This is a flexible, relevant course for those wanting to train to move into supervisory or managerial positions.
It offers core study options (including Office Practice, Management, Business Operations and Marketing Foundations), as well as specialist subjects, which focus on those areas highly applicable to supervision and management. These are: Supervision, Motivation, and Personnel Management.
In addition, this course offers further specialisation specific to your field of interest, in the form of an Industry Project or work experience.

 

 

 

Course Code	VBS001
Fee Code	AC
Number of Assignments	58
Duration (approx)	900 hours

This is a very solid training for anyone working or wishing to work as a supervisor or manager of people in any type of workplace.

The course was devised originally with input from a variety of independant industry representatives from outside the school; and it has been continually reviewed and revised in response to feedback from students (sought upon completion of each module), as well as feedback from teaching staff and industry contacts.

CORE UNITS

Office Practices

Develops basic office skills covering use of equipment, communication systems (telephone, fax, etc) and office procedures such as filing, security, workplace organisations, etc.
The course consists in eight lessons where these subjects are developed.

1. The Modern Office
2. Communication Systems
3. Interpersonal Communications
4. Phone Skills
5. Writing Letters and Other Documents
6. Computer Applications
7. Office Organisation and Procedures
8. Health and Safety in the Office
   

Business Operations

The aim of this course is to provide you with the building blocks for a successful career in business planning and operations. Covering topics such as business law, the money market, taxation, business plan writing and mistakes to avoid, it is a solid foundation, developed by highly qualified and experienced professionals.
Develops knowledge of basic business operations and procedures (eg. types of businesses, financial management, business analysis, staffing, productivity, etc) and the skills to develop a 12 month business plan.

There are 6 lessons as follows:

1. Introduction
   • Business law
   • types of businesses
   • starting a business
2. Finance
   • Liquidity
   • The money market
   • terminology
   • insurance
3. Financial Records
   • Simple Bookkeeping procedures
   • cash flow
4. Financial Management
   • Taxation
   • costing
   • budgeting
   • investing
5. Business Planning Developing a 12 month business plan.
6. Mistakes to avoid
   • Reasons for business failures
   • profitability
   • improving productivity

Management

Make sure your management style is grounded in the 'tried and true'. This course outlines management theories and procedures, problem solving and decision making tactics, staff management, supervision, recruitment and workplace health and safety.
Developed by professionals with a substantial amount of industry experience, it is the perfect foundation for a successful career.

There are 6 lessons as follows:

1. Introduction & Organizational Structures
2. Management Theories & Procedures
3. Problem Solving & Decision Making
4. Management Styles & External Influences
5. Employing People & Interview Skills
6. Staff Management

Marketing Foundations

Develops a broad understanding of marketing and specific skills in writing advertisements, undertaking market research, developing an appropriate marketing plan and selling. The course consists in ten lessons, as follows:

1. Marketing and the Business What is marketing, and its significance, Considering alternative approaches to business & marketing, Alternative enterprises (eg. goods or services based, sole proprietor or partnership etc).
2. Scope of Marketing Understanding basic economics (eg. supply & demand); the difference between the potential market, available market, target market, and penetrated market for a product/service of your choice; Different advertising approaches, Controlling Growth, Improving Results in Business, etc
3. Target Marketing Understanding the market place; Stages that sellers move through in their approach to a market, What is targeting, Advantages of target marketing as compared to mass marketing and product-differentiated marketing
4. The Marketing Mix and Managing the Marketing Effort Product, price, place, and promotion; Affects and interactions between marketing and other operations of a business.
5. Product Presentation and Packaging Importance of product knowledge, Core, tangible and augmented products; Differences in packaging & presentation for different products.
6. Promotion Communication skills, Merchandising, Shop Floor Layout, Displaying Products, Signs, Understanding Selling and Increasing Sales, Sales Methods, Publicity Marketing,
   Structuring an Advertisement or Promotion, Advertising budgets, etc
7. Product Pricing and Distribution Pricing, Profitability Ratios, Increasing Turnover, etc
8. Customer Service Methods of assessing customer satisfaction; Significance of Customer Service; Different types of customers in the market place, and how best to approach each; Difference between selling, publicising, marketing and advertising, etc
9. Market Research The research process, What to research, Surveys, Developing and conducting a market research program, where to find useful statistics,
10. Organisations - Structures and Roles Business law; Financial Management, Business Structures, Business terminology, etc.

STREAM UNITS

1. SUPERVISION

There are ten lessons in this module as follows:

1.  Introduction ‑ Organisational structures & responsibilities.
2.  Understanding the work place ‑ Government and private personnel departments, unions.
3.  Communications and human relations.
4.  Motivating employees.
5.  Organising the work place.
6.  Problem solving techniques.
7.  Discipline, complaints and grievances.
8.  Interviewing, recruitment, training.
9.  Work place safety.
10. Dealing with management/worker participation/ report writing/ staff meetings.

2. MOTIVATION

This course contains eight lessons, as follows:

1. Introduction: Describe the nature and scope of motivation, and identify the differences between people that distinguish the application of motivational skills to achieve a successful outcome
2. Awareness: Explain the significance of knowledge and understanding to motivation.
3.  Tangible Rewards: Explain the effect of Tangible Rewards (eg: Money, Services, Goods) as a major motivator.
4. Intangible Rewards: Explain the effect of intangible Rewards (eg: Security, Ethics, Gratitude, Belief Systems/Religion, Peer Pressure) as a major motivator.
5. Negative Motivators: Explain how actions can be motivated by negative motivators (eg. Pain, Suffering, Discipline, Threats), and distinguish this type of motivation from that achieved through positive motivators.
6. Initiating Motivation: Explain how to initiate motivation with an individual or group for a situation not previously confronted.
7. Maintaining Motivation: Explain how motivation can be maintained or increased in both successful and unsuccessful environments.
8. Applications: Identify a wide range of situations where motivational skills can be applied, and determine an appropriate way to initiate and maintain motivation in each of those situations.

3. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

This course contains nine lessons, as follows:

1. Human behaviour: Understand how perception, learning and prior experience influence human behaviour
2. Workplace communications: Identify and practice communication skills that will improve your ability to effectively receive and transmit messages in the workplace
3.  Workplace conditions: Understand some factors that contribute to overall workplace conditions and can affect workplace culture
4. Controlling Operations: Explain basic supervising practices for controlling business or department operations
5. Recruitment and Induction: Identify essential processes in the recruitment and induction of employees
6. Staff training: Understand the key elements of planning and conducting effective staff training
7. Work teams: Describe how team processes can be used to improve performance and productivity
8. Positive Discipline: Identify methods to establish and maintain discipline through positive means, such as reinforcement
9. Grievances & Complaints: Describe strategies for reducing dissatisfaction and handling dissatisfaction when it arises
10. Monitoring and reporting: Understand the importance of monitoring workplace processes and performance, and how to report your observations

 

INDUSTRY PROJECT OR WORK EXPERIENCE

This is the final requirement that you must satisfy before receiving your award.

There are two options available to you to satisfy this requirement:

Alternative 1.

If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.

The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.

Alternative 2.

If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.

 

Procedure for a Workplace Project

This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.

This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.

Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.

For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.

Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.

If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).