BCS Commercial Awareness Training | BCS Training

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Introduction
Course Details
Course Content
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A Quick Glance

Accredited by BCS
Learn the Budgeting Process and its intricacies
Evaluate financial cases using the Three Techniques
Access to the Commercial Awareness course-ware and certified tutors
Low Cost of Certification
Certification Recognized by Global Leading Brands

The era of monopolistic organizations is coming to an end while competition is growing. In order to be successful, an organisation needs to collaborate with suppliers, competitors and outsourcing partners. For the businesses to operate successfully new approaches are required to operate through using methods such as restructuring, changing the organisational behaviour, modifying the internal and external boundaries, and deploying performance measuring techniques.

To deal with such problems, business analysts must master their commercial skills to deal with their partners and customers successfully. This course deals with the commercial and organisational knowledge which is expected from professionals undergoing business analysis. Commercial Awareness can be classified into Business Finance and Organisational Behaviour. We at Pentagon Training provide the delegates with a unique opportunity to learn and better their communication skills. This BCS training is covered in a time frame of just 3 days.

Who should take this course

At Pentagon Training, we impart this course to delegates who wish to understand the structure, operation and behaviour of organizations. It is also targeted at those professionals who want to acquire skills to bring about a business change and are involved with the organization as one of the following:

Business Analysts
Program Manager
Project Manager
Solution Architects
Service managers

Prerequisites

The course comes with no prerequisites.

Evaluating A Financial Case Through Three Techniques
Understand what is Costing and Pricing
Cash Flow Forecasting and Budgeting
Financial Accounting Documents and Their Contents
Understand Financial Accounts
Discuss Required Business Performance Ratios
Define Porters Five Forces Framework and Value Chain
Describe Boston Consulting Group’s Matrix

Key Learning Points

Tutor Support

Certificate

Courseware

Course Overview

The course (as shown in the figure) is made up of two parts - Business Finance and Organisational Behaviour. During the schedule of the course – the first part covers Finance for IT Decision Makers and the second covers Business Analysis Techniques and Organisational Behaviour. The Trainers hold a certificate in this course , a two-year training experience or 1 year recognised qualification. The trainer also has to possess a three-year practical experience in the same stream.

Examination:

The candidates are required to sit for the exam after the course. The exam lasts for one hour and is a closed book exam with multiple choice questions. The exam recommends an accredited training from BCS but it is not a requirement. To get certified the candidate must score 65% marks. BCS allows the use of calculators during the exam. No mobile technology will be allowed.

Candidates sitting for an exam must carry identification of some means such as Passport, Driving License, or Student Card. Following the exam, the candidate will be sent an email from BCS asking you to register for your exam. Once registered the candidate can log in and view the exam result from their accounts.

Additional time of 15 minutes is allowed for differently abled candidates or those who have a different native language than the language of the examination.

Course Content

Part 1 – Business Finance

1.Evaluating a Financial Case

Purpose of Building a Financial Case
Techniques used for evaluating a Financial Case
- Payback
  - Calculation
  - Payback and Risk
  - Limitations of Payback
- Discounted Cash Flow /Net Present Value
  - Purpose
  - Calculation
  - The NPV Decision Rule
- Internal Rate of Return
  - How to derive IRR
  - How IRR is used
  - The IRR Decision Rule

2.Budgeting, Costing and Pricing

Budgets and Departmentalised Businesses
- The purpose of budgets
- Reasons for departmentalization
- Cost centres and profit centres
Cash Flow and Cash Management
- Cash flow forecasting
- Use of cash flow in decision making
- Cash flow and profit
Costing and Pricing
- Fixed and Variable costs
- Direct and indirect costs
- Break even and Contribution Analysis

3.Financial Reporting and Analysis

Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
- Purpose and Structure
- The nature, purpose and types of Capital
- Current and non-current liabilities
- Current and non-current assets
Income and Expenditure (Income Statement, Profit and Loss Account)
- The importance of Operating Profit
- Revenue (turnover)
- Cost of Sales
- Administrative Expenses
- Profit after Tax
Statement of Cash Flows (Cash Flow Statement)
Ratios (formulae and interpretation)
- Profitability Ratios: Operating Margin and Return on Capital Employed ratios
- Liquidity (Cash Management) Ratios: Current and “Acid Test” ratios
- Gearing (Leverage) Ratio: Debt/Equity Ratio

Part 2 – Organisational Behaviour

1.Market analysis and competitive advantage

Analysing the business domain - Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
Analysing the portfolio - Boston Box
Delivering value - Porter’s Value Chain

2.Organisational behaviour and culture

What is organisational behaviour?
Organisational effectiveness and the Balanced Scorecard
Understanding and analysing culture
- Organisational Cultural Types (Deal and Kennedy; Handy)
- International Cultures (Hofstede)
- The Cultural Web

3.Group formation

Groups and group dynamics
Formal and informal groups
- Groups and group tasks
- Characteristics of formal groups
- Homan’s theory of group formation
- Tuckman and Jensen’s theory of group development
- Characteristics of informal groups
- Social networks

4.Principles of organisational structure

Organisation structuring
- Elements of organisation structure
- The six Structure Levels
- The Leavitt Diamond
Types of jobs
- Work specialisation
- Flat and tall hierarchies
- Span of control
Line, staff and functional relationships
Formalisation of rules and procedures
Centralisation v decentralisation
- Advantages
- Disadvantages

5.Operating models

Organisation structures and their characteristics
- Functional
- Divisional – product or service/ geography/ customer
- Matrix
- Team-based – cross functional/ project
Organisational boundaries
- Boundaryless organisations
- Outsourcing
- Offshoring
- Hollow organisation structures
- Modular organisation structures
- Virtual organisations
- Collaborations and strategic alliances

BCS Certificate in Commercial Awareness Enquiry

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Reach us at +44 1344 961530 or info@pentagonit.co.uk for more information.

About Dublin

Dublin

Dublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. Dublin is located in Leinster province on the east coast of Ireland at River Liffey mouth. The Urban population of the Dublin is 1,345,402. The population of Greater Dublin Area according to 2016 is 1,904,806. After the Invasion, of Normans, Kingdom of Dublin became a principal city of Ireland. Dublin expanded rapidly in the 17th century and is the second largest town in British Empire. Dublin became the capital of Irish Free State after the partition of Ireland in 1922.

City council administers Dublin. It is listed by World Cities Research Network and Globalization as a global city with a ranking of Alpha. Dublin is historic and a major centre for arts, education, industry, administration and economy.

History

During 18th century, Dublin city grew more rapidly because many districts and buildings were added. Districts added was Merrion Square, Royal Exchange and Parliament House. In 1757 beginnings of City Corporation was created. In 1759, Ireland’s famous Guinness Stout was first brewed. In 1779 Grand Canal was built and in 1786 police force was established. At the end of the century, Kilmainham Goal and O Connell Bridge was built. The population was grown to 180,000 in 1800. Overpopulation brought poverty and diseases.

In 19th-century street lighting was introduced in Dublin. Dublin suffered economic as well as political decline. Things changed rapidly in the 20th century with 1916 Easter Rising. Dublin was setting for many significant events during Irish struggle for independence. In mid-1990’s economic boon in Dublin brought massive expansion and development to the city. It included the creation of Dublin’s new landmarks, Spire monument on O Connell Street. Dublin is the only largest conurbation in Ireland. In Greater Dublin Area 1.2 million people live. This area population comprises 28% of country’s total population.

The boom brought many new ethnic groups in the city and created an international feel in the north inner city.

Economy

Ireland Economic Centre is Dublin. During Celtic Tiger period in 2009, Dublin was at the forefront of country’s economic expansion. Dublin is listed as the fourth richest city in the world by power and 10th richest by personal income. It is also a 13th most expensive city in the European Union and 58th expensive place to live in the world. Around 800,000 people employed in Greater Dublin Area. Out of this population, 600,000 were employed in the service sector and 200,000 in an industrial sector.

Various traditional industries in Dublin like food processing, brewing, textile manufacturing and distilling declined. In 1990’s Dublin attracted a various global information, communications and pharmaceutical technology companies. Companies like Amazon, Google, Paypal, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Accenture, Yahoo!, eBay and Pfizer now have headquarters and operational bases in Dublin. Various enterprise clusters like Silicon Docks and Digital Hub are located in this city.

After the establishment of Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre in 1987, financial services became important to Dublin. Under IFSC programme, 500 operations were approved. This centre is also host to world’s top 20 insurance companies and top 50 banks. Various international firms established their headquarters in a city like Citibank and Commerzbank. Irish Enterprise Exchange, Internet Neutral Exchange and Irish Stock Exchange are located in Dublin.