Overview Topic 1: Leading in the system - ECE Business Management and Operations

Welcome to Topic One: Leading in the system - ECE Business Management and Operations

This section of the resource will situate fundamental considerations and business essentials of running and managing an ECE program.      

“A manager focuses on people, problems, and tasks. A leader must tend to these managerial functions while bringing them into focus with the program’s shared vision, missions, and goals” (LeeKeenan & Ponte, 2018, p.2). 

You will first explore the complex system you are a part of to gain insight and inform your strategies as an ECE manager and leader. You will continue your exploration to consider the impact of being within the ECE sector through the introduction to systems thinking. Through this inquiry, you will appreciate how systems thinking becomes a defining skill for ECE managers and leaders, and you will be subsequently introduced to a management technique for strategic planning and decision-making called scenario planning to support you in developing visionary recommendations for action in your program’s setting.    

Secondly, you will be introduced to essential business practices to support sustainable programming, such as (1) Classification, regulatory compliance and licensing, 2) Human Resource Management (HRM), and (3) Financial management.

Additionally, you will consider what "Quality" means as an ECE leader and manager and what “Quality” means to you in relation to your practice and setting within the system.  

The estimated time to complete Topic One based on content, activities, and assessments is six and a half hours (6.5 hours or 390 minutes).