Online and Remote Learning

The course teaches you why business process management (BPM) is so important to organizations and how to use it to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing business strategies and processes and the links between them. You'll use mapping, basic measurements and critical-thinking approaches and learn other ways to analyze, redesign, improve and document business processes. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing business strategies and processes and the links between them. Know why business process management (BPM) is so important to organizations. Use BPM to analyze, redesign, improve and document business processes. Use the Association of Business Process Management Professionals (ABPMP) Common Body of Knowledge v4.0 as a reference for BPM activities.

Most process improvement initiatives fail not because of technical issues but because of the so-called soft issues: organization, structure, culture and human and political aspects. This course gives you a framework to analyze why an initiative fails, learn from the experience and recommend change to key decision-makers. You'll learn about factors that often undermine initiatives, including complexity, lack of consensus for action, social challenges and resistance. Diagnose organizational culture and assess readiness for change. Educate and influence key decision-makers and stakeholders to lead change more effectively. Manage intangible factors that often undermine process improvement projects. Organize and execute a large-scale process improvement project within the service industry and the business process sector. Adapt and sustain business processes for changing environments and client needs.

What is the difference between a historian’s grasp of the events of the past and the imaginative leap the writer must take to recreate it? While the historian must be scrupulously faithful to what is the case, the artist must cultivate a sympathetic imagination for the past. This is all about the sensory details as opposed to the overview—the sights, sounds, smells that make up a lived reality. How do you write convincing dialogue that is neither jarringly contemporary nor self-consciously archaic? How does a writer depart from the historically correct to find a story worth telling? How does a writer create characters that feel like flesh-and-blood, while observing the specificities and constraints of the time in which the story is set? Often what feels most “real” is what has been freely invented, and this course will enable the participants to begin the work of thinking like novelists as they approach history, and to create their own fictional worlds. Understand the unique process of creating historical fiction. Apply these techniques to your own work.

Learn about the financing and payment forms available for international trade transactions and the risks associated with them. From pay-in-advance to the popular open-account method, payment forms carry different risks. We will look closely at letters of credit, the most sophisticated and effective method of payment today. You'll also learn how financial guarantees apply to various situations. A careful analysis of market forces, the competitive environment and other financial elements will help you determine an effective trade finance strategy. Recognize the importance of strategic planning for international business. Know the various risks associated with international trade, including foreign exchange, commercial risk and country risk. Gauge different options for short- and long-term financing and payment mechanisms available for importers and exporters. Understand technology and how it is used in trade finance and the supply chain. Calculate the cost-benefit of different payment methods for parties involved in international transactions. Understand the effects and importance of cash flow planning in international trade.

Explore writing and meditation practices and overcome blocks to the creative process. In this course, you'll work to create new pathways in your consciousness, open your creativity and eliminate feelings of limitation and inhibition. The course combines meditation, lectures, writing exercises and discussions with a community of like-minded writers. You'll try journaling, sitting, and walking meditation, and writing exercises to help you tell your story, memoir, or poem. As insight develops, creativity, clarity, and happiness arrive. Unblock creative energy and learn lessons of craft. Create connections between your interior and exterior lives. Connect the wisdom within your heart to the written word.  

This course gives you an overview of Enterprise Architecture (EA) and its role in implementing an organization’s strategy.  You'll learn about aligning business and IT and how to use principles, standards, patterns and best practices. Explore the most used EA methodologies, the fundamentals in business, technology and security and the interrelationships between domains. You'll also learn how to measure EA benefits, convey them to key stakeholders and develop architectural and governance skills that follow key frameworks used in the industry (e.g. TOGAF) and use an architectural language (e.g. Archimate). Understand how Enterprise Architecture (EA) helps deliver the organization's vision. Show how EA can influence the overall performance of the organization and affect its competitive advantage. Explain the relationships between business, application, data, technology and security aspects. Advocate good EA practices and appropriate governance. Evaluate the current state of an organization versus its stated vision and goals. Understand the fundamentals about using a disciplined, comprehensive methodology as well as take an agile approach. Explain how an architectural language like Archimate in conjunction with TOGAF. Evaluate the results of an Enterprise Architecture practice.

Organizations use quality management and process excellence to deliver value for customers, generate returns for shareholders and improve workplaces. This course gives you a solid grounding in the ideas and practices of quality management. You'll learn the core ideas that underpin the leading quality and process excellence methodologies and frameworks used today (ISO, TQM, Lean Six Sigma) and how to apply Lean Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) methodology to business and work situations. Understand how quality relates to business strategy. Measure and define quality in your processes from your customer's perspective. Map and analyze your processes. Understand and identify waste in your processes. Understand and be able to apply fundamental project management and Lean Six Sigma tools to improve processes.

Lean Six Sigma is a strategic tool organizations use to deliver value for customers, generate returns for shareholders and create a meaningful workplace environment for employees. This hands-on course covers widely used concepts associated with the Lean Six Sigma methodology. You'll learn how to identify improvement opportunities, develop solutions and ensure that the benefits are realized. Map the value streams in your organization. Analyze a value stream to improve flow and create demand-driven pull. Calculate takt time and quantify the baseline performance of your value stream. Establish and define standard work. Lead kaizen events to improve the effectiveness of your value stream.

Fantasy and science fiction allow writers and readers to step outside familiar boundaries into imaginary worlds. In this workshop-style course, you'll learn the elements of both genres and get feedback from a community of writers as you craft the first draft of a new short story. You'll explore the foundations of world-building, plot, scene-setting, character development, and dialogue, as well as honing your critiquing skills. You'll also find out more about the business side of writing fantasy and science fiction. Create plot, narrative and characters that use elements of fantasy and Science Fiction. Learn some of the business aspect of fantasy and science fiction writing. Benefit from a critique of your manuscript.

Accident prevention should be a top priority for all organizations. Reducing accidents means fewer injuries and a boost to your reputation and employee morale. You incur fewer costs related to property damage, reduced productivity and legal liability. In this course, you'll learn the importance of approaching accident prevention systematically. Topics include occupational health and safety (OHS) programs, hazard identification, auditing tools, investigations and case studies. This online course has live webinars.  Understand the true cost of workplace accidents and how to prevent them. Investigate the direct and root causes of workplace accidents. Review the essential elements of an internal responsibility system. Understand the purpose of loss control and loss management programs. Implement an occupational health and safety (OHS) management system.