International Journal of Value Chain

Running Head: VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
Value Chain Analysis and Business Functions
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Author’s note

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS FUNCTIONS1
Table of Contents
Activity 1....................................................................................................................................2
Question 1..............................................................................................................................2
Business function 1: Human resource Management.........................................................2
Question 2..................................................................................................................................4
Business function 2: Marketing.............................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................8

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS FUNCTIONS2
Activity 1
Question 1
Name of Business Function 1: Total Available Marks - 35 marks
Instruction 1: In 800 – 900 words outline the purpose and value of the
business function (e.g. Marketing, HRM) to an organisation and how the
functions link to other functions of the value chain.
Instruction 2: You must use a minimum of three (3), and not more than five
(5) appropriate academic sources to underpin your work - to be listed at the
end of this section and referenced appropriately within the text (Harvard
style).
Business function 1: Human resource Management
Value chain comprises of many vital steps in the organisation from fetching the raw
material, production, manufacturing, distribution, human resource, marketing the product and
other functions in the organisation (Grigorescu 2015). Human Resource Management plays a
significant role in any organisation in terms of acquiring talent for the organisation,
developing people, rewarding and motivating the workforce to perform better. It falls under
support activities in the value chain analysis. The purpose of HRM is to build a pool of talent
for the organisation and create customers, job satisfaction and increase employee’s efficiency
and effectiveness through training, motivation and development (Heffernan 2016). Nothing
can be done without the support of productive people in the organisation. HRM adds value to
all the functions of the organisation from raw materials to delivering the product to the end-
user; all the function requires capable human resources. The value that HRM adds is to build
capability in people so that they should create competitive advantage for the business. It
create business through capability development of people. HRM’s functions is linked to other
functions of the value chain namely procurement, marketing, operations, inbound and
outbound logistics of the organisation. For example, if recruitment is done well and the

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS FUNCTIONS3
workforce is rewarded for their best performance, creativity and innovation is encouraged,
then all these functions will be able to connect well. Because at the end it is the capable
people who create competitive advantage for the business and make the customer happy. The
value that HRM creates for all functions is that it builds capacity and creates motivated
workforce so that people pursue the goals assign to them and surpass the expectations of the
organisation or the management. The linkage of HRM in the entire value chain, whether
primary or secondary activity it starts from the input stage.
For example, in a manufacturing organisation “APPLE” founded in 1976 by Steven
Jobs and Stephen Wozniak (Lakso 2018). The company has headquarters in Cupertino,
California and specialises in the manufacturing of software and electronic products. The
primary reason behind the rapid growth of the company is the HR strategy applied by the
company. Talented workforce and efficient management of HR department has made it
become a global leader in the manufacturing of electronic goods. The primary objective of
Apple is to attract and retain its productive workforce. The HR of Apple Inc. works towards
maximising on investment returns, minimising the financial risk and invests on human capital
(Grant 2016). Apple invests a lot in recruiting productive workforce for the organisation to
get the best talent. The recruiting done in such a way that people who fits the culture are only
hired and the selection is based on the verbal interview. HR provides training and
development, compensation, employee benefits. The HR department allows the employees to
do the task on their own to boost their morale and they are allowed to work in different units
in the organisation. After completion of task, the employees are assigned with completely
different task and this is th reason why APPLE is considered as one of the innovative
companies in the world. These strategic HRM has enabled APPLE to become a leader in the
market. At operation stage, there has to be strict control over the process so that there should
be no variance in the processes. This can be only achieved by suitably trained people who