Understanding Modern Business and Organisations

Are you a graduate who’s new to the world of work? Would you like to understand some of the key trends affecting organisations today? Are you keen to think about how the workplace is likely to change in future? This free online course will give you these insights, looking at four themes over six weeks: Knowledge: what does our shift towards a knowledge economy, away from manual labour, mean for both business and society? Technology: how do organisations develop and/or use technology, and protect their intellectual property? How are the concepts of copyright, reliability and intellectual property changing today? Ethics: does the rise of corporate social responsibility and environmental issues mean that businesses are more morally and socially responsible today? Globalisation: how do organisations perform on the world stage and balance the global with the local? What does living in a global village mean for organisations, as well as individuals, today and tomorrow? The course will culminate with an exploration of the complex phenomenon of the global financial crisis, which we’ll examine in the context of the four themes. Whatever field you’d like to work in - be it for-profit, non-profit or third sector - this course will help you explore the world of business, in which all organisations are embedded. You’ll understand the trends that are particularly forceful today and which together, determine the playing field for any organisation today and will shape the world of modern business and organisations tomorrow.

• Viktor Dörfler