Introduction to Business Studies

This document provides an introduction to business studies, focusing on the role of human resource, marketing, and finance functions in an organization. It also discusses collaborative working practices and the role of financial management and reporting in a company.

Introduction to
business studies

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
Evaluate the role of human resource marketing and Finance functions in an organisation......................3
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................4
Create an understanding of collaborative working practices in a company.............................................4
Task 4..........................................................................................................................................................5
Demonstrate knowledge about role of financial management and reporting in a company.....................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Business is determined as a company or any business entity that is engaged in in
commercial professional or industrial practices. A business unit sell their products and services
for the profit or non-profit motive at the potential market place (Andersson, Cuervo-Cazurra and
Nielsen, 2020). Organisation selected for respective report is Unilever that is conducting its
business in consumer goods industry. Its head office is located at London United Kingdom and it
is founded in year 1929. Respective company offer wide Range of products such as beauty and
personal care food and refreshment cleaning products and so on. This report include information
related to rule of different departments in a company as well as it also include knowledge based
on collaborative working activities. Along with this it include role of finance management in an
organisation.
Task 1
Evaluate the role of human resource marketing and Finance functions in an organisation
In an organisation there are a number of functions performed by different departments
such as human resource, Finance, marketing, operational and many others. From all these
departments most essential and common functions are human resource, marketing and Finance.
These all functions perform several roles so that company can attain its desired goal, explanation
of all these functions in respect of Unilever are given below:-
Role of Human Resource function - Human Resource Department plays number of essential role
in the company such as recruitment learning and development performance management and
many others (Dimbleby and Burton, 2020). One of the main role of Human Resource function is
to conduct planning according to the requirement of company, in this HR Manager conduct
evaluation within an organisation so that they can understand requirement of different
departments and employees accordingly which they plan strategies or policies. Another role of
HR function is related to recruitment and selection according to which HR manager conduct
interview and selection process so that they can hire best candidate for the racket position. Along
with this human resource function also do performance management of employee so that they
feel motivated at the workplace and conduct their work in bestway.

Role of finance function - in a company finance function also perform number of roles through
which company manage their financial activities our practices. The main role of financial
function is based on developing budget providing funds according to requirement of different
department do financial management and many others (Ghauri, Grønhaug and Strange, 2020).
One of the main roles of financial function is to plan profit and cost control according to which
financial department conduct activities related to planning of cost control. So that firm can earn
more profit, this function is mainly based on the current activity or position of a company along
with this financial function also do strategic planning and budgeting as they plan budget
accounting to requirement of different departments and help them in taking strategic decisions.
Role of marketing function - the main role of marketing function is to promote products and
services so that it can be reached to potential customers as well as they get encouraged to buy it.
The marketing function mainly conduct market evaluation in order to understand the need to
maintain expectation of customer hoarding to which product and services can be developed. In
addition to this marketing function also advertise or promote the product and services in best and
innovative manner which attract more and more customers at the potential market.
Task 2
Create an understanding of collaborative working practices in a company
Collaboration is considered as situation at which a person or a company work together for
attainment of desire goal and objective as well as it also help in addressing issues. At the
workplace by adopting and implementing collaborative working practices a company able to
deliver its products as well as services in an innovative manner to potential customers
(Juergensen, Guimón and Narula, 2020). There are several ways through which an organization
adopts collaborative working practices at workplace. In respect of Unilever the conduct number
of practices in order to adopt and promote collaborative working environment at the workplace
while this management attend a number of benefits, from which submarine are mentioned
below:-
Enhance productivity - when an organisation adopt collaborative working practices the able to
enhance the productivity of employees which direct leads to increase in productivity as well as
market share of the company. It is so because when all employees conduct their work in

collaborative way the quality of work get enhanced as well as they able to attend their desire
goal.
Achieve desired objective - by adopting and implementing collaborative working activities at the
workplace of Unilever they able to achieve is desired target. It is so because in collaborative
working all the activities or practices are performed in effective way as all employee work
together on the same target (Saiz-Álvarez, Palma-Ruiz and Leitão, 2020). Collaborative working
also helps in getting new ideas which is innovative and creative, as all staff have different
thoughts. In addition to these collaborative working practices within Unilever also help in saving
time as all work are conducted properly as well as in timely manner.
Generation of new ideas - as in a company all employees come from different background
culture believe and so on due to which they are thinking processes also different from each other.
So when an organization adopt collaborative working environment at the workplace employee
from different background suggest different innovative ideas. By which Unilever able to come
up with new ideas that helps them in attaining their desired as well as objective in potential
market place.
These are the some of the main benefit attend by a company when they implement
collaborative working environment or practices at workplace. So when Unilever adopt it they can
achieve their target and goal successfully.
Task 4
Demonstrate knowledge about role of financial management and reporting in a company
Financial or Monetary Management is an indispensable movement in any association. It
is the way toward arranging, putting together, controlling and checking monetary assets so as to
accomplish hierarchical objectives and destinations (Titley and Dolan, 2020). Monetary
Management is an indispensable action in any association. It is the way toward arranging, putting
together, controlling and checking monetary assets so as to accomplish authoritative objectives
and objectives. Financial Management takes monetary choices under three principle
classifications specifically, venture choices, financing choices and profit choices. There are a

number of roles performed by Financial Management and reporting within a company from
which some main are mentioned below in respect of Unilever:-
Capital Management - it is considered as one of the major role perform by financial management
within a company. According to which a company need to do evaluation activities of financial
practices because this will help them in in conducting effective Capital Management. Moreover
for Unilever it is necessary to conduct Capital Management practices in a proper and regular way
is that will help them in developing Action Plan for conducting effective work.
Maintenance of balance sheet and profit and loss account - it is one of another major role played
by financial management in a company. According to which they maintain different kinds of
financial requirement of company as profit and loss account balance sheet account and many
others. In respect of respective company by conducting financial management the able to
maintain balance sheet as well as profit and loss account this will help them in developing
effective decision related to business practices (Watts, Steele and Den Hartog, 2020). In addition
to this it will also help in ensuring that all the activities are conducted in this manner as well as in
decided budget.
Help in development of financial strategies - for every company it is essential to develop
strategies related to finance because by it all the departments are able to conduct their business
activity in proper manner. In context of respective company there financial department do
evaluation of work place that help them and developing strategies related to finance through
which they can enhance their profitability as well as market shares successfully.
These are some of the main role played by finance management with in Unilever as well
as it also helped them in planning for the future budget so that their conduct work accordingly
Conclusion
By evaluating above discussed point it can be concluded that in every company there are
a number of department who perform several work, so that company can attain its desired goal
and objective. These departments are marketing, human resource and Finance these all
department play several and essential role in a company such as help in conducting marketing,
hiring best candidate for company, manage all finance and budget and so on. By these roles of

different functions an organisation able to attain its desired goal and objective successfully.
Along with this it is essential for all departments or function to conduct a work in collaborative
manner because through that they are able to conduct whole practices in proper manner.
Moreover in a company financial management also plays essential role because that help in
managing all the financial activity in effective way. Some of the essential role of financial
management are record balance sheet develop budget conduct financial management activities
and many others.

References
Books and Journals
Andersson, U., Cuervo-Cazurra, A. and Nielsen, B.B., 2020. Explaining interaction effects
within and across levels of analysis. In Research Methods in International
Business (pp. 331-349). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Dimbleby, R. and Burton, G., 2020. More than words: An introduction to communication.
Routledge.
Ghauri, P., Grønhaug, K. and Strange, R., 2020. Research methods in business studies.
Cambridge University Press.
Juergensen, J., Guimón, J. and Narula, R., 2020. European SMEs amidst the COVID-19 crisis:
assessing impact and policy responses. Journal of Industrial and Business
Economics, 47(3), pp.499-510.
Saiz-Álvarez, J.M., Palma-Ruiz, J.M. and Leitão, J., 2020. Introduction to Entrepreneurship and
Family Business Vitality. In Entrepreneurship and Family Business Vitality (pp. 1-5).
Springer, Cham.
Titley, B. and Dolan, C., 2020. Complete Business Studies for Cambridge IGCSE® and O Level.
Oxford University Press-Children.
Watts, L.L., Steele, L.M. and Den Hartog, D.N., 2020. Uncertainty avoidance moderates the
relationship between transformational leadership and innovation: A meta-
analysis. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(1), pp.138-145.