Foundations of Business Management

This document provides an overview of the foundations of business management, including topics such as project stakeholders, business functions, and management tools. It discusses the importance of effective communication skills and personal reflection in professional development. The content is relevant to the subject of business management and is suitable for college or university students.

Foundations of
Business Management
(BBS013-1)

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Executive summary:Describe the key points from the report, including the most important findings
and recommendations.
Introduction: Explain the purpose of your report and layout the structure of the rest of your report.
Reasons:Describe the reasons for doing the project e.g. the business problem which you are trying
to solve for the Case Study company (Luton Town Residences). Provide sufficient background
and contextual information on the Case Study company to allow the reader to understand the
rest of your report.
Business options:Describe the different options which have been considered and recommend an
option. One option must always be the ‘Do nothing’ option. This option does not result in a
project.Other options might be ‘Do the minimum we can’, ‘Do something else’ etc. You should
try to provide enough information that the approvers of the business case will be able to judge
which option gives the best value for money. You must use the Weighed Score-Card Model to
present the business options.
Expected benefits:Describe the benefits of the recommended option, in measurable terms if
possible. They can be both qualitative and quantitative and supported by credible citations.
Expected dis-benefits:Describe any dis-benefits. These are actual consequences of a successful
project which are negative. If possible, quantify the dis-benefits and support with credible
citations.
Timescale:Describe 2 timescales: the project timescale and the timescale over which the benefits
will be realised.
Costs:Describe 2 costs: the project costs, and the ongoing operations and maintenance costs which
will be incurred over the benefits realisation timescale.
Project stakeholders refer to the most essential part of the project specifically in the
planning of the process. The skincare beauty company has involved numerous
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stakeholders to achieve the desired objectives more efficiently and for improving the
overall outcome of the project. The Stakeholders involved in the company are
1.1. Project Team
The primary purpose of the project team is to plan and control the operations included in
the project, this team will help in monitoring the performance of the operations included
in the project as well as it will plan solutions for any issues encountered in the process.
Moreover, as the team has developed strategies and planned for improving the
outcome of the project, the team will ensure the communication of the project objectives
and goals to the team members involved in the project and
theirindividualresponsibilitytowards the project.
1.2. Project Manager
The primary responsibility of the project manager in the Skincare cosmetic industry is to
plan and execute the overall project effectively. The project manager is responsible for
effective and timely decision making and conflict management within the project team.
1.3. Project Sponsor
The primary purpose of the sponsor is the provision of financial assistance to the Skin
Care cosmetic company forsponsoring the project. The sponsors provide financial
resources required by the company for executing their operations effectively.
Business functions refer to such processes or operations that are responsible for
ensuring proper organizational functioning. These processes are the income generators
as they involvethe production of goods or service for the purpose of selling them to
customers(Kim et al., 2003). The primary activities of an organization are formed by the
core business functions. The primary Business functions essential for the Skin Care
cosmetic industry are discussed comprehensively in the below section.
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1.1. Accounting and Finance Function
The accounting and finance function of a business refers to the effective management
of inflows and outflow of funds as well as the marketing of stocks and bonds(Castellacci
et al., 2016). The overall performance of the organization is based on the correctrecord
keeping of the financial data. SkincareBeauty Company will hire competent account and
finance manager for managing the accounting function effectively.
1.2. Human Resource Function
Human resource department is responsible for handling necessary functions related to
the provision of labor law compliance, recruitment, hiring and training, development of
compensation programs, relationship management and performance related issues in
the organization. The achievement of essential needs associated with the management
of the staff cannot be fulfilled without an effective human resource function(Wright,
2018). SkincareBeauty Company will focus on hiring most competenthuman resource
managers as they playa crucial role in the recruitment of the best team members and in
managing the relations of the employees. The relationship managers in the human
resource department of the company will have a significant role in attracting customers
as the company is aiming to represent their products in trade shows and exhibitions.
These relationship managers will help the organization I attract more customerswith
their exceptional communication skills.
1.3. Technical Function
The technical function in business refers to the processing of the technology needs of
the organization that may include the equipment, plants and technical assistance
required for operating these plants and machines(Wright, 2018). In this era of
technological advancement, IT has been identified as the center of business for
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business growth and development because it has contributed towards raising the
expectations of the customers as well increasing the competition in the market. The
company will emphasize on acquiring technical experts and installing more advanced
plants and equipment for the manufacturing of cosmetics. Moreover, the implementation
of technology will help the company in online selling of their products. The company will
improve and introduce innovation in the manufacturing process as well as the products
with the installation of technologically advanced hardware as well as software in their
processes.
1.4. Product and services Development Function
The product and development function refers to increasing the capacity of a business
towards developing new and innovative products in the market which ultimately
enhance the performance of the company, growth as well as for the revenue
generation(França et al., 2017). The increasing competition in the cosmetic industry has
become a challenge for the organizations to develop and introduce new, improved and
innovative products in the market that offers exceptional performance and results. The
product and development function in the skin Care Beauty Company will be developed
effectively to meet the demand of the customers. The intense competitionhas raised the
expectations of the market and unique and innovative products will be the onlyanswer
for the customers.
1.5. Marketing function
The marketing function in the business is identified as the most important function
playing a significant role in the success of any organization. The primary function of the
marketing department is determining the type of product offered by the organization,
setting the pricing strategy for the products, creating a brand image, determining the
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placement of the products and services as well as executing the promotional
campaigns, advertising and management of public relations(Lovelock and Patterson,
2015). The skin care cosmetic company has been focusing on the marketing of their
products through promotional campaigns and representation of their products in trade
shows and exhibitions. Moreover, numerous advertising campaigns will be effective in
the promotion of their products.
1.6. Informational System Function
The Information system function in an organization helps the enhancement of the
strategic planning and enabling the organization towards effective decision making that
will contribute towards the success of the company. Business organizations are
dependent on the information system from carrying out and managing the
organizational operations, interacting with the customers and suppliers, and completing
the marketplace(Laudon and Laudon, 2016). An information system is crucial in the
success of SkincareBeauty Company as it will help in forecasting and strategic planning
in order to cop up with the increased competition in the market.
2. Management Tools
Management tools are identified to be very effective in the acquisition of goals
andobjective set by the organization. The Skin Care Company have implemented
numerous management tools in their process. These tools have been discussed below
2.1. The Project Lifecycle
There are numerous phases included in the project lifecycle that include initiation,
planning, execution,and closure. It helps in the provision of the framework towards the
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management of projects within the business operations(Steenkamp and Bekker, 2018).
The project life cycle has assisted the skin care beauty company in priding a clear path
for management from the initial stage to the final. After the
(Barkley, 2004)
Completion of the project, this product life cycle helps in monitoring and evaluating the
performance of the organization according to the objectives.
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2.2. The Work Breakdown Structure
A Work break down structure refers to a primary project deliverable that is used for
organizing the teamwork into sections that are more manageable for the team to
accomplish (Harrison and Lock, 2017).
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Part II- Personal Reflection
The personal reflection part of this assignment comprises of a discussion based on my
personal learning and development of skills during the class sessions. These skills have
been proven significantly effective in developingmy collaborative working skills or team
working ability. The skills and learnings have played a crucial role in achieving my
project goals and objectives more effectively. The management tool, business functions,
leadership skills, communication skills, and problem-solving, decision making and
strategy development have helped me in enhancing my overall capabilities and
competencies ultimately resulting in grooming and personality development. In addition
to this, the lectures was focused on organizational culture, organization cultures and
context as well as emotional intelligence and its connection with the business (JNL,
week1(06/02/19).
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In the second week, we discussedindividual goals and objectivesafter becoming a
manager and the roadmap that I will follow to lead my team. The discussion related to
managing project,managing people, international business management was very
beneficial in understanding the important factors and elements that should be
considered after becoming a manager.
In the second week I learned about challenging our self in class, this attitude assisted
me in exploring my personality and my capabilities. The challenging work assignments
and discussions have enhanced my learning capacity and these learning experiences
have been very effective in the achievement of desired goals (JNL week 2 (13/02/19).
The discussion about the business model and operation functions was very effective
and remarkable as it has elaborated the significance of business functions in the
success of the business as well as the contribution of every business function including
Human resource, technology, marketing, Information system, accounting and
finance,and product and service development(Boddy et al., 2011). All of these business
functions have a separate role in the growth and development of the business and
eachof the business function is equally significant for companies. Moreover, the
discussion of management tools including giant chart, product life cycle,and work base
structure was veryuseful as these tools have the ability to make the work easier and
convenient for the team(Barkley, 2004, Tuckman, 1965). These management tools can
enhance the performance of the team and the results will be more effective and
productive as compared to the project without implementing these management
tools(Slack et al., 2010).
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The lecture discussed the organizational structure and the exercise for the development
of business or organizational structure for our own business. This activity was very
informative and provide practical experience in developing an organizational structure.
The activity of drawing an organizational chart and developinga structure for the
organization enabled us to evaluate the organizational structure and the significance of
organizational chart in the management.
The lecture in the 3rd week was very useful and contributive towards my personality
development as it was based on enhancing communicational skills. It helped
tremendously in sharing my opinion with others withconfidence. I have learned the
significance of effective communication skills in making people understand my viewpoint
and my mindset about a specific topic. A group activity was conducted that helped me in
sharing my opinions with my group mates(JNL, week3 (20/02/19). We learned that
teamwork is very helpful and effective in projects as different mind have numerous
ideas and a collaborativethinking approach can help in an enhanced and more effective
output than an individual based taskdifferent operation systems
in this unit, we had group exercise which was based on the relative volume.
The fourth and fifth lecture was based on the project management introduction and the
group task. Our group was assigned a case study on Skin Care Beauty Company. We
prepared the assignment and a presentation in the group(JNL, week 4 (27/02/19). The
working experience in the group was very effective and we learned how to work in
collaboration and most importantly we worked on our communication skills to present
ourselves in the class. The feedback from the professors was very helpful in improving
and enhancing my presentation skills. I was personally taught to enhance my
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presentation skills and some very useful tips were shared by my teacher for enhancing
my presentation skills (JNL, week 5 (6/03/19). Our last lecture was on the performance
management that included frameworks related to the performance. These lectures
helped in thedevelopment of concepts related to quality management, total quality
management,and the technologicaladvancements as well as information systems. The
development of Information systems hastransformed the working environment in
business organizations. The process has become very convenient and they have
increased the productivity of the business to the next level (JNL, Week6 (13/03/19).
Some of the most important learning outcomes of the sessions are discussed below
a) Communication Skills:
The chapter has enhanced my understanding of the significance of communication skills
in professional life. The activities and grouptask include in this chapter have
tremendouslyhelped me in improving my verbal as well as nonverbal communication
skills. The group presentation and activities that were focused on the sharing of our
opinion with others and presenting in front of the class have remarkably boosted my
confidenceinspeaking with others and sharing my viewpoints. In addition to the verbal
skills. The non-verbal skills including writing and reading have been improved because
in group activities we used to share and discuss our flaws and my fellowmates helped
me in enhancing my skills. The professional writing activities and the development of
organizational chart and discussing the ideas with the group was very helpful in
enhancing my listening skills as well.
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b) Numeracy
The chapter on the numeracy covers the financial and calculative figures that are
significant for business operations. One of the business operation named
accountingand finance was identified to be the most important business operations
because it has a direct impact on the performance and ultimately the success of the
organization. The lecture helped me in developing budgets and learning forecasting
techniques. The concept of capital investments, business loans,and liabilities
wasdiscussed in our group for the project of Skin Care Beauty Company because we
discussed the required budget and capital in the initial phase and most importantly
theforecasting techniques to predict the future demand and requirement of the budget.
c) ICT
I have learned numerous new sills related to the use of Microsoft office programs in the
session as the course required numerous tasks that were based on the ICT. The MS
programs were used for the completion of projects assigned in thegroups as well as in
individual tasks. The skills of using MS world were enhanced because it was used for
report writing, making charts as well the Microsoft power point skills were developed
that were required for the designing and composing the presentation task.
MicrosoftExcel was used for the development of project management and forecasting
tasks. Before this class, I had basic knowledge of these programs but now I have
learned the proper use.
d) Problem Solving
My skills related to the problem-solvingtechniques have been tremendouslyenhanced
by the improved methods of data collection and its management. I am more skilled in
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analyzing the data and trends that are very crucial for the business(Tuckman, 1965).
The assignment submission procedure helped me enhancing my problem-solving skills
and makingan effective decision on time.
e) Working with Others
The most important element of the class that I have learnedis about the benefits of
teamwork. We discussed the work in our group and divide the task into my team
members(Dowson, 2015).(Wilson, 2003)The division was very helpful as it was
according to the expertise of each member and every individual performedbrilliantly in
the group task. It was a great experience for me as coordination and collaborative work
have improved my numerous skills including communications, confidence, leadership
and work management.
3. . Conclusion
The report has elucidated the important business functions and management tools as
wellas their significance in the success of a business. Thesecond part of the report has
discussed my personal reflection on the improvement of my skills and my learning
experience from different units.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
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