Online courses directory (51)

AgraQuest is a company which developed a groundbreaking bio-pesticide that changed the way food is cultivated using pesticides and was a revolution in growing safer food for consumers. In this free online course Pam Marrone, founder of AgraQuest, discusses about how she guided AgraQuest to be today’s leader in bio-pesticides. With her savvy business sense, we learn how Pam pioneered a huge turnaround in marketing the AgraQuest product to capture a niche in the pesticide market. We learn the key factors which brought about the formation of AgraQuest and what changes were made in the pesticide market to convince farmers that they needed to make the change to bio-pesticides manufactured by AgraQuest. It also highlights the stumbling blocks encountered by Pam and her team when bringing AgraQuest products to the market and the lessons they learned from this process. This free course will be of interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to learn how a company can grow and become successful by creating a need for their product or service, and by developing a marketing plan that convinces consumers to make the change to their product or service. <br />

Tom Kelley is the highly respected general manager of IDEO, a firm that helps its clients create innovative products, services and environments. He is also the author of best-selling books on creativity. <br /><br />In ALISON's free online course about achieving personal success, Kelley starts by explaining how achieving personal success depends on implementing good, healthy mental habits. The course explains how you should treat life as an experiment, how you should be willing to fail and learn from your mistakes. Kelley advises that you should have confidence in what you know well, but realize that you have a lot more to learn and that you must keep yourself learning at all times. You will also learn about using your whole brain and how you should make the most of opportunities to use the right side of the brain. <br /><br />This course will appeal to all working professionals in businesses and organizations, and students who want to gain greater knowledge and understanding about achieving personal success.<br />

This free interactive online business course covers entrepreneurship. Taking as its inspiration the book: &quot;Stone Soup - The Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing&quot;, this course takes you through the 26 ingredients needed. This course not only brings you a flavour of the book, it also provides a profile of the successful entrepreneur/venture founder. <br />

Aggregate supply and demand are key concepts in macroeconomics as they help economists interpret events in the past to help predict the future. The aggregate supply curve model demonstrates the relationship between the overall price level of a country and the quantity of goods and services produced by the suppliers of that country, whereas the aggregate demand curve model demonstrates the quantity of goods and services produced domestically that consumers, businesses, the government and foreigners are willing to purchase during a particular period of time. This free online economics course first introduces the learner to the business cycle to show that the local economy is constantly expanding and contracting in response to changes in the global economy, technology and national and international politics. The course then introduces the concept of aggregate demand, how it shifts and how it is modelled. You will also learn about aggregate supply, and how changes in supply can be slower than changes in demand. This free online economics course will be of great interest to professionals in the areas of economics, finance, and business who would like to learn more about modelling aggregate supply and demand. It will also appeal to all learners interested in business, economics or political studies who would like to understand why the health of the economy is cyclical and why one event can have a significant effect on an economy.<br />

Developing a successful business model is something that takes skill and considerable business acumen and cannot be achieved overnight. Entrepreneurs have to take into account resources, onsite expertise, and importantly, drive and diligence of both management and employees. In this free online business course, you will get an insight into the business model used in SlideShare, a digital media company based in Silicon Valley. Jonathan Boutelle and Rashmi Sinha from SlideShare discuss the learning curve that was needed in order for them to implement their strategies and achieve their goals so that their business model became a success. They also discuss how they managed the business growth process as well as the execution of their tasks. You will learn from these successful entrepreneurs about their experiences, what they learned about creating their business model, and how they dealt with the steep learning curve presented to them. This course will be of great interest to business professionals and budding entrepreneurs looking for advice and guidance on the strategies and goals needed to create a successful business.<br />

ALISON's free online Diploma in Business and Legal Studies course covers key topics in business and law such as corporate management, human resources, operations management, accounting, types of law, how laws are created, the adversary system, and legal procedures. <br /><br />This business online course offered by ALISON is ideal for those who want to gain comprehensive knowledge and understanding of business and legal systems. Having this knowledge will greatly improve your career prospects.<br />

Jerry Kaplan is widely known in the computer industry as a serial entrepreneur, executive, technical innovator and author. In this free online course he explains what the best qualities of serial entrepreneurs are and the five biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make. He discusses the five critical skills that entrepreneurs need: leadership, communication, decision-making, being a team player and the ability to telescope. He explains the vital importance of sales skills and recruiting people to sell for you. This course will show you how the timing of an idea is very important and why it is very difficult to call. Kaplan shares his advice on the types of risks that companies face when they start off and how the trick is to get the risk out as soon as possible. He discusses the best time to start a business, why he admires and respects business leaders such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and how to establish culture and values in a company early on. He also talks about how roles change within a company when there is a transition away from R&amp;D. This course will be of great interest to business professionals, entrepreneurs, business students and anyone with a general interest in gaining a better knowledge and understanding of the critical skills needed by entrepreneurs to create successful businesses.<br />

When most people think about currency exchange, we are usually thinking about buying foreign currency to bring with us on vacation. However, currency exchange involves much more such as treasuries, bonds, imports and exports, trade imbalances, and the borrowing costs of a country. This free online course about currency exchange gives us a key insight into the financing behind a country's growth and development, and answers questions such as how is the money raised to build a country's infrastructure. The course discusses how currency is valued, devalued, and how countries trade and lend money to each other. It also discusses the knock-on effects of lack of demand for treasury bonds to a country and the costs thereafter. This course will be of great interest to business and finance professionals who would like to learn more about currency exchange mechanisms, and to the non-finance professional person wishing to know more about what role currency exchange practices play in the financial system.<br />

The ability to negotiate effectively is an art form which many of us are not confident in doing. Formal negotiations are however, a vital part of communication across various sectors from business to politics. In this free online course, Stan Christensen, co-founder of Arbor Advisors, discusses the art of negotiation and the skills and techniques required to be persuasive in a positive manner. You will also learn why the skill of really listening is of vital importance when meeting goals at the negotiation table and he explains the lessons he learned during his time as a professional mediator. This free negotiating course will be of interest to all professionals in many varied sectors such as business, entrepreneurship, human resources and management who are looking for guidance on the art and practise of successful negotiation.<br />

Janice Fraser is CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Path, an experience design consultancy firm based in San Francisco, California and Austin, Texas. Janice is an experienced entrepreneur and in this free online course she talks in detail about how important the culture of a business is for the success of that business. She emphasises that a productive culture is one where managers create meaning for their employees. By promoting a business culture that employees can buy into they will become more motivated and work more passionately to make the business a success. Janice believes that alignment is the key factor underlying everything we do. In a business alignment means that employees are doing fulfilling work which they excel at. This course will be of great interest to all business professionals and managers who would like to gain advice and guidance about creating a successful business culture which has meaning for all employees.<br />

William Sahlman is one of the world’s leading authorities on entrepreneurship. As a professor at Harvard Business School, his research focuses on investment and financing decisions made in entrepreneurial ventures at all stages of their development. In this free online course, Professor Sahlman explains why the best money comes from customers not venture capitalists. He describes the key elements of an entrepreneurial venture using the example of John Osher who developed the spin toothbrush. You will learn how to achieve the greatest value by changing the relationship of these elements to one another. He identifies important factors to improve entrepreneurial success. He focuses on what drives entrepreneurs, the importance of recognising opportunity and dealing with change. He discusses how your organisation depends on great people and what to look for when hiring. This course will be of great interest to business professionals and students looking for greater knowledge and understanding of the key elements of entrepreneurial success.<br />

ALISON's free Diploma in Business Management and Entrepreneurship online business course gives you the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices behind key business management subjects.<br /><br />Subjects include corporate management, operations management, accounting, human resources, financial accounting, and project management, as well as providing insight on key entrepreneurial skills from Bill Liao, co-founder of the social networking site XING.com.<br /><br />ALISON's business management certificate, with a focus on entrepreneurial studies, is ideal for those who want to further their knowledge and understanding of business management and entrepreneurship through an online business course, and will greatly enhance your career prospects.<br />

Entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of any modern economy - Everyday entrepreneurs around the world are starting their own business. This free online course from ALISON examines characteristics of entrepreneurs and also examines the kind of business models and marketing strategies an entrepreneur can use to start a business. This course is ideal for anyone who wants to learn more about entrepreneurship or who may be thinking about starting their own business.<br />

This course reviews important principles found in business law. These principles include details on sole proprietorship, general partnerships, limited partnerships and incorporations. This course explains principles of business law in a clear and easy to understand way. The course also covers topics such as legal requirements, legal recommendations, financial status, taxation, and liability related to these principles. This free online course will be of interest to business professionals and students of law who would like a greater knowledge and understanding of laws relating to business and commerce.<br />

Human resources (HR) plays a key role in modern organizations and businesses, be they private sector, public sector or voluntary. ALISON.com's free online human resources diploma course covers diverse topics in HR, from the role of the human resources manager and how to recruit, select, train and assess employees, to employee motivation, employee-employer relations, and how to manage change within an organization.<br /><br />ALISON's Diploma in Human Resources course gives a thorough knowledge and understanding of the important role HR plays in organizations, and will be of great interest to HR business professionals as well as those who are pursuing a career in this area.<br />

<p>ALISON’S "Introduction to Accounting" offers a comprehensive guide to Financial Accounting. This free online course explains accounting principles and concepts, and how to prepare and analyse financial accounts. It also examines ratio analysis, working capital, cash and finance, business analysis, and business risk. </p><br /> <p>It is a useful tool for those studying accounting, people working within financial operations of companies, and anyone who wishes to learn more about finance and accounting in general. </p>

Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in high technology companies and management. He is also a Consulting Professor at Stanford in the Graduate School of Engineering. In this free online course he goes through a checklist of questions and answers that will be helpful to any new business leader. He offers insights and case studies from industry and new technology companies. He focuses on important areas for business start-ups including market opportunity, market regulations and distribution, competitors and complimentors, and technology breakthroughs. You will learn why sometimes being the first and only company in a particular market can actually be a disadvantage. He discusses the difference between vertical markets and horizontal markets, and you will also learn why market and technical risks are of great importance for an entrepreneurial venture. This course will be of interest to business people, entrepreneurs and anyone who would like to hear key insights and knowledge gained by a very successful entrepreneur with years of experience in business start-ups and management.<br />

All modern economies need industries that are innovative in product design and efficient in manufacturing. In turn, these industries need people who are knowledgeable about the process. ALISON's free online manufacturing course will give you a detailed understanding of manufacturing and product design by covering topics such as what design is, how to use models in product design, bringing ideas from concept to prototype to production, using the product design specification, manufacturing processes such as casting, forming, cutting and joining, surface engineering and optical materials engineering. There are also a number of case studies to review. <br /><br />ALISON's online course is ideal for employees or professionals who want to learn more about product design and manufacturing processes, and for learners who would like a manufacturing or product design career.<br />

Good accounting practices and procedures are needed in every business and organization. Details of trading transactions need to be accurately recorded so that you know what your financial situation is at any time.<br /><br />In ALISON's free online accounting diploma course, you will learn about the core practices involved in recording various details, from understanding debits and credits and using simple T-accounts to closing out the accounts at the end of an accounting period, producing the statement of retained earnings and balance sheet. Detailed examples are worked through on a transaction-by-transaction basis, helping you understand how and why each step is necessary. <br /><br />After reviewing day-to-day accounting procedures, you are introduced to the more formal theory of accounting, the assumptions, principles and modifying conventions, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) conceptual framework and the main objectives of financial reporting. <br /><br />ALISON's free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to get a thorough introduction to accounting practices and theory, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

Major advances in technology have resulted in the widespread implementation of information systems into businesses and organizations. The management of processes and data are critical to the overall success of a business. <br /><br />ALISON's free online diploma course introduces you to business processes and their management. The course will explain business intelligence and knowledge management systems, systems analysis, systems design and systems implementation. It will also give you a basic knowledge and understanding of how to design, test and implement information systems for a business process. <br /><br />This business diploma course will be of great interest to business professionals, as well as any learner wanting to expand their knowledge and understanding of business process management.<br />