ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN APPLIED MANAGEMENT (RETAIL NURSERY) VBS001

This course is comprised of:

CORE UNITS

Totalling 400 hours. All four of these modules must be studied and passed.

1. Office practices

Develops basic office skills covering use of equipment, communication systems (telephone, fax, etc) and office procedures such as filing, security, workplace organisations, etc.

2. Business operations

Develops knowledge of basic business operations and procedures (eg. types of businesses, financial management, business analysis, staffing, productivity, etc) and the skills to develop a 12 month business plan.

3. Management

Develops knowledge of management structures, terminology, supervision, recruitment and workplace health and safety.

4. Marketing

Develops a broad understanding of marketing and specific skills in writing advertisements, undertaking market research, developing an appropriate marketing plan and selling.

STREAM STUDIES

1. Horticulture I

There are twelve lessons in this course, as follows:

1. Plant Identification: Naming plants; distinguishing the taxonomic divisions of plants including family, genus, species and variety or hybrid; identifying the different parts of a flower; distinguishing the morphological characteristics of leaves
2. Planting: Planting methods used for different types of plants including annuals, perennials, evergreen and deciduous plants; influence of environmental factors on planting techniques.
3. Soils: Classifying soils; sampling and testing soils; chemical and physical properties of soils; soil improvement techniques; composting; potting mixes.
4. Nutrition: Major and micro elements necessary for plant growth; nutrient deficiencies and toxicities; fertilisers.
5. Water Management: Irrigation systems - characteristics, advantages and disadvantages; drainage systems; waterwise gardening.
6. Pruning: Pruning techniques; importance of pruning to growth, flowering and fruiting; pruning tools.
7. Weeds: Identifying common weeds; characteristics of weeds; control techniques; herbicides.
8. Pests and Diseases: Identifying common insect and disease problems; control methods; Integrated Pest Management; pesticides; hygiene procedures; chemical safety.
9. Landscaping: Stages of landscaping; design procedures; collating pre-planning information; preparing plans; selecting plants for specified sites.
10. Propagation: Asexual and sexual propagation; taking cuttings; sowing seeds; aftercare of propagated plants.
11. Lawns: Turf grass varieties; laying a new lawn; cultural techniques including watering, fertilizing, topdressing, aerating, pest and disease control.
12. Arboriculture: Tree management techniques including pruning, removal and tree surgery; identifying tree problems

2. Garden Centre Management

The course is divided into 12 lessons as follows:

1. 1. Introduction: Plant classification, plant cultural requirements, soil and nutrition, watering requirements, drainage, temperature, light, humidity.
2. Plant Health: How to diagnose a problem, pests, diseases, nutrient deficiencies, frost, sunburn, chemical damage, insufficient light, over watering.
3. Stock Maintenance: Quality standards, buying new stock, inspecting stock, extending stock life, disposing of below-standard stock, watering techniques, fertilising, pest and disease control.
4. Display and Display Techniques: Display units, product location, sales area layout.
5. Garden Product Knowledge I: Plant containers, tags, soil mixes, equipment, tools.
6. Garden Product Knowledge II: Chemicals, fertilisers, baskets, terrariums, cut flowers.
7.  Indoor Plants: Major groups, common problems, plants for specific situations, customer attitudes.
8. Container Stock: Trees and Shrubs.
9. Seedlings, Bulbs, Herbs and Perennials.
10. A: Deciduous Trees, Fruit, Nuts, Berries. B. Seed.
11. Marketing: Pricing strategy, advertising, promotions.
12. Management: Staff control, staff productivity, work scheduling.

 3. Sales Skills

There are twelve lessons in this course; as outlined below:

   1. Presentation and selling

• Personality. "Never judge a book by its cover." A wise old saying!
• But people who buy do make judgements especially about sales people.
• Dress and grooming are top priority in selling. As well you must learn
• how to develop a selling personality.

   2. Communication and Conversational selling.

• Learn the art of written and verbal communication in easy to understand terms.

   3. Marketing (Buyer analysis and motivation)

• Presentation of products to consumers and motivating them to buy.

   4. Management (Hierachy)

   5. Helping the Product Sell Itself

   6. Know your product and pre planning.

• Through observation, reading and listening get to know your products (pre planning is essential in today's complex society).

   7. Selling made as simple as A B C.

• The procedure of selling.

   8. "The Opening" (getting the attention of the buyer)

• Creating the right atmosphere for a sale to take place.

   9. "Closing a Sale" (overcoming objections).

   10. "Stress Management"

11. The Law and Selling

12. Report Assessment Writing

The majority of sales persons need to have the ability and skill to write a condensed and accurate report on which management will comprehend and act upon.

WORK PLACE PROJECTS

This is the final requirement that you must satisfy before receiving your award.

There are four options available to you to satisfy this requirement:

Alternative 1.If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience. The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.

Alternative 2.A one module credit (100 hrs) can be achieved by verifying attendance at a series of industry meetings, as follows:

• Meetings may be seminars, conferences, trade shows, committee meetings, volunteer events (eg. Community working bees), or any other meeting where two or more industry people or people who are knowledgeable about their discipline.
• Opportunity must exist for the student to learn through networking, observation and/or interaction with people who know their industry or discipline
• A list of events should be submitted together with dates of each attended and times being claimed for each
• Documentary evidence must be submitted to the school to indicate support each item on the above list (eg. Receipts from seminars, conference or shows, letters from committee or organisation secretaries or committee members. All such documentation must contain a contact details)

Alternative 3.Credits can be achieved by completing standard modules Workshop I, II and/or III. Each of these modules comprises a series of "hands on" PBL projects, designed as learning experiences that involve interaction with the horticultural industry. Research shows that PBL gives the learner greater long-term benefits than traditional learning, and many successful and progressive universities around the world use it in their courses. Graduates of PBL courses advance faster and further in their careers.

Other benefits of PBL:

• Develops critical and creative thinking;
• Creates effective problem-solvers;
• Increases motivation;
• Encourages lateral thinking;
• Improves communication and networking skills;

Every PBL project is carefully designed by experts to expose you to the information and skills that we want you to learn. When assigned a project, you are given:

4. The student will then be expected to carry out the project, study or task.

Progress Reports

Progress Report 1. This should be submitted about one quarter of the way through your study/project/task.

Progress Report 2. This should be submitted about one half way through your study/project/task.

Progress Report 3. This should be submitted about three quarters of the way through your study/project/task.

Final Report

The final report should summarise the objective of the workplace project, and be set out like a professional report. Although content is the most important factor in determining a pass grade for the workplace project, your report should exhibit elements of professional report writing (in regards to spelling, grammar, clarity and presentation).

For 100 hours Workplace Projects: this report should be about 1,500 to 3,000 words.

For a 200 hour Workplace Project: this report should be about 3,000 to 5,000 words.

This course is internationally accredited through I.A.R.C.

REFERENCE BOOKS
ACS operates a student bookshop that supplies a range of horticulture texts to supplement our courses.
Many are written by the principal (well known gardening author John Mason), or other staff. All have been reviewed and approved by our academic experts (to be accurate and relevant to students studying our horticulture courses).

• Student discounts are available to anyone studying with ACS Distance Education.
• Both printed books and ebooks (as downloads) available

STARTING A GARDEN OR LANDSCAPE BUSINESS 2nd Edition  by John Mason  (publisher: ACS)  EBook http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2241-starting-a-garden-or-landscape-business-pdf.aspx

• Click on above link for info
• Sample pages available to download for all ebook
• E Books can be purchased online for immediate download (Can be read on a computer, ipad, iphone, lap top, most book readers or similar devices).
• GO TO www.acsbookshop.com for more titles