Functional Areas of Business: Key Areas and Required Skills

This report discusses the importance of functional areas in business management and the key areas such as production, HR, finance, marketing, research and development, and sales. It also highlights the skills required by employees to work effectively in these areas. The report is relevant for students pursuing BSc (Hons) Business Management with Foundation (BMP3004) at college or university.

BSc (Hons) Business Management with
Foundation
BMP3004
World of Work
Functional Areas
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Contents
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1.0 Introduction
Functional Areas refer to those areas from where the management of the different
types of Businesses can be done in a proper manner (Chen and et.al., 2020). Thus, it is quite
important that the appropriate focus has to be put on these particular areas so that the
management of the particular level of needs and requirements can be done quite effectively
and efficiently in a proper way. Thus, it becomes quite important for the Businesses to make
sure that they are able to put their focus on bringing a higher-level of efficiency and
effectiveness in these areas in the right manner.
2.0 What is a business?
A Business means a process of providing a wide range of products and services to the
different types of customers in the market quite effectively and efficiently at a right price (Du
and et.al., 2020). Therefore, in this way the Business will be able to make sure that the
attainment of the future goals and objectives can be done in the right way.
3.0 What is Functional areas of business - Definition
Functional areas of a Business are those areas from where the management
of the different types of processes of a Business Organization can be done in a right
way quite effectively and efficiently and therefore these are important areas on which
the Business has to focus on which can therefore help it to attain its future goals and
objectives (Ille and Krieg, 2021).
4.0 What are the key functional areas of a business?
There are different types of key functional areas of a Business. It is important
for a Business to put its focus on these areas so that the management of the
particular needs and requirements can be done in a right way. The various functional
areas of the Business are explained as follows-
 Production- This is an area from where the production of the goods within an
organization can be managed in a proper way. Therefore, In a Business it is
quite important that the focus can be put on this particular area so that the
overall efficiency and effectiveness can be enhanced in a proper manner.
 HR- In this particular area the management of the employees who are
working within an organization can be carried out. For a Business, it is
therefore quite important that the focus can be put on this area so that the
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improvement in the overall processes can be made in the right manner quite
effectively and efficiently.
 Finance- In this particular area the management of the funds is carried out
(Jiansheng and et.al., 2020). This is needed so that there is an availability of the
funds at all times within the organization so that the operations can be
managed quite appropriately.
 Marketing- Here, the use of various types of methods and techniques can be
made so that the goods and services can be provided in a better manner to
the customers. This is quite important to be done so that the Businesses are
able to make sure that they can attain their overall goals and objectives.
5.0 Description of the various functional areas in business
organizations
5.1 Marketing:
Here, the activities which are related with providing of goods and services to the
customers are undertaken so that the customers are able to make sure that they can get quality
goods and services from a particular organization. It is therefore important for a Business that
the Marketing department is given a particular level of importance. The reason for this is that
this department will be able to make sure that the firm is able to attract the customers towards
itself which will help it in attaining a sustainable level of growth in the future. This will help
in ensuring that the Business is able to progress further in the future and attain a strategic and
competitive edge in the market effectively and efficiently.
5.2 Human Resource Management:
Here, the use of different types of methods and techniques can be made so that the
processes related with HR can be made better. Therefore, the Business has to make sure that
the right way of managing the employees should be used so that their efficiency and
effectiveness level can be enhanced and they are able to contribute at their best towards the
organization. The processes which are related with HRM are required to be managed
appropriately because this will be quite important so that the employees are able to work in a
right way for attaining the goals and objectives in the future in a proper manner. There are
also a wide range of problems and issues which are faced by the employees who are working
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here and thus it is quite necessary that a solution for them can be provided by the HR
department in the organizations.
5.3 Customer Service:
In this area, the identification of the way in which the customers can be served and
their wide range of problems and issues can be solved should be assessed. Therefore, in this
way it can be said that the overall level of efficiency and effectiveness in serving of the
various types of customers can be enhanced which will help in contributing towards the
attainment of the overall goals and objectives in the future.
5.4 Finance:
In this area, the overall management of the funds is done (Ota and et.al., 2021).
Therefore, here it becomes quite important that the assessment of the needs and requirements
related with the funds can be done which will help the Business to be able to ensure that the
overall level of efficiency and effectiveness can be enhanced. Therefore, it is quite crucial
that the right level of attention is paid by the managers of an organization towards this
particular department so that they can make sure to attain the particular level of goals and
objectives in the future in a proper manner.
5.5 Research and Development:
This is also an important area for the Business (Qian and et.al., 2020). This is so
because here the assessment of the wide variety of needs and requirements which are related
with the Business can be done which will therefore help in ensuring that the Business makes
a proper progress in the market in the future quite effectively and efficiently.
5.6 Sales:
This is an important area for the Business because here the management of the
customer's needs and requirements can be done in a proper manner. Therefore, the Business
is required to make sure that the enhancement of the overall level of revenues can be done
quite effectively and efficiently. The firm here has to assess the way in which the
enhancement in the sales can be carried out which will therefore help a lot in ensuring that
the overall level of profitability can be increased in a proper manner thereby helping in the
attainment of the goals and objectives in the future.
The Business has to therefore make sure that it is able to increase its sales because it
will lead towards it attaining a strategic and competitive edge over the competitors in the
market in the future.
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6.0 Description of the types of skills needed by employees
to be able to work effectively in these functional areas
6.1 Skills needed by Marketing employees:
The Marketing employees within the organization require that the use of a wide
variety of presentation skills can be made by them so that they can present the product in
front of the customers. Further they must have sound communication skills so that they are
able to carry out communication with their subordinates quite appropriately.
6.2 Skills needed by Human Resource Management employees:
The employees working in the HR department should have problem-solving skills so
that the identification of the problems can be done by them and these problems can be solved
quite effectively and efficiently. Further, they must have teamwork skills so that the
cooperation and coordination in the HR team can be ensured so that the attainment of the
goals and objectives in the future can be done.
6.3 Skills needed by Customer Service employees:
The employees working in the Customer Service department are required to make
sure that they have Analysis and Interpretation skills. This is required so that they are able to
analyze and interpret the customer's needs and requirements. Further, they must have
cooperation and coordination skills so that the team can work in a proper manner to serve the
customers.
6.4 Skills needed by Finance employees:
The employees who are working in the Finance department should be able to make
sure that they must have Leadership skills because they have to lead the charge and make
sure that the funds are available in the organization. Also they must have Critical thinking
skills because this can help them to critically think about the right actions which can be taken
in a particular situation (Raos and Savaki, 2021).
6.5 Skills needed by Research and Development employees:
The employees working in Research and Development should make sure that they
should have Creativity skills. This helps them in developing creative ideas. Also they must
have Time Management skills so that they are able to manage their various activities within a
set period of time.
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6.6 Skills needed by Sales employees:
The employees who are working in Sales should be able to make sure that they are
able to make use of Networking skills so that they can create networks which can help in
enhancing the overall level of sales revenues within an organization in quite a proper manner.
Also they should have customer service skills so that they are able to make sure that they can
manage out the wide variety of customer needs and requirements in a proper manner
effectively and efficiently.
Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that Functional Areas of a Business refer
to the areas from where the overall functions of a Business are required to be managed in a
proper manner. It is therefore required that each of these Functional Areas should have a
separate manager who is able to manage the functions in these areas in a right way which will
be quite helpful in ensuring that the right management can be done in a proper manner. Thus,
it is needed that the right level of attention is paid towards these particular areas which will
be required so that the management of the particular needs and requirements of the Business
can be undertaken quite effectively and efficiently.
References
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