General Courses

Strategic Analysis and Decision Making

This course covers the full end to end strategic business planning lifecycle (excluding execution) and provides an excellent overview of how to analyse and formulate strategy, including creating a vision/mission, undertaking internal and external logic analysis, setting strategic objectives and KPIs, making strategic choices, developing strategic themes and undertaking gap analysis. A key feature of this seminar is that you will learn how to join together the individual components of analysis, formulating and planning strategy, so that you will have a ‘joined up view’ of how the strategic process should work, underpinned by a very large selection of tools, techniques, and frameworks that will assist you to tailor a plan to fit your organizational needs.

Who Should Attend

  • This course will provide a foundation to an intermediate level view of strategic analysis and decision making. Job titles which have attended include supervisors, line managers, professionals, consultants, HR managers, finance managers, sales managers, and small business owners.

Key Takeaways

By the end of the sessions, participants should be able to:

  • Deploy the strategic management lifecycle from start to end
  • Describe a typical strategic business plan and the layout and contents
  • Choose appropriate frameworks for analyzing the external environment and internal capability, to produce sharper insights
  • Identify the right strategic choices for market position and innovation, to guide your planning
  • Recognize the impact of changing strategy on the organization, promote stakeholder engagement and support and identify the key activities required to successfully execute strategic business plans

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by over 15 interactive exercises. The exercises include case study analysis, role plays, discussions, intergroup comparative feedback and the creation of analytic models, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Pre-Requisites

No formal pre-requisites, but we recommend that participants have English language skills equivalent to a minimum of 90 (TOEFL) or 5.0+ (IELTS) and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office(r) applications – you will need to bring a laptop or tablet with this software installed.

Detailed Course Outline

  1. First Principles of Strategic Management; the definition of strategy and the concept of organizational strategic alignment
  2. Strategic thinking and decision making; a series of frameworks to support decision making
  3. Different approaches to strategy; most strategies are blends of different approaches, seven are examined
  4. Dealing with Changing Markets; how to cope when the business environment is unstable
  5. Frameworks for internal analysis; including the firm’s lifecycle model, value chain analysis and core competence analysis
  6. Frameworks for external analysis; including environmental analysis, market forces analysis, industry lifecycle model, identifying market segments and strategic audit
  7. Assessing market size; methods to estimate volumes and revenues
  8. Identifying potential options; SWOT analysis, scenario planning, risk and opportunity analysis, decision trees and expected monetary value, sensitivity analysis
  9. Defining KPIs; cascading goals and balanced scorecards – top-down planning techniques
  10. Selecting Strategies; generic and competitive strategies, market entry/exit timing, incremental, disruptive or radical product/service development? Value engineering and the value canvas
  11. Translating Strategies into Actions; strategic alignment, converting the balanced scorecard into strategy maps, creating strategic themes, undertaking a gap analysis, identifying tasks to execute
  12. Evaluating strategy; learning faster than your competition provides a competitive advantage
  13. Inventory and Supply Chain Planning/Control; definition of inventory, planning volume and scheduling inventory, analyzing and controlling inventory, supply chain tasks and objectives, supply chain relationships, and behaviors, developing and improving supply chains
  14. Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Resource Planning; definition of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the history of ERP systems development, considerations when introducing ERP systems, Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) principles, the master production schedule, Bill of materials (BoM), BoM based ‘netting’ (hierarchical decomposition and planning), capacity assessment
  15. LEAN Management Techniques; LEAN and the Toyota Production System, LEAN techniques (Plan, Do , Check, Act/5S’s/Andon/Bottleneck Analysis/Jidoka (Autonomation)/Just-In-Time (JIT)/Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)/ Kanban (Pull System)/Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)/Root Cause Analysis/Takt Time/Value Stream Analysis)
  16. Project Management Techniques; differences between operations and projects, understanding requirements, setting scope, creating a network logic diagram, estimating time and money, budgeting, scheduling, managing risk, controlling project work, closing our projects
  17. Quality Management and Improvement; defining quality and quality management systems, quality assurance, quality control, conformance to specification, total quality management, statistical process control techniques, continuous improvement techniques
  18. Operational Risk Management; definition of risk management, aleatory and epistemic risks, identifying risks, assessing risk probability and severity, by qualitative methods, quantifying risk impact, by quantitative methods (decision trees, sensitivity analysis), choosing and implementing risk responses

Exam Information

The course exam consists of daily tests, with 10 multiple choice questions based on the content studied during that day. Participants will be allowed to consult their course guides during the exam (open book). In the event of a candidate failing a test, feedback will be provided and a re-test offered.

Enterprise Operations Management

This course provides a systematic and structured introduction to enterprise operations management, blending the different key aspects of this key discipline. The course is fast moving and you will engage in a series of interactive exercises, involving case study analysis, role-playing, group presentations, and quizzes, to help you learn the important components of managing operations. At the end of the course, you will have a clear view of operations management and a set of tools and techniques to support you.

Who Should Attend

This course will provide a broad introduction to the topic and is suitable for anyone wishing to build an end-to-end understanding of Operations Management. Job titles which have attended include supervisors, new line managers, professionals, consultants, HR specialists, finance specialists, salespeople, and small business owners.

Key Takeaways

By the end of the sessions, participants should be able to:

  • Evaluate the interdependencies between strategic and operations management and the trade-offs in objectives that arise
  • Analyze the key activities in operations management
  • Determine where improvements to organization, staffing, processes, and systems are required
  • Assess and select appropriate methodologies, tools, and techniques for improvement
  • Identify, assess and respond to operational risks

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by over 15 interactive exercises. The exercises include case study analysis, role plays, discussions, intergroup comparative feedback and the creation of analytic models, providing a balanced and rich learning experience

Pre-Requisites

No formal pre-requisites, but we recommend that participants have English language skills equivalent to a minimum of 90 (TOEFL) or 5.0+ (IELTS) and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office(r) applications – you will need to bring a laptop or tablet with this software installed.

Detailed Course Outline

  1. First Principles of Operations Management; definition of operations management, the scope of operations management, the basic process model – input/convert/output, the operations management process model, operations management activities
  2. Managing Operations Performance; the six key attributes for setting performance objectives (quality, speed, cost, flexibility, dependability, and compliance), setting and measuring performance targets at strategic and operational levels, the risk of accidental adversaries, making rational trade-offs between attributes
  3. Strategy and Operations; How business strategy and operations management fit together, viewing operations management from a ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ perspective, the tensions between the market needs and operational resources perspectives, using a strategically aligned view to drive operations improvements, assembling operational plans
  4. Operations Processes; why and how processes are designed, designing processes – causes and desired effects, different types of processes and how/why they are created, consideration of process volumes during design, how to design processes, creating procedures from processes
  5. Designing Products and Services; the importance of design to business strategy, the attributes of a successful design, value engineering, functional diagrams/trees, value analysis
  6. The Supply Network; what is the supply network and why is it important, supply network tiers, network design considerations, location, and management of capacity, forecasting capacity requirements
  7. Designing the Operational Layout and Flow; why is layout and flow important, considerations when designing layout (simplicity, safety/worker environment, ease of flow, same level operations, communications/signposting, energy saving, accessibility for maintenance, flexibility/reconfiguration)
  8. Operation Process Technology; what is process technology, types of technology available, advantages and disadvantages – the need for evaluation, selecting process technology, executing process technology choices
  9. Human Resources in Operations; the fundamental importance of people to operations, why managing people is different to processes and technology, organizational design, job analysis, and design, performance management aspects in operations
  10. Capacity Planning/Controlling; overview of planning and control, planning and control tasks, key considerations in setting up planning and control systems, the interaction with supply and demand, capacity planning, modeling capacity using queuing theory
  11. Inventory and Supply Chain Planning/Control; definition of inventory, planning volume and scheduling inventory, analyzing and controlling inventory, supply chain tasks and objectives, supply chain relationships, and behaviors, developing and improving supply chains
  12. Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Resource Planning; definition of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the history of ERP systems development, considerations when introducing ERP systems, Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) principles, the master production schedule, Bill of materials (BoM), BoM based ‘netting’ (hierarchical decomposition and planning), capacity assessment
  13. LEAN Management Techniques; LEAN and the Toyota Production System, LEAN techniques (Plan, Do , Check, Act/5S’s/Andon/Bottleneck Analysis/Jidoka (Autonomation)/Just-In-Time (JIT)/Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)/ Kanban (Pull System)/Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)/Root Cause Analysis/Takt Time/Value Stream Analysis)
  14. Project Management Techniques; differences between operations and projects, understanding requirements, setting scope, creating a network logic diagram, estimating time and money, budgeting, scheduling, managing risk, controlling project work, closing our projects
  15. Quality Management and Improvement; defining quality and quality management systems, quality assurance, quality control, conformance to specification, total quality management, statistical process control techniques, continuous improvement techniques
  16. Operational Risk Management; definition of risk management, aleatory and epistemic risks, identifying risks, assessing risk probability and severity, by qualitative methods, quantifying risk impact, by quantitative methods (decision trees, sensitivity analysis), choosing and implementing risk responses

Exam Information

The course exam consists of daily tests, with 10 multiple choice questions based on the content studied during that day. Participants will be allowed to consult their course guides during the exam (open book). In the event of a candidate failing a test, feedback will be provided and a re-test offered.

Essential Project Management Training

Who Should Attend

All Project Team Members Positions

Course Duration: 3 Days

Key Takeaways

  • Define the basic concepts of project management
  • Identify PM 5 processes and 10 knowledge areas
  • Learn the basic scheduling and cost management concepts
  • How to update the work schedule and create a recovery plan

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by interactive exercises. The exercises include real-life case studies, role plays, and discussions as well as simulations, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Detailed Course Outline

Basic Definition

  • What is a Project?
  • What is Project Management?

 Initiating Project

  • Purpose of the Initiation Process
  • Assessing Constraints
  • Define Stakeholders

Planning Projects

  • Define Scope and create WBS
  • Steps for Creating a Schedule
  • Optimizing the project schedule
  • Fast-tracking and crashing techniques
  • Cost estimating and budgeting

 Executing Projects

  • Distributing information and getting feedback

 Controlling Projects

  • Controlling Your Project
  • How Can You Monitor Progress?
  • Project Review Meeting
  • Project Audit

Keeping the Team on Track

  • When Delegate How?
  • Delegating Tasks

Closing Project

  • Shutting Down the Project
  • Evaluating the Project

Advanced Project Management Training Project Monitoring, Reporting & Control

Who Should Attend

All Project Management Senior Positions

Course Duration: 3 Days

Key Takeaways

  • Collect Requirement, Define Project Scope &
  • Create WBS
  • Advanced Time Management
  • Project Cost Estimating Elements (Equipment, Material & Labors)
  • Earned Value Management (EVM)
  • How to Measure Project Performance
  • Project Risk Management in Depth

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by interactive exercises. The exercises include real-life case studies, role plays, and discussions as well as simulations, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Detailed Course Outline

Project Scope Management

  • Collect Requirement
  • SOW
  • Create WBS

Project Risk Management

  • Risk Register
  • Qualitative Risk Analysis
  • Quantitative Risk Analysis
  • Risk Response Plan
  • Risk Control

Advanced Project Time Management

  • CPM Refreshment
  • Crashing
  • Fast Tracking
  • Resource Leveling 

Project Cost Management

  • Cost Introduction and different Cost types
  • Equipment Cost
  • Labor Cost
  • Material Cost

Measuring Progress and Cost Performance

  • Earned Value Management
  • Traditional Cost Management
  • Performance Indices CPI/SPI
  • Estimate at Completion (EAC)

Quality Management

  • Quality Theory
  • Quality Plan
  • Quality Assurance
  • Quality Control

Cost Engineering Masterclass

Who Should Attend

CEO, Financial Managers, HR Managers, Project Managers, Engineers and Planners, Information Technology Managers and anyone interested in cost control and operations optimization regardless of the nature of its business.

Course Duration: 5 Days

Key Takeaways

  • Technical Paper Preparation
  • Cost Elements & Estimate accuracy
  • Earned Value Management
  • Time & Risk Management

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by interactive exercises. The exercises include real-life case studies, role plays, and discussions as well as simulations, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Detailed Course Outline

Introduction

  • Projects definitions
  • Project management & project life cycle
  • Organization types

Planning and Scheduling

  • Define scope
  • Create WBS
  • Define activities
  • Sequence activities
  • Estimate activities resources
  • Estimate activities duration
  • Develop schedule using CPM
  • Critical Chain
  • Fast Tracking
  • Crashing
  • Resource leveling

Cost Management

  • Estimate activity cost
  • Cost of quality
  • Risk Management & determine contingency reserve
  • Contracts types
  • Determine Budget
  • S-Curve & Fund

Cost Elements

  • Material
  • Labor
  • Equipment
  • Productivity adjustment
  • Crow productivity

Cost Estimating Introduction

  • Cost estimate for owners, consultants & contractors

Cost Estimating

  • Order of Magnitude Estimating
  • Range estimate
  • Equipment cost by scaling
  • Definitive estimates
  • Cost Estimating Accuracy

Engineering Economics

  • PV
  • FV
  • NPV
  • IRR
  • MARR

Earned Value

  • Cost & Schedule Variance
  • Cost and Schedule indexes
  • EAC
  • ETC
  • VAC
  • TCPI
  • Percent Complete

Cash Flow

  • Cash Concept
  • Cash Vs. Cost

Value Engineering

Revision

  • Course review
  • Technical paper preparation
  • Sample Exam

Cost Estimating, Budgeting & Controlling Workshop

Who Should Attend

Project Managers, Cost Estimators, Planning Engineers, and Controllers

Course Duration: 4 Days

Key Takeaways

  • Differentiate between different project management processes
  • Define Resources
  • Estimate the cost of labor and equipment (including depreciation)
  • Adjust productivity
  • Use cost accounts to control project costs
  • Solve resource utilization problems
  • Predict project cash flow under various scenarios
  • Use earned value technique to evaluate project
  • Performance

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by interactive exercises. The exercises include real-life case studies, role plays, and discussions as well as simulations, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Detailed Course Outline

Definitions

Define the Project and Create Baseline

  • Define Project Scope
  • Create WBS
  • Define, Sequence & Estimate resource and duration for project activities
  • Develop project Schedule using CPM
  • Shortening the Schedule and its impact Project to cost

Detailed Cost Estimate

  • Cost Elements
  • Cost Estimate Accuracy
  • Cost Estimate Methods
  • Elements affect Cost Estimating

Cost Budget

  • S-Curve (CPM)
  • Fund requirements
  • Cash Flow
  • DCF & Engineering Economy

 Earned Value Management

  • Measuring Performance (CPI, SPI, CV, SV)
  • Budget Forecast (EAC, ETC, VAC)
  • Enhance Index (TCPI)

Projects from Initiating to Status Reporting “Hands on simulation workshop”

Who Should Attend

All Project Management Positions

Course Duration: 4 Days

Course Objectives

This course designed to give real project management experience by combining both theoretical project management knowledge and real project management applications.

Key Takeaways

  • Define the basic concepts of project management
  • Identify PM 5 processes and 10 knowledge areas
  • Learn the basic scheduling and cost management concepts
  • Managing resources conflicts
  • Learn how to measure project performance

Approach

This program approach is modular and highly interactive, with focused theory blocks supported by interactive exercises. The exercises include real-life case studies, role plays, and discussions as well as simulations, providing a balanced and rich learning experience.

Detailed Course Outline

Basic Definition

  • What is a Project?
  • What is Project Management?
  • Contrast Projects and Operations
  • Organization Types and PM Role

Initiating Project

  • Purpose of the Initiation Process
  • Creating a Project Charter
  • Assessing Constraints
  • Define Stakeholders

Planning Projects

  • Define Scope and create WBS
  • Steps for Creating a Schedule
  • Optimizing the project schedule
  • Fast tracking and crashing techniques
  • Cost Estimate and Budget
  • Risk Plan
  • Project organization chart & RAM

Executing Projects

  • Distributing information and getting feedback

 Controlling Projects

  • Controlling Your Project
  • How Can You Monitor Progress?
  • Project Review Meeting
  • Project Audit

Measuring Progress and Cost Performance

  • Earned Value Management
  • Traditional Cost Management
  • Performance Indices CPI/SPI
  • To Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
  • Project Forecasting (EAC, ETC & VAC)

Closing Project

  • Shutting Down the Project
  • Evaluating the Project

Workshops & Used Templates

  • Create Project’s Charter using Template
  • Define Stakeholders and collect their requirement using a template
  • Define activities using activity attributes template
  • Make risk plan using risk register template
  • Create Project RAM using PARS matrix
  • CPM workshop
  • Resource leveling workshop
  • EVM workshop