Here are the answers to your questions:

1. I’ve chosen the option….. but what does it cover exactly? (See the Unit Specification below)
2. Who’s teaching us? (Tony Jolley – I’ll give you a bit of background in class)
3. What is the week-by-week programme like? (See the Teaching Schedule below)
4. What will we be doing assessment-wise (See the Assessment article below)

There will, inevitably, be other questions…. and I will try to address them in the first session together! I am treating this first session as an Introduction to Introduction to Business, as I know some of you will like what you hear and others may not.  At the end (just so I can get an idea of likely numbers), I will ask you to tell me if you are sure you will NOT be wanting to carry on.  I promise you I will not be disappointed or annoyed if your preferences lie elsewhere.

But first: here is a video intro to Rentrée  2021 for all my students (it is general to all the units I teach at the Fonderie (FSESJ), FLSH and IUT (Mulhouse).  To save you the bother of using the above link, here it is (below) embedded in the page for you.  If for any reason you didn’t get to the first class where I will have gone over all this in person, then watch the video!  NB. Although this dates from 2021 and applied at the start of 2022-23 even, I have left it here this year ‘just in case’ we have to revert to a distance based model because of any possible ressurgance of CoVid or maybe even (in the current climate) major energy cuts if things get really ‘difficult’ this winter.

So, as promised, here are the critical documents & Information:-

The Intro To Business Unit Specification.

This is the video overview.  I will have spoken about this in class – but if you missed it or joined the unit later, then here it is …. though it will be a little shorter and with fewer anecdotes!

If you do view the video, it will probably help if you can restrict ‘me’ to part of the screen and look at the list of ‘Blocks’ cited below at the same time… OK?

So, what are we doing and when? – Blocks and Bridges.

Rather than pin this Intro to Business Unit down to specific dates (because events, illness, over-runs and timetabling issues almost always force changes upon us whether we like it or not), I will outline the programme in terms of ‘blocks’ [blocks and bridges video] usually of  a three weeks duration (we have slots of 3 hours together for 8 weeks in S1 – and hopefully the same in S2: 24h per semester)

So each one of the ‘Blocks‘ will be composed of the following elements:

Part 1: the scene will be set, perhaps with a keynote lecture or exercise whereupon you will be given a block project to begin on an individual or team or even whole group basis (depending upon the size of the cohort (promo)..  This will be 100 me!

Part 2: you will work upon the designated block task and I will support your work with appropriate inputs (mini-lectures / micro-workshops / advice / feedback on progress).  NB. The point about the ‘formative feedback‘ I give you at this stage is that it enables you to know you are ‘on the right track‘ and how perhaps to improve … which should mean that your final mark improves.  For me to give you such feedback requires that you make progress that I can see and comment upon, of course.   50/50 me and you

Part 3: you will present your work (100% you) and receive immediate ‘summative feedback‘ (100% me).  I will then ’round off’ the block and lead out towards the subject of the following block.

I hope you see the logic here … I start off teaching you (giving you instructions and the tools to do the job, making sure you understand the task and offering initial feedback on your progress), then gradually my role changes to guiding and supporting your learning until eventually you take charge and demonstrate your knowledge and understanding and I give you immediate feedback on your final ‘performance‘ and an appropriate mark.

I take this approach for a number of reasons:

1. After a 35 year teaching career, I believe in ‘Learning by Doing‘: putting you in a series of ‘Realistic Work Environments‘ in which you can apply the knowledge you are developing.  For me, context is vital to understanding: ‘head-knowledge‘ gained from a book or a lecture is in a dormant state within a vaccuum (it’s potential NOT / maybe NEVER TO BECOME kinetic). It isn’t until you can apply this knowledge to real situations that you can really ‘own‘ it and it moves on from being memories of some lecture of other to being a part of you: understanding that you can’t forget because you have applied it and seen and ‘felt‘ how it works. It becomes a sort of ‘gut reaction‘ thereafter that you can apply in all situations in business and beyond.  Perhaps you can see this from your English learning: you encounter a new word… use it straight away and it’s ‘in there‘ ready to be used at will…. don’t use it and it is often not there when you know you need it.
2. Listening to lectures all the time can be testing and (yes, I dare say it: boring).  Same goes for following a book chapter-by-chapter.  You’ll find your head stuffed with topics in little boxes, but HOW does it all come together: the ‘boxes’ are linked and overlapping and in any situation a manager might need most or all of it.  This is where Learning by Doing can really help – and it can be more refreshing and fun too.
3. To capitalise upon your English Degree, you need to be able to apply it within a context: Education & Training, Translation & Interpretation ….. Business [in sectors like Tourism, Transport or Energy or Functions like Development and Marketing].  On the Business front  I have a  year career as a Research & Development Manager and 15 years as an Autoentrepreneur, so that puts me ‘front and centre‘ for this course!
4. If you are applying your English in a Business context, you will need to be credible at interview and thereafter with your colleagues and clients: I believe that the approach I am taking with you will certainly help achieve this.  When you see below what we will be doing, I think you will understand why I say this.

The indicative programme of blocks

• Introduction: (what I am doing here?!).  If you are reading this – you are doing it!
  • the unit content, rationale and learning outcomes
  • the tutor
  • Tonyversity
  • the teaching schedule
  • expectations
  • assessment
  • resources

• Block 1 : Research: the Enterprise in its Environment. Finding & maintaining the right ‘fit’ between what the company feels it does best and the changing needs and wants of its present and potential future clients. There are also further things to help you.   Block 1 Support Materials and links.  
  
  • Blending the Business and PESTLE/STEEPL models
  • SWOT analysis
  • OUTPUT: understanding the research process in order to support the identification and analysis & evaluation of potentially successful future business opportunities in a rapidly-changing business environment.

• Block 2 :  Building the Business Idea (Welcome to the ‘Dragons’ Den‘)
  • creativity  – coming up with something new which responds to the changing business environment.  This will engage you in further Business Environment research, analysis and evaluation.
  • USP (Unique Selling Proposition) –  What is significantly different about the product that will make the market ‘beat a path to your door‘ and can you protect this over time to produce a sustainable competitive advantage?
  • feasibility – is it technically possible to achieve?
  • timing – is the market ‘ready‘ for the product – or is it ‘too early‘ or ‘too late‘?
  • risk and acceptability to investors – can you show the Dragons that there is an acceptable level of risk and that there is an exit strategy if all goes wrong.
  • viability – can you envisage evidence-based and realistically achievable sales revenues and profits over 5 years?  Do you have a strategy to grow the sales significantly?  How long will it take to ‘break even‘ (cover costs)?  If the Dragons invest, how long will it take for them to recoup their investment and generate some seriously attractive profit? What happens if hoped-for sales targets are not met…?  Future development.
  • OUTPUT: The ‘Big Pitch’ to the Dragons!!   Where you present your well-developed and supported (by researched evidence) business idea to funding sources who each have 250,000 Euros (and their expertise) to invest in you and your ‘big idea‘ … IF … you can convince them that your idea will work and will make them (and you) a really good return on investment (see above criteria illustration).  This is based upon the long-running international TV series ‘Dragons’ Den‘ (aka ‘Shark Tank‘ in the USA).  A quick YouTube search will reveal many series and episodes of this programme and show you what you are aiming at and, most importantly, what the ‘Dragons‘ need to see and hear to convince them to invest!  You will see good and bad ‘pitches’ and you will also see the Dragons giving their advice to future people brave enough to enter their Den: YOU!

• Block 3 (a):  The Customer is King. (Finding the right customer and developing a mutually-fulfilling relationship)
  • who do we want / how big is the market?
  • what do we know (about him/her/them)?
  • how do we reach him/her/them?
  • what do we say to them?
  • OUTPUT: Developing a brand and a marketing strategy that will work and the production of a well-targeted website which embodies all aspects of the brand and your principal target market’s requirements.
    
• Block 3 (b): Product, Service or Experience? (Is business failing to see things as the customer does?)
  • Analysis and evaluation of the customer experience  from the customer perspective  (Pine & Gilmour inter alia)
  • A/A  – provider perspective
  • Complaints: customer service OR a service by the customer to the business?
  • Relationship/CRM: does it exist?  / Can a company ‘manage’ this relationship?
    • the first kiss is not a marriage!
    • ‘‘Til death us do part’?
    • is there such a thing as ‘loyalty’ to a product, service or brand?

    OUTPUT.  To be determined.  Perhaps debates / discussions / plenary sessions based upon our own personal experiences and beliefs as consumers …. and the time available!.

• Block 4: Employment: Recruitment, Selection & Retention  (Attracting & making the most of the right employees).
  • job search
  • job descriptions
  • person specifications
  • recruitment & selection processes (CVs, covering letters, applications, interviews)
  • continuing professional development
  • appraisal
  • remuneration, reward and retention
  • OUTPUT.  As part of this you will find yourself a real job-offer on the global, English-speaking market, produce the perfect CV and covering letter for this post and (if time allows) engage in interview rehearsals for the post of your choice.  [NB. You will discover that this is VERY different to what you have been told up to now in your academic career – things are changing very quickly indeed – and with a degree certificate ‘in your pocket you are no longer aiming at low level holiday job positions!]

• Block 5: Colmarco Business Scenarios / Role Plays.
  • You will become Divisional Directors and Senior Staff in a company I have created for you and (with the knowledge you have developed through the unit so far you will address critical business problems such as:
    • corporate financial performance and what it indicates. (It is simpler than you think and there is no mathematics involved beyond +/-/x and division!  You’ll surprise yourself and overcome any worries you might have had about understanding comapny ‘figures‘!)
    • resolution of a high staff-turnover problem
    • immediate, short, medium and longer term strategic planning into an uncertain future [Before the end of 2021 – who could have predicted a war in Ukraine and the massive – almost unimaginable – attendant impacts upon energy availability and costs]   « The universe is not only stranger than we imagine but stranger than we are capable of imagining »   –  Arthur C Clarke. [Recently deceased Scientist and Science Fiction author … inventor of the geo-stationary communications satellite system which makes your GPS work!]
    • OUTPUT: Development of your confidence that you can go into an unknown business context and make sense of it using the skills of analysis, evaluation, problem-soving etc....
• Block 6: Dealing with Discontinuities.[If we have time].
  • how to deal with sudden uncertainty
  • Crisis management and CoVid 
  • CoVid business projections
  • CoVid an opportunity for universities to reconsider learning and the value of ‘Blended Learning’
  • OUTPUT: what can we learn from the experience we have all been part of over these last few years?  Are there some principles for business survival, overcoming threats and seizing unexpected opportunities that we can learn and carry forward?
    

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Any Questions? 

‘Talk to Tony’