizationally, the AICPA is member-driven and -man-
self-development, and instruction services. The AMA
aged. It carries out its mission and objectives through the meets this goal with an abundance of print and electronic
volunteer work of approximately 2,000 members who
media and learning methodologies, which are designed for
serve on a governing council, board of directors, boards,
the sole purpose of enhancing the growth of individuals
committees, subcommittees, and task forces. The govern-
and organizations.
ing council, the nearly 300-member governing body of
the AICPA, meets twice a year. There is representation The origins of the AMA can be traced back to 1913,
when the National Association of Corporation Schools
from each of the fifty-five accountancy jurisdictions. In
was founded. Around 1922, the National Association of
addition, the board of directors, past chairs, and twenty-
one members-at-large serve on the council. Corporation Schools merged with the Industrial Relations
Association of America, which had been founded in 1918.
The board of directors, which is the executive com-
The result of the merger was the National Personnel Asso-
mittee of the council, provides leadership in meeting
ciation. Shortly after the merger, in 1923, the National
objectives established. There are twenty-three members, Personnel Association’s board of directors chose the new
including the president of the AICPA, who is also a mem-
name of the American Management Association. The
ber of the AICPA staff.
modern AMA, as it is known in the early twenty-first cen-
In 2005 the AICPA had a staff of approximately 600 tury, began with a consolidation of five closely related
in five offices, with the headquarters located at 1211 national associations, which were all dedicated to manage-
Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-8775. ment education. The consolidation of the organizations
Other locations were in Washington, D.C.; Jersey City, into one organization prompted the regents of the State
New Jersey; Ewing, New Jersey, and Lewisville, Texas. The University of New York to grant the AMA the title of an
Jersey City office was scheduled for closing as of July educational organization.
2006, with 400 positions moving to Durham, North Car-
The AMA offers numerous beneficial programs
olina.
aimed at a variety of people. In addition to its traditional
SEE ALSO Accounting; State Societies of CPAs programs, the AMA also provides programs for high
school and college students and has special partnerships
with local management training organizations. More
Barry C. Melancon
information is available from the American Management
Association at 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019;
(212) 586-8100 (phone), (212) 903-8168 (fax), (800)
262-9699 (customer service); or www.amanet.org.
AMERICAN
SEE ALSO Management
MANAGEMENT
ASSOCIATION
Nikole M. Pogeman
The American Management Association (AMA) is the
world’s leading membership-based management develop-
ment organization. The business education and manage-
ment development programs offered by the AMA provide AMERICAN MARKETING
its members and customers the opportunity to learn supe-
rior business skills and the best management practices ASSOCIATION
available. The AMA fulfills this goal through a variety of During the mid-1930s, the American Marketing
seminars, conferences, assessments, customized learning Society (organized in 1931) and the National Association
solutions, books, and online resources. The range of pro- of Teachers of Marketing (founded in 1915) arrived at two
grams offered by the AMA includes finance, human realizations: both organizations held common interests in
resources, sales and marketing, manufacturing, and inter- marketing, and many of their publications and member-
national management, as well as numerous others. ships overlapped. Following such realizations, the idea of

26 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION