Operational Business Management A (Horticulture Introduction) Online Course
| Full Fee | $649.00 incl GST - Best Value! |
| Payment Plan | $800.00 incl GST |
Exam Optional
Qualification Certificate
Tutor Support Yes unlimited by email
A study focussing on managing Economics, Planning and Marketing of operations in horticulture. Your ability to manage a business can make a huge difference to your success in horticulture. In this course, you will learn to the business side of horticulture, including how to plan and implement effective strategies for your business and/or services. This is a module in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture.
Course Aims:
- Explain the economic environment in which horticultural business operates.
- Appraise the impact of external influences.
- Establish the type of information required for operations in both commercial businesses and service organisations.
- Examine the process and analyse approaches to strategic planning.
- Examine the process and analyse approaches to strategy formation and implementation.
- Prepare a business plan.
- Assess the importance of business control systems utilising IT integration into financial management; prepare, read and interpret annual statements, appreciate the importance of budgetary control.
- Identify the benefits involved when preparing marketing plans; analyse organisational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
- Formulate customer-orientated and realisable strategies for selected markets
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Detailed Course Outline
This course is made up of a number of lessons or units. Each of these has self assessment questions, a set task (practical homework) and an assignment which you can upload online. Click below to read about each of the lessons and what you will learn.
There are 9 lessons in this course:
The Economic Environment
- The world of economics
- Scarcity
- Opportunity costs
- Goods
- Definitions
- Economic systems
- Economic ownership
- Performance criteria for an economy
- Other economic performance indicators
- Basic economic principles
- Law of demand
- Law of Substitution
- Law of diminishing return
- Law of diminished marginal utility
- Competition
- Sustainability
- Total Quality Management
- Strategic Planning
- Creating a strategic plan
- European economic union
- European Central bank
- Asia Pacific Economic Community
External Influences on Horticultural Enterprise
- Monopoly
- Monopolistic Competition
- Oligopoly
- Perfect competition
- International markets and tradeable commodities
- Globalisation
- Supply and demand
- Market forces
- Demand
- Supply
- Elasticity
- Economics of scale
- Cost structures
- Liquidity
Information Management for Horticulture
- Scope and nature of office work
- Functions of an office
- Common jobs in an office: reception, clerical, secretarial, information processing
- Departments within an organisation
- Office processes
- Data knowledge, strage and management
- Filing systems
- Classifying information
- Hard copy
- Filing procedure
- Active and inactive records
- Computer databases
- Designing a filing system
- Data protection
- Financial records
- Books needed in business
- Different ways to approach bookkeeping
- Steps in the bookkeeping process
- Developing a record keeping and accounting system
- Flow of information
- Financial reports
- Ledger
- Journal
- Source documents
- Cash transactions
- Credit transactions
- Returns and allowances
- Other business documents
- Use of business documents
- The cash book
- Credit sales and credit purchases journal
- The general journal
- The ledger
- A trial balance
- Bank reconciliation
- Petty cash
Strategic Planning in Horticulture
- Strategic planning
- Documenting the strategy
- Operational planning
- Documenting an operational plan
- Key components of a business plan
- SWOT analysis
- A planning procedure
- Decisions
- What to plan for
- Finance
- Structure for a Financial plan
- Developing a budget
- Structure for a marketing plan
- Plan drawing
Implementing Strategies
- Implementing strategy
- Benchmarking
- Reviewing strategy and strategy management
- Environmental audits
- Key elements of EIA
- Steps in an environmental assessment process
- Study design
- Baseline studies
- Predicting impacts
- Mitigation measures
- Flora and fauna assessment
- Open space management plan
- Rehabilitation plan
Developing a Business Plan
- Business planning
- Case study: nursery development plan
- Sensitivity analysis
- PBL project to formulate criteria required for the successful implementation of a business proposal to develop a business plan.
Business Control Systems for Horticulture
- Financial statements
- The balance sheet
- Classification in the balance sheet
- Working capital
- Profit and loss statement
- Link between profit and balance sheet
- Depreciation of assets
- Analysis and interpretation of accounting reports
- Analytical ratios
- Ratio yardsticks
- Profitability ratios
- Operating efficiency ratios
- Efficiency ratios and profitability
- Liquidity ratios
- Liquidity analysis and cash budgeting
- Financial stability ratios
- Gearing rate of return on investment
- Limitations to ratio analysis
- Risk
- Risk analysis
- Contingency planning
- Business systems
- Quality systems
- Innovation management
- PERT (Program evaluation and review)
- CPA (Critical path analysis)
- GNATT Charts
- Fastest and slowest completion times
- Business expansion and sources of finance
- Record keeping
Evaluating Horticultural Marketing
- Introduction
- Market research
- The marketing mix
- Marketing planning
- Services marketing
- Customer service
- Buying, selling and decision making
- Different heuristics
- Decision making process
- Customer satisfaction
- Goodwill
Marketing Strategies for Horticulture
- Target markets and market segmentation
- Targeting strategies
- Defining your target market
- Determining market segmentation
- Projecting the future
- Positioning
- Case study: The market for landscape contractors
- The business portfolio
When you have completed the lessons of your Certificate course, you will be given the option of taking the optional exam. It's okay if you don't want the exam, we still issue your Careerline Certificate. For Advanced Certificates however, the exam is compulsory (per module) and are included in the course fee.
Course Tutor(s)
Barbara Tremain BSc. (Hons) Horticulture, RHS Adv. Cert,. RHS General, City & Guilds Garden Design, Permaculture Level 3 (UK)
Barbara brings to Careerline a wide range of horticultural experience and knowledge Barbara has a keen interest in herbalism, edible wild plants and has lead into studies of many plant based complementary medicinal systems, qualification as a Bach Flower remedy practitioner and studying Ethnobotany. Barbara has practiced and studied horticulture as well as combining it with her love of travel in many countries including the UK, US and Australia and has also studied Permaculture and runs her own horticulture business. Within the past two years she have also worked for Groundwork SW with 18-24 year old unemployed people, this work and the mentoring scheme has allowed me to teach informally. It has been a delight to nurture the interests of keen learners in horticulture and garden design. Meanwhile the business has covered a variety of Garden Design projects, from wildflower gardens to seaside situations, and has included some work with Chelsea Gold multi-winner John Moreland.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pay in installments?
Yes! We offer great payment plans, however full payment up front is the cheapest. You can choose the best payment plan for you from the course page, or call us on 07 55368782 to talk to one of our course consultants for a custom plan.
Can I study from anywhere in the world?
We have many international students. Careerline's range of courses are suitable for any one, anywhere in the world.
Do I get a discount if I enroll in a second course?
Yes. You may claim a 5% fee discount when you enroll in a second course, and a further 10% off a three-course package.
Do I have to sit an Exam?
No. If you are enrolled in a Certificate course (100hrs), the exam is optional. You will be issued with a certificate which proves that you are competent in all units, if you choose not to sit the exam.
Do you have set start dates?
There are no set start dates, you may start at any time. Our courses are all self-paced. As our home page says, ‘Courses for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime’. ‘Anytime’ includes the start time of your choice. However, we do encourage our students to submit assignments on a regular basis. Wherever possible, we suggest developing a study routine.