http://www.bized.ac.

uk

Business Functions
and Organisation

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Business Functions
• Human Resources
• Sales and Marketing
• Research and Development
• Production/Operations
• Customer Service
• Finance and Accounts
• Administration and IT

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Human Resources
• Recruitment and Retention
– Job descriptions
– Person Specifications
• Dismissal
• Redundancy
• Motivation
• Professional Development and Training
• Health and safety and conditions at work
• Liaison with Trade Unions

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Sales and Marketing

• Market research
• Promotion strategies
• Pricing strategies
• Sales strategies
• The sales team
• Product – advice on new product
development, product improvement,
extension strategies, target markets

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Research and Development

• New product development
• Product improvements
• Competitive advantage
• Value added
• Product testing
• Efficiency gains
• Cost savings

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Finance and Accounts

• Cash Flow
– Monitoring income/revenue
– Monitoring expenditure
• Preparing accounts
• Raising finance
– Shares
– Loans
• Links with all other functional areas

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Production/Operations
• Acquiring resources
• Planning output – labour, capital, land
• Monitoring costs
• Projections on future output
• Production methods
– Batch
– Flow
– Job
– Cell
• Efficiency

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Customer Service
• Monitoring distribution
• After-sales service
• Handling consumer enquiries
• Offering advice to consumers
• Dealing with customer complaints
• Publicity and public relations

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Business Organisation
• Organisation by type
• Global businesses – complex
organisation structures
• National – organisation possibly
stretches throughout the country
• Regional – could be through a county or
wider area (North West, South East etc)
• Local – small organisations serving local
area or community

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Business Organisation
• Authority – the right to make decisions and carry out
tasks
• Span of control – the number of people a superior is
responsible for
• Chain of Command – the relationship between
different levels of authority in the business
• Hierarchy – shows the line management in the
business and who has specific responsibilities
• Delegation – authority to carry out actions passed
from superior to subordinate
• Empowerment – giving responsibilities to people at all
levels of the business to make decisions

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Administration and IT
• Managing estates – cleaning, health
and safety, maintenance, security
• Reception
• Clerical work – reporting, recording,
record keeping, communication
• Overview of quality control
• Use of IT systems

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Organisation Charts
Hierarchical Structure
Managing Director

Marketing
Sales Director Finance Director
Director

A B C D Market Strategy PurchasingSales Accounts

Research Manager Manager Manager

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Organisation Charts
Pyramidal Structure
MD
Senior
Managemen
t

Middle
Management

Workers

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Organisation Charts
Centralised/Entrepreneurial
Finance

R&D Production

MD

Marketing Sales

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Organisation Charts
Matrix Structure

Marketing
Sales R&D

Project

HR
Production
Finance

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Organisation Charts
• Changes to business structures
• Linked to new thinking on
leadership and management
• Less hierarchical
• Emphasis on communication and
collaboration between sections
• Global businesses – more complex
structures

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