About the Course
Course Duration: 2 days
Exam Fees Included
Price: £945
Private Course: Click Here
Having greater commercial awareness, or in other words an understanding of your business and the industry it’s in, is a fundamental training requirement for business analysts.
This course will provide you with a deeper understanding of your organisation and the sector it sits in. Mixing wider discussions with group and individual exercises, you’ll explore topics such as financial reporting, budgeting, costing and pricing, organisational behaviour and culture and much, much more. You’ll then test your learning by answering a set of questions for each section, which will also prepare you for the BCS Commercial Awareness examination.
Who is it for?
The course is designed mainly for practising business analysts to give them a broad understanding of the nature of organisations. However, it is also suitable for anyone else wishing to gain such an understanding.
Entry Requirements
No entry requirements for this course
Exam
During this two day course you’ll receive all the training you need to prepare for the BCS Foundation in Commercial Awareness certificate examination, which is a multiple choice exam, held on the final afternoon of the course.
A pass means you’re another step closer to achieving your BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis.
Course Objectives
This classroom-based course examines a number of fundamental issues concerning the operation of organisations, including: financial reporting and analysis; budgeting, costing and pricing; evaluating a financial case; market analysis; organisational behaviour and culture; working in groups; operating models; and organisational structures
Syllabus – Key points
Financial reporting
- The balance sheet
- The income and expenditure statement (profit and loss account)
- The cash flow statement
- Financial ratio analysis
Budgeting, costing and pricing
- Budgets and departmental businesses
- Cash flow and cash management
- Costing and pricing
Evaluating a financial case
- The purpose of building a financial case
- Techniques for evaluating a financial case:
- Payback / breakeven
- Discounted cash flow / net present value (DCF/NPV)
- Internal rate of return (IRR)
Market analysis and competitive advantage
- Analysing the business domain
- Analysing the product / service portfolio
- Delivering business value
Organisational behaviour and culture
- What is organisational behaviour?
- Organisational effectiveness and the balanced business scorecard
- Understanding and analysing culture
Working in groups
- Groups and group dynamics
- Formal and informal groups
Organisational structure
- Organisation structuring
- Types of jobs
- Line, staff and functional responsibilities
- Formalisation of rules and procedures
- Centralisation and decentralisation
Operating models
- Organisation structures and their characteristics
- Organisational boundaries