Business Functions Course This course presents an introductory over-view of the study of business organisations. The course examines business organisations in terms of their missions & values, their structures & cultures & the key organisational processes which underpin business activity. Although organisations are essentially unique, they also share common features which are explored in detail. We also present a number of basic models for analysing business organisations & their performance. Business organisations can only be fully understood if we know how they interact with their environments & the course presents a number of ideas for analysing their interaction with their competitors, their markets & the wider set of prevailing circumstances which influence business performance. ...

Business Law Course Regardless of what the nature of your involvement in business is
- & whether you are working in the private
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Business Lifestyle Skills Course The Business Lifestyle Skills Diploma course is ideal for anyone involved in running a business or anyone who is hoping to set-up his or her own business. The areas covered in this course are also fundamental to your everyday life whether you are applying for a job, writing a letter to apply for a grant or a mortgage or working out your personal finances on your computer. In order to be a success in business you need to have the following skills: Business Skills People Skills Communication Skills Planning Skills Problem Solving Skills This course aims to successfully equip the student with the necessary knowledge to ensure both business & personal success. ...

Business Management Course This course is designed for people seeking to understand & apply the principles of managing staff & resources in a variety of businesses. The course is equally suited to the owner of a small business employing a few staff members or a departmental manager in a larger company. It provides a broad but practical understanding of how management techniques can work to your advantage. ...

Business Management Course Business Management can be defined as the process of leading & directing all or part of an organisation, through the deployment & manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). Managers must also measure the performance of the organisation on a regular basis, review business strategies & plans, & ensure the appropriate actions are taken to meet the organisation's goals. About Business Management Course Management & Leadership are vital to organisational success in today's challenging global environment. It is the role of management to conceive & initiate strategies that create & sustain competitive differentiation & advantage. This Business Management course has been designed to take you through the key concepts that underpin good management & ensure that you have the requisite knowledge to promote organisational success. ...

Business Operations Course This is a course about how to manage a small business. It places emphasis on developing an ability to properly assess business opportunities, in particular financial considerations. Some people have an intuitive ability with money, where everything they touch turns to gold, others need to take a much more conscious approach to handling money if they are to maximize their assets. Similarly, some people have an intuitive ability to organize
- this is something a successful business manager must do. Records must be kept in order & documents must be easy to find. Throughout the course the student will develop their ability to make better decisions with respect to the following sorts of problems: How to better invest money. How to capitalize on your assets. How to buy more economically. How to minimize costs. Deciding how much to keep in reserve for a "rainy day". How often to structure your budget. How to determine costs.
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Business Planning Course This course is designed for people starting-up in a wide variety of business sectors & sizes, together with voluntary sector organisations. People not currently in work but seeking to start a business will find the programme of particular value. The course is most suitable for people wishing to enhance their business skills & develop a business start up plan, prior to implementation. At the end of the course you will be able to: Describe & evaluate your business idea Carry out market research for your idea Market your product or service Compile the financial information required to run a business Produce a business plan Identify sources of funding Instigate relevant business controls ...

Business Planning & Project Management Course In this course, we look at how to turn the strategic plan into reality. We consider two activities. First, creating the business plan. This is an essential communication document identifying the key issues, costs & benefits of what the organisation is trying to do. Second, project management. This is the management of one-off tasks & requires special techniques. This will give you some ideas about specific aspects of the implementation of strategy that you will address in detail in further modules on strategy & change. It will also introduce you to some useful techniques. In drawing up a business plan, we develop ideas that have practical application in achieving the strategic direction of the organisation &, in doing this, we highlight key features of the strategy itself. In the section on project management, we look at an overall technique that can be used in implementing major change, but we also consider a number of other significant techniques that are used in operations management & can be used in other business functions to great effect. We take a very practical approach to some of the concepts that we have discussed from a more theoretical perspective elsewhere in this module. After participating in this course, you should be able to: explain what business plans are & their use in different situations identify the main features of a business plan draw up a simple plan explain the roles of the people involved in project management & the information they require produce a one-page project specification produce a project work breakdown structure, milestone plan, activity chart & Gantt chart explain the meaning of baseline, scheduled & actual costs, & earned value understand how to construct & read project "S" curves identify the main source of risks in projects & which risks require action. ...

Business Skills Course The title of this course is Business Skills, & that is exactly what it covers. What skills do you need in business? You will cover anything from getting a job, writing a letter or a report, doing a presentation, word-processing & other computer applications. As you can see there are many different skills involved in these varied functions. Many of the skills you will cover will also benefit you in your studies. The areas covered are also fundamental to your everyday life whether you are applying for a job, writing a letter to apply for a grant or a mortgage, working out your personal finances on your computer, speaking at a special anniversary or conducting a meeting of your local music society. Whatever your career or your interests, in today's business environments you need to be able to communicate & to use a computer! ...

Business Strategy Course Every year thousands of new businesses are created. A few will grow to become global companies employing thousands of people, others will never make the world stage; in fact, the majority will cease trading within two or three years. To survive, managers need a good understanding of the business environment, the opportunities & threats it offers, a realistic appreciation of the abilities & limitations of the business, knowledge of what they want to achieve, & a fairly clear idea of the direction in which the business should go. The route the business takes to achieve its objectives is often known as the corporate or business strategy. In this course, we look at some of the tools that we can use to decide on the strategy. As you will see, the tools we describe are those which link the various functions of the business & are to do with operating the business as a complete organisation rather than as a collection of functions or departments. The business strategy concerns the overall direction of the organisation. Here, we consider the operational or functional strategies that contribute to the business strategy. After participating in this course, you should be able to: explain how businesses need to align their objectives & capabilities with the needs of their customers & with the environment give examples of business objectives, mission & value statements understand how the business environment provides opportunities for the business but also limit its freedom of action explain how the resources & behaviour of the organisation constrain the choice of strategy describe a range of business strategies & explain the circumstances in which they might be appropriate for a business describe how an organisation copes with an uncertain future & responds to complex environmental change. ...