BUSINESS STUDIES BBS101

Want to Take the Next Career Step & Become a Business Manager?

Taking the next step up from worker to business management requires an employee to have additional knowledge and skills, and be able to demonstrate them. This course develops the skills necessary for establising and managing a business or a business department within an organisation. Created by professionals with many years of experience, it covers a range of topics that will ensure your career in Management has a strong foundation.

Do You Want a Career in Business Management?

For students of business
For managers or aspiring managers
For anyone seeking to start a business; or improve the operation of a business

This course teaches you essential business management fundamentals. Establishing and managing a business or a business department within a larger organisation requires knowledge and skill. This course will teach you 'the basics'. You will learn to develop and implement procedures that work as controlling mechanisms, which can deal with problems automatically as they arise.

Learn to evaluate performance and implement appropriate responses, for both large and small businesses and become a better manager.

Duration: 100 Hours (Nominal Duration).

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are 8 lessons as follows:

Establishment Procedures
- The Business World
- Ways to Begin a Business
- Buying or Starting Up New
- Market, Location, Regulations
- Risks; emotional, financial
- Common Reasons for Business Failure
- Developing a 12 Month Plan
- Creating a Business Plan
- Motivation, Planning, Customers, Competitors, Promotion, Sales and Pricing, Employees, Premises, Tax, Cash flow, Your Skills, etc
- Legislation and Business Law
- Legal Obligations
- Partnerships
- Contracts
- Types of Business
Management Procedures
- Management Theory
- Economic View, Behavioural View, Stakeholder Theory
- Policies
- Management Influences
- Government Intervention
- Classical School of Management Theory
- Humanistic Management Theory
- Scientific or Contingency Approach to Management
- Systems Management
- Neo Human Relations Management
- Organisational Structures
- "Functional", "Product/Market" and "Matrix" Structures
- Coordination
- Office Work
- Quality Systems
Communication in Business
- Scope of Office Work
- Business Letters
- Customer Service
- Writing Procedures
- Clarity in Writing
- Causes of Confusion
- Concise Wording
- Examples of Quality Assurance
Problem Solving
- Problem Solving Approaches
- Non Compliance Procedures
Staff Management
- Introduction
- Interviewing, Recruitment and Staff Induction
- Advertising
- Potential Candidates
- Interviews
- Job Specifications
- Management Styles
- Supervision
- Communicating with Employees
- Giving Orders
- Delegating
- Motivating Employees
- Security, ethics, gratitude, belief systems, etc
- Negative Motivators
- Space Management
- Time Management
- Vicious and Virtuous Cycles
- Staff Training
- Dealing with Complaints
- Workplace Health and Safety
- Work Scheduling
Productivity
- Introduction
- Total and Partial Productivity Ratios
- Foundation Economics
- Goods, Resources, Performance Criteria
- Economic Laws
- Improving Results in Business
- Profitability Ratios
Financial Management
- Introduction
- Liquidity
- Financial Records
- Steps in the Bookkeeping Process
- Basic Bookkeeping; Double Entry System, Ledger, Entries resulting from Transactions, etc.
- Cash Flow
- Taxation
- Financial Assistance
- Insurance and Types of Insurance
- Financial Terminology
- Budgeting
- Costing
- Cost of Employing Labour
Marketing Techniques
- Scope and Nature of Marketing
- Supply and Demand
- Market Research Making Contact and Communicating with Potential Customers
- Convincing a Customer
- Developing an Advertisement or Promotional Message

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

On successful completion of the course you should be able to do the following:

Select appropriate procedures for the establishment of a small business.
Select appropriate procedures for the management of a small business.
Develop procedures for communicating with suppliers and customers of a small business.
Develop procedures for addressing problems in a small business.
Plan the management of staff in a small business.
Develop strategies for managing production in a small business or department within a larger organisation.
Perform different financial management tasks used in small business or department within a larger organisation.
Evaluate marketing techniques used in business.

What Does the Course Cover?

Here are just some of the things you will be doing:

Find out what pay & conditions must be supplied for a list jobs.
Find out about how to register a business name in your state, including procedures and costs.
Find out the procedure for establishing a company.
List the legal requirements for the establishment of one of a list of businesses.
What are the legal rights and obligations of both the customer and the supplier in a legal contract?
Visit an office in a workplace, and observe the layout of that office, and the way in which the layout affects work performance.
Draw a sketch plan of an office, showing the arrangement of people, furniture and equipment.
Contact either (or both) the Standards Association in your country and/or an appropriate government department to find out more about Quality Assurance.
Compile a resource collection of information on office equipment.
Interview someone who works in a business involved in selling.
Investigate three different workplaces, in order to evaluate problems in small businesses.
Investigate two different small business workplaces, making observations and speaking with some staff,
Investigate the role of unions within a workplace.
Contact at least one workplace where enterprise bargaining has been used to establish working conditions for staff.
Investigate productivity in two different small business workplaces, from the same industry, and which provide the same or similar services or products.
Investigate changing conditions in the business environment that may affect production or objectives of business.
Investigate and prepare a management report on a business.
Investigate investment opportunities with an investment counsellor.
Investigate an established business. Consider how a product is marketed by this business in three different ways.

Common Reasons for Business Failure

Insufficient Capital

• Not enough money to get started:
• Don't forget that money is needed to keep you going from the time you begin in business until the time you are bringing in a profit. In some businesses you might need to cover yourself for several years’ wages. In most businesses you need to cover yourself for at least a few months’ wages.
• Not enough money to grow and develop:
• A slow and steady rate of growth is safer than rapid expansion.
• Remember: Businesses do not stand still they either expand or shrink.

Depending too Heavily on Borrowings

At all costs, avoid borrowing any more money than necessary. If lenders change their minds and won't wait for repayments, or if interest rates increase; something you thought was manageable might all of a sudden cause the business to collapse. This has happened to many small business people as well as a significant number of big businesses in recent times.

Improper Financial Planning
You must know your financial position at all times and adjust the way you manage your business accordingly. It is easy to lose touch with the current situation and become distracted and involved with the day to day problems of running a business. Set clear goals and monitor your progress towards them.

Poor Cash Management

Don't overspend when you have it or you won't have it when you need it. This is a simple statement, but one which leads to the downfall of many businesses. If you don't keep accurate records of what you are owed, you might not realize you haven't been paid.

Watching the Volume of Business and Losing Sight of the Profit

The most successful businesses are generally those which do less work for more profit. Don't try to get too big too fast instead, put your effort into getting better profits out of the work which you are able to get.

Not Collecting Money Owed to You

You need to be of strong resolve to get money out of your customers.

Remember - business and friendships are two very different things.

• Don't go easy on people because you like them.
• Don't avoid chasing money because you don't like the confrontation. It is important to keep a very clear boundary.

Before setting up a business, you need to consider these questions:

• Is there a need?

Get to know the market you are planning to set up your business in.
Are you producing something, selling something? Is there a need for the information or product you are selling? Carry out market research of the market place and see who your competitors are and how well they are doing?

• Who are your potential customers?

How do they shop? Via the internet? Visiting a shopfront? By telephone? Mail order? Try to develop a network with people who may be useful to you in developing your business. Find out what is missing. Is there a niche in your market that you could fill? Could you sell/produce some specialist product or knowledge?

• What do you have to offer?

The first step is to identify customers’ needs and then determine whether you can meet those needs.
Are you going to produce goods, sell goods on from a producer, sell knowledge?
Specialist business are developing more and more, particularly with the growth of the internet, where people can contact many different businesses for what they want. If you can produce the right thing for the right customer, you will have more chance of succeeding.

Course Materials

Upon enrolment, you will receive all of the materials that are essential to complete the course. Course materials vary depending upon the subject and the study mode, but they may include subject guides, printed notes, textbooks, videos and practical equipment. In certain circumstances you may be required to do extra research – in which case your tutor is able to advise you where necessary.