Commercial Awareness Training
Programme Outline
Course Programme
Duration
2 days.
What is this course about?
Commercial risk management covers a whole range of issues and this course provides a framework for understanding and controlling risk in the most appropriate ways. Equally suited to companies as suppliers or customers, it is focused on ensuring that risk management does not become an internal industry but a cost effective part of the commercial relationships that exist and are developed.
Who would benefit?
1. Managers
2. Graduates - an introduction.
Objectives
The objectives of this course include:
1. Creation of the general understanding of commercial awareness and what it means in practice
2. Outline of the most cost effective ways of dealing with commercial issues
3. Development of a commercial management plan.
Key topics covered
1. Analysis of the areas that companies deal with commercially
2. Accounts and what they mean
3. Regulation and its effect on companies
4. The commercial environment
5. Understanding risk
6. Business approval concepts
7. Ensuring company-wide appreciation of the importance of commercial awareness
8. Understanding assumptions and their use
9. Dealing with commercial issues.
Course programme
1. Analysis of the areas that companies deal with commercially
- How companies operate commercially
- What is unknown and what is known in commercial matters
- Applying commercial insights to everyday business matters
- Risk registers.
2. Accounts
- Revenue and cash
- Management accounts and profit and loss accounts and cash flow
- Understanding accounts
3. Regulation
- Areas to focus on in terms of external regulation
- Regulating your suppliers to eliminate risk (including offshore)
- How to manage regulation internally
- What costs are involved and how to minimise them
4. Minimising commercial risk (and risk elimination)
- The value of risk registers
- Creating and maintaining risk registers
- Review processes
- Identifying risk factors
- Communication of risk and the effects if a risk is realised and becomes an issue
5. The commercial environment
- The concept of stakeholders
- Consultation and communication
- Restrictions on what can be said and when
- Company officer concepts and impacts
6. Applying a commercial perspective
- Where decisions are made
- How decisions are made
- Influencing decisions appropriately
- Managing communication of decisions
7. How to assess what is not known - the role of assumptions
- Areas that cannot be known as fact
- What is meant by taking a cost effective approach to assumptions
- Reviewing assumptions
8. Business approval
- Standard business approval processes - strengths and weaknesses
- Different business approval processes - strengths and weaknesses
- Issues to be aware of
9. Audit
- What is meant by audit and its various forms
- Creating an understanding of responding to audit questions
- Responding to audits - internal and external
10. Areas where commercial awareness is key
- Management of suppliers
- Management of partners
- Management of internal stakeholders
- Management of external stakeholders
- Reviewing risk managementø
Course outcomes
- Greater understanding of what is meant by commercial issues and how it affects each member of the company - and stakeholders
- Real awareness of the measures and tools that are used, including audit
- Greater understanding of the costs involved - in not understanding commercial issues
- Awareness of external regulatory pressures and how to respond to them cost effectively, even using regulation as part of differentiation
- Greater confidence in commercial matters
- A cost effective and effectual business approval process
- Better understanding of how to deal with issues
- An appreciation of the way to use processes to mitigate and eliminate risk.
BACK TO..
Commercial Awareness Training homepage
