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International Career Progress Diploma Programmes

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COST ACCOUNTING

A Program produced to introduce the principles of Cost Accounting so that they can be applied
both to academic problems and in practical business situations.

This Program clearly and concisely introduces the principles and purposes of cost accounting so they can be applied in practical business situations by a wide range of people including finance/accounting personnel, managers, men and women involved in production and manufacturing, and many others.  Within a short period of time you can become a valued and professional person proficient in cost accounting practices and techniques.  The Program covers cost accounting methods for manufacturing, services, private, governmental, not-for-profit and trading organisations, with many examples which clearly illustrate and explain the relevant techniques and concepts in a clear easy-to-follow way; it explains how to understand, deal with, and allocate different costs in order to make sensible and helpful business and operational decisions; it also shows how costing complements management and financial accounting.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Cost accounting - its scope and definition.
  • Cost accounting techniques and relationship to budgeting.
  • Appraisal of benefits and methods of cost accounting.
  • Cost accounting terminology; classification of costs, overheads, direct costs, total costs.
  • Dealing with cost centres and cost units.
  • Cost behaviour in different circumstances, distinguishing differences between types of costs.
  • Classes of costs, prediction and analysis of costs, methods and models for handling costs.
  • Labour costs, remuneration methods for workers, output, hours, direct and indirect costs.
  • Material costs; pricing methods, FIFO, LIFO, AVCO, replacement costs .
  • Stock valuation, just-in-time stocks.
  • Absorption costing; overheads, rates of absorption, application to cost units and centres.
  • Absorption costing for non-manufacturing organisations.
  • Activity based costing; overheads, AMT, cost drivers, activities, the business environment.
  • Marginal costing, revenue statements, contribution, ratios, breakeven analysis, safety margin.
  • Marginal costing short-term decision making, make or buy, single orders, shortages, factors.
  • Planning, budgeting; framework, process, control, integration, data, zero-based, activity-based.
  • Standard costing and variance analysis, investigation, causes, appraisal.
  • Capital investment appraisal; discounted cash flows, ARR, IRR, NPV, payback, risk.

 

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

A Program which aims to provide an understanding of, and the foundations for,
EXPERTISE IN THE FIELD OF EMPLOYEE AND ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT

This Program explains what employee and organisation development means and teaches how to become an expert in this field; such a trained expert is vital to oversee the development of employees so that they contribute to successful, effective and profitable performance.  The Program covers needs analysis, core training and development requirements, various training methods; and how to undertake and manage the activities involved in designing, monitoring and evaluating the development activities taking place in an organisation.  The Program also shows how to prepare suitable development policies, and covers leadership, motivation and the effects of change.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Employee development - the context, and the need for development.
  • Costs and charges involved in employee development activities.
  • Undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of different employee development factors. 
  • Learning: how people learn and their different learning styles, factors in successful learning.
  • Training needs analysis; determining the key priorities of training.
  • Undertaking performance appraisal and assessment, strategic approaches to training.
  • Organisational and managerial performance; the contribution of groups to organisation success.
  • Core training programmes and universal programmes.
  • Matters concerning quality and delivery of training; assessing feedback from course participants.
  • On-the-job and off-the-job training; projects and secondments.
  • Benefits of employee multi-skilling; benefits of empowerment and flexibility.
  • Designing training programmes, setting aims and objectives.
  • Consultation on training and specifying the target groups for training.
  • Managing and organizing the monitoring, review and evaluation of development programmes.
  • Testing, reports, and factors affecting training.
  • Training and development equipment and resources, the quality of the learning environment.
  • Mentoring, coaching and counselling; the relationships involved, qualities needed for success.
  • Development strategies, raising organisational expectations.
  • Improving the training and development environment.
  • Organisational training functions; strategy and the training function; roles, functions and resources.
  • Organisational development; achieving positive attitudes, values and beliefs.
  • The roles of the development manager; creating a learning, proactive organisation.
  • Comparing the intended and actual outputs of training.
  • Continuous professional and occupational development and demands.
  • Management development; considering qualifications and expertise, managing job enhancement.
  • Self-development, succession management and organisational transformation. 
  • Ethics; relationships with employees, staff and customers; dealing with conflict.
  • Government training and development policy; external consultants and specialists.
  • Social factors and strategic approaches; social and cross-cultural factors in training.
  • Dealing with change and uncertainty, barriers to change and overcoming them.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

A Program which aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to
THE CORE ELEMENTS OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

EXPERT STUDY FOR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE IN MAKING CAPITAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS, FINANCING A BUSINESS, AND MANAGING WORKING CAPITAL

A Program which provides a comprehensive introduction to the core elements of financial management and its role in business success. This Program covers the principles and importance of efficient financial management, and how financial information can be used to improve the quality of management decision-making. It deals with planning, investment decisions, project analysis, managing risk, types and sources of finance and financial markets. It covers the vitally important topic of the management of working capital, of ensuring liquidity and business survival. Key terms are highlighted for rapid understanding of the main techniques and concepts.   

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • The nature and importance of capital investment decisions, and the resources involved.
  • Investment appraisal methods: accounting rate of return (ARR), return on capital employed (ROCE), payback period; net present value (NPV).
  • Risk in investment appraisal, calculating and using probabilities.
  • The impact of interest and inflation, risk premiums; considering the effect on and meaning of wealth.
  • Investment in practice and reality, the concept of logical investors.
  • The cost of capital; review and control for capital expenditure projects.
  • The process of decision making relating to capital management, auditing.
  • Short-term finance, gearing, factoring, discounting.
  • Sources of short-term finance: internal, external, profits, credit control.
  • Long-term finance, the stock exchange, primary and secondary markets, stock listing.
  • Shares, share issues, debentures.
  • Small business finance, venture capital, funding, business angels, Government roles and support.
  • Managing working capital, its definition and elements, the scale of capital.
  • Managing stocks, stock ordering systems, MRQ, JIT and inventory control models. 
  • Budgeting for demand, financial ratios, debtor and credit control.
  • The working capital cycle; discounts, collection policies, settlement period.
  • Cash management and budgets, the cash cycle. 
  • Policies for working capital control; balance, banking, overdrafts.

 

GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT

A Program which aims to provide a framework for the design, development and
implementation of effective global marketing programmes

A PROGRAM COVERING THE KEY DECISIONS AND ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN GLOBAL MARKETING, SPECIFICALLY RELATING TO PRODUCT AND PRICING DECISIONS, DISTRIBUTION AND COMMUNICATIONS DECISIONS, AND CONTROLLING GLOBAL MARKETING ACTIVITIES.

This Program takes a decision-oriented approach to global marketing, and how to best select and enter markets.  It considers strategies for products, pricing decisions, distribution decisions, communications and promotion decisions.  The Program then covers the factors involved in cross-cultural sales negotiations and the organisation and control of global marketing programmes including global logistics and channel decisions, and how to do that well.  It explains how global marketing programmes must adapt to the preferences of customers with different levels of purchasing power, climates, languages, cultures, competition and methods of doing business, and explains why and how to do that effectively.  This is essential training for managers and marketers - and those aspiring to such careers - in small, middle and large-sized enterprises and multinational companies, who need to manage the global marketing and successful distribution and selling of products in different markets.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Globalisation and the international marketing mix.
  • International products and the product life cycle.
  • Product decisions: standardisation or adaptation, positioning products in global markets.
  • Designing and introducing new products.
  • Developing an international marketing strategy.
  • Brand equity and branding decisions; private, manufacturer and market brands; green marketing.
  • International pricing decisions and strategies.
  • Factors affecting pricing strategy; market skimming, penetration strategy.
  • Terms of global business, sales and delivery, payments, export finance, currencies, freight forwarders.
  • Distribution decisions and global channel structures; customer and product characteristics.
  • Logistics management; order handling and documentation; transport, international retailing.
  • Global communications, tools and processes, global buyer and seller relationships.
  • Global marketing messages and media.
  • International advertising and promotion strategies.
  • Global public relations and sales promotions.
  • Cross-cultural sales negotiations, Hofstede’s cultural theory, gap analysis model, culture and organisations.
  • Knowledge management and transferring learning and best practice to global markets and employees.
  • Managing and creating effective global marketing project groups.
  • Organising global marketing programmes, their structure and control.
  • Global marketing accounts and budgets.

 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & TRADE

A Program to help identify and explain the factors involved in international business and trade
and provide the knowledge to develop effective export marketing plans.

To succeed globally business owners, staff, employees and managers must be trained to understand international trade - this Program will produce managers and personnel who have a good understanding of international trade, are equipped with knowledge and skill to help a business to succeed internationally.  Exporting is not an activity for untrained sales managers; exporting can be rewarding and profitable if it is conducted in a professional manner and if an effective international marketing strategy is developed; so this Program teaches how to assess potential export and ‘product fit’ and the importance of products meeting the standards and cultural requirements of target countries. It deals with marketing concepts and tools, and explains effective marketing concepts and strategies to use to enter target markets. It examines pricing, transport and logistics, currency, documentation and insurance, and international law regarding contracts; and it gives a practical, helpful and comprehensive foundation into the requirements of successful import and export.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • The reasons for conducting overseas business and trade.
  • Defining import and export; the aims and risks.
  • International sales; production and make or buy decisions.
  • International trade for smaller and medium sized companies; acquisitions and mergers. 
  • Economic development, international companies and strategy, global markets.
  • Marketing: the marketing mix, marketing planning, market segmentation.
  • Considerations of product fit, product promotions.
  • Strategy: SMART, SWOT. 
  • Market research, social, political, legal and economic factors; competition analysis.
  • Macro factors, communication and cultural factors. 
  • Barriers to entry, import controls, licences; quality and safety; packaging and labelling.
  • Routes to market; direct and indirect marketing: trading houses, agents, joint ventures, partners, mergers and acquisitions.
  • Business finance; fixed and variable costs, economies of scale.
  • Budgets, break-even analysis, accounting and financial checks and ratios.
  • Export costing, pricing and global sales, incoterms.
  • Contracts, the offer, terms and conditions, acceptance, breaches of contracts.
  • Transport and logistics: the role of freight forwarders; containerisation, insurance, customs brokers.
  • Customs documentation and procedures, tariffs and bonded warehousing. 
  • The bill of lading; types, variations and features.
  • Methods of payment, bills of exchange, currency and exchange rates, letters of credit, pricing.
  • Awareness of and care against fraud.
  • Financing international trade; short, medium, long term options; forfait, factoring, leasing, premiums.
  • Suppliers, partners, support organisations, export management companies, chambers of commerce.
  • The export marketing plan, format and content, its importance.

 

LEADERSHIP & TEAM MANAGEMENT

A Program to provide the skills, knowledge and conceptual framework
that underlies successful leadership, teamwork and team building.

This Program will equip men and women who are, or intend to become, supervisors, managers, professionals or executives, with the knowledge to provide effective leadership and to effectively build and manage teams.  The ability to work as part of a team, and demonstrate leadership skills is vital for business and career success; this Program covers these important aspects of organisational life, as well as motivation, team behaviour, team roles, development and culture, and the use and influence of power in organisations. The Program will help current and future managers and leaders to understand the changes in their leadership role as they rise in seniority, and to understand both practical and theoretical leadership.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Leadership and team building - their importance and roles.
  • Leadership, work, organisations and human characteristics.
  • Customer service, SMART and C-SMART criteria. 
  • Motivating people; the social context and psychology.
  • Describing and examining various motivational theories, the need for achievement.
  • Team and group definitions; values and team behaviour, peoples’ perceptions of teams.
  • Team types and team membership.
  • Synergy, groupthink, group dynamics and norms, peer and hierarchical groups; inertia and friction.
  • Team formation and development; team features, communication and life cycle; team loyalty.
  • Team roles and functions; role theory, team wheels, Belbin’s model.
  • Testing for teams and selecting team members, the need for balance, recruitment.
  • The role of the leader; leadership traits and styles.
  • Leadership theories, the leadership spectrum and matrix, becoming a leader.
  • Power, influence and relationships in organisations; the use and sources of power. 
  • Authority, responsibility and accountability.
  • Delegation and empowerment in the workplace.
  • Dealing with conflict; negotiation, learning, adaptation, and behaviour change.
  • Team leadership and culture; cultural development and change, cultural types, culture clashes.
  • Twenty-first century teams and leaders, ICT and technological synergy, virtual teams, boundaries.
  • Theorists: Adair, Belbin, Warren, Blanchard, Covey, Handy, Lewin, Lewis, Morris, Peters, Robbins.

 

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

A Program to promote effective supervision and management through an understanding
of the principles that govern human behaviour in organisations.

THIS PROGRAM DESCRIBES AND EXPLAINS ABOUT THE BEHAVIOUR OF PEOPLE IN ORGANIZATIONS, AND PROVIDES THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING NEEDED TO BE A SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE SUPERVISOR, MOTIVATOR, LEADER AND MANAGER.

Understanding the principles of human behaviour in organisations is part of being a fully effective manager. These principles apply to all areas of an organisation and to the direction of teams; they apply to managers and supervisors in all sectors of industry, commerce and public service.  The effects on people’s behaviour of policies, rules and decisions need to be understood by supervisors, junior, middle and senior management and directors and business owners.  Organisational performance is reduced if insufficient attention is given to the people who comprise its human resource, so the Program covers human behaviour in organisations and the factors that affect people and their work.  It provides a good understanding of organisations and is for anyone pursuing a career and professional development in a managerial role.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Definitions of organisational behaviour and the benefits of its study.
  • Organisations and the environment; organisational goals, aims, objectives.
  • Decisions and decision-making in organisations; systems in organisations.
  • People’s perceptions: how and why they interpret events and actions.
  • Perceptions, stereotypes and the halo effect.
  • Exploring anthropology and sociology.
  • Attitudes, values, beliefs, socialisation, learning and development.
  • Motivation at work and motivational theories; features, requirements, processes, theories.
  • Job design, frustration at work, stress, effects on performance.
  • Personality, traits, qualities and team roles; role behaviour and activities.
  • Selection, testing and assessment in teams.
  • Communication: one-way, two-way, vertical, horizontal.
  • Channels, barriers and blockages to communication; agendas, assertiveness.
  • Influence at work, authority and its misuse.
  • Sources of power, types of working relationship; control mechanisms, the delegation of authority.
  • Leadership and management; functions, styles, factors, traits and complexities.
  • Leadership models and theories.
  • Teams and groups: their purposes; creation, development and behaviour of groups; high-performance teams.
  • Conflict: sources and symptoms, conflict resolution and conflict management.
  • Realpolitik and patronage, favouritism and bullying, trust and confidence.
  • Organisational health and well-being.
  • Ethics, responsibility and obligations in relationships; employees, customers and stakeholders.
  • External and internal pressures, and influences of culture; cultural types and influences.
  • Technology: size and scale of production, expertise, alienation, technological developments.
  • Organisation structures and design, centralisation and decentralisation.
  • Mechanistic and organic structures, bureaucracy.
  • Change management: the drivers and factors of change, the processes and management of change.


PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

THIS IS A PRACTICAL, INTERESTING PROGRAM EXPLAINING AND TEACHING HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY LEAD AND MANAGE A WIDE VARIETY OF PROJECTS, AND HOW TO ENSURE THAT THE PROJECT GOALS - THE “DELIVERABLES” - ARE ACHIEVED EFFICIENTLY AND PROFESSIONALLY.

This excellent Program provides professional training for modern project leaders and managers, through each phase in the life-cycle of projects: conception, initiation, planning, implementation, organisation and control, and project closure. It also covers the formation, training, supervision and control of project teams, and relations with team members. Uniquely, the Program also covers rural development and humanitarian projects, the outsourcing of projects or parts of them to external parties and project management experts, and how to establish and grow a project management business which can carry out projects on behalf of clients.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Module 1 Summary: Principles & Practice of Project Management

    • Types and features of projects: uniqueness, timescale, budget, resources, risks, beneficial change, deliverables. 
    • Project parameters: scope, time, quality, costs. 
    • Project aims and objectives, project stakeholders.
    • Project professionals: personality, character, abilities, skills, communications, time management.

    Module 2 Summary: Project Personnel and Teams

    • Duties and responsibilities of project leaders and managers. 
    • Roles of project team members, sponsor, board, executives, administrator/co-ordinator, business analyst. 
    • Project teams and teamwork: functional and matrix, contracts, diversity of team members, building unity. 
    • Team objectives, motivation, brainstorming, meetings, briefings.

    Module 3 Summary: Project Planning and Organisation

    • Project life-cycles and phases. 
    • Project documentation: charter, scope, budget, business requirements, roles, governance, communication. 
    • Project organisational structure: organisation charts, contractors, sub-contractors. 
    • Work breakdown structure, work packages, control of costs and work sequence.

    Module 4 Summary: Project Cost Estimating and Budgeting

    • Project cost management: estimating, direct and indirect costs/overheads, hidden costs. 
    • Cost planning, financial planning, cost baselines, advance or early payments. 
    • Creating a project budget: stages, quantifying expenses, schedule, risk management. 
    • Quality control planning and acceptance planning: specifications, criteria, types of testing.

    Module 5 Summary: The Project Schedule and Project Tools

    • Tasks and schedule dependencies: planning dependencies, assigning resources. 
    • Schedule development: activities: defining, sequencing, durations. 
    • Critical path methods and analysis, formulae and calculations. 
    • Project milestones, timeline elements, Gantt and PERT charts.

    Module 6 Summary: Project Procurement & Purchasing

    • Sources and methods of procurement, ranges of items, specifications, planning. 
    • Suppliers: sources, research, appraisal, selection: prices, quality, delivery reliability.
    • Quotations, estimates, tendering, bids, trade and quantity discounts, credit terms, contracts. 
    • Purchase orders, expediting orders, monitoring and measuring supplier performance, KPI.

    Module 7 Summary: Project Communication Management

    • Importance on projects: accuracy, clarity, interpretation, feedback, reaction, follow-up. 
    • Vertical and horizontal communication, channels of communication. 
    • Project communication planning: analysing requirements, ensuring regularity, communication matrix. 
    • Project reports and status reports: when and why produced, to whom distributed.

    Module 8 Summary: Project Implementation and Execution

    • Preparing and using a responsibility matrix, accountability levels. 
    • Change management: policy, causes, reasons, types, effects of changes, change request forms. 
    • Schedule compression: crashing, fast tracking, change control processes, management tools, activities checklists. 
    • Implementing, monitoring and reviewing changes made.

    Module 9 Summary: Project Monitoring and Control

    • The project feedback loop, planning, monitoring, reviewing, controlling. 
    • Influential and critical project success factors, key performance indicators (KPIs).
    • Project control process: activities, comparisons, tracking and assessing new risks, data gathering. 
    • Project metrics, quantifiable measures, variances: schedule, cost, resource utilisation, earned value management.

    Module 10 Summary: Project Closure - the Final Phase

    • Project completion and early termination, project closure reports; closure or punch checklists. 
    • Acceptance management: project acceptance forms, determining degree of project success. 
    • Post-project customer/client evaluation survey, post-project implementation review. 
    • Final project cost records, preventing expenditure after closure, dealing with surplus materials.

    Module 11 Summary: Project Logistics, Development Projects

    • The relationship between projects and logistics, transportation in projects and logistics. 
    • Traffic management on sites, construction, events, safety and accident prevention on sites. 
    • Development projects: types, stakeholders, aims and objectives: reducing hunger and poverty. 
    • Raising rural productivity and incomes; humanitarian missions: roles of project management and logistics.

    Module 12 Summary: Project Concepts, Outsourcing, Establishing a Project Business

    • The project business case: justifying projects and investment, benefits, research, return on investment (ROI). 
    • Project feasibility, study of market, technical, financial, HR resources. 
    • Outsourcing processes and projects: reasons, possible advantages. 
    • Establishing a project business: research, business plan, capital, clients, contracts, fees, accounts, insurance.

 

LOGISTICS, MATERIALS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING TRANSPORT)  

THIS GREAT PROGRAM PROVIDES TUITION ON THE WIDE RANGE OF ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN MODERN LOGISTICS, MATERIALS HANDLING AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING: PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION, MATERIALS MANAGEMENT, TRANSPORTATION, FACILITATING, CUSTOMER SERVICE, PROCUREMENT, ORDER PROCESSING, PURCHASING, WAREHOUSING, INVENTORY CONTROL, ORDER PICKING AND MARSHALLING, PACKING AND DESPATCH, LOGISTICS PROJECT MANAGEMENT,

The Program focuses on planning, organising and controlling Logistics, Materials & Supply Chain Management activities - key elements for successful management in any enterprise - and it covers strategic planning and decision-making as an important part of the management process.  The Program is ideal for managers and personnel of all levels who are involved in logistics activities or in ensuring that products and services are made available to customers (or clients or intended recipients) at the time and place, and in the condition and form desired, in an efficient, profitable and cost-effective way.  It also includes special and unique sections on Reverse Logistics, and on Humanitarian, Aid & Disaster Relief Logistics.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

Module 1: Background to logistics and supply chains, value and value chains.

Module 2: Logistics, supply chain and customer service strategy.

Module 3: The marketing and logistics relationship and interface.       

Module 4: Products and logistics factors.

Module 5: Sourcing and procurement, suppliers and purchasing.

Module 6: Receipts, inbound logistics, warehousing. 

Module 7: Stock/inventory control, and order processing.

Module 8: Transportation methods, transport management.

Module 9: Operations management and production in supply chains. 

Module 10: Lean logistics and supply chain management, and agile supply chains

Module 11: Distribution and distribution centres, and reverse logistics.

Module 12: Logistics and project management; humanitarian and disaster/emergency management.

 

THE CONTENTS OF THE 12 MODULES INCLUDE:

  • Module One:  Background to logistics and supply chains.  The beginnings of trade and the need for the movement of people and products.  Important historical developments, and the development of infrastructure.  Difference and associations of logistics and supply chains, supply partners and networks. Value and value chains. Glossary of terms used in logistics and supply chain management.
  • Module Two:  Strategy formulation.  Understanding supply and demand.  Business models. Corporate and business strategy.  Value added functions of supply chains.  Cost factors affecting supply chains, risk factors.  Customer value and customer service strategy.  Supply chain strategy; push and pull strategies.  Developing logistics strategy.  Economies of Scale.  The business life cycle. 
  • Module Three:  The marketing and logistics interface.  Relevance of the 4Ps to marketing logistics.  Importance of customer value.  Order cycle time and stages.  Measuring customer service.  Consequences of stockouts, back orders, cancelled orders.  Customer retention.  Market drive supply chains, market segmentation.  The Pareto Principle, the ABC classification of stock/inventory items. 
  • Module Four:  Industrial and consumer products.  Product life cycle; logistics strategies for each stage.  Product characteristics: dimensions, weight, volume, values, associated risks; weight-bulk ratio, value-weight ratio, substitutability, risk characteristics.  Product packing and packaging materials.  Product pricing, policies, constraints and strategies. Incentive pricing, quantity discounts.
  • Module Five: Sourcing and procurement objectives, supplies and suppliers, sourcing decisions.  Supplier appraisal.  Procurement and purchasing objectives for continuous operations, continuity of supply.  Procurement strategies for manufacturing, distributive and service-providing organizations.  Economic order quantity.  Partnership sourcing.  Documents used in procurement and purchasing.
  • Module Six:  Receiving service, sources of incoming consignments, documentation.  Receiving procedures and routines, quality inspections.  Storage and control of stock/inventory.  Functions of warehouses, location, layout and design, floors, doors, lighting, security, gangways and aisles.  Storage equipment, manual and mechanised materials handling.  Economy of movement, palletisation.
  • Module Seven: Stock/inventory control, identification, prevention of fire, losses by theft, pilfering, fraud and damage.  Common stock levels set.  Issues of stock/inventory to users or customers, authorisation, control and documentation. Order processing or fulfillment: order preparation, entry and processing.  Manual and automated order picking and marshalling.  Packing and despatching service.
  • Module Eight: Considerations in selecting modes of transportation: road, rail, water, air, pipelines; advantages and disadvantages of each mode.  Own vehicle fleet operation.  Duties of freight forwarders, why they are used.  Unit loads and palletisation.  Containerisation: advantages.  Bulk freight and groupage. Freight handling.  Intermodal transportation, piggy-back rail-truck.
  • Module Nine: Role of operations management in supply chains.  Product design and development.  Components and benefits of products.  Production strategies, levels, planning and control.  Product range, mix, specialisation and diversification.  Methods of production: job, batch, flow.  Inspections and quality control.  Work study, motion study and work measurement.  Quality assurance.
  • Module Ten: Lean principles and lean thinking in logistics and supply chain management.  The eight wastes, and methods of reducing them.  Linear and parallel processing.  Just-in-time and the kanban, pull demand driven supply systems.  One and two tier suppliers.  Agile supply chains.  Supplier relationships, buyers and sellers markets.  Partnership sourcing methodology.
  • Module Eleven: Importance of facility location for trading, distributive, service-providing businesses.  Distribution centres, locations and purposes.  Factory and plant facility location, warehouse location.  Reverse logistics: sales returns from customers. Defective products, product liability laws.  Product recall.  Reverse logistics in eCommerce.  Avoiding losses and damages in transit.  Insurance.
  • Module Twelve: Project management, co-ordinating and managing tasks and activities, team-work. Types of projects, industrial, commercial and humanitarian. Primary project objectives, focus, scope, specifications.   Quality/cost relationship.  Emergency planning and disaster/emergency management.  Communication and incident assessment, rapid action.  Aftermath and reverse logistics.

 

EVENTS MANAGEMENT

THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES AND TEACHES THE SPECIAL RANGE OF SKILLS NEEDED FOR SUCCESSFUL EVENTS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

This course provides tuition on the wide range and types of events, the project nature of events, and the special range of skills needed for successful events project management to meet the demand for skilled and knowledgeable management personnel in the modern events industry. The course provides that knowledge, and deals with skills in strategic events planning, marketing, budgeting and financial planning, human resource planning, sites and venues, and many other vital topics. The course covers management of event projects from their inception to after their completion, covering event concepts and their feasibility, and topics such as legal issues, insurance, and risk analysis. It also focuses on operational planning and production, event logistics, and health and safety at events. Uniquely it also provides expert tuition on establishing and managing a professional events business. The course is very interesting and practical, and teaches event and project management skills valuable in a wide range of careers and managerial posts; it focuses on how to become a professional event manager and how to carry out the managerial role fully and effectively when involved in an event of any size.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

1. The Event Project:

  • The modern events industry; categories, sizes and scopes of events.
  • Events as projects, adapting project management techniques.
  • Event stakeholders.
  • Event creation, the “five Ws”, feasibility, the “WOW factor”, themes.

2. Event Personnel:

  • The event manager: duties and responsibilities, skills, abilities and expertise needed.  
  • Event teams: make-up and personnel, creative teams.  
  • Managing diverse groups and short-term teams.
  • Interpersonal communication skills, decision making skill, time management.

3. Event Planning:

  • The event concept and purpose, vision and mission statements.
  • Event strategy, setting SMART goals, SWOT analysis.  
  • Lead time, event dates, influencing factors, venue considerations.  
  • Event action plans, an event business plan, event documentation.

4. Event Budgets & Finance:

  • Financial forecasts and projections, developing the budget, budgetary control.  
  • Sources of income: entry and entrance fees, sponsorship, merchandise sales, concessions.  
  • Typical event expenditure items.  
  • Financial planning, accounting and control, final accounts.

5. Corporate Sponsorship:

  • What sponsorship involves, benefits sponsors seek.  
  • Identifying, targeting approaching potential sponsors.
  • Sponsorship packages: typical components, pricing considerations, costs involved.  
  • Sponsorship proposals, documentation, agreements or contracts; on-going relations with sponsors.

6. Event Venues:

  • Basic and critical factors in venue selection and suitability: location, dimensions, environment, facilities, dates, availability.
  • Prices and terms, rental agreements, conditions, booking.  
  • Site visits, non-traditional venues.
  • Food and beverages at events, organising supplies, services, equipment, furniture.

7. Event Program & Schedule:

  • Main, core, secondary, support and ancillary activities.  
  • Timing and sequencing of event activities, Gantt charts, multiple and concurrent activities.  
  • Contingency plans.
  • Production of printed programmes.

8. Legal Issues & Insurance for Events:

  • Responsibilities under the law, copyright, licences and permits, sanctioning, performing rights, disability issues.  
  • Features of legally binding contracts and agreements.
  • Quotations for supplies of goods and services, purchase orders. 
  • Insurance cover, claims, indemnity.

9. Logistics & Production:

  • Assessing resources needed; logistics to ensure flows of resources, materials, people, access, egress.
  • Safe placement of equipment & services, sanitary facilities.
  • Information, safety, welfare signage, emergencies, site/venue maps.  
  • Litter and waste management.  

10. Event Health & Safety:

  • Duty of care, risk assessments, risk control, accident prevention.  
  • Crowd control, hazards presented by crowds, queue management, uses of barriers and fencing.  
  • Incident and emergency planning & procedures, safe evacuation, shows stops.  
  • Transport and electricity hazards.  

11. Marketing & Promotion:

  • Creating public awareness of an event, promotional campaigns.  
  • Market research and strategy, SMART marketing objectives, the marketing mix.  
  • Marketing tools: printed materials, media advertising, online adverts, websites, viral marketing.  
  • Post-event evaluation and reports, audience research.

12. Starting and Building Events Businesses:

  • Reasons for starting events businesses, finding a niche, deciding types of events to focus on, and the right business unit.  
  • The business plan and capital, working from home.  
  • Securing clients, social media, websites, referrals, goodwill.  
  • Fees structures, accounting, insurance.

 

 

 HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

A Program designed to promote a safe and healthy occupational environment
for the benefit of both employers and employees, and the wider public and visitors to premises.

This Program teaches employers, management and appointed personnel to out in place a safe work environment and ensure the health, safety and security of personnel and others in the workplace.  The Program teaches and explains how to conduct risk assessments and to identify hazards and risks, and explains many risks in many workplaces including construction sites, schools, restaurants, hotels, factories and stores.  Implementing the knowledge taught and advice given in this Program will help avoid accidents which can affect employees and employers and help avoid injury, reduced output, accident investigation and legal costs.  The Program deals with accident-prevention actions, risk assessment and implementation of health and safety rules and measures.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Managing workplace health & safety; legal matters, responsibilities; hazards, risk assessment, policy.
  • Workplace safety, buildings, environs, layout, housekeeping, equipment.
  • Accident prevention, avoiding trips and falls.
  • Fire safety: ignition sources, fuel, oxygen, combustible materials.
  • Fire risk assessment, eliminating fire hazards, precautions, fire extinguishers.
  • Working at height, ladders, mobile platforms, roof work.
  • Building & construction sites, traffic, waste.
  • Equipment: training, hazards and dangers, safety guards, controls.
  • Equipment positioning and layout, space, maintenance, tools, gas, pressure.
  • Transport, route planning, movement of vehicles, planning aisles.
  • Materials handling equipment, systems, training, supervising operators.
  • Electricity, current, circuits, conductors, insulators, power, hazards.
  • Noise, vibrations, risks, potential damages, machinery and precautions, controlling noise.
  • Hazardous and explosive substances, storage of dangerous substances.
  • Radiation: risks and exposure, machines with radioactivity risks. 
  • Occupational skin diseases, causes, prevention
  • Catering, kitchens, food preparation, cleaning and hygiene.
  • Potential injuries in kitchens, dermatitis worries, premises management, H & S officers.
  • Psychological health, stress, job design, counselling.
  • HR policy, harassment, bullying and equal opportunity.
  • Educational establishments, hazards, injuries, school grounds, supervisors, staff, fire, medical facilities, stairs.
  • Health protection, first aid, accident control; liability insurance.
  • VDUs, protective equipment, training.

 

MASS MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

This Program prepares CIC Members to take advantage of a wide range of career opportunities - in television, film, radio, print and online production, journalism, media law, sales and marketing, advertising, public relations, communication, campaign or advocacy, policy and research, and fund-raising.

Modern media have powerful influences and effects on all aspects of contemporary lives; mass media and social media have greatly changed the way in which businesses, governments and private individuals communicate with and between one another.  Understanding how media work and operate - and how best to make effective use of them - is essential for the success and prosperity of businesses, because rapid and effective communication with prospective and existing customers and clients - nationally and/or internationally - is paramount in overcoming competition.  This is a very topical and “modern age” Program, with many important practical applications for people running or working in businesses of all types and sizes.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program:

  • Media professionals and the “politics” of representation.
  • Media stars, personalities and celebrities.
  • Dominant practices and forms of reality media: reality, truth, freedom, ethics, responsibilities.
  • Media businesses in the digital age. 
  • Methods and techniques of mass communication. 
  • Regulation and public policy. 
  • The impact of social media and global media; global media production.
  • Audiences: producing audiences, the range of activities of media professionals.
  • Propaganda and manipulation of audiences, media effects and moral panics, from ‘effects’ to influence.
  • Identifying audience activity; from ‘effects’ to uses and gratifications, media, context and meaning.
  • Researching media audiences, ethics and audience research.
  • Branding, identity and consumption.
  • Media and power, conceptualisation, ideology; discourse, power in communication, global news.
  • Mass society, mass media and social change; theories of mass society, who the “masses” are.
  • Making media: writing, still images, web design, moving images, animation, game design, audio production.
  • Imagining, planning, telling, imaging, designing, editing, theorising; documentaries.
  • The ‘consumer society’, history of consumerism and advertising; cultures of consumerism. 
  • National, international & global marketing. 
  • Advertising in the digital age; the future of advertising and marketing.

 

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

STUDY FOR THE UNDERSTANDING, GUIDANCE, CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.

This Program explains the role of public administration in government and public office, and its role in the implementation of government policy and translating political decisions into the “reality” which citizens see every day.  It covers the organisation of government departments and agencies, the management of programmes designed to implement policy, and the behaviour and responsibilities of ‘civil servants’ and officials who are responsible for those policies and programmes. It considers government decision making, how and why policies are developed, and analysis of them.  It describes the duties of heads of city, county, regional, state and federal departments, such as municipal budget directors, HR administrators, city managers, census managers, state mental health directors, and cabinet secretaries. 

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • The nature and roles of public administration in the world of changing public expectations.
  • Public administration in the implementation of government policy and its affect on the daily lives of citizens.
  • The institutional setting of public administration.
  • Public administration organisational structures; central government.
  • The public sector, the environment, “green” policies; gauging their impact and outcomes; implementation of environmental/green policies.
  • The civil or public service: public administrators, duties and responsibilities.
  • The correct behaviour towards the public.
  • Traditional roles of public servants, recent changes, the modern civil or public service.
  • Economy, efficiency and equity in public administration.
  • Human resource management: recruitment, training, remuneration, supervision and control.
  • Promotion - vertical and horizontal - in public administration. 
  • Integration, continuity and change in public administration.
  • Structure and functions of local administration.
  • Duties and responsibilities of local administration officials, local government service, bureaucracies.
  • Elected and employed officials, central government control.
  • Financing the public sector, allocating resources for central and local administration, budgets and budgetary control, financial control, audits.
  • Independent public bodies.
  • Health and voluntary agencies.

 

COMMERCIAL PRACTICE & LAW

A PROGRAM FOR ALL BUSINESS PEOPLE, MANAGERS, OWNERS AND OTHERS WHO NEED TO UNDERSTAND COMMERCE AND THE COMMERCIAL WORLD, THE ESSENTIALS OF BUSINESS LAW, THEIR LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES, AND HOW TO ENSURE THAT CONTRACTS, SALES AND COMMERCIAL DEALINGS ARE CORRECTLY CONDUCTED.

This interesting Program teaches about many aspects of commerce and elements of commercial law which all business and commercial people, and anybody with organisational responsibilities, need to understand.  It is essential that business people understand laws relating to commercial activity, especially the law of contract and the law of tort, as failure to comply with the law can lead to civil or criminal actions, fines, loss of business or personal possessions, and imprisonment.  This Program covers vital topics on legal transactions, ethical conduct and the best way to safely conduct the practice of business.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • The place of commerce and trade in the modern commercial world.
  • How the elements of commerce evolved and developed.
  • Modern business, the role of money and banking, transport, hospitality, insurance, law and communication.
  • The types of economies in which organisations transact business and operate.
  • Sources and categories of law: constitutional, customary, common, statute, case law.
  • Criminal and civil law.
  • Commercial law, the law of contract: an offer, an acceptance, the financial consideration.
  • Terms and conditions of trade; what they are, standards, how they are presented.
  • Credit and credit transactions, affects on cash flow and liquidity, risks associated with credit, credit management. 
  • Transactions and documents used in business - layout, content, interpretation, preparation.
  • Types of business: sole-owners, partnerships, limited companies.
  • Financing companies; matters relating to ownership, capital, shares, shareholders, share certificates, shareholders’ agreements. 
  • Legal obligations of company directors, the company secretary duties, annual returns, general meetings.
  • Tort liability for defective goods, product liability and the law, the law relating to defective services. 
  • Employment law, health and safety in the workplace, legal protection of employees against dismissal, redundancy and discrimination.
  • The law of agency, the creation of agency, the rights and duties of agents and principals. 
  • Intellectual property law. 
  • Transfer of ownership, performance, legal remedies for breach of contract and of confidence.

 

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY AND ORGANISATION

THIS PROGRAM TEACHES HOW TO ORGANISE AND MANAGE THE SUPPLY CHAIN TO GENERATE SALES, PENETRATE NEW MARKETS, INCREASE MARKET-SHARE, REDUCE COSTS, AND ENSURE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

Effective supply chain management is essential for business growth and prosperity, generating sales, penetrating new markets, increasing market-share, reducing costs, and ensuring customer satisfaction, and in turn increasing profits - this Program teaches how to organise and manage the supply chain to achieve those aims.  This Program concentrates on the vital supply chain functions of planning, forecasting, inventory strategy and policy, and explains how to make the right, effective decisions needed for success.  It deals with scheduling, storage, facility location, network planning and implementation, logistics and supply chain organisation and control. 

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • Forecasting supply chain requirements, methods and techniques of forecasting.
  • Problems and uncertainties of predicting supply needs, collaborative forecasting.
  • Ensuring flexibility and quick response in supply chain management. 
  • Variations in demand, controlling lead times, dealing with prices and costs.
  • Monitoring, noting and assessing trends.
  • Inventory control and policy decisions, deciding upon inventory location points.
  • Managing the flows of goods and services.
  • Inventory appraisal and monitoring, categories and types of inventory.
  • The objectives of holding inventory, pull and push inventory systems.
  • Materials Resource Planning (MRP).
  • Pipeline inventories, aggregate control of inventories, supply-driven inventory control, virtual inventories. 
  • Purchasing and supply scheduling, the decisions involved, storage and handling systems, costs. 
  • Mathematical models relating to purchasing, supply and scheduling.
  • Facility and site selection - the factors involved.
  • Planning, design and operational needs of sites and warehouses.
  • Materials handling systems, planning and designing them.
  • Location strategy and decisions, single and multiple facilities location.
  • Factories, dynamic warehouse location, design and control of channels.
  • Network planning and product flows: data sources and checklists.
  • Logistics research, tools for analysis in network planning.
  • Facility costs and their capacity; the configuration of networks.
  • Benchmarking and quality, monitoring efficiency.
  • Supply chain organisation and control: the differing choices.
  • Orientation and positioning of the supply chain.
  • Inter-functional and inter-organisational management, and integrated planning.
  • The control process; managing, developing and understanding the control framework.
  • Data measurement and analysis relating to the supply chain. 

 

CREDIT MANAGEMENT

A PROGRAM WHICH CLEARLY AND COMPREHENSIVELY TEACHES ABOUT CREDIT, CREDIT MANAGEMENT, DEALING WITH CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS, AND DEBT CONTROL.

Any business which sells goods or provides services ‘on credit’ - that is, without receiving payment at once - is exposed to the very real risk that customers or clients might ‘default’, that is, not settle their debts when they fall due for payment.  Such ‘bad debts’ can seriously affect the operations and profitability of a business, and so must be kept to the bare minimum.  It is the important task of the credit manager and/or accounts managers and personnel, or the owner or manager of a small business, or an appointed official or executive of larger businesses - to formulate a ‘credit policy’ to control and manage the credit extended to its customers or clients.  The credit control process needs to be understood and followed, with adequate checks made on “creditworthiness” of new and existing customers, and ‘credit limits’ (how much credit is allowed and for how long) must be set.  A major responsibility of a credit manager is to ensure debts are collected on time, that any signs a customer might default are acted upon early, and that any overdue debts are “chased” to avoid losses.  This Program covers all those topics, and many more of great value to all businesses.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • The meanings of key terms including: credit, credit policy, credit terms, credit limits, receivables, and more.
  • The major forms of credit, and the benefits to manufacturers/producers, vendors and consumers of credit availability. 
  • Risks in allowing credit to customers.
  • The importance of liquidity, the management of liquidity; methods of improving liquidity. 
  • Responsibilities of the credit control function. 
  • Internal and external sources of information about customers or clients.
  • Financial analysis of customer accounts: liquidity and profitability indicators, financial position, cash flow, working capital. 
  • Using performance indicators for customers, using a credit scoring system and the shortcomings of credit scoring systems.
  • Granting credit and setting up customer accounts; various factors which  affect the decision to allow credit. 
  • Procedures for opening a new credit account. 
  • Reasons for and processes when refusing to grant credit. 
  • Changes in credit terms; interest penalties for late payments.
  • The different types of discounts and, why they are offered. 
  • Credit insurance; overseas sales and export credit insurance.
  • Customers and contracts; elements of contracts; offer and acceptance.  Breaches of contract.
  • Selling and statute law; trade descriptions acts, consumer credit acts. 
  • Methods of “chasing” and recovering outstanding debts.
  • Monitoring and controlling customer accounts; useful techniques. 
  • Receivables and aged debtor reports.
  • Doubtful and bad debts, provisions for doubtful debts.  Writing off bad debts.
  • Collecting debts and dealing with insolvency. 
  • Methods of collecting trade debts. Using third parties for debt collection. 
  • Taking a customer to court; legal terms, enforcement of judgements.  Insolvency practitioners. 
  • Overview and review of Credit control policy. 

 

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS

WITHOUT SOUND CLASSROOM SKILLS EVEN THE MOST TALENTED TEACHER WILL FAIL TO ACHIEVE THEIR TEACHING GOALS; THIS PROGRAM SHOWS HOW IMPLEMENTING MODERN PRO-ACTIVE PRACTICES AND CLASSROOM STRUCTURE IMPROVES TEACHING AND MAKES YOU A MORE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER.

This Program teaches how to become an exceptional teacher, to manage classrooms to support, motivate and encourage students, achieve academic improvement and prevent misbehaviour. It is filled with practical advice and strategies for managing classes, student behaviour and psychology, discipline, teaching style, lesson-planning and student safety. It combines the best practices of general and special education for managing students, including those who are culturally diverse and those with special needs.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

    • Classroom management, community, rules, trust.

    • Educational psychology, student needs, Maslow.

    • Student motivation, motives, intrinsic and extrinsic.

    • Student achievement, involvement, engagement.

    • Improving learning, memory and attention, methods.

    • Student backgrounds, cultural, social, economic.

    • Standardised and blended teaching, critical thinking.

    • Teaching styles, the right style, teacher behaviour.

    • Cooperative, passive and active learning, themes.

    • Planning and preparing lessons, aims, outcomes.

    • Assessments, grading, corrections, comments.

    • Discipline, misbehaviour, conflict, teacher response.

    • Student learning difficulties, IT and media in teaching.

    • School security, health & safety, accident prevention.

 

ASSET AND INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT

A PROGRAM ABOUT HOW TO MANAGE PERSONAL AND COMPANY ASSETS EFFECTIVELY, PROFITABLY AND CAREFULLY, WHICH TEACHES ABOUT INVESTMENT THEORY, MANAGING RISK, AND MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS.

This Program teaches about tangible and intangible assets, investments, and the work of asset, investment and fund managers. It explains how to forecast and understand market trends, analyse markets, plan to maximise investment returns, and how to manage equity, bond and other assets and portfolios. It also explains how to develop strong market and investment strategies.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  1. Fixed assets as working assets; current, circulating and floating assets, the circulation of current assets.
  2. Liquid assets, liquidity management, solvency, the working capital cycle; trade debtors, credit control.
  3. Intangible assets: intellectual property, goodwill, copyrights, patents. Financial instruments: equity, debt.
  4. Securities; investments: deposits, gilt-edged securities, stocks and shares, dividends, returns.
  5. Physical asset management: selecting fixed assets, raising finance for purchases, depreciation.
  6. Leasing/contract hire/rental, sale and lease back, hire purchase, credit agreements, maintenance.
  7. Investment businesses, range of activities, duties and responsibilities of investment managers.
  8. The asset management industry, organisation: dealing, cash management, the back office.
  9. Modern portfolio theory; economic data, growth, interest rates. Compliance, systems, data requirements.
  10. Equities, bonds and the money market, derivatives, property; dividends and equity returns.
  11. Fund management: equity, fixed interest, currencies.  Performance returns, reporting and analysis.
  12. Investment accounting, making settlements. Quantitative analysis.  Security and market analysis.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION & MANAGEMENT

A PROGRAM PROVIDING THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WHICH EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW.

This Program provides an overview of environmental protection. It covers environmental protection globally, and provides many examples of environmental conditions and practices. The Program covers far more than just explaining how to be an “environmentalist” and just protecting the environment; it goes much further, also investigating the relationship of environmental protection to economics and politics, and to other societal concerns. It covers the risks our global environment is facing, and how protecting it is critical to economic and social well-being. The Program also provides a unique legal perspective of environment protection and related laws, which is certainly of benefit to anyone aiming to develop a professional career in the area of environmental protection, as well as considering environmental protection more broadly. The Program also discusses the science behind current environmental issues, explaining and defining key terms such as ecosystems, pollutants, and endocrine disruptors, and it explains why our environment needs protection, using examples from both history and current events.

Summary of major topics;

Environmental Protection: An Introduction
The environment and environmental protection.
The Environmental Protection Agency and environmental agencies.
Values and drivers of environmental policy.
Sustainability and the difficulty of environmental protection.
Unintended consequences of actions and effects on the environment.

Pollution
Pollutants, organic pollutants, bioaccumulation, biomagnification.
Sage level pollution.
Noise pollution, light pollution, nanopollution.
The precautionary principle in environmental protection.
The most dangerous pollutants.

Environmental Laws
Environmental law in the United States and other countries.
Reasons for enacting environmental laws.
National Environmental Policy.
Environmental laws and native lands and populations.
Updating environmental laws

Environmental Protection and the Global Community
Protecting the environment - a global concern.
International environmental law, the United Nations and global environmental protection.
Obstacles to achieving global environmental agreements.
Developing countries and environmental problems.
The connection between international trade and the environment.
Countries which are best at protecting the environment.

Water
The importance of clean water.
Watersheds, ground water, aquifers, wetlands.
Water pollution, the main kinds of water pollutants.
The main sources of water pollution.
Controlling water pollution, improving water quality.

Air
The importance of clean air.
Ozone, volatile organic compounds, particulates, acid rain, toxins, gases.
Air pollution, the problems it brings, the major air pollutants.
The main sources of air pollution.
Controlling air pollution, improving air quality.

Ecosystems
What ecosystems are and what they do.
Biodiversity, species, species loss, endangered species, invasive species.
Agriculture, soils, farm-related pollution, soil pollution and ecosystems.
Methods of protecting ecosystems.
Monitoring the relationship between sustainability and ecosystems.

Climate Change
Climate change, global warming.
Causes of climate change and the problems resulting.
The greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, carbon footprints, renewables, carbon capture.
Climate change adaption, climate change mitigation, climate change tools, geoengineering.
Carbon tax, laws on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, climate justice.

Waste
Solid waste, what is discarded, where garbage goes.
Open dumps, landfill, superfunds, brownfields, recycling.
Hazardous wastes, hazardous waste sites.
The challenges and difficulties of clean ups.
Controlling waste, reducing waste, waste elimination.

The Built Environment
The built environment and environmental protection.
Smart growth.
The special environmental challenges of cities and overcoming them.
Landowners, their property, restrictions and the law.
Public lands and the protection of the environment.

Environmental Justice
Environmental justice and environmental protection.
When environmental justice concerns arise.
Environmental justice population and the environmental justice movement.
Promoting environmental justice and barriers to achieving environmental justice.
How to achieve environmental justice.

Environmental Protection and the Economy
Environmental protection, economic growth.
Gross domestic product, externalities, cost-benefit analysis, subsidies, market disclosure.
Environmental regulation, jobs, pros and cons for business.
Using economic tools to protect the environment.
The most promising economic steps to protect the environment.

The Future
Today’s greatest threats to the environment.
Assessing the seriousness of future climate change and biodiversity threats.
The health or illness of the oceans.
New pollutants, population growth, poverty and environmental protection.
How is poverty connected to environmental protection.
Potential solutions, individual actions, future generations.

 

 

RETAIL MANAGEMENT & CUSTOMER RELATIONS

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR OWNERS, MANAGERS AND STAFF OF RETAIL BUSINESSES, TO ENSURE SUCCESS IN THE MODERN AND FAST-MOVING WORLD OF RETAIL COMMERCE, IN WHICH CUSTOMERS’ DEMANDS AND EXPECTATIONS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING AND EVOLVING.

This Program explains about the wide range of activities which must be planned and undertaken by retailers to promote awareness and increase sales of the products in which the business deals, and to satisfy its customers.  The Program explains the differences between retail marketing and other types of marketing due to the special components of the retail trade, such as selling finished goods in small quantities to consumers or end users, traditionally from a fixed location; it teaches about retail marketing and how to make use of the common principles of the marketing mix such as product, price, place and promotion; and it includes insightful tuition on store location, layout, design, effective merchandising strategies, consumer psychology and behaviour, product purchases, communications, branding and advertising.  It also covers modern e-commerce and e-tailing, and the importance of good, effective customer relations, and uniquely it covers the recruitment, training and  supervison of sales personnel to ensure constant customer satisfaction, and to maintain excellent relations with - and ongoing sales to - both existing and potential customers.

Summary of major topics:

Module 1 - Evolution of Modern Retailing
Products, customers, consumers; shops, stores, showrooms; types of retail organizations; the market and marketing; makes and brands; merchandise; the distribution chain and channels; intermediaries, retailers and wholesalers; franchising

Module 2 - Retail Management & Personnel
Retail business ownership; organisational structure; the range, jobs, positions, duties and responsibilities of staff

Module 3 - Consumer Behaviour & Psychology
Factors affecting consumer behaviour; buying motives; consumer psychology; consumer research; market segmentation; substitutability, features and benefits of products; corporate buyers

Module 4 - Retail Sales Premises
Types of retail premises, shopping areas, business and commercial districts, malls; store location decisions, macro factors, micro factors; retail site selection considerations and factors

Module 5 - Operating & Managing a Retail Business; Retail Store Layout & Fittings
Customer and traffic flow; aisles and endcaps; common stores floor layouts; stages in floor planning; product mapping; zone design, lighting, signage, displays, safety and security considerations; Inventory management. Store security, insurance.

Module 6 - Retail Marketing Strategy, Product & Brand Management
Brand identity and branding image, retail marketing, the marketing mix, the promotional mix; SWOT analysis, economic conditions, strategic marketing, increasing market share, market development, product development, diversification; product life cycle; choosing between competitive products

Module 7 - Financial Matters, Pricing Strategies
Mission statements, plans and planning, forecasting, budgeting and budgetary control, cash flow, credit sales, discounts, return on investment (ROI); sales turnover, price setting; product demand, luxury products and necessities, psychological attitude of consumers; margin and mark-up; pricing strategies, price sensitivity

Module 8 - Retail Buying and Merchandising
Retail sales forecasting and budget planning; buying and merchandising roles, centralised and decentralised buying; branded, designer and own-label merchandise, retail buying cycle; retail buying for online and mail order businesses; supply chain management, warehouse and inventory management

Module 9 - HR Management in the Retail Sector
HR management, human relations, interpersonal skills; staff turnover, diversity, recruitment, selection, trial periods, induction or orientation; duties of sales assistants; training retail personnel; sales demonstrations; motivation; related sales, cross-selling, ongoing sales, customer loyalty

Module 10 - Customer Service and Consumer Relations
Policies covering interactions with customers; developing excellent customer services; customer satisfaction; approaches to customers; recognising buying motives, concluding a transaction, customer support, after sale service, handling customers’ complaints, customer service personnel and relationship management, customer relationship life cycle

Module 11 - Retail Marketing Communication
Target audiences, communications devices, components of communications; retail advertising and publicity; retail marketing communication strategies, public relations, direct marketing, retail marketing communications via digital and social media: viral marketing, varieties of web-based adverts; relationship advertising, image building.

Module 12 - E-commerce and E-tailing
Websites and webtraffic, what e-commerce involves, characteristics of successful e-tailing, advantages and disadvantages; website design, structure and navigation search engines, web browsers, internet marketing; social media and viral marketing

 

SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENT

A PROGRAM DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO PROVIDE ALL STAFF, SUPERVISORS, FOREMEN AND MANAGERS WITH THE TRAINING AND SKILLS NEED TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS

This Program is for current and aspiring foremen, supervisors or managers; it provides a thorough, practical introduction to the techniques and skills needed to effectively manage subordinates, as individuals and in groups, so they work well and willingly as a team to achieve organisational objectives.  The Program provides skills and knowledge which are easy to understand and put into practice; this training is ideal for people seeking successful careers in supervision, or who are aiming for promotion to higher supervisory posts, and for progress to higher studies.

 

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • The meaning and management of human and material resources, management activity.
  • The relationship between employers and employees, the link between work and pay.
  • Supervising the workforce, training people, setting and communication organisational goals.
  • Teamwork, supervising, leading, planning, forecasting and organising.
  • Motivation and setting standards, ensuring good performance.
  • Types of management responsibility - to the organisation and for subordinates. 
  • The different types of companies and businesses.
  • The meaning of authority, the delegation process, supervising and monitoring performance.
  • Decision-making by managers and staff.
  • Business organisation, the division  and specialisation of labour, forming workgroups.
  • Work structures; line, function and staff organisations; creating and updating company charts.
  • Communication: two-way, the effects on motivation and benefits of good communication.
  • Communication lines and channels; horizontal and vertical, oral, written, unspoken.
  • HR activity, internal and external recruitment; job analysis, advertising jobs.
  • Dealing with job applications, the selection and appointment process.
  • Supervising new employees and introducing them to the workplace.
  • Induction, job training, employee development.
  • Managing the work environment.
  • Employee counselling, disciplinary action, equal opportunity policy, matters regarding promotion.
  • Trade unions and staff associations.
  • Carrying out job evaluation, grading and ranking jobs; job design, job rotation, job enlargement. 
  • Retaining employees; dealing with labour turnover, resignations, dismissal, redundancy.
  • Accidents and health & safety at work.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE, PERSONAL ASSISTANT & SECRETARIAL DUTIES

A PROGRAM TO TEACH HOW TO BECOME A VALUABLE, WELL-TRAINED PA, SECRETARY AND ADMINISTRATOR

Knowledgeable, efficient administrative assistants, PAs and private secretaries are very valuable to their executives and to the enterprise for which they work, so they are in great demand and command good salaries and other benefits - good, well-trained secretaries/PAs/administrators are valued and sought after - no enterprise can get along without one (or more) of them.  Their range of duties can be wide, and can vary considerably; this Program provides essential training and knowledge about very many of them, including office management principles, staff matters, accounts and IT.  The Program also teaches about supervision of office personnel, and how to prepare for promotion to managerial posts.

Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

  • The types and roles of the PA/Secretary; personal attributes and skills, work relationships, adapting to change.
  • The office environment: layout, design, environmental factors, furniture and furnishings, equipment and machinery, their functions; health and safety concerns.
  • The world of commerce; public, private, types of enterprises.
  • Business letters and their preparation; desktop publishing.
  • Communications including memos, emails, forms, reports  and other business documents. 
  • Filing systems, data and information. 
  • The uses and control of office machines
  • Computer systems: data, databases, hardware, software, data security.
  • Incoming mail: sorting, opening, distributing; dictation, checking typed and word processed work.
  • Outgoing mail, despatching mail, options, postage, posting options and machinery.
  • Reception work, visitors, appointments, deliveries, arranging meetings, representing the organisation.
  • Meetings: arrangements, notices, agendas, taking minutes, preparing minutes.
  • Making travel arrangements; the appointments diary. 
  • Conferences, managing events, logistics, travel. 
  • Effective communication: oral, visual, written, electronic.
  • Principles of bookkeeping, the ledger, sales documents, petty cash, banking, invoices and receipts, checking and passing bills for payment, issuing cheques, records. 
  • Wages and remuneration.
  • Advertising for and recruiting office personnel: job analysis, job descriptions, interviewing, selection tests, induction, training, supervising, controlling, counselling. 
  • The functions and principles of management; technical and managerial aspects.
  • Setting good examples, attitudes. Preparing for promotion.

 

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, PSYCHOLOGY AND ADMINISTRATION  

A PROGRAM COVERING KEY ASPECTS OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, LEADERSHIP, MOTIVATION AND PSYCHOLOGY

For education to be effective and successful, those involved must fully understand the educational process and its needs - and be able to manage, lead, motivate and direct educational teams.

Key topics including curriculum design, deciding on educational objectives, the psychological and motivational aspects of education, and how to manage educational teams, departments, schools and regions; this and more is covered by this interesting and developmental Program.

Professional educators include senior teachers, head teachers, ministerial staff, education officers, educational researchers and psychologists, and many others; all will benefit from studying this Program.

THERE ARE 12 MODULES IN THIS INTERESTING PROGRAM:
  1. Module 1 - Traditional and Modern Education

    • Purposes of Education, Education History, Modern Education Systems and What is Taught
    • Formal Education, Preschool, Primary, Secondary, Higher/Tertiary, Vocational and Special Education
    • Differences Between Teachers and Educators, Traits, Skills, Passion, Drive, Dedication
    • How Education Benefits a Nation, Training Workers, Productivity and Economic Growth, Society

    Module 2 - The Learning Process

    • Types Of Learning, Mental and Physical Factors, Physiological Basis of Learning
    • The Learning Process, Models of Learning, The Perceptual Process, Stages in Perceptual Learning
    • Types of Learners, Cognitive Learning, Passive and Active Learning, The Learning Pyramid
    • Motivation for Learning, Motivation and Learning Styles, Social and Personal Motives, Emotion

    Module 3 - Educational Research

    • Pedagogy, Teaching Philosophy, Research Methodology
    • Approaches to Research, Applied and Action Research, Individual, School and Collaborative Research
    • Types of Educational Research, Validity of Research, Empirical Evidence, Research Design
    • Learning Strategies, Scaffolding Strategies in Education and Teaching

    Module 4 - Educational Psychology

    • The Role and Scope of Educational Psychology, History and Leading Figures
    • Behavioural, Development, Cognitive and Constructivist Perspectives
    • Goal Theory and Education Outcomes of Goals, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation:
    • Praise as a Motivating Tool, Adaptive and Maladaptive Motivation, Academically At-Risk Students

    Module 5 - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

    • Deficiency Needs and Being Needs, Effects of Deficits, Continuance of Growth Needs
    • Categories, The Extended Hierarchy, Cognitive and Aesthetic Needs, Lower and Higher Order Needs
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Applied to Students and Education
    • Group Learning Projects, Cooperation, Preparation, Practical Implementation

    Module 6 - Curriculum Design and Development

    • The Extent of Curricula, Scope, Interpretation, Nation-Wide, State-Wide, District-Wide, Local Levels
    • Learning Standards, Subject Areas, Educational Goals
    • Courses and Course Design, Subjects, Syllabi, Curriculum Design, Lessons And Lesson Plans
    • Learning Objectives and Outcomes, Academic Expectations

    Module 7 - Education Management and Administration

    • Educational Inputs, Outputs and Outcomes, Schools as Organizations
    • Educational Management, what it Involves, Leadership, Educational Administration
    • School Hierarchy, Vision, Aims, Objectives, Management Functions, Middle Leadership in Schools
    • Education Personnel Teaching and Non-Teaching Roles, School Inspectors

    Module 8 - Leadership in Education

    • School Heads and Leadership, Leadership Styles, Situational Leadership, Developing a Good Style
    • School Head Duties and Responsibilities, Governors or Trustees, Deputy, Vice and Assistant Heads
    • School Office Personnel, School Support Staff, Bursars and Business Managers
    • Delegation in Schools, Authority, Accountability, Mistakes to Avoid, Monitoring Performance

    Module 9 - Human Resource Management in Education

    • Importance of HR to Schools or Educational Institutions, Differences From Other Workplaces
    • Identifying Staffing Needs, National and Local Institution Appointments
    • Recruitment, Job Analysis, Job Descriptions, Selecting Candidates, Interviews, Probation, Contracts
    • Induction, Teacher Training and Motivation, Personality And Needs, Work Environment

    Module 10 - Teams and Team Management in Education

    • Teams of Teachers and Non-Teaching Staff, What Distinguishes a Team, Team Work, Team Leaders
    • Stages in Team Formation, Team Values and Goals, Teacher Collaboration:
    • Staff Appraisal, Reasons and Conduct, Staff Counselling
    • The School Community, School Climate, Stakeholders

    Module 11 - School and Education Effectiveness

    • School Effectiveness and School Improvement
    • Measuring School Effectiveness, Factors Influencing School Effectiveness
    • Monitoring and Evaluation of School Effectiveness, Gathering and Analysing Data, Use of Results
    • Safety and Security in Educational Establishments, Hazards, Risks, Accident Prevention, First Aid

    Module 12 - National Organisation of Education

    • Ministries and Departments of Education, Politics, Ministers, Ministries, Ministry Personnel
    • Education Directors, Duties, Regional, District and Local Education Authorities, Public Service
    • Allocation of Education Resources, Types of Education Resources, Education Budgets
    • The School Budget, Sources of Funding, Expenditure and Common Categories of School Outgoings

 

Level 4 Managerial & supervisory level Competence & knowledge in professional work activity.  Study progression available includes Honours Group Diploma, Baccalaureate and EBA Programmes

 

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