Functional Areas of Business: Key Roles and Required Skills

This report discusses the functional areas of business, including marketing, human resources, customer service, finance, sales, and research and development. It also evaluates the skills required by employees to work effectively in these areas. The report is relevant to anyone interested in understanding the key roles and skills required in different functional areas of a business.

World of work

CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1
2.0 WHAT IS A BUSINESS?...............................................................................................1
Definition................................................................................................................................1
3.0 WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF BUSINESS?....................................................1
Definition................................................................................................................................1
4.0 WHAT ARE THE KEY FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF A BUSINESS?.........................1
5.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL AREAS IN BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS...................................................................................................................2
5.1 Marketing....................................................................................................................2
5.2 Human resource...........................................................................................................2
5.3 Customer service.........................................................................................................2
5.4 Finance........................................................................................................................3
5.5 Sales.............................................................................................................................3
5.6 Research and Development.........................................................................................3
6.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE TYPES OF SKILLS NEEDED BY EMPLOYEES..............3
6.1 Skills required by marketing employees.....................................................................3
6.2 Skills required by Human resource employees...........................................................4
6.3 Skills required by Customer service employees..........................................................4
6.4 Skills required by Finance employees.........................................................................4
6.5 Skills required by Sales employees.............................................................................4
6.6 Skills required by Research & Development employees............................................5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................6

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Different roles, functions and activities are being performed in each and every
organization whether small or big. As per the given case of John in the current assignment, he
has taken a decision to purchase a local company “IOM Electronics Ltd” who has almost 200
workers in different locations. He does not possess any prior experience of managing a
company. Pertaining to this, as a consultant to the john regarding requirements and
accountabilities of running a business the report will going to throw light on the functional
areas of business with definition as well as description. It will also evaluate the type of skills
being required by employees to work effectively in these functional areas of the company.
2.0 WHAT IS A BUSINESS?
Definition
Speaking in relation business, it is being referred as the entrepreneurial organization
which is associated with the professional, industrial as well as commercial activities. It
simply comprise of commercial movement containing the exchange of products and services
for making profits (Aithal, 2017). In the current case, IOM electronics limited is engaged in
the business of offering sales as well service of necessary electronic products in Manchester
and Liverpool locations.
3.0 WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF BUSINESS?
Definition
The functional areas of business comprise of one or more workers encompassing
same type of abilities and knowledge regarding the functioning of the company. For example,
sales department of the firm is one of the common functional area of any business and the
workers involved in the sales domain will have same skillset (Pearlson, Saunders and
Galletta, 2019).
4.0 WHAT ARE THE KEY FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF A BUSINESS?
The functional areas of the business can be of different types such as marketing,
human resource, sales, operations, finance, customer service, equipment & technology and
research and development. All these functional areas of business have varied roles, functions
and goals.
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5.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL AREAS IN
BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS
5.1 Marketing
Talking about marketing function, it encompasses determining as well as fulfilling the
requirements of the customers. the workers involved in the marketing deportment are need to
be trained to focus on the clients and offer high quality services to react to any inquiry of the
customers. Market research is very essential for effective management of marketing function
as it helps in obtaining feedback of the current as well as future clients. In addition to this,
marketing functional area is also responsible for promotion and advertisement of products
and services (Olson and et.al, 2018). In regards with IOM electronics limited, the company is
being engaged in electronic goods and services and thus, marketing workers are required to
make efforts to design their products effectively considering the needs of the customers,
promote and upgrade the same on the website of the firm. This will help the firm in
performing adequate evaluation of the market research reactions and senior manager of the
marketing department will evaluate the consequences and outcomes.
5.2 Human resource
Focusing on the human resource department, it is accountable for recruiting and
selecting new workers in the company and also makes sure that the vacancies are being
fulfilled on right time and with right people. HR department is very important as it helps in
recruitment, performance management, training and development, payroll and professional
development of the workers of IOM electronics limited. In addition to this, the HR
department of the firm is also responsible for performing effective planning and organizing of
human resource through communicating with clients, workers and suppliers.
5.3 Customer service
It is quite crucial for the businesses to consider and take care of their clients who have
some queries and grievance (Rainer and et.al, 2020). This functional are of IOM electronics
limited is accountable for managing the expectations of the customers through
communicating with them effectively. Employees engaged in this department need to contact
with clients in polite way and must respond to them knowledgeably. Technical specialists
along with engineers need to be appointed in this department as the company is engaged in
selling and manufacturing of electronics products.
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5.4 Finance
Talking in relation with the finance department of the company, it is concerned with
the production of invoices along with assessment of timely payments being received. It is
also engaged in chasing up the overdue payments based on that. Further, the workers
involved in the finance department are accountable to check the cash flow of the company,
book-keeping and management of taxes and investment of IOM electronics limited. Adequate
funding, sources of capital and production of statuary reports at the end of the year are also
some of the important functions of managers involved in this department (Kimmel,
Weygandt and Kieso, 2018).
5.5 Sales
Sales is being regarded as one of the most significant aspect for each and every
business. Sales department of the company is responsible for checking whether a particular
sales target of the firm is being achieved or not. In IOM electronics limited, customers always
desire to get quality products so sales department makes sure about effective market research
and evaluates the current trends in the market. Furthermore, the employees engaged in this
department are required to manage seasonal fluctuations such as festive buys and helps in
planning, organizing and managing sales program of the company.
5.6 Research and Development
This is being referred as one of the most important functional area of the business or
in other words, it is the life blood for any production related businesses. Industry analysts,
scientists, thought-leaders, experts and other knowledgeable professionals are involved in this
department of IOM electronics limited. They are responsible for helping the company is
staying ahead of the competitors in the market by conducting research in several areas. All
these researches helps production department to make changes, update and modify products
of the firm. The manager is accountable for managing products, software development,
provision related to internal technology tools and other related aspects for the company.
6.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE TYPES OF SKILLS NEEDED BY
EMPLOYEES
6.1 Skills required by marketing employees
Employees of the marketing department of IOM electronics limited are required to
have flexibility along with adaptive management style. They should have skills related to
strategic planning, data interpretation, technical competency and client and user experience.
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Additionally, the employees involved in this department must be effective in communication,
interpersonal and leadership skills. They must be innovative so that they can make the
company work effectively (DeKay, 2015).
6.2 Skills required by Human resource employees
The employees involved in the human resource department of the company are
required to be tech savvy and must have good communication skills. They need to have
flexibility, patience, ethical knowledge, and negotiation and organization skills. It is also
crucial that HR manager of the company treat each and every employees equality and fairly
and must be capable enough of managing worries within the employees.
6.3 Skills required by Customer service employees
Persuasive speaking skills is being regarded as the most important skills to be
possessed by employees involved in customer services department of the company. In
addition to this, a good customer service skills will be incomplete without involving empathy.
Employees must be able to make improvement in their language and use positive language.
Furthermore, working in the customer service department is just like a box of chocolates as
one can never know what they will going to get and thus, self-control ability is very essential
for the employees (Abdallah, Phanand and Matsui, 2016).
6.4 Skills required by Finance employees
The employees who are working in the finance department of the firm are required to
have problem solving and analytical skills. This is due to the fact that their job will required
to have rationality and they did not put their emotion aside for getting suitable solutions.
Other than this, employees in this department also required to be technology savvy because in
the financial area technological advancement have made several waves. For the purpose of
carrying out financial tasks, knowledge in regards with IT software is also necessary.
6.5 Skills required by Sales employees
In regards with the sales employees, they are required to have good communication,
listening, interpersonal and collaboration skills. It is important that all these aspects are being
possessed by the workers of IOM electronics limited in order to attain growth and success.
Further, reliance, adaptability and public speaking skills are also very essential (Bolander and
et.al, 2015).
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6.6 Skills required by Research & Development employees
Research and development department’s employees must have effective verbal
communication, reasoning and thinking skills for keeping themselves engrossed to the
company and encourage novel field of research. Furthermore, it is also essential to analyse
that the workers must have analytical capabilities and skills of using initiative in the best
possible manner.
CONCLUSION
Therefore to conclude it can be said that there are different functional areas being
highlighted in the report that needs to be managed by IOM electronics limited. Moreover,
adequate coordination between the workers, managers and their skills are also be needed for
making the company grow and prosper in the near future. With mutual support and effective
harmonisation between functional areas and human resources, company can achieve its
desired goals.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Abdallah, A.B., Phan, A.C. and Matsui, Y., 2016. Investigating the effects of managerial and
technological innovations on operational performance and customer satisfaction of
manufacturing companies. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research,
10(2-3), pp.153-183.
Aithal, P.S., 2017. Industry Analysis–The First Step in Business Management Scholarly
Research. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education
(IJCSBE), 1(1), pp.1-13.
Bolander, W., Satornino, C.B., Hughes, D.E. and Ferris, G.R., 2015. Social networks within
sales organizations: Their development and importance for salesperson performance.
Journal of Marketing, 79(6), pp.1-16.
DeKay, S., 2015. Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace: A Largely Unexplored
Region. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), pp.449-452.
Kimmel, P.D., Weygandt, J.J. and Kieso, D.E., 2018. Financial accounting: Tools for
business decision making. John Wiley & Sons.
Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human
resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on
business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management,
69, pp.62-73.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2019. Managing and using information
systems: A strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Rainer, R.K., Prince, B., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I., Sanchez-Rodriguez, C. and Ebrahimi,
S., 2020. Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.
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