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Business and Organisation Studies

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These free resources are organised into categories aligned to the College of Policing Curriculum and in agreement with police experts. You can study them at any time and anywhere.

Select the duration of study below and you will be taken to resources that match that duration

1-7 Hours of study More than 7 hours of study

1-7 Hours of study

Creating an ethical organisation

Businesses are increasingly making explicit their commitment to dealing with ethical concerns. This course explores the business case for an ethical approach to human resources management, and examines whether a more 'human-centred' approach can bring dividends and how an ethical approach fits within an organisation's strategy.
Type of activity: Course

Global Systems Science and Policy: an Introduction

The science of epidemics is one of the successes of Global Systems Science (GSS) – an interdisciplinary approach to modeling the complex, multi-faceted and intertwined problems of the modern world. As its name suggests, most of those problems have a global context, but GSS addresses policy issues at all levels – from the individual to local communities to nations to regions. This course will help you understand the four main elements of GSS.
Type of activity: Course

The concept of innovation

Just what is innovation? This course examines the key issues surrounding the concept of innovation within organisations. What is the difference between innovation and invention? How are organisations affected by innovation, and are all of the outcomes positive? You will learn how to analyse this concept and its impact on resources, capabilities and competencies.
Type of activity: Course

What is strategy?

This course comprises two parts. In the first part, the concept of strategy is defined and the strategy-related vocabulary spanning such terms as mission, vision, aims and objectives, is introduced. The second part centres on examining Henry Mintzberg’s five Ps framework. A particular emphasis is made on practitioner views of strategy as well as application of its major theoretical advances in professional life.
Type of activity: Course

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More than 7 hours of study

Business organisations and their environments: Culture

We know that culture guides the way people behave in society as a whole. But culture also plays a key role in organisations, which have their own unique set of values, beliefs and ways of doing business. This course explores the concepts of national and organisational culture and the factors that influence both.
Type of activity: Course

Introducing a framework for strategy

If you are currently engaged in strategic decision-making, or will be in the future, this course will stimulate your imagination and inform your judgement. An understanding of the frameworks of strategy and an ability to use them imaginatively will help your organisation survive in the longer-term and perform its role more effectively.
Type of activity: Course

Managing Complexity: A Systems Approach

Do you need to change the way you think when faced with a complex situation? This course that examines how systemic thinking and practice enables you to cope with the connections between things, events and ideas. By taking a broader perspective complexity becomes manageable and it is easier to accept that gaps in knowledge can be acceptable.
Type of activity: Course

Social Marketing

From concerns about sustainability and the future of the planet to the introduction of smoking bans, there is a growing recognition that social marketing has a role to play in achieving a wide range of social goals. This course examines the nature of social marketing and how the adoption of marketing concepts, frameworks and techniques developed for commercial markets can be applied to the solution of social problems.
Type of activity: Course

Systems thinking and practice

What is systems thinking and practice? The essence of systems thinking and practice is in ‘seeing’ the world in a particular way, because how you ‘see’ things affects the way you approach situations or undertake specific tasks. This course will help you to learn about the problems of defining a system and meet some of the key concepts used in systems theory: boundary, environment, positive and negative feedback, etc.
Type of activity: Course

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