Different Functional Areas of Business and Skills Needed for Effective Performance

This report discusses the different functional areas of business, including human resources, accounting and finance, marketing and advertisement, and information technology. It also explores the skills needed for effective performance in these areas, such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, technical skills, time management skills, planning, and decision-making skills.

Individual Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body...................................................................................................................................................3
Different functional areas of business..........................................................................................................3
Skills needs to present in employees for effectively working in the business functional areas................5
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................7
REFERNCES..............................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Organization plays a great role in ensuring economic growth and success by generating
huge source of employment. There is a lot of business functions performed in a company for
attaining predefined objectives (Chen and Kim, 2016). In addition, there are some business skills
& competencies also need to acquire by business owners for performing different organizational
activities in an efficient manner. The present report is related to business functions and skills
which are need to perform these functions in an efficient manner. It includes various functions
such as Human resource management, accounts & financing, marketing, advertisement and more
which need to perform in an appropriate way for ensuring success of business.
Main Body
Different functional areas of business
In present time, it is not easy to start a business as there are a lot of activities need to
perform for running business effectively. These functions are mentioned below:
Human Resources: It is stated that there are ample of people work in an organization
together for attaining predefined business goals in stipulated period of time. Without availability
of human resources, it is not possible to run business as they are the major resource of company.
So, there is requirement of proper human resource management to manage all HR activities in
best possible way. HR manager recruit, select potential candidates for undertaking different
activities in an efficient way (Christensen, Bartman and Van Bever, 2016). Further, they also
determine compensation, benefits for employees so that they stay with organization for longer
run. Here, human resource managers make sure that they select experience, potential as well as
qualified candidates. Apart from this, they also arrange appropriate training programs for
enhancing overall efficiency of work force. So, human resources is a crucial functional area of
company as employees significantly contribute in success of business.
Accounting and Finance: For each and every activity of company funds are required.
Without funds, it is not possible even to start and run business. So, accounting and finance is
required for proper management of funds within organization. Here, finance manager is

responsible to anticipate requirement of funds and then identified different source to procure
necessary money to run company in an efficient manner. Further, they also keep proper control
over funds available within organization by allocating these funds for different activities as per
requirement. In addition, they also prepare financial statements at the end of each financial year
for analyzing current financial position of organization. By this way, they are able to control cash
inflows & outflows in business and take effective decision for further betterment of company. In
present time, there are various softwares, tools present in market for assisting accounting &
finance managers in their work.
Marketing & Advertisement: In marketing, organization promotes products & services at
wide level with an aim to attract more number of customers. They also prepare attractive
advertisements for retaining existing customers for longer run. Marketing is also regarded as one
of the important business areas which helps in driving revenue & sales for company. By
marketing activities, people get to know about products and services that are being offered by
company which eventually help in inflating present level of sales and profitability. This
department not only promote product but also work for formulating strong brand image of
organization. They prepare strategies to enhance present market share of company for getting
higher competitive edge (Bannered and Mishra, 2017).
Information Technology: In current business world, technology has become an
undividable part of business. Also, in each & every activity of business technologies are used in
an efficient manner. There are different software, tools are used in organizations for maintain
data & information in an efficient manner. In addition, technology is also helpful in bringing
ease in daily operations of company. For this purpose, IT department is responsible to for using
sofwares, hardwares, tools in such a way that bring higher efficiency in business. In addition,
they also provide necessary support so that employees can make effective use of information
technology. Apart from this, they are also responsible for appropriate data management with an
aim to collect, store as well as distribute data to individuals as per requirement.
Skills needs to present in employees for effectively working in the business functional areas
In business, there are several activities need to undertake by individuals to accomplish
desired goals. For this, there is requirement to acquire some skills and competencies for
performing these activities in an efficient manner. These skills are mentioned as under:

Interpersonal Skills: This skill is vital to interact with other person in best possible way.
While working in a company, an individual needs to deal with several internal as well as external
parties (Horne and Lupton, 2019). For this, it is imperative to have effective interpersonal skills.
By this, employees can not only perform assigned task in better manner but also put a great
impression on others. By having effective interpersonal skills an individual can easily progress in
career by performing assigned task in an impressive way. This skill is helpful in building as well
as managing team in an efficient manner.
Communication Skill: In present time, communication skills are imperative for
communicating with others in an efficient manner. In business, individuals need to communicate
at internal level as well as with external parties. For this they are required to have effective
communication skills so that necessary information can be exchanged within business in an
efficient manner. In addition, individuals need to communicate with each other in such a manner
that will reduce down confusion and ambiguity at work place. Whether, individual work at any
position within organization but they need to have proper communication skills for performing
own roles & responsibilities in an impressive way.
Technical skills: Technology is used in business for bringing higher ease and efficiency
in daily operational activities. For this purpose, different softwares, tools, hardwares used by
company so that they can minimize operational cost and enhance overall level of profitability.
Thus, to perform business functional activities, it is vital to have higher technical knowhow in
employees (Block, 2016). By this, they will be able to bring positive results for organization that
will strengthen their position within company. In addition, technical skills are also helpful in
getting as well as sustaining at job in this competitive market place.
Time management skills: This skill refers to managing all the activities in such a manner
that organizational goals can be achieved in timely manner. For this, employees need to have the
ability about time consumption in different activities of business. Here, they need to prepare a
complete schedule as per which they are required to perform different task and functions. There
are different functional areas of organization such as finance, marketing, operations and more.
Time management is required to perform all these activities in timely manner so that company
can achieve its goals & objectives.

Planning: It refers to prepare plans for meeting with future uncertainties in an efficient
manner. It is stated that future is completely uncertain and it can put negative impact over
business so it is vital to make proper plans so that company can deal with future uncertainties in
an effective way (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020). For this, individuals need to have planning
abilities that will help to prepare effective strategies for future growth and success of business.
Whether, they are part of finance, marketing and other department but need to have planning
abilities for successfully performing assigned job roles & responsibilities. Planning is vital in
reduce down future uncertainties thus help to achieve predefined objectives within stipulated
period of time.
Decision making skills: There are a lot of decisions taken in business on regular basis.
An individual needs to analyze a lot of factors before taking business decision. Here, decision
making skills make a person enable to take better decisions that will lead company towards
higher growth & success. This skill is also helpful in taking right decision at right time for
grabbing the opportunities of growth. By taking right decision, employees and managers can also
avoid future risk and uncertainties. So, decision making skill is vital for attaining business goals
& objectives within predefined period of time.

CONCLUSION
Out of above discussion, it is summarized that business ventures are considered
imperative for economic growth & success. It helps in development of whole nation by
generating huge source of employment. Discussion has been carried out about different
functional units of business such as marketing, finance, information technology, human
resources and more. These functions are helpful in attaining organizational goals & objectives. It
is concluded that different skills such as communication, interpersonal, technical and more are
required to present in employees for performing business functions in an efficient manner.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice.
Banerjee, M. and Mishra, M., 2017. Retail supply chain management practices in India: A
business intelligence perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34,
pp.248-259.
Block, P., 2016. The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley & Sons.
Chen, P.C. and Kim, Y.C., 2016. The Strategy Formulation and Change of Foreign Subsidiaries
and Their Functional Units. In US Firms’ Business Competence in the Taiwanese IT
Industry (pp. 81-134). Springer, Cham.
Christensen, C.M., Bartman, T. and Van Bever, D., 2016. The hard truth about business model
innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(1), p.31.
Horne, J.H. and Lupton, T., 2019. The work activities of ‘middle’managers—An exploratory
study. Managerial Work, p.57.