Certificate in Analytical Business Tools (CABT)

Introduction:
When evaluating organisations or assessing feasibility of a planned project, there are various analytical tools that can be used to support and advance both our critical and creative thinking.
Use of these tools is not simply an academic exercise as the analysis and subsequent results gained must lead to formation of recommendations and concrete action plans.

Objectives:
The course has the following objectives:
1. To advance critical thinking and analytical skills.
2. To be able to use a range of popular and lesser-known analytical tools and their variants.
3. To improve problem solving skills.
4. To develop competences in innovation and assessing the feasibility of an idea.
5. To be able to synthesise the results of an analysis to put forward recommendations and action plans.

Outcomes:
By the end of this course, you will:
1. Have gained knowledge of and the ability to use a wide range of analytical business tools.
2. Be able to assess the feasibility of a project.
3. Have developed your analytical skills and critical thinking.
4. Be more innovative, less wasteful and better able to see if an idea is feasible.
5. Be able to make influential, justified recommendations based on your analysis.

Target Audience:
The course will be of interest to anyone who:
- is involved in the formulation of strategies
- is required to produce feasibility studies for a company’s activities
- wants to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills
- wishes to develop their business knowledge
- is going on to a course of study that requires knowledge of analytical business tools

Content:
The course has the following content:
- Using SWOT and its variants
- Utilising PEST, PESTLE and other forms of contextual analysis tool
- Analysis stakeholders
- Tools for analysis of marketing (the Marketing Mix) and promotion (AIDA and more)
- Analysing products and their lifecycle
- Tools for pre-empting problems
- Tools for root cause analysis and problem solving
- Tools for improvement, waste reduction and change
- Drawing conclusions and making recommendations

Assessment:
The course is assessed by a short project in which the tools learned on the course are applied.