Business Essentials Modules
For optimum flexibility, the Business Essentials modules may be pursued individually, organized into an integrated course structure or incorporated into your learning management system.
Finance
A working knowledge of finance is important for personnel at all levels of an organization. With detailed oil and gas industry examples, our finance modules enable non-financial professionals to understand your corporate financial fundamentals, read financial statements, and understand why they are important.
- Overview of Finance
Provides background on the financial environment by familiarizing you with its major characteristics, definitions, and functions. You will learn how financial decisions fit into the world of business decision-making and how these choices pose problems, challenges, and opportunities for organizations and individuals. - Accounting Concepts and Financial Statement Analysis
Develops an understanding of accounting concepts and the ability to interpret major financial accounting statements and financial management tasks. Finance is essentially a type of applied economics that makes extensive use of accounting concepts and definitions. - Time Value of Money Principles
Learn the basic techniques (compounding, discounting, present and future value) used in evaluating all financial decisions, and their cash flow implications. - Risk and Return
Reviews the many different ways to measure risk when considering a decision, each of which will produce different results. In this module you will learn about the relationship between risk and return and explore the benefits of diversification. - Budgeting
Learn the basics of budgeting, including the varying types of budgets, and explore the benefits of budgeting. - Practical Tools for Planning and Control
Considers the practical tools of finance and accounting for decisionmaking by organizations. You will learn about cost benefit analysis, return on investment (ROI), fixed and variable costs, breakeven and CVP (cost-volume-profit) analysis, tracking and performance measures, as well as the Balanced Scorecard and its uses. - Valuing Real Assets
Addresses the use of the basic principles of finance to determine the desirability of acquiring an asset that is expected to produce a future cash flow stream. The term capital budgeting is the name given to this process. You will also learn to conduct a financial analysis of an asset or project under consideration.
Communications
The ability to communicate effectively in all areas of business is a key management skill. This communication series teaches the fundamentals of effective business writing and purposeful presentations by using relevant oil and gas industry examples.
- Effective Communication
Focuses on improving business writing. You will learn how to write clearly and directly for your audience - Organizing and Structuring
Reviews purposeful writing, as well as organizing and structuring your writing. You will learn how to brainstorm, conduct research, and deal with writer's block. - Writing Effectively
You will learn how to be a better writer and how to revise your writing to make it purposeful and effective. - Presentation Basics
Teaches you the basics of how to organize, structure and create presentations. Since many organizations use PowerPoint as a way of communicating information, this module offers advice and guidance on the most effective and persuasive uses of PowerPoint. - Purposeful Presentations
Builds on Presentation Basics and helps learners organize, structure and create presentations.
Human Resource Management
Management and development of human and intellectual capital is one of the most important functional disciplines in the oil and gas industry because it focuses on ensuring the organization has a competent and productive workforce in a time of manpower scarcity. Because they contain examples pertinent to the industry, the modules address vital personnel issues, from planning and recruiting to performance management.
- Introduction to Human Resource Management
Explains Human Resource Management and discusses its role and value in an organization. You will learn the key HRM functions and concepts, its strategic contribution to the organization and understand the role of HRM planning. Ethical, cultural, political and logistical HRM issues are also addressed. - Planning and Recruiting
Details the role of HRM in developing an organization’s strategic plan. You will learn the benefits of HRM planning, including effective recruitment strategies. - Employee Selection
Reviews how to conduct an effective job interview, reference checks and how to select appropriate pre-employment tests. - Training and Development
Introduces the various types of training programs used to keep employee’s skills current, with an eye toward an organization’s strategic goals, and – through personnel development – shaping the future of the organization itself. - Employment Benefits
Focuses on the benefits that a company is legally required to offer employees. You will learn about the range of benefits available and what role they play in a competitive compensation package. Issues involved in the selection and administration of employee benefits are discussed. - Performance Management
Explains the value of a performance management system and discusses various types of systems. You will learn to conduct a performance management interview and how to design a performance improvement plan. - Compensation
Addresses the role of and the key issues in compensation systems in an organization. You will learn the linkages between compensation and motivation and the pros and cons for “pay-for-performance” systems. Competitive pay and pay equity is also discussed. - Talent Management and Career Development
Considers the critical value of a career development program to an organization. You will learn the five stages in the career lifecycle and the needs of an employee at each stage. Key tools for career development are discussed and compared. - Equal Employment Opportunity
Reviews the major employment and anti-discrimination laws as well as the basic steps to take in dealing with discrimination complaints. You will learn ways to develop and maintain a diverse workforce. - Ethics, Employee Rights and Discipline
Describes the role of Human Resources in establishing and maintaining an organization’s ethical standards. You will learn how to legally and respectfully discipline and terminate an employee and address any surrounding issues. How to work effectively within union and non-union environments is also discussed. - Employee Health and Safety
In particular, the oil and gas industry must pay special attention to the health and safety of its employees. This module discusses how a company is legally responsible for protecting its employees, as well as methods to handle substance abuse, mental illness, and other stress-related issues employees may face on the job. - Other HRM Issues
Introduces the issues involved with work/life balance and the role of HRM in a global environment. Both topics involve the changing dynamics of the business world.
Project Management
Project management refers to the interrelated processes required to plan, implement and direct successful projects. Using relevant oil and gas mini-case studies, this series of modules covers both the theory and actual practice of project management. They teach the concepts, methodologies and tools of project management, as well as its major management components, including the management of schedule, costs, quality, environmental impact and procurement, as well as project integration. This series follows the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and prepares learners for the PMBOK exam.
- Introduction to Project Management
Considers some of the organizational issues surrounding project management. You will review how different organizations handle the responsibilities of project management and will focus on the entity known as a project management office, or PMO. This module will also discuss how organizational structure can play a key role in the success or failure of project management. - Project Processes
Explores many of the key issues surrounding the model of good project management, including five ongoing processes that flow through a project lifecycle. This module emphasizes the beginning of a project: selecting a project manager and running the project kick-off meeting. - Teamwork and Managing People
Addresses project time management, including team roles and responsibilities, and the essentials of good people management, such as the skills to motivate, develop, report on performance and manage conflict. - Project Communications
Focuses on the definition of effective communication and how it can be applied to project management. You will develop an understanding of the communication plan and will participate in a case study to practice overcoming communication challenges. - Project Scoping and Tracking
Reviews how to scope a project and develops an understanding of a work breakdown structure. You will discover what it means to lead a team over a project's life, tracking and reviewing its progress with reports and meetings. - Project Time Management
Details how best to plan and schedule activities. You will become familiar with various techniques used to calculate and analyze activity time estimates, including ways to estimate the duration of activities. - Project Cost Management
Introduces the general approaches to cost management, including the methods used to estimate and budget for project costs. This module also covers the interrelationship between various cost control concepts and how they can be graphed to depict project status, as well as what to do as a project manager if a project is falling off track. - Project Risk Management
Defines the core elements of risk management, including the risk management plan and the risk register. Additionally, the module examines how risks are identified, prioritized, quantified, and used in decision-making. - Project Quality Management
Considers what quality is in the context of project management, its components and intent. Learners will understand the benefits of using a quality management plan and will develop an ability to recognize when quality has been achieved. - Project Procurement Management
Explains how procurement works in project management, and the steps taken in contracting, including the types of contracts, purchase orders, make-or-buy analysis, and the procurement management plan. - Practice Examination: PMBOK Knowledge