In early 2010, the Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC) introduced the Management Skills Training Program (MTP). This program currently consists of eight separate courses or modules, including: Quality Management and Control; Sales and Marketing; Business Finance and Investment Evaluation; Production Planning; Human Resources and Safety; New Product Development; Factory Layout and Equipment Justification; and Supply Chain Management.
The WMC is pleased to announce the launch of a new course module, entitled ‘Green Marketing and Business Practices,’ which will be added to the existing suite of eight, beginning in May 2013. This topic is being added in response to industry demand.
The new Green Marketing and Business Practices course will cover a wide range of material in an effort to address green marketing. The course will introduce students to key points from a maximum range of topics outlined in the course layout and provide additional reading material for those interested in specific areas. Most of this material will be available online.
Green Marketing Course Objectives
After completing this module, participants will be able to:
• Define green marketing and sustainability.
• Evaluate current operations in terms of green performance (separate the wheat from the chaff), e.g., identify what is being done and what is easy to do.
• Incorporate green marketing strategies into their company's marketing plan.
• Develop a business case for green marketing for their company or for a specific project based on green market segmentation.
• Identify sources of environmental regulations including export regulations.
• Describe current trends and expected changes in green marketing.
• Produce ethical green claims and avoid green-washing attacks.
The MTP program, was developed by WMC in response to needs expressed by the industry and other stakeholders across Canada, and is intended for:
• Entrepreneurs in the wood products manufacturing industry who have established and grown their businesses based on their technical knowledge, and who now need to learn about and implement various management systems in order to be able to delegate responsibilities and focus on business growth;
• Employees in management-track or supervisory-track roles within wood products manufacturing companies of all sizes who need to gain management skills to move into positions of greater responsibility;
• Employees in wood products manufacturing businesses, who need to better understand specific functions within their respective companies in order to do their own jobs more efficiently (e.g. salespeople who need to understand how production decisions are made).
• Individuals from non-wood products backgrounds who are preparing to take on management roles in the wood products manufacturing industry.
Each e-learning course/module requires between 30 and 40 hours of part-time study over approximately six weeks, and all have been designed specifically for the wood products manufacturing industry. Participants may take modules one-by-one at their own pace and if they wish to seek the MTP Certificate for program completion, they must complete a minimum of six courses.
There are no ‘core’ and/or ‘elective’ courses and most course modules do not need to be taken in a specific order, but some require participants to have previously completed a prerequisite. As an alternative option, if participants prefer, they may complete only five courses/modules plus a final project. Should this option be chosen, the project requires a minimum of 30 hours of work and will include 5 hours of supervision via telephone and email by one of the MTP program instructors.
Certificate program participants do not have to fulfill all of the MTP requirements in a single year. However, it is recommended that the program be completed within a maximum of three years.
The MTP is a professional development program. It has been designed for workplace learners and emphasizes the acquisition and practice of management skills. There are no formal academic requirements for entry into either the Certificate Program or any individual course module. However, participants are expected to have reasonable communication skills, English language proficiency, and numeracy (basic mathematics) skills.
The MTP is being delivered on-line on behalf of WMC by the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP). To learn more about the program, obtain specific information and/or to register for one of the courses, please contact: Jason Chiu, Centre for Advanced Wood Processing Tel: 604-822-0082, Email: jason.chiu@ubc.ca or cawp@cawp.ubc.ca WW
Richard Lipman is President of the Wood Manufacturing Council.
www.wmc-cfb.ca/
