Explore the foundations of successful management with this free online course from The Open University and CMI.

- Duration4 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
- 100% onlineTry this course for free
Management and Leadership: Growing as a Manager
Understand the foundations of management and leadership
This online course will provide an introduction to the foundation skills and knowledge you need when becoming a manager.
It has been developed by The Open University Business School – a pioneering institution that is triple accredited by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB – and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) – the leading authority on management and leadership in the UK.
As such, it will give you the opportunity to learn from both academic experts and experienced practitioners, who have achieved the CMI’s prestigious Chartered Manager status.
What topics will you cover?
Week 1 - What is Management?
- What is management?
- Personal development planning
- Influencing and communicating
Week 2 - Management Styles
- An introduction to management styles
- Classic management style theories
- The importance of management styles – trust in the workplace
Week 3 - Decision Making and Data
- An introduction to decision making
- A possible approach to decision making
- The importance of data and information
- Decision information
Week 4 - Stakeholders
- An introduction to stakeholders
- Categorising stakeholders
- Understanding stakeholders and meeting their needs
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Describe the concepts of management and leadership
- Understand and evaluate different management and learning styles
- Identify the need for and the importance of data as evidence in good decision making
- Identify and define the term 'stakeholders' and gain an understanding of why they are important
- Begin and develop the on-going process of personal development planning
Who is the course for?
The course is designed for new or aspiring managers, or experienced managers with few or no formal qualifications. It will enable you to demonstrate your continuous professional development and go on to achieve a CMI Level 5 Award as part of the Management and Leadership, Essentials program. If you also complete and pass the Management and Leadership, Personal Development program, you’ll earn another CMI Level 5 Award. Together, these two awards will give you a CMI Level 5 Certificate in Management and Leadership – the next step to Chartered Manager status.
We’ve extended the final assessment date
Due to demand we have extended the final assessment registration date until 28th February 2021. We’re working to extend this further and will update this page as soon as this is confirmed.
What do people say about this course?
This course helped me to think of the business and organisation management from different angles. It widened my knowledge and showed me new ways for my personal development. It requires much time for some tasks but it is great training and experience for all of us. Thanks a lot to all inventors of this course!
Tamara Rumyantseva
I took this course because I wanted to give myself an opportunity to be able to apply for jobs where they wanted a formal management qualification, which I didn't have. Now with the certificate of achievement, I can show that I have a formal qualification and I can go for those jobs. I put it on my LinkedIn profile and have also added a line in my CV to say that I have this.
Morris Muzyamba
Who will you learn with?
I work for the OU Business School as Open Media Fellow. I am carrying out Doctoral research in Business Skills online. I am also an Associate Lecturer and I have an MBA and Masters in Online Learning.
Who developed the course?
The Open University
The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning, with a mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.
- Established1969
- LocationMilton Keynes, UK
- World rankingTop 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020
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