Functional Areas of Business

This report discusses the functional areas of business, their roles and responsibilities, and the skills required by employees to work effectively in these areas. The functional areas include marketing, human resource management, customer service, finance, research and development, and sales. Each area has its own specific tasks and goals, and employees need different skills to excel in each area. The report also emphasizes the importance of effective communication, problem-solving, and IT skills in these functional areas.

BSc (Hons) Business Management with
Foundation
BMP3004
World of Work
Functional Areas
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Contents
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1.0 Introduction p
2.0 definition of business? p
3.0 Functional areas of business
p
4.0 key functional areas of a business?
P
5.0 Description of the different functional areas in business
organizations p-p
5.1 Marketing p
5.2 Human Resource Management p
5.3 Customer Service p
5.4 Finance p
5.5 Research and Development p
5.6 Sales p
6.0 Description of the kinds of skills needed by employees
to be able to work effectively in these functional areas
p-p
6.1 Skills needed by Marketing employees p
6.2 Skills needed by Human Resource Management employees
p
6.3 Skills needed by Customer Service employees
p
6.4 Skills needed by Finance employees p
6.5 Skills needed by Research and Development employees
p
6.6 Skills needed by Sales employees p
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7.0 Conclusion p
References p
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1.0 Introduction
Effective businesses are essential as competition is growing more with time. This
report will discuss the functional areas of business. Further will explain roles and
responsibilities and skills required by employees for work in different departments.
2.0 Business definition?
Business is engaged in professional, commercial and industrial activities.
Business is the activity which is done for earning through manufacturing or selling
goods and services at the marketplace (Pinzone and et.al., 2017). The owner of the
business have unlimited liability and is responsible for business debts. If the
business does not have funds to recover all debts then creditors can even to the
private property of him or her.
3.0 Functional areas of business
Functional areas include workers who have same skills, expertise and
knowledge to carry the work. Example can be the department of sales which is the
functional area and all employees under this area have to focus on selling
company’s products in order to increase their sales and revenue. Company is
formed in functional areas so that similar skills workers can be grouped together.
4.0 key functional areas of a business?
Objective of the functional area is to make sure that work of the business
should be carried out effectively. This is helpful to business to achieve its objectives
and goals. Key functional areas are human resource, finance, marketing, production
etc.
5.0 Description of the different functional areas in business
organizations
5.1 Marketing:
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Marketing department the most important departments of the every company.
They carry all marketing activities which help in increasing sales of the company.
Marketing can be done through traditional method or modern marketing methods
(Penttinen and et.al., 2018). Traditional methods include TV, newspaper, radio,
magazine etc. modern method include digital marketing, social media marketing,
email marketing, content marketing, etc. nowadays majority of companies are using
social media for promoting their goods and services. As social media have many
users so facilitate wide range and is also cost effective. This functional area is mostly
indulged in promoting products.
5.2 Human Resource Management:
Human resource is also the vital functional area. Human resource recruits
employees for every departments of the organization. They recruit right candidate for
the right position. They are responsible for filling vacancy in every department of the
company. HR also provides training to the employees so that they can know their job
role in the organization. HR takes different tests which include written test, computer
test, face to face interview etc in order to evaluate the candidate properly. They are
also responsible for providing appraisal to the employees. They provide rewards to
the workforce in order to motivate them and that also increases their productivity.
5.3 Customer Service:
Customer service is that department of the company which directly deals with
the customers. They solve customers query or problems if they are facing any.
Customer service offers their services to the customers after products and services
are bought by them (Jeong and Oh 2017). Effective customer service is essential if
the company want to retain their existing customers and also to bring new
customers. Now the customer service is not limited to only telephone but company
can provide it through email, social media, messages etc. company’s have
started giving self service support so that their queries can be solved at any time.
5.4 Finance:
Finance department is the blood to the organization. As the department raise
funds and also invests those funds into different investment options available in the
market. This is the department which knows the financial position of the business.
They prepare and maintain financial statements of the company which include
balance sheet, cash flow, income statement etc. they ensure that organization run
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smoothly and not face any financial issues. They also allot budgets to every
departments of the organization.
5.5 Research and Development:
Research and development department is necessary in every organization
nowadays. They study the market trends and then manufacture products and
services according to market demand. They are mainly responsible for providing
innovative products in the market. As customers want new and innovative products
nowadays. They do extensive research related to the competitors of the company.
So that it can be know that what rival company is doing for survival (Ortiz-Villajos,
and Sotoca,2018). They help company to increase their market share by providing
innovative products to the customers. They also safeguard company from
unexpected risk.
5.6 Sales:
Sales department of the company is responsible for sales. If more sales is
generated then company will get more revenue. This department includes
salesperson who have direct contact with customers. They influence customers with
their communication skills in such a manner that they purchase goods or services
from the company. Sales department carries various activities to increase the sales
of the company. If a company have strong sales team then they are more likely to
grow fast.
6.0 types of skills needed by employees to be able to work
effectively in these functional areas
6.1 Skills needed by Marketing employees:
Marketing employees should have effective communication skills, as they are
highly engaged in promotional activities. So they should have good oral as well as
written communication skills so that they influence customers. Teamwork is the
another important skill which marketing employee should have. If marketing workers
work in a team then they will achieve targets more effectively. They should also
possess IT skills. As they have to carry the promotional activities online nowadays,
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so without IT skills they cannot carry online promotion effectively. They should have
good imagination skills so that they do marketing in such a manner which help
company in getting good brand image.
6.2 Skills needed by Human Resource Management employees:
Recruitment & selection skills are must for human resource. As the major role
of HR is to appoint employees for various vacant positions (Bocken Schuit, and
Kraaijenhagen,2018.). If in the recruitment step HR evaluate the candidate carefully
then company can get right employee but if HR selected wrong candidate for the
position then it can create unnecessary expense for the company. They monitor the
performance of employees and motivate them to work even better. So HR should
have good communication skills so that they can influence employees in such a
manner that they gets motivated and work hard to achieve the goals of the
organization.
6.3 Skills needed by Customer Service employees:
Customer service employees should have self control skills as they have to
deal directly with the customers. So sometimes it may happen that customer shout
on them so they must have patience and self control. If they also shout back on
customer then that can hurt company’s reputation. While talking with customers they
should use positive language. They should have language skills. They should not
use any inappropriate word while talking with customers. Persuasive speaking skills,
if they have this skill then are able to convince customers. They should always speak
soft with customers.
6.4 Skills needed by Finance employees:
Workforce which works in the finance department should have basic
accounting skills. As they have to carry day to day transactions. So accounting skills
are must. They should have strong written and oral communication. So that they can
explain financial terms to other departments of the company easily. Financial
reporting skills, employees should be good with financial reporting as this is the main
role of finance employees
6.5 Skills needed by Research and Development employees:
Innovative skills is must for R&D employees. They should have power to
produce innovative products and services (Cusumano, Gawer and Yoffie, 2019). As
they are responsible for it and producing innovative goods in the market increases
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sales of the company. Thinking and reasoning skills. As they have to think and
research in order to manufacture innovate products. Creative skills are also required
so that they can think differently and produce products which are different from the
competitors. Math knowledge because research is not easy and requires complex
calculations.
6.6 Skills needed by Sales employees:
Sales employees require effective communication skills because they are
responsible for increasing sales of the company. Sales will be increased only if they
effectively communicate with customers, clients or suppliers (Ritter and Pedersen,
2020). Active listening skills, salesperson should listen to customers demand
properly so that they can communicate this to the company. Convincing power,
salesperson should have good convincing power so that they can convert the leads
provided to them. Problem solving skills, problem will arise on every step. So
salesperson should not fear from problem rather they should solve it properly.
Conclusion
Through this report it can be concluded that business is started in order to
provide goods and services to the customers in exchange of money. Businesses
have different functional areas which include marketing, sales, finance, research and
development etc. skills which are required in these functional areas are
communication skills, IT skills. Problem solving skills etc.
References
Bocken, N.M., Schuit, C.S. and Kraaijenhagen, C., 2018. Experimenting with a
circular business model: Lessons from eight cases. Environmental
innovation and societal transition., 28. pp.79-95.
Cusumano, M.A., Gawer, A. and Yoffie, D.B., 2019. The business of platforms:
Strategy in the age of digital competition, innovation, and power. New York:
Harper Business.
Jeong, M. and Oh, H., 2017. Business-to-business social exchange relationship
beyond trust and commitment. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 65(115-124).
Ortiz-Villajos, J.M. and Sotoca, S., 2018. Innovation and business survival: A long-
term approach. Research Policy. 47(8). pp.1418-1436.
Penttinen, E. and et.al., 2018. What influences choice of business-to-business
connectivity platforms?. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce. 22(4). pp.479-509.
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Pinzone, M. and et.al., 2017, September. Jobs and skills in Industry 4.0: an
exploratory research. In IFIP International Conference on Advances in
Production Management Systems (pp. 282-288). Springer, Cham.
Ritter, T. and Pedersen, C.L., 2020. Digitization capability and the digitalization of
business models in business-to-business firms: Past, present, and
future. Industrial Marketing Management. 86. pp.180-190.
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