Functional Areas in Business Organization and Required Employee Skills

This report discusses the various functional areas in business organizations, including human resources, marketing, finance, sales management, and operations. It also describes the types of skills needed by employees to work effectively in these areas, such as communication skills, active listening skills, adaptability skills, team working skills, and analytical skills. The report focuses on IOM Electronics, a regional firm with around 200 employees that is going to be acquired by John.

World of Work

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
Various functional areas in business organisation.......................................................................1
Describe the types of skills needed by employees to be able to work effectively in the
functional areas............................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Business involves various functions in order to effectively and successfully conduct its
activities. It comprises of several functional areas which individually concentrate on researching
and development of business. These functions demand particular set of skills and expertise from
employees. In this report, the selected company is IOM Electronics which is a well-known
regional firm with around 200 employees that is going to be acquired by John. (Baum, 2019).
This report covers different functional departments within an organisation which are essential for
conducting business operations. It also highlights the several set of skills required and how they
impact other areas.
MAIN BODY
Various functional areas in business organisation
Businesses activities includes several functions like strategic planning, decision making
process, effective communication and proper coordination of all business functions. Every
company organises their operations in number of areas to manage all tasks efficiently. The scope
as well as importance of these departments depends on the structure of organisation. It is
essential for companies to adopt hierarchy in their departments for smooth flow of
communication. Essential functional departments within IOM Electronics are described below:
Human resources- It is one of the essential area of organisation which manages
workforce of companies. It comprises activities like recruiting, hiring, selecting, training,
controlling and guiding employees so that it maximised employees productivity and
performances. In IOM Electronics, human resource department resolves any issues arises
between employees and create harmony in actions of employees (Hijzen and Schwellnus, 2018).
Human resource managers project all employees efforts in direction of achieving organisational
goals. Their responsibilities is to organise activities in ways that optimally utilise all the
resources of company to effectively meet objectives. Workforce of organisation are important
asset of business as they help in increasing financial position of company and in gaining
competitive advantage.
Marketing- In modern business world, it is an essential function of business as it is not
limited to local areas only but also increase global reach. This department is related to
maximising brand awareness and driving the promotional engines of business. It is the process of
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understanding market and its competition so that a company can successfully promote its
products or services. It acts as a face of company which create and coordinate all functions that
represents it. Within IOM Electronics, the marketing department is responsible to create,
develop, explore and serve values to customers by fulfilling their demands. They takes on proper
market research, promotional activities and effectively position products at economical prices.
Finance- It is that unit of organisations which is responsible for procuring and managing
funds of business. Income and expenses of companies are handled as well as controlled by this
department to ensure smooth running of business activities. It also consists of conducting
research on economic conditions in nation which helps businesses to improve their financial and
business strategies (Jackson and Bridgstock, 2018). In context to IOM Electronics, finance
managers adopts and implements various corporate strategies to enhance firm's competitive
position in market and stimulates growth. They also make key decisions like which areas of
business needs more investments and how to handle capital management effectively.
Sales management- It is a process of developing an efficient sales team in company and
coordinate all sales activities through various sales techniques in order to increase sales prospects
of company. Effective sales strategies are important for businesses to maximise their revenues.
The dedicated team is responsible to sale company's products in market and make excellent
customer relations in order to develop a loyal consumer base. In context of IOM Electronics,
sales staff acts as business representatives and form various operational strategies to make
business attractive (Lamamra and Besozzi, 2019). They are the front face of company who have
different set of skills which ensures healthy business progress.
Operations- It is related with administration of business activities in order to develop
highest level of efficiency in organisation. It is associated with transforming material and human
resources into products or services to increase the productivity of firm. This department aims at
maintaining the efficiency of manufacturing process and assists workforce to make better
decisions. Functions of this department is to maintain supply chain management , product
designing, quality control and delivery activities. In IOM electronics, operation managers are
accountable to produce quality products with optimum utilisation of all resources available. They
have the power to maximise production capacity of organisation by effectively handling all the
activities.
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Describe the types of skills needed by employees to be able to work effectively in the functional
areas
In IOM Electronics Ltd, the managers and employees required multiple set of skills to
perform all the activities of these functions. To conduct smooth and systematic working among
all the functions with coordination the employees needs to develop various skills which are as
follows-
Communication skills- It is refers to the ability and talent of employees to share their
massage, information, ideas to the other people effectively so they understand easily and perform
their job role. To convey and receive or understand the information in most simpler way is most
important for every employees to perform their task well and as per the planning. It helps the
HR manager of IOM Electronics Ltd to communicate well with members of their department to
make effective strategy for the working of employees as well as to know about their needs of
training, motivation, problems as well as level of their performance (Mars and Nicod, 2019). It is
most important skills for the members of HRM department to share information related new
employees, training programme and many new policies of company to the member of all
department.
Active listening skills- It refers to the practices of individual related to listening,
observing as well as understanding the massage of other and then utilising it in the performance
for making improvement in their current services. The employees and members of sales
department in IOM Electronics Ltd need to develop this skill to listen the feedbacks and
problems of customers as well as make effective plan to make improvement in their distribution
process to satisfied the needs of customer (Rahmadhani, 2021). Further they can transfer the
information to production department to improve the quality of product and services.
Adaptability skills- It refers to the ability of people to understand the internal and
external change as well as adopt these changes in their working quickly to achieve the goal
efficiently. The members of marketing function in IOM Electronics Ltd must have adaptability
skills to identify the recent market and consumer trends as well as various technology available
in the market for effective marketing. As they have to adopt these changes quickly to promote
their product and service effectively in order to increase customer base, brand value and
profitability of the company.
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Team working skills- It refers to the capability of people to understand the viewpoint of
other in order to work as a team and helps other to achieve the target of whole team. The
members of operation department in IOM Electronics Ltd must have this skills to conduct the
production processes systematically. The workers of this department have to create team work
spirit among their group to improve overall quality of product and services as well as to enhance
the productivity and sales of the company (Sousa and Wilks, 2018). By performing together and
make best coordination among them they achieve the target of the production process on time
which leads to reduction in time, cost and wastage of company.
Analytical skills- It refers to the ability and knowledge of various technical methods,
equations and solutions to perform the complicated task easily. The members of finance
department in IOM Electronics Ltd must have this skills to make effective budget plan for the
company as well as record all the cash and day to day transactions proper by using automation
software. They must have knowledge about various methods, formates and working of financial
statement to prepare the year ending financial report of the company. As to determine various
errors and mistakes in accounts to match the balance sheet of company.
CONCLUSION
From the information presented above, it has been concluded that business involves
various complex activities which can be simplified by dividing them into several functions. By
this method, organisation have been able to achieve maximise productivity as all employees are
assigned with certain tasks only on basis of their skills and expertise. Every functional area need
different set of skills which is important for an employee to adopt in order to successfully
conduct their workings. Skill set may involve communication skills, active learning skills,
leadership skill, time management skill etc. By employing people with these skills, an
organisation can gain competitive advantage in market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Baum, T., 2019. A changing world of work. What can we learn from the service sector about
employing Millennials (and Gen Z)?. Organizational Dynamics.
Hijzen, A. and Schwellnus, C., 2018. Good jobs for all in a changing world of work: The OECD
jobs strategy.
Jackson, D. and Bridgstock, R., 2018. Evidencing student success in the contemporary world-of-
work: Renewing our thinking. Higher Education Research & Development. 37(5).
pp.984-998.
Lamamra, N. and Besozzi, R., 2019. Training in Companies: Educational Practices at the Heart
of the World of Work. Swiss Journal of Sociology. 45(3).
Mars, G. and Nicod, M., 2019. The world of waiters. Routledge.
Rahmadhani, S., 2021, December. Analysis of Vocational Education Needs of the World of
Work During the Covid-19 Pandemic. In 8th International Conference on Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (ICTVET 2021) (pp. 115-120). Atlantis Press.
Sousa, M. J. and Wilks, D., 2018. Sustainable skills for the world of work in the digital
age. Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 35(4). pp.399-405.
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