Business Management

This course covers many aspects of managing a business, offering an opportunity to learn about Negotiation skills, Decision making, Business strategy, Business Continuity, Project Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility.

We negotiate every day, without even thinking about it, typically with colleagues, partners, or children. We generally don’t analyse it though. If you are going to negotiate in a professional capacity, you will be much more effective if you study its principles, so you can develop the most effective strategy for your company.

We examine the several types of negotiation – Compromise, Bargaining, Threatening, Emotional, Logical and Reasoning, and learn the importance of the process, the starting position, and the ritual. We establish some excellent negotiating principles for you to work with
We look at some of the tools that managers use to make business decisions such as SWOT and PEST analysis, and brainstorming. Brainstorming is credited with some of the most creative ideas, due to its relaxed approach to problem solving.

A business strategy defines the long-term goals of the company and provides overall direction. It identifies its purpose, and the tactics required to achieve the defined strategy. We examine why it is important to have a business strategy and what should be included.

A Corporate Social Responsibility Policy, or CSR policy, is now often integrated into a business’s strategy. The term describes business actions that are responsible practices and have a positive social impact. Forward thinking companies are gradually helping to support poorer communities, often in markets that could one day become lucrative for them.

In our troubled world, where terrorist attacks and natural disasters can strike at any time, every company needs to consider crisis and risk management, and should employ risk management techniques to identify and avoid possible hazards. The objective of the business continuity management plan is to avoid interruption of critical functions, and if interruption does occur, to return to standard operations as soon as possible. We examine how to draw a plan up for your business.

Project management has increased in importance and relevance now, and it is often viewed as a job in itself, particularly in large industries. A project manager plans, initiates, manages and maintains large projects. The principles of project management have something to offer every manager juggling with several complex tasks at once.

An understanding of these themes will help you to contribute positively to your business and management team.

This course deals with themes that are essential knowledge for a world class manager in business today. We explore key aspects of managing a business, offering an opportunity to learn about Product and Business life cycles, Business Ethical policy, Licensed merchandise, Effective meetings, Creative Thinking in Business, Optimising Business Performance, Business Excellence models, Customer service. There are two quizzes included.

Both products and businesses follow a life cycle of Development, Launch, Growth., Expansion, Maturity and Decline. The implication of this for management is that they need development of new products for a business as their existing products decline. And there must be new developments in the business itself to prevent its own decline. To stand still is to go backwards, if all your competitors are moving forward. It is critical that management recognizes where each product, and business, is at in the life cycle and manage accordingly.

A company’s ethical policy supplies a code of professional conduct for its managements, which guides them when controversial issues arise in the business. An ethical approach allows employees to take responsible decisions, placing ethical considerations above profit. They can consider the implications of their decisions on colleagues, suppliers and the community. Such a policy seeps into the culture of the company and encourages staff to do the right thing, and behave morally, and honestly.

Licensed merchandise is sold under an agreement to use copyright material, such as images made popular by film, TV, video games, or sporting events. So for example Disney characters, Batman and Superman, or Football World Cup. Typically, these would be used for kids wear, nightwear, footwear, or kids merchandise such as stationery sets, school bags, books or toys. World cup merchandise would be Team kits, scarves, balls. We examine the risks and rewards of this type of merchandise.

Running Effective meetings is a skill, and one that is not practised widely enough. There is nothing more annoying than having your time wasted in a meeting that is badly run, does not address the issue it was convened for, starts late, and runs over time. Read our tips on how to be an effective meeting manager.

Humans are naturally lazy thinkers, thinking in clichés or established patterns, and this limits our capacity to think creatively. To do that we have to make ourselves think “outside the box “. Creative thinking involves viewing things from a less obvious perspective, allowing us to develop new ideas, ask different questions, and broaden the issues. We enter that world.

Today’s companies are under pressure to improve their business performance and measure theirs against world class standards. Many of them use business excellence models to achieve their targets. We examine some of the concepts involved in business excellence.

Customer service departments take care of customers by delivering a high-quality service before, during, and after the clients’ contact with the business. Its objective is to safeguard customer satisfaction with a product or service, and their ongoing trading with the company. We review customer service standards and strategies.

This knowledge and understanding of the key themes in business today will help you to be an effective, modern, world class manager, capable of dealing with almost any aspect of the business.