Concept, objectives and functions of a company

A business objective, in short, is what a company wants to achieve

throughout the year. Instead of focusing on what you're currently doing in your

business, an objective is something you want to achieve going forward. Many

times, business objectives are spelled out in a business plan and used as part of

the strategic planning process of a company going forward. After all, without

objectives, how do you know what to do to get there?

Objectives of a company may be amplified as under: Producing the right

kind of goods and services that satisfy customers’ needs (effectiveness objective).

Maximizing output of goods and services with minimum resource inputs (efficiency

objective). Ensuring that goods and services produced conform to pre-set quality

specifications (quality objective). Minimizing throughput-time- the time that elapses

in the conversion process- by reducing delays, waiting time and idle time (lead time

objective). Maximizing utilization of manpower, machines, etc. (Capacity utilization

objective). Minimizing cost of producing goods or rendering a service (Cost

objective).

Business objectives function as a way for business owners to make plans,

track their progress, and work toward a particular goal. The thing about objectives

is that they're measurable, specific, and tactical. They aren't general statements

like 'We want to be the most recognizable bookstore in the region.' Instead, they

are focused, such as the objective, 'We want to open 10 new locations in the

coming year. There are numerous types of objectives in the business world,
ranging from sales and profit expectations to objectives surrounding staff and

employees.
 Types of companies

A sole proprietorship is one of the most popular business types, namely

because it's one of the simplest and only requires a single person to create. In a

nutshell, a sole proprietorship is a business that's owned by just one person. An

important thing to note is that there isn't a legal or financial distinction between the

business and the business owner, which means that you as the business owner

are fully accountable for all of the profits, liabilities and legal issues that your

business may encounter. The nice thing about a sole proprietorship is that you

don't have to fill out any forms or go through any legal procedures to declare this

type of business. Instead, just by owning a business on your own, a sole

proprietorship is automatically associated with your new business. Keep in mind,

however, that depending on your product or service (and your location), you may

need to access a specific license or other documents

. A partnership might be appropriate if your business is owned by two or more

people. Keep in mind that with this type of business, business responsibilities,

including financial and legal, fall upon each business owner. Depending on how

the ownership is divided (either equally or not), there are different types of

partnerships for you to explore from a legal standpoint. With that being said, a

partnership does require that you register your business with your state and

establish an official business name. After that, you'll then be required to obtain a

business license, along with any other documentation that your state office can

help you with.

 A limited partnership, or LP, is an off-shoot version of a general partnership,

and while it may not be as common, it's a great bet for businesses who are looking

to raise capital from investors who aren't interested in working the day to day

aspects of your operations. With a limited partnership, there are two sets of

partners: The General Partner and the Limited Partner. The general partner is

usually involved in the everyday business decisions, and has personal liability for

the business. On the other hand, there's also a limited partner (typically an

investor), who is not liable for debts and don't partake in regular business

management of the company. Just like a general partnership, if you enter an limited

partnership agreement, you'll need to register your business with the state,

establish a business name, and inform the IRS of your new business.

A corporation is a fully independent business that's made up of multiple

shareholders who are provided with stock in a the business. Most common is

what's known as a "C Corporation," which allows your business to deduct taxes

much like an individual - the only problem with this is that your profits will be taxed

twice, both at the corporate level and at the personal level. Don't let this fact deter

you however - this is extremely common, and if you currently work for a company

with multiple employees, that's likely the business structure they're using. Most

likely, if you're starting off as a smaller business, particularly one that only operates

online, declaring yourself as a corporation wouldn't be appropriate. However, if

you're already an established business with several employees, listing your

company as a corporation might be the correct move.

 A Limited Liability Company, better known as an LLC. An LLC is a newer

type of business that is a blend between a partnership and a corporation. Instead

of shareholders, LLC owners are referred to as members. No matter how many

members a particular LLC has, there must be a managing member who takes care

of the daily business operations. The main difference between an LLC and a

corporation is that LLCs aren't taxed as a separate business entity. Instead, all

profits and losses are moved from the business to the LLC members, who report

profits and losses on a personal federal tax return.

A nonprofit organization is pretty self-explanatory, in that it's a business

organization that's intended to promote educational or charitable purposes. The

"non-profit" aspect comes into play in that any money earned by the company must

be kept by the organization to pay for its expense, programs, etc. Keep in mind

that there are several types of nonprofits available, many of which can receive "tax

exempt" status. This process requires filing paperwork, including an application,

with the government for them to recognize you as a nonprofit organization.

Depending on the parameters of your new business, they'll be able to tell you which

category you best fall under.

A cooperative, or a business that's fully owned and operated for the benefit

of the members of the organization that use its services. In other words, whatever

is earned by the cooperative is then shelled out among the members themselves,

and aren't required to be paid out to any external stakeholders, etc. Unlike other

types of businesses, which have shareholders, cooperatives sell shares to

cooperative "members," who then have a say in the operations and direction of the
cooperative itself. The main difference in the process of becoming a cooperative,

as opposed to the other types of businesses listed, is that your organization must

create bylaws, have a membership application and have a board of directors with

a charter member meeting.

 A business process is an activity or set of activities that can accomplish a

specific organizational goal. Business processes should have purposeful goals, be

as specific as possible and have consistent outcomes. Business process

management (BPM) is a systematic approach to improving those processes and it

helps achieve business goals. If an organization is unable to perform certain

business processes internally due to costs or resources, the company might utilize

business process outsourcing (BPO). Many organizations contract specific

business tasks, such as payroll, human resources (HR) or accounting, to a third-

party service provider.

A lawfully officially permitted body where a group of professionals get

amalgamated simply to accomplish non profitable & profitable business is termed

as a company. There are numerous ranks in any company. One such department

is the administrative sector. This rank has got the administration related authority,

power and decision making capabilities in the company. Entire administration

structure is managed by these professionals with their vital knowledge of the field

along with their past experience. Company administration hierarchy defines

successfully all the administrative ranks in any company. These are same almost

for all the businesses. The company administration hierarchy is described in brief

as below starting with the topmost administrative level and proceeding ahead.

Have a quick look – The highest administration level in the company administration

hierarchy incorporates all the senior level designation of the administration

department. These are extremely expert professionals with years of vital

experience in the administration field. Their core duty if administer and manager
the entire work and get it done from their team in an effective way for company’s

growth and profit. Since company administration is one the most vital operations in

the organization, highly professional and experienced personnel are appointed on

the following given designations. These professionals report to the company’s

senior officials. The high level job profiles in company administration hierarchy are–

Senior Administrative Coordinator, Senior Administrative Analyst, Senior

Administrative Service Officer

Senior Administrator, Senior Coordinator, Assistant Director, Administrator, Senior

Events Coordinator, Senior Support Specialist and Middle Administration Level.

These professionals in the company business administration hierarchy are

those having some experience in the administration. They play a vital role as a

representative for the company. These are also referred to as ‘Admin’ normally in

the offices. The administrative staff of this level is exceedingly significant

consecutively to maintain all other practiced positions to be keenly focused on their

prime responsibilities. The mid level company administration hierarchy includes

following job profiles –Administrative Coordinator, Administrative Assistant,

Administrative Services Officer, Administrative Services Manager, Administrative

Support Manager, Assistant Administrator, Executive Services Administrator,

Executive Assistant, Facility Manager, Office Support Supervisor, Office Support,

Manager Lower Administration Level.

These are the professionals in the company administration hierarchy that

work only as the orders are provided to them. These professionals do appear at
lower level but for the smooth functioning of any company they play a vital role

since the small work they do when combined help a company to run efficiently.

These are professionals who are expert of their roles and perform their provided

roles on daily basis. The lower level of company administration hierarchy includes

following job profiles in any marketing company –Mail Clerk Leader, Mail Clerk,

Secretary, Credit Clerk, Office Clerk, Mail Equipment Operator, Receptionist, Data

Entry, Word Processor, Typist.

 Managerial Techniques

Management is a process which brings the scarce human and material

resources together and motivates people for the achievement of objectives of the

organization. Management is not a onetime act but an on-going series of

interrelated activities. The sum total of these activities is known as management

process. It consists of a set of interrelated operations or functions necessary to

achieve desired organizational goals. A process is a systematic way of doing

things. It is concerned with conversion of inputs into outputs.

Now-a-days, different techniques are used by managers in making

decisions. These techniques, if used properly, would contribute for the

effectiveness of the decisions. Some of the important techniques are discussed

below.

1. Brainstorming: Brainstorming is the oldest and widely followed technique for

encouraging creative thinking. It was originally developed by A.F. Osborn. It

involves the use of a group. The success of the technique lies in creating a free

and open environment where members of the group participate without any

inhibitions. It starts on the premise that when people interact in a free environment,

the possibility for creative ideas to emerge to higher continuous interaction through

free discussions may result in spontaneous and creative thinking. The larger are

the number of solutions, the fairer are the chances in locating an acceptable

solution. Established research proves that one hour brainstorming session is likely

to generate 50150 ideas. Of course most of them may be impracticable; at least,

some of them merit serious consideration. This group process is not without
limitations. It consumes lot of time and therefore is an expensive exercise.

Secondly, it emphasizes only quantity of solutions, which more often than not prove

to be superficial. By overcoming the above limitations, a modern manager can use

this as an effective tool.

2. Synectics: Synectics is a new concept developed by William J.J.Gordon. The

term ‘synectics’ is derived from a Greek word which means “Fitting together of

diverse elements”. It starts on the premise of encouraging that this concept

encourages novel thinking for the development of alternatives through putting

together different ideas which are distinct from each other. A given problem is

presented to a group of people with different backgrounds and varied experiences.

It is the responsibility of the group leader to present the problem and lead the

discussion in order to stimulate creative solutions. This approach ensures on the

spot evaluation of ideas. The leader who is a technical expert assists the group in

evaluating the feasibility of their ideas. Experience shows that synectics is less

widely used than Brainstorming. When the problem is tough and challenging, this

approach is used for effective decision-making.

3. Operations Research: The origin and development of operations research is

attributed to military operations and applications during Second World War. The

war put tremendous pressure on the use of available scarce resources for various

strategic and tactical operations. The success of operations research in developing

effective options is instrumental in making this approach dependable in

decisionmaking process. Operations Research employs optimizing models like

Linear Programming, Project Management, Inventory Control, Decision Theory

and Waiting Line Theory.