Presented by
Falconbury
The Telecoms 'Mini-MBA' On-line Learning Programme
Focus on the essential practical skills, knowledge and techniques needed to be a high-performer in the field of telecommunications.
- 12 Modules
Course overview
This 10 module Telecoms Mini-MBA on-line learning programme provides an overview of key regulatory, technical, and financial trends impacting the established providers in the industry. It analyses the technology trends underlying many of the strategies and principles executives are applying as they attempt to build businesses. Over the 10 concise modules you will focus on essential management theory, practice and techniques applied in the context of the telecommunications industry. The key business skills developed will ensure that you take a dynamic approach to overcoming each challenge you face and improve the bottom line of your business.
How does this on-line programme work and what do you get?
- Course access from anywhere through your own personal login and administration suite
- Keep track of your progress as you go
- Easy to use note taking and bookmarking facility to return to areas of interest and re-study
- Individual modules or the full course can be downloaded as PDF files to print or file as you decided
- At your convenience: at your desk, from your tablet or from your home computer
- An optional on-line multiple choice assessment at the end of the course for you to ensure you are satisfied with the completion of your training
- Certificate of completion awarded for your training records
This training course is part of our collection of Leadership & Management Training Courses which focus on leadership, innovation, strategy, communication, finance, problem solving and conflict management, to name a few key areas.
Course benefits include:
- Skills development as a leader and manager within the telecoms business
- Guidance on strategic planning techniques in practice within the industry
- Savings in your time and the huge costs involved in enroling for a traditional MBA course
- Enhanced negotiation techniques and skills to increase your success in commercial agreements
- Illustrated examples of key financial techniques to increase your knowledge and boost your confidence when discussing financial issues with colleagues
- Exponential improvement in your knowledge of key competitive marketing techniques and tools which are successfully employed in the telecoms industry
Who should enrol on this programme?
Executives and managers across the telecommunications industry who want
to increase their understanding of successful strategic management
within the sector. Those who want to enhance their own performance and
their key management, leadership and Telecoms industry skills.
Take a guided tour
To find out how our unique Learning Management System delivers our on-line training programmes, and how easy to use and interactive they are, click HERE
Certificate of excellence
Participants are invited to undertake a final assessment in the form of an online multiple-choice paper. A pass rate of 80% and above is required to ensure that a high level of competency has been achieved within the subject area, where upon you will receive a ‘Certificate of Excellence’.
The The Telecoms 'Mini-MBA' On-line Learning Programme course will cover:
- MODULE 1 - Introduction to the Telecoms Market
- Why a Telecoms ‘Mini-MBA’ Distance Learning Programme?
- Introduction
- Market analysis of the Telecoms Industry – Ofcom 2012 ITU-T 2013
- Communications today and an overview of the main technologies used in telecommunications
- Case studies – Converged solutions
- Overview of Technologies
- TDM
- ADSL
- SDSL
- VolP
- VolP Calls
- Commercial aspects of VolP
- Unified Communication
- MPLS
- IPVN
- ISDN
- Emerging Markets-Next Generation (NGN) data and convergence
- Introduction
- Overview
- Collaboration
- Communications – telephony, video, data etc
- Mobility
- Management
- Security
- Unified Communications
- Key Trends for the Future in Telecommunications
- Introduction
- SDN
- NFV
- The Cloud
- M2M (Machine to Machine)
- 4G or Fourth Generation Mobile technology
- LTE (Long Term Evolution)
- Key 4G technologies: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
- Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
- RFID – Radio Frequency Identification
- Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)
- Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)
- MVNO’s Worldwide
- Regulation
- Satellite Communications
- Overview
- Future
- Self-Assessment Questions for module 1
- Why a Telecoms ‘Mini-MBA’ Distance Learning Programme?
- MODULE 2 - Strategy and Strategic Planning in the Telecoms Market
- The key to business success in the Telecommunications sector
- Effective market analysis within the sector
- Understanding the strategic importance of the ITU
- Introduction
- ITU-T Telecoms Sector
- ITU-S Standardisation Sector
- ITU-D Development Sector
- ITU-R Radiocommunication Sector
- Strategic penetration of Internet Protocol and VoIP solutions
- Introduction
- Fixed Voice
- Mobiles
- IP Video
- IPTV
- Telecom TV
- The Global ICT community, regulatory bodies, standards issues and MOU’s
- ICT Community
- Regulatory Bodies
- ETSI
- CDMA
- Mission
- Standards Issues and MoU’s
- How to adopt a Green Telecoms Strategy
- Planning a Green Telecommunications Strategy
- Why Implement a Green Strategy?
- What is a Green Strategy?
- Adopting a Green Strategy
- The Main Players
- Introduction
- Alcatel – Lucent
- Avaya
- Cisco
- Ericsson
- Huawei Technologies
- MTN
- NEC
- Siemens
- Shoretel
- Telefonica
- 3Com
- Case studies – Strategic Alliances
- Introduction
- M2M alliance
- Ericsson – SAP
- Alcatel – Lucent
- BT – Cisco
- Telenor - KDDI
- Vodafone and Cable and Wireless
- Sprint/Nextel
- Reliance Jio Infocomm – Reliance communications
- Disaster Recovery
- Corporate Example
- A Major UK Institution
- Environmental impact on choosing suppliers
- Introduction
- Some Technology Solutions in Place
- Self-Assessment Questions for module 2
- MODULE 3 - Managing Yourself and Others
- Mastering Yourself
- Key Activities in Developing Skills Portfolio
- Getting balanced – How to start taking control
- Mastering performance management
- Overview
- Influencing People
- Classic Influencing Styles
- Stating your own position - The Characteristics
- What influencing styles do you use?
- Learning to delegate effectively
- Communicate and motivate
- Overview
- How to really listen
- Listening and communicating to others – Basic rules
- Applying classic questioning techniques
- Understanding the impact of non-verbal communications
- Effective coaching
- Appraising your people – An overview
- Tackling poor performers
- Overview
- Managing poor performers – A quick route map
- Agreeing performance targets
- How to give negative feedback successfully
- Receiving feedback
- Summary
- Managing your team
- An introduction to team performance
- Team Development
- The Classic Development Cycle
- How to start up a team building process
- A strategy for day to day teamworking
- Teamworking - Processes
- Recognising why teams fail
- Understanding your team roles
- Managing your time
- Managing your time effectively
- Managing your time more effectively
- Self-Assessment Questions for module 3
- Mastering Yourself
- MODULE 4 - Learn to be a Leader
- What is management?
- Understanding Management
- So what is management really all about?
- The classic functions of management
- But things are changing
- Managing in the knowledge era
- Adapting the process of managing for the knowledge era
- Two classic approaches to managing and leading that can help us manage in today’s organisation
- Task, team and individual model
- Situational leadership
- Leadership: The most valuable attributes of a leader
- What is leadership?
- Learning about leadership
- Sun-Tzu – The Art of War (for Executives)
- Sensitive leadership: ‘eyes – and ears – on: hands-off’
- Exemplary leadership
- Leader power and inspirational leadership
- How not to lead – The art of mismanagement
- Summary
- The Leader as Mentor
- Managing today, in order to shape the organisation’s tomorrow
- Transforming organisations – Changing career patterns
- The Leader as a Coach
- Coaching – Some key behaviours
- Coaching for performance – A coaching structure
- Coaching in action
- The coach’s style
- Summary
- Decision making in leadership
- Decisions – That’s what leaders are paid for
- Decision making – personal horizons
- The realities of problem analysis and decision making
- Different personalities – different leadership – different decisions
- Some tools and techniques
- Transforming, integrating and mobilising – Decision making for synergy
- Summary
- Management and leadership… essentially a team effort
- The growing awareness in business of the value of team working
- What distinguishes successful, high achieving teams?
- Summary
- Drivers – and the use of the profile
- Self-assessment questions for Module 4
- What is management?
- MODULE 5 - Sales Planning and Management for Business Growth
- Sales planning
- Introduction
- A sales manager’s plan
- Behaviours
- Territory planning
- Sales targets
- Forecasting future sales
- The changing telecoms markets and how to understand them
- Forecasting revenues
- Your products and your competitors
- Managing your accounts
- Understanding account management
- Developing an account strategy
- Gaining an advantage
- Analysing your sales performance
- Background information on a target account
- Differentiating yourself from your competitors
- Introduction letters
- Introductory telephone techniques
- Managing the sale
- Introduction
- Analysing sales behaviour
- Monitoring activity and performance
- The sales presentation and proposal
- ‘Would Like’ versus ‘Must Have’ needs
- Presenting the benefits of your solution
- Presentations and demonstrations
- Example of bad presentation
- Informal and formal presentations
- Establishing that you are at the proposal stage
- Difference between quotations, proposals and tenders
- Different types of ‘Close’
- Buying signals and overcoming objections
- Good closing techniques
- Focusing on the customer
- Introduction
- Monitoring customer satisfaction
- Four Types of Customer Values
- Customer Values
- Sales person’s behaviour to match the customer’s values
- Customer Values Indicators
- Why are customers lost?
- Conclusion
- Self-assessment questions for Module 5
- Sales planning
- MODULE 6 - Mastering Marketing in the Telecoms Industry
- How marketing works
- Introduction
- Overview
- The Customer
- Dialogue over time
- Choosing your customers
- Introduction
- Market selection
- Segmentation
- The marketing mix – The product
- What ‘products’ are
- The Marketing mix – Pricing
- Introduction
- Internal accounting based pricing
- Product life cycle and price
- Value added pricing
- The marketing mix – Your route to market distribution
- Introduction
- Background
- The environmental dimension
- The structural dimension
- Functions of the ‘route to market’
- ‘Managing’ the distribution channel push versus pull strategies
- Power in the chain
- The marketing mix – Marketing promotion and communications
- Introduction
- Understanding marketing communications
- Public relations and editorial publicity (PR & EP)
- The role of advertising and promotion
- What advertising and promotion cannot do
- The marketing plan
- Introduction
- The marketing programme
- The plan’s main headings
- The marketing audit
- The action plan
- The marketing programme
- The control mechanisms
- Building the budget
- Managed cost budgets
- Conclusion
- Self-assessment questions for Module 6
- How marketing works
- MODULE 7 - Demystifying Finance – Finance and Accounting Principles in Practice
- Finance makes the world go round
- Basic accounts
- Balance sheet
- Current assets and current liabilities
- Long-term liabilities
- Other side of the balance sheet
- Analysing performance
- Interpreting accounts using ratio analysis
- Profitability measures
- Balance sheet measures
- Finance ratios
- Match the business with ratios
- Proforma ratios
- Match the business with ratios: Solution
- Practical working capital management
- Detailed case study
- Profit and loss account analysis
- Break-even
- The Financial Times
- A source of intelligence
- Review of accounting principles
- Introduction
- Fixed assets and depreciation
- Long-term liabilities
- Owners’ equity in companies
- Ordinary shares: Basic concepts
- Notes to the accounts
- GAAP mechanism
- Auditing principles
- Audited financial statements
- Self-assessment questions for Module 7
- Finance makes the world go round
- MODULE 8 - Demystifying Finance - Budgeting and Decision-making
- Budgeting and management accounting
- Budgeting
- Setting a budget
- Reviewing a budget
- Inherent uncertainty
- Monitoring a budget
- Management accounting
- Better management accounting
- Costs
- Introduction
- Break-even
- Building up costs
- Decision-making
- Golden rules for decisions
- Organisational decision flaws
- Pros and cons of profit centres
- Computing future decisions
- Dealing with the future
- A more scientific approach
- Accounting rate of return
- Payback period
- Time value of money
- Discounted cash flow
- Summary of criteria
- Interest rate
- Time scale
- Accuracy
- Learning cycle
- Comprehensive example
- Final thoughts
- Self-assessment questions for Module 8
- Budgeting and management accounting
- MODULE 9 - Demystifying Finance – Financial Management in the Telecoms Sector
- What drives telecoms?
- What is the telecoms industry all about?
- Financial statements
- Why be in business?
- Are there themes?
- Where we’ve been
- What is a P&L account or an Income Statement?
- P & L Account – Definition of Terms
- Where we are
- What is a Balance Sheet?
- How we got here
- The importance of cash flow – ‘cash is king’
- Commentary
- Three simple statements
- Are there any problems?
- The four fundamental concepts
- Fundamental concepts in operation
- Accounting standards – International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS’s)
- Accounting policies
- Read the accounting policies
- Revenue is seen as a difficult area – the principal question being exactly when is income earned?
- Notes to the accounts
- How we might succeed
- Financial Strategy
- Costing – Price volume and margin issues
- Is cost cutting seen as the easy option?
- Where we might (hope or pray) to be
- Setting out the budget remit
- Budgeting in the Telecoms sector
- Basic Arithmetic of Appraisal
- Cash flow forecasts
- Discounted cash flow measures and models
- Sensitivity analysis
- Method of capital budgeting and project appraisal
- What is the correct strategy to adopt?
- Summary
- Self-assessment questions for Module 9
- What drives telecoms?
- MODULE 10 - Negotiating and Managing Commercial Contracts
- Legal foundation for negotiation
- Introduction
- Freedom to negotiate
- Agreement of the parties
- Duty to disclose information
- Representations, promises and puffery
- Duress and undue influence
- Exclusion clauses
- Unfair contracts
- Agency
- Mistake and mistakes
- Uncertainty
- Framework
- Legal assistance
- Negotiation principles
- Introduction
- The single negotiator
- Negotiating in pairs
- Team negotiations
- Rules for the lead negotiator
- Rules for the support negotiator
- Planning and preparation
- Strategy
- Tactics
- Objectives analysis
- The whole process
- Introduction
- Managing the relationship
- Expectation engineering
- Prior events
- Supporting documents and evidence
- Platform building
- Defensive measures
- Time bombs
- Corporate, general and personal relationships
- The negotiation
- Introduction
- Location, timing, agenda and opening shots
- Single and series meetings
- Negotiating techniques
- Ploys
- Human interaction
- Body language
- Listening skills
- Questioning skills
- Four phases
- The buzz
- Self-assessment questions for Module 10
- Legal foundation for negotiation
- Final assessment
- Course Evaluation
Tim Boyce
Tim Boyce has been involved in contract management
for over 20 years. He began his career in the Ministry of Defence
holding executive positions in contracts, contracts policy and finance.
His industrial career began at Plessey in 1980 after which he enjoyed
appointments with Siemens, British Aerospace and as commercial director
at BAE Systems. His functional
responsibilities have included contracts, commercial, procurement,
estimating, legal, project accounting and the implementation of the
European Business Excellence Model.
He is a former member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). His committee work included the CIPS National Contracts Management Committee, the CBI Contracts panel, the CBI Defence Procurement Panel and the CBI/MoD working groups on partnering and incentive contracting. He was the CBI observer at the HM Treasury Central Unit on the Purchasing Working Group on incentivising industry. In 1997 he was invited by the Director General of the CBI to join the CBI Public Private Partnership Forum. He has lectured widely in the UK and the US.
Stephen Brookson
Chequered Leopard Ltd
Stephen Brookson is Managing Director of his company, New City Consulting, which specialises in the provision of practical business development consultancy and training programmes.
He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980 with Peat Marwick and after a period at Grandmet plc, he joined a leading organisation in the provision of training for chartered accountants in practice. During this time he gained extensive experience of writing, developing and presenting programmes on accountancy and taxation. He then joined Ernst & Young for a number of years as a consultant, leaving them to set up his own management and training consultancy business.
He has presented numerous seminars and training events in both the public and private sectors, in the UK and overseas.
Julian Clay
Sales to Success Ltd
Since leaving the University of North London with a Higher National Diploma in Business Studies over 15 years ago, Julian has enjoyed a successful sales career. Most of his time has been spent in territory sales and key account management with the office imaging division of Kodak. There he gained a valuable insight into how sales people are managed. His ability to continually exceed annual targets was rewarded in 1995 when he became the top sales performer in the UK.
Julian has developed models in the areas of account management, forecasting and sales performance. Today, he is a consultant who helps companies increase revenue by managing sales operations more effectively. He has worked with companies in direct sales and indirect channels. Some of these include Danka UK plc, ICI Imagedata, Racal Airtech and the James McNaughton Paper Group.
Mike Gale
Mike Gale Associates
Mike Gale graduated from Leeds University with an honours degree in Management Studies and Languages. He began his career with Standard Chartered Bank and was a Senior Regional Team Leader with the Thomas Cook Group, marketing and selling to banknote operations in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
He has been a training consultant and motivational speaker for conference events in the UK and around the world for ten years. Mike has worked with over 100 companies in the public and private sector including Vodafone, Braun [UK], McKinsey & Co, the DTI and the BBC.
Kevin Hard
Kando Cambridge Ltd
Kevin Hard has an extremely successful background in sales and management development within the Telecoms industry. His extensive experience in the industry includes setting-up and managing a national sales team to launch the successful Datatrak and Band3 products within the UK market. He then spent many years working with a major telecommunications consultancy advising many major UK corporates, offering independent advice to enable organisations to make informed decisions on their strategic initiatives in telecoms.
Kevin was instrumental in introducing new innovative technologies into the UK from Israel (VoIP) – Lloyds, Freeserve; Australia (CMS)– Boots, NHS; Digital Literacy (Finland) – IBM. He now runs his own consultancy working with clients to provide management and strategic training for managers and senior level executives.
Ian Ruskin-Brown
Ruskin-Brown Associates Ltd
Ian Ruskin-Brown. For the last 26 years Ian Ruskin-Brown has been the owner/entrepreneur of several Service Businesses. He ran a market research company – Marketing Decisions International Ltd – from 1980 to 1994. The company was a full member of the Market Research Society. It was through these businesses that Ian conducted many market research and consultancy projects for firms in the Service Sector: from government organisations (BBC, HM Customs & Excise) to the Law Society, several national and international airlines, banks and building societies.
Ian was course director at the Chartered Institute of Marketing for courses on Marketing in the Service Sector (1984-1988). Additionally, Ian designed, wrote and piloted in-company training courses on marketing and selling consultancy services for a number of blue chip companies including The IBM Marketing University, ICL Training and Kodak Health Imaging.
He currently runs the Marketing Your Services course for Management Center Europe (part of the American Marketing Association). He also runs client specific courses in the USA and South East Asia.
Mark Thomas
Performance Dynamics Management Consultants
Mark Thomas is a highly successful international business consultant and trainer who has worked with some of the world’s major businesses in the fields of strategy, change management, human resources and executive development. He is a highly experienced speaker and business presenter who has worked in over 40 different countries around the world. As a consultant he has successfully sold major consulting projects and development initiatives. In addition to his consulting work Mark has authored several books and is a regular conference speaker on strategy, change management, people management and other organisational issues. Prior to becoming a Partner with Performance Dynamics, he worked for several years with Price Waterhouse Management Consultants in London. He is also a visiting faculty member at leading international business schools. He also advised on the business and organisational change issues arising out of strategic reviews and both private and public sector re-organisations.
Ralph Tiffin
Tiffins Consultancy Ltd
Ralph Tiffin was a mechanical engineer who subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became manager in one of the largest international firms of accountants. He is now managing partner of an accountancy and consultancy practice. He has a wealth of experience with companies of all sizes in the UK and overseas. His work typically involves developing clients reporting and management systems, along with appropriate management training and developing project appraisal processes and spreadsheets.
Mike Williams
Mike Williams & Partners
Mike Williams M.Sc. is an international management consultant who established his company, Michael Williams & Partners, in 1979 and now works closely with associate companies in Geneva, Vienna and Copenhagen. He is also a director on the Board of British Ceramic Tile, based in Devon, UK. His main clients include leading Business Schools, e.g. IMD at Lausanne and the Theseus Institute, located in Nice, as well as several universities and a wide range of companies and consultancies throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. Mike is a member of the British Psychological Society, the Institute of Directors and the Association of Management Education & Development.
