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Brighton School of Business and Management Student Newsletter June 2009

Posted on : Friday, June 12th, 2009

Welcome

Contributions, information, advice, website links, or ideas, that may be of help to other students are very welcome, please email them to studentservices@brightonsbm.com

New Courses: Business and Management

This month we are adding a new range of business and management courses –

HNC Higher National Certificates in:

Business

Business Finance

Business-Human Resource Management

Business Law

Business Management

Business Marketing

These are foundation courses in business specialist areas that are UK nationally accredited and internationally recognised, highly regarded by employers in all business sectors, and also accepted as an entry qualification into a Bachelor degree at UK, USA, and Australian universities.

After completing an HNC, students can move on to a Higher National Diploma HND, or, for the more experienced, on to postgraduate, professional level, business and management courses.

If you personally, friends, or colleagues are interested in any of these exciting new qualifications, please go to www.brightonsbm.com/hnc-hnd-courses/hnc-hnd-courses-index.htm

New Courses: Health and Safety

Also being launched this month is a small range of Health and Safety courses:

Health and Safety in the Workplace

Supervising the Health and Safety of Learners in the Workplace.

Both are UK nationally accredited BTEC Level 3 qualifications, designed to enable supervisors, team leaders, junior managers, trainers, teachers and lecturers, to develop an understanding of the significant health and safety risks in the workplace and how to identify and deal with them appropriately.

These awards are also highly respected as foundation qualifications for Health and Safety Officers and Health and Safety Representatives, in public and private sector organisations throughout the world.

If you, friends, or colleagues are interested in any of these exciting new qualifications, please go to www.brightonsbm.com/professional-courses/professional-courses-index.htm

Subject Study Advice from our Tutor Team

HNC HND Assignments

As an example of how to structure the content of an HNC or HND Assignment, here is an advice note from David Hatherall, one of our senior tutors:

Marketing, some observations on assignments received and some considerations for deciding on your product and price.

Mission Statement The organisations clearly stated overall purpose – this provides the framework of activities and directions within which the organisation should operate. I t would be useful if students after looking at the various definitions considered and looked at this.

Application of theory This has not been good in many instances but excellent from those who have really applied our study advice fully.

You are encouraged to NOT repeat what is already written but to apply in practice – this confirms your understanding and that you are able to apply it.

Please reference any theory not simply repeat, this is important as you do not gain any marks without application.

Organisational objectives:

Set priorities within this framework and quantify these in terms of:

Timescale

Level of growth planned and predicted form research

Resource allocation

Profitability

Customer retention and growth

Marketing Objectives

Deciding and quantifying:

The number of products or services to be supplied

Types of products and services

Customers who need these and want

Timescales

Supply Cycle or chain for each all aspects

Marketing Strategy:

Now is your opportunity to use the Marketing Mix

Use each “P” as a heading including the extended mix – in your assignments a paragraph applying each will be supportive and enhance your paper – do not be afraid to be creative and make suggestions this is marketing and not theory to be learnt but applied.

Price Strategy must be clear – what are customers prepared to play.

Product What is the USP and total market potential.

Promotion Buy one get one free…. get your message across, make an impact, create awareness.

Place Have we the goods in the right place at the right time. The “R”s may be used to support this.

Then later the Extended Mix – which is required in the final assignment.

* to make sure these are acceptable to the target customers in order to achieve the above objectives it is important to return to the framework of activities the organisation is involved in.

Many students seem to have a problem identifying businesses to use as examples. May I suggest any high street company, supermarkets, airlines, online companies, or industries such as motor, technology… the list is endless, favourites include McDonalds and Tesco and cosmetics businesses. When asked do not be afraid to use any as this will support your theory learning.

Finally many students have used STEEP, please continue to do this but do include Environment as this is important. You could also add another P – Packaging.

I hope this helps stimulate some thinking and improves presentation.

General Study Advice

The amount of hours you spend reading and studying is flexible and will be influenced by your personal work and domestic situations.

However, as a guide, for most of our national qualification courses, most students will need to spend an average of between 5 and 10 hours per week studying, if you can do more, especially supplementary studying, such as on the internet, that will be very beneficial to you.

For each Subject Unit / Module we recommend that you:

Read the Study Materials (that we have sent you) carefully, making notes where appropriate

Complete any mini-exercises/activities thoroughly

Search on the internet each time you see/read about a subject/issue/topic that you are not familiar with, or that is of particular interest to you for articles, case studies, reports, etc

Talk with colleagues, specialists, associates, friends who are also interested in business & management issues, then

Start work on the Assignment

If you have not studied in this manner, and in sufficient depth and breadth, this will show in the quality of your assignments.

Don’t forget that you are welcome to email your Personal Tutor, and ask questions, ask for advice, ask for information or where you can find information, your Tutor will be happy to advise you.

Times Article: Chartered Quality Institute CQI

Of interest to our Quality Certificate and Quality Diploma students, and for any of you who are interested in Quality Management, here is a an extract from an article in the Times newspaper that highlights the importance of the Quality specialist, and also recommends the CQI qualifications:

……. perhaps the problem is that the banks were unaware of the benefits a quality professional can bring, ignorant even of what they do. “A chartered quality professional is the person who looks at an organisation as a system, from the beginning to the end of the process, to see how it links up. Senior managers can tend to focus on what is happening in their own unit or department; the quality professional’s job is to look at the big picture, to see where things might be slipping through the cracks, how overall processes could be improved and why incentives used in one business division might not be good for the whole organisation”………

How do you train to be a quality professional? The Chartered Quality Institute offers training and professional development courses from introductory level through to a Diploma in Quality. Experienced professionals can gain chartered status after five to six years

What do they earn? Quality managers typically start on between £18,000 and £23,000. Managers with ten years’ experience can earn up to £60,000 at director level, more in some sectors

Who employs them? …. all medium to large public and private sector organisations

What attributes do you need? Problem-solving abilities to help to find out why something is not working or how it can be improved, curiosity about how things are done, good interpersonal skills and a genuine interest in how processes can be improved are all important attributes ……………..

for the full article, please visit: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/management/article6417420.ece

Advice from the Gurus

I’m reminded every day that to achieve great things takes great effort, discipline, focus, and persistence. Renée Mauborgne

I have lots and lots of gurus, people I’ve turned to over and over again – people whose perspective makes me feel differently, act differently, treat people around me differently and make life changes. They don’t have to be especially wise or famous; they just have to give me insights that I didn’t have before. Charlene Li

Quotes of the Month

To succeed in life in today’s world, you must have the will and tenacity to finish the job. Chin-Ning Chu

Leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people. Indira Gandhi

Study Resource of the Month

www.bettermanagement.com/library/

Explore over 3,000 business management articles, white papers and case studies addressing Performance Management, Financial Management, Business Intelligence, IT management, and other critical business management issues.

To supplement this month’s quotes from the Gurus, here are some links:

www.buzzle.com/articles/management-gurus-from-the-east.html

rakeshkhurana.typepad.com/

www.articlealley.com/article_80898_15.html

www.iim-edu.org/managementgurus

www.thinkers50.com

www.humanresourcesmagazine.com/news

www.chillibreeze.com/articles/indianmanagementgurus.asp

www.guardian.co.uk/business/2006/nov/03/genderissues.uknews