Operational Purpose

Overview

This course will give you a solid introduction to some of the key tools used within the management function. By competing this course you will gain a comprehensive insight into organisational purpose and the mission and vision of an organisation, why these are important to get right and how managers use this in strategic thinking. You will also have the opportunity to review case studies, evaluating the impact of a successful mission or vision statement. You will reflect on the relationship between professional and personal values and how to match these within your own career goals as well as within your teams. Finally you will analysis the elements of strategy and how to mitigate the threats to strategic thinking. The course will stimulate your ideas and thinking around leadership and management as well as give you practical examples of a range of management tools and how these are used in practice.

Syllabus

Overview of the course

In this course you will gain a solid understanding of an organisation's purpose, have lots of opportunities to reflect on the significance and purpose of organisational mission, values and visions and how these align with your own personal values and goals. This section supports your start to the course with the key information you will need to undertake the course as well as give you an opportunity to meet others starting this course.

Organisational Purpose: Missions and Visions

The first topic week of this course explores the value of a mission within an organisation's purpose. As well as gaining a foundational understanding of why organisation's have missions you will have the opportunity to critically evaluate an example mission.

Aligning personal and private values

In this week you will consider how values fit within the organisations purpose. Reflecting on both professional and personal values you will undertake a reflective exercise looking at your personal and professional values and how to align these with your work and career as well as consider how organisations do this.

Strategy and Strategic Drift

The final week of this course will enable you to practically consider how to build mission, values and vision into strategy. You will begin the week considering how strategy is used by organisations and how one of the challenges within strategy is avoiding strategic drift. In this week you will also have the opportunity to undertake a deep dive into the resources and research around strategy. Along with the first two weeks this will enable you to experience the different elements of masters study and the breadth of opportunity it brings.