What can I study in a Higher Certificate?

The Higher Certificate in Business Management (HCBM) at Regenesys Business School is intended to help people from workforce entry level up to mid-level managers enhance their operational efficiency while gaining a strategic perspective of business. 

Because developing thinking, efficiency-oriented managers is our primary interest, we intentionally create cognitive dissonance in class to spur deep learning and peer learning.

You have a choice of three streams for the Higher Certificate in Business Management: the general business HCBM, an HCBM in Retail Management, or an HCBM in Credit Banking.

THIS ARTICLE COVERS:

• HCBM core business management modules
• Elective business management subjects
• Industry-specific electives

HCBM core business management modules

Your core modules for the general business management HCBM are:

Fundamentals of Business Management – This module is largely about how to co-ordinate the general management of an organisation in light of its overall business environment and in order for it to achieve its goals. 

Human Resource Management – The most important resource for any organisation is its employees. Your duty in managing them requires adding value to the process, from hiring them to retiring them back into society. You’ll learn many ways to streamline and smooth the processes required, along with motivational and conflict management techniques.

Marketing Management – This course helps to explain why your customers do what they do, which in turn provides a basis for your marketing strategy and mix – crucial to communicating and delivering the value your business offers. 

Financial Management – This module gives you a framework for financial planning, along with tools and techniques for budgeting, cash planning, how to apply ratio analysis to assess the health of your business unit, along with financial reporting requirements. 

Elective business management subjects

Besides the compulsory subjects listed above, you will be permitted to select two electives from the following list of electives, tailoring your programme to your interests: 

Project Management – This module is designed to equip you with key project management tools and techniques, handling everything from stakeholder analysis to taking care of the critically interconnected constraints of time, cost and quality.

Quality and Customer Service Management – You should emerge from this module with a sound understanding of the principles of quality and customer relations management, as well as the importance of managing stakeholder relationships, and how to manage challenges in improving quality. The “wow” factor is crucial here!

Information and Communication Technology – Here you’ll learn about the research process and how to use computer skills to access information, alongside problem-solving – a vital skill no matter what you do for a living – and managing computer files as well as data security.

Sales Management – Every business needs a sales management function; some businesses will have a variety of them, depending on the markets they serve. In this course you will be familiarised with the major functions of sales management, the sales manager’s role and responsibilities, learn how to set sales objectives and measure sales performance, and develop the art of consultative salesmanship. You will also learn about sales initiatives, campaigns, and ways to incentivise sales people. 

Negotiation and Conflict Management – Negotiation is an everyday requirement in business, whether you are dealing with staff, seniors, juniors, other managers, or suppliers. This module prepares you to negotiate, as well as to manage and resolve conflict.

Operations Management – This specialised course introduces the core principles that guide innovative process design, along with how the different characteristics of operations affect their management. By the time you have completed it you will have a good understanding of the effect of supply and demand on operational planning and control, the relationship between capacity and inventory management, understand what to do to assess and mitigate operational risk, and understand which techniques to use to improve different kinds of operations, among other things.

Industry-specific electives

While all modules for the credit and retail management HCBM are tailored for their respective sectors, it may also be possible – if studying for the general business HCBM – to make arrangements to take one of the following as one of your two elective subjects: 

Credit Management – While this course is essential for anyone who wants to work in the financial sector, it provides equally important skills for anyone working in a business’s financial department. It discusses the implications of different forms of credit, your responsibilities as a provider of credit, credit contract management, responsible lending, and the implications of noncompliance, among other important issues.

Retail Management – South Africa’s environment is ripe for retail to provide good jobs that scale in future.  Besides learning how to use different processes to identify strategic issues and develop strategic objectives, you will emerge from this course with a good understanding of the different levels of strategic planning, how they are integrated, and familiar with a variety of consultative approaches to strategic planning and implementation.