OBJECTIVES:

The world is changing at an ever-increasing rate, consumers are becoming more sophisticated, technology is part of our everyday lives and, while there are numerous powerful global brands, there is also an increasing trend towards localisation. It is difficult to think of a change that doesn’t affect the business environment. Businesses now operate in everchanging dynamic environments. Every business needs to be able to assess the opportunities and threats posed by its external environments and the strengths and weaknesses of its internal environment, if it is to be successful. While continuing to produce the same products and/or services may result in operation efficiencies, it is unlikely to ensure success in markets that are not just changing daily but hourly. Increasing dynamic business environments where tomorrow can be very different from today and increasing market volatility where stock markets don’t just crash but they ‘flash crash’, mean businesses need to be ever more responsive in order to be successful. In this unit, you will analyse the impact of increasingly dynamic business environments and increasingly volatile markets on an organisation’s ability to compete successfully using a range of relevant tools and frameworks. This is often known as business strategy.

This unit develops an understanding of the principles of business and the different legal formations by which an organisation can operate. As an organisation grows and evolves, the need for different structures will take effect. You will also be introduced to the common organisation structures, whilst developing an appreciation for contemporary structures, as both external influences impact upon an organisation requiring a more efficient and effective approach to delivering products or services. You will be developing skills in evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative data to make judgements about the types of structures suitable for different organisations and the sectors in which they operate. You will be introduced to the way organisations are managed at both and operational and strategic level. This will include a review of both the internal and external requirements for corporate governance, performance standards, standard operating procedures and ethical practice. You will learn about organisational infrastructure and its role in enhancing organisational performance. This will include an examination of physical and human resources and their role in delivering organisational performance. You will also develop problem solving skills through the use of case study activities which will enable you to apply the basic theories and concepts covered in the unit within a given organisational context. As you progress through the unit, you will be developing qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment, such as the ability to utilise relevant management tools such as SWOT analysis etc.

The nature of work is changing: the business environment is becoming ever more global and consequently, the skills required to work are also changing. In the past, getting a job based on qualifications and technical experience was the norm; today, employers are increasingly looking for people with commercial awareness and a ‘can do’ attitude, together with skills and behaviours that will enable them to quickly become part of an effective team and add value to the organisation. These ‘soft skills’ enable staff to make a positive contribution to the organisation from an early stage, work as part of various teams that are likely to be cross-functional in nature, and contribute more effectively over time, as they recognise how the skills they have or are willing to develop, can benefit the organisation. This unit introduces you to the key skills, behaviours, and attitudes you need to demonstrate in order to be ‘employable’, and how to develop them if they are missing, through self-development and/or other learning, development and improvement opportunities. It provides guidance on how to integrate this information to the documents required for job applications, and how to present these skills at interview. It goes on to show how demonstrating employability skills can help enable a smooth transition into work by establishing you in yournew job role and as part of a team. The unit concludes by exploring how utilising feedback on performance can help ensure you maintain your value as an employee and use your experience to advance your career potential. You will be introduced to self-development practices, including self-reflection in order to develop a unique and informative curriculum vitae (CV), complete job applications and prepare for job interviews. The course should help to develop communication skills and self-awareness, and enable you to view your current position as part of a lifelong journey of learning and development, both professionally and personally.

This unit is designed to enable you to gain a knowledge and understanding of accounting principles, processes, and concepts that can be applied in a general management context. These principles, processes, and concepts are key in the understanding of how a business operates and what ultimately makes it successful. The unit will specifically allow you to develop the skills required to record business transactions and generate financial information. This information is used as the basis for effective management control and planning. Inadequate and inaccurate record keeping leads to poor financial analysis and results.As managers or aspiring managers, the unit aims to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required to complete and review financial accounting tasks in business. These tasks are required by managers to prepare, review and interpret internal and external financial information and report findings to a range of business stakeholders. The unit also allows you to consider the importance of effective management of cash flow and to highlight cash flow problems which could lead to business failure. Financial performance of any business is measured through the final accounts of the organisation. You will review appropriate internal and published reports and accounts to make effective analytical judgements. Managers are frequently required to make strategic and investment decisions. This unit will allow you to consider the practical use of costing, pricing and capital investment techniques in order to make informed business decisions.

Entrepreneurship has a different meaning for many people. For some it relates to new start-ups, for others it relates to home-based businesses, and for others it is a business philosophy focusing on continually innovating your business activity. Regardless of the type of business, enterprises have the same premise – to develop an idea into a successful business. Entrepreneurship involves far more than simply having an idea. To be successful, an entrepreneur needs to have skills that cover many of the development and management roles. In Introduction to Entrepreneurship, you will learn key success factors for enterprises and how to apply these to successfully innovate, develop, and grow a business. Key business strategies, business development, and the management of the enterprise through the business cycle will be explored. For each element of learning, you will develop skills for applying theories and good practice for entrepreneurial success. Many of the skills learnt in the unit can be successfully applied in start-up enterprises or are transferable for use in everyday business.

Quantitative skills are seen as indispensable for aspiring managers and entrepreneurs. Numbers make their presence felt in a range of managerial tasks across all functions of an enterprise. The focus of the Quantitative Methods syllabus is to: Develop quantitative thinking and skills Develop skills in gathering and computing numbers Cultivate the ability to present, interpret and communicate quantitative results for managerial decision making Build a robust quantitative foundation for other business units Quantitative skills built at this level will help you to apply a number of concepts in other core areas of business management: marketing, accounting, finance, and human resource management. Many decisions in these areas require quantitative skills, for example calculating the sales volume for recovering costs, determining the price of a new product, estimating demand for the product, measuring the overall performance of the business etc.

In the current business environment, a key business skill covering multiple disciplines and business sectors is the ability to manage projects from inception to a successful delivery. This is a different challenge to being involved with regular ‘business as usual’ work as very often projects will be considered ‘mission critical’ as the outcomes will impact directly the overall performance of the business organisation. Taking into account this priority, this unit expands the basic theory of project management into a practical, operational context and integrates all the fundamental tools and techniques required to manage business projects successfully. You will be exposed to a set of modern project management techniques: network planning, critical path analysis, costing/budgeting, and resource management. Subsequent activities include progress monitoring, troubleshooting, and controls. On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to apply the tools and techniques to a variety of business projects in your place of employment. A careful application will increase the chance of the project being successful in terms of the deliverables being fit for purpose, meeting agreed delivery deadlines, and staying within the budget cost agreed at the outset. Being able to contribute in this way should have a successful impact on the performance of the organisation.

The business environment is becoming ever more global and, as a consequence, the workplace is changing. Hierarchical organisations are generally a thing of the past; structures are generally flatter and the people within them are often required to work cross-functionally and with people at other locations, rather than as part of one department based in the same office. This means that, as well as being qualified, soft skills have become increasingly important as people may be required to work as part of different teams on a variety of projects. Having business awareness, being responsive, and having a ‘can do’ attitude are essential, as is a willingness to work collaboratively with different people. Indeed, there are many benefits to team working, both commercially and personally, but working in teams doesn’t equate with success; as a minimum, effective team work requires a balanced selection of members, planning, ongoing participation and collaboration, tenacity, and the mutual support of each other, in order for the team to achieve its desired goals and to contribute to those of the organisation. Modern organisations present additional challenges to teamwork, including flexible and remote working, operating across time zones and embracing different working and cultural practices. Whilst diversity is generally enriching, it can introduce dimensions to team working that require open-mindedness on the part of all concerned to find optimal solutions. This unit introduces you to teamwork and the characteristics of effective teams. It will address team member skills and how to build effective working relationships within different types of teams and business structures, including virtual environments. As part of this, it will explore how teams need to be led, motivated, managed, and monitored in order to be maximally effective. As team working is not always easy or successful, the unit also explores the difficulties that might be faced in different settings, and how to recognise and diffuse the conflict that may arise. As a consequence of completing the unit, you will evaluate your own skill set in relation to team working in order to optimise your input to the teams you are part of, which will ultimately maximise those teams’ contributions to meeting business objectives.