Peter Checkland recalls how a shortage of management education led him to develop his theories.

A challenge to a canning company's business required some quick changes.

Why is feedback so essential to keep on the right course?

Please note: this course will be closing on 11 May 2022. After this date, you will no longer be able to study the course but if you've already gained your cerficate this will continue to display in your learner profile.

This free course, Knowledge technologies in context, explores knowledge technologies; that is, software systems that can represent, interpret, formalise or interrogate phenomena and create models of how the world works. It demonstrates how a well-designed system can have positive effects on the work 'ecosystem', potentially allowing more time for people to concentrate on their strengths. Emphasising core concepts of representation, interpretation and situated use in context, this course will help masters students and those involved in specifying and designing software for business understand how such systems can help manage knowledge as well as providing a framework for evaluating claims made by technology vendors and researchers.

Do you take your access to water for granted? The Peruvian and Tanzanian communities featured in this album certainly don’t. This album examines how development agencies can empower communities to help themselves by introducing simple technologies, and facilitate the sharing of ideas through education. In the Andean mountains, scarce supplies of water and agricultural challenges give rise to conflict; but the changes engineered by development agencies can start to show a way out of poverty. Meanwhile, Tanzanian rural schoolchildren are instrumental in bringing about positive long-term change within their communities. However, development in practice is very complex and sometimes controversial. The audio tracks delve into the dilemma of how to deal with the different values systems of impoverished communities and the development agencies. They also show how development is linked to issues of identity, urbanisation, politics, economics, social relations and gender.In the bonus material Dr Helen Yanacopulos, Senior Lecturer in International Politics and Development at The Open University, provides insight into the educational value of the audio-visual material and explains the course structure.
This material is taken from The Open University Course U213 International development: challenges for a world in transition.

What are ecosystems, and what do different ecosystems have in common? How are they affected by human activity? From the diverse rainforests of the tropics to the smallest microbial communities, ecosystems support life on Earth. This album reveals the ecological relationships that create these living systems of energy transfer and explores some of the key processes that occur. It goes on to show how these complex systems can be affected by external influences and harmed by the activities of humans. This material forms part of The Open University course S396 Ecosystems.

No idea how relational database systems are constructed? Did you know that they underpin the majority of the managed data storage in computer systems? This free course, The database development life cycle, has been designed to give you an overview of the developmental lifecycle for a database system, explaining the importance of data analysis and highlighting how database development differs from traditional software development.

This free course, Technological innovation: a resource-based view, aims to provide you with an overview and introduction to a range of related concepts, ideas and debates which enable you to develop a critical understanding of capabilities in relation to technological innovation. It will enable you to develop a critical understanding of the development, management and application of some of the most important capabilities for technological innovation.

Major retailers today face a major challenge to manage and distribute goods from suppliers around the world. What systems enable big business to keep in touch with latest sales information from their stores? How are Internet and Web technologies and their associated applications used in practice? This album explores how these technologies are changing the way businesses operate internally and externally. The seven video tracks examine a Tesco supply chain and present an insider's view of web services in a variety of environments - including IVIS (creators of Tesco direct), Deutsche bank and IBM. This material forms part of the course T320, Ebusiness technologies: foundations and practice.