Functional areas

The key to a good business is if the functions are communicating and co-operating. As you can see by the spider diagram, there are many different Functions in a business and each function is important. Here are the jobs that the different functional areas do: Administration-assist other departments with tasks that they may be too busy to complete. For example, they could complete their paperwork, filling etc. Customer Service – This department directly helps customers if they have any queries or enquiries. The staff in this department needs to be helpful and friendly. Distribution – Helps with the movement of the businesses products from the suppliers to the customer. Finance- keeps financial records and produces accounts for the business Human resources – recruits, dismisses and trains staff.

ICT – responsible for installation and maintenance of equipment and software Marketing – will try to identify and meet the needs of the customers Sales – responsible for making sales. Usually work closely with marketing Production – will try produce the goods required with the minimum amount of waste Research and development – will develop new products, and new ways of production Not all business have these function areas but many businesses separate bthe functional areas into departments Functions will vary because of the size and scales of a business like a sole trader are likely to do many of the tasks themselves so many have no functional areas also the activities of the business can affect what functional areas there are. Functional areas will have a wider purpose, e. g:

To support business aims and objective – the targets set for each functional area should be determined by the overall aims and objectives for the business. By meeting their targets each functional area is helping the business achieve their objectives. To develop new markets – although this may be the main focus for sales and marketing, it is in the interest of all functional areas to find new customers To support continuous professional development [ it may be the job of the human resources department to provide training but however other functional areas must be willing to support it and allow their staff to attend the courses planned A business only works well is all the functional areas are communicating and co-operating well with each other.

Equally as important I think that all the functional areas are equally important to make a business good because even though they are all different they all contribute a different role to the business to make it successful. Also in a large business like McDonalds all areas need to work with each because they need information and support from each other for the business to operate effectively. communication and cooperation is important for the business to achieve its aims and objectives. This often means that joint decisions have to be made between the function area managers, or their staff, to take importance of everyone’s needs. This is why I think all areas are equally important because with put one the business would not be able to work as well as it would with the area also certain areas need other areas to work with so the business can work effectively such as sales and production, the sales must know production schedules and agree delivery dates of orders with the production teams so customers are not promised dates which cannot be met. See it is essential that the production and the sale departments work effectively so the business can satisfy the customers fully.