Free learning resources from the Open University:

• An introduction to business cultures
• Entrepreneurial behaviour
• The market-led organisation

More Business and Management from OpenLearn

Venture Navigator - Is your business idea viable? This service, a product of a consortium of British universities and Library House, offers an online assessment tool, resources and a forum to help shape your idea into a successful business.

Management Gurus - a BBC World Service programme by Charles Handy on the people who write management advice manuals - and how their work has been perceived.

To follow up on some key business and management themes, you may find the following books helpful:

Brand Leadership
D Aaker and E Joachimsthaler, The Free Press

The eEconomy: rhetoric or reality?
edited by LC Budd and L Harris, Routledge

Marketing: Concepts and Strategies, Fifth Edition
S Dibb, L Simkin, W Pride and O C Ferrell, Houghton Mifflin

Organising for Innovation
J Henry, Open University Press

Managing Innovation and Change, Second Edition
edited by J Henry and DT Mayle, Sage

Managing to Collaborate: The theory and practice of collaborative advantage
C Huxham and S Vangen, Routledge

Building, Measuring and Managing Brand Equity, Second Edition
K L Keller, Pearson Education Inc.

Managing Knowledge: An Essential Reader, Second Edition
SE Little and TE Ray, Sage

The American Confidence Man
DW Maurer, Charles C. Thomas

Strategy and Capability
JG Salaman and DC Asch, Blackwell

Leadership in Organizations: current issues and key trends
J Storey, Routledge

Managers of Innovation: insights into making innovation happen
J Storey and JG Salaman, Blackwell

If you are an employee looking to develop your career, or a manager looking to improve the professional skills of your team, you can find out how we can help you with effective, work-based employee Professional & Management Development programmes.

The Open University has established a new centre to meet the needs of the growing number of working people seeking flexible short courses in order to update and extend their skills to develop or change their careers. The Centre for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is currently developing a portfolio of short non-accredited courses covering, for example; project management, leading in teams and creative problem-solving, as well as specific customised programs for major employers. CPD courses will also be offered across a range of disciplines including IT, health and social care, education, science and technology. The courses will specifically target employees seeking post-qualification training and professional skills updating and will be short and sharp - typically up to 30 hours in duration - with specific skills outcomes.

If you are an employer you can find more information on the OU's employer's CPD page.

If you would like to follow up your interest by taking a course, the OU offers a range of courses and qualifications in business and management.

Which type of course is best for you?

• Have study experience and looking for more?
• Interested in an undergraduate qualification?
• Not sure which postgraduate qualification?

Courses

An introduction to business studies (B120)

This course will introduce you to the different internal and external elements of a business and help you to understand the context in which a business operates. Business structures, cultures and functions are identified and the political, social, economic, technological and ethical considerations affecting business are introduced.

Business organisations and their environments (B201)

This course will help you to develop your personal and professional practice in business. It’s practically based and grounded in your own experience of business organisations, whether as an employee, customer or stakeholder. The course focuses on a number of issues such as enterprise, globalisation, regulation, and corporate social responsibility to illustrate the challenges facing business organisations in the twenty-first century.

Marketing in society (B324)

Marketing in society addresses some of the new areas of social marketing and the interrelated areas of corporate social responsibility and marketing ethics. The course identifies key ethical issues involved in marketing decision-making and the responsibilities of organisations to their stakeholders, including the wider community.

Financial strategy (B821)

This course will help you to explore the accounting and finance issues that organisations face at board level. By the end, you should have a grasp of the fundamentals of financial analysis and theory. You’ll feel at ease working with finance and accounting experts and know how to tackle the main financial problems you are likely to encounter at work.

Undergraduate qualifications

If you are interested in further study or qualifications in the field of business and management then the Open University Business School offers a range of qualifications and courses which you may find of interest. The quality of our programmes has earned us accreditation by the three premier management education associations, AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, putting the OU Business School in an elite group. Fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide are triple accredited.

BA(Honours) Business Studies (B04)
An honours degree offering an innovative, accessible and stimulating introduction to the world of business. Its courses explore key features such as environments, markets, processes and organisation. They analyse how businesses develop strategies, analyse and handle risk and take decisions. The programme emphasises skills development, in particular IT, numerical, study and thinking skills.

Professional Certificate in Management (C31)
If you aim to climb the management ladder, or have done so already without formal qualifications, the Professional Certificate in Management offers you the chance to gain professional recognition. It is also the "open access" route into our MBA programme.

Postgraduate qualifications

Masters in Business Administration (MBA) (FO2)
To achieve an MBA is personally and professionally fulfilling. Since 1983, almost 16,000 managers have achieved that goal through the OU Business School. It's a statistic that explains how we have become the largest business school in Europe. The new OU Business School MBA programme is highly flexible with a strong European perspective.

Masters in Public Administration (F44)
A highly flexible MPA programme with a strong trans-national dimension. It will be particularly relevant if you are involved in delivering policy, leading modernisation projects, and supporting innovation. At times, the programme will involve collaboration between managers working in all three sectors (public, private and non-profit). The main focus is on enhancing your capacities in your own particular field of work.

MBA (Life Sciences) (F38)
This leading edge MBA programme with a strong strategic focus is designed for managers in Life Sciences and Health organisations - ranging from pharmaceuticals and biotechs through to the broad environment of public and private healthcare services.

MBA (Technology Management) (F03)
The MBA (Technology Management) is designed for managers, engineers, technologists and scientists whose job includes managing technology.

MSc Information Systems (F37)
Creating the information systems to support a networked economy requires a major shift in IT skills, management thinking and organisation structures. There have been many high profile information system failures such as Taurus and CAPSA. A new hybrid perspective is required, one able to integrate both business and technology.

The Information Systems (IS) programme offers a series of self-standing courses which enable you to operate effectively in this fast-changing world.

MSc in Human Resource Management (F40)
If you operate, or aspire to operate as a senior Human Resources professional, this highly relevant programme offers an in-depth study of the HRM field. You will develop the ability to make an effective contribution at a strategic level in today’s rapidly changing organisational contexts, internally or as an external consultant.

Further information about Business and Management qualifications for those interested in Health, Technology Management, Development Management and Environmental Decision Making postgraduate programmes can all be found at the OU's Business and management page.