# Introduction

What are the main types of financial resources available to organisations and how can these funds be used in an efficient way? Is one financial source always better than another? Can every type of goal be achieved by relying on the same source of financing?

This free course Organisations and the financial system will explore these questions by discussing the sources of financing potentially available to every type of organisation, including those in the public and voluntary sector. You will also look at why different organisations might opt for different sources of financing given their specific structures and goals.

The course consists of four sections:

1. An overview of financing Small and Medium Enterprises
2. Alternative funding source for Small and Medium Enterprises
3. Company financing: stock and bond issuance
4. Decision making in the process of business financing

The first three sections will introduce you to the different sources of finance available to business organisations. You will learn how different businesses rely on different types of finance, examining examples in order to gain an insight into how organisations raise finance in practice.

The activities in these sections will help you to understand the various financing solutions in different contexts and identify the most appropriate source of finance given a specific business structure.

Section 4 will provide an overview of the main ways in which financial resources might be used by organisations, such as for day-to-day operations or finance expansion projects. In the final part of this section you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned by going through a short scenario-based adventure.

At the end of the course you will have the opportunity to complete a short quiz which will test your knowledge of the study material in this course.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course B294 Financial analysis and decision making.

OpenLearn - Organisations and the financial system
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