Introduction to Business Studies

This report provides an introduction to business studies, discussing the role of HR, Marketing, and Finance functions within an organization. It also explores collaborative working practices and the role of financial management and reporting. The case study focuses on Unilever Plc, a UK-based multinational company.

Introduction to
Business Studies

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
Describe the role of HR, Marketing and Finance Functions within organisation..................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................4
Develop an understanding of collaborative working practices..............................................4
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................5
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of financial management and reporting within the
organisation............................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Business studies is a subject with comprises of various elements such as accounting,
marketing, finance, economics etc. that helps the businesses in managing their operations
efficiently (Peng, 2016). It enables the management of the organisation in taking more informed
decisions as with the help of this they can analyse various situation and importance of various
factors that can influence the operations of the company. The objectives of the businesses can be
achieved by analysing various policies and practices of the organisation along with the impact of
various internal and external business factors. In this report the organisation that is taken into
consideration in Unilever Plc which is a UK based multinational company offering a wide
variety of consumer goods. In this report the role of different departments are discussed along
with the collaborative working practices of the organisation. Apart from this the role of financial
management is also discussed.
Task 1
Describe the role of HR, Marketing and Finance Functions within organisation
In an organisation there are various departments who perform different roles so that the common
goal of the organisation can be achieved. All the activities and tasks are allocated as per the
nature of the department which then integrate their efforts towards the common objectives
(Abualoush, 2018). The role of different department of the organisation is given below:
Role of HR
Recruiting and selecting people: The HR department of Unilever enable them in
procuring employees by attracting people and creating pool of talent for them, out of which the
employees are selected by the company as per their needs and the description of the job. With the
specific methods of recruitment and selection the HR manager can ensure capable and competent
staff in the organisation.
Training and development of the employees: Various training and development
sessions are organised by the human resource department with the help of which the employees
can made capable of undertaking and performing various role such as Unilever provided the
computer skills to their employees by providing them trainings with the help of which they can
easily use the computer system for their work.
Role of Marketing

Identifying customer needs: The marketing department of the organisation is
responsible for undertaking the market research with the help of which they can efficiently plan
their operations and marketing strategies. The marketing department of Unilever facilitates them
in determining the needs and wants of the customers with the help of which they plan their
offering and the changes in the features of their products so that they enhance the satisfaction
level of their customers (Ardito and Dangelico, 2018).
Promotional activities: The marketing department identifies various medium from where
they can promote the products and services that they offer to the customers. This enables them in
creating awareness about their products and services. Unilever promote their products through
various social media platform and advertising on televisions, radios, through print media etc.
With the help of various social media platform the marketing department also takes feedbacks of
the customers that facilitate them in analysing their opinions and level of understanding about
their offerings.
Role of finance
Allocation of funds: The finance department are responsible for procuring funds from
different sources and allocating it to different departments of the organisation as per their needs
and requirements such as they allocate funds to the marketing departments for undertaking
various promotional activities and to the production department for converting the raw material
into finished goods etc. In Unilever the finance department analyse the requirement of different
departments and accordingly manages the requirement of the funds by procuring them.
Formation of the Budgeting: The budget is prepared by the finance department of the
company with the help of which they determine the availability of the funds with the company.
This ensures them to plan for the investment and in analysing the requirement of the
procurement of the funds. In the Unilever the finance department manages the expenses of
different department and formulates various budgets with the help of which they can manage the
flow of the funds as well as can manage the investment of the company (Erasmus, 2016).
Task 2
Develop an understanding of collaborative working practices
A collaborative working practice implies that the two or more people work together for
accomplishing a common goal or for achieving a common target. The concept is based upon the

belief that for achieving the objectives it is better to focus upon teamwork rather than on
individual performance. The managers and the leaders within the organisation identifies the
skills and abilities of the people and accordingly develops team with the help of which better
understanding can be develop among them and overall performance can be improved. This is
because they can utilise the capabilities of the employees by providing them cooperation of the
likeminded people with similar abilities and competence. The Unilever focuses upon the
collaborative working practice with the help of which they can better workplace culture is
developed as understanding among all the employees can be ensured which leads to enhanced
ability of the management in taking better decisions (Corredoira and McDermott, 2014). Various
practices that are adopted by the organisation for building a collaborative workforce are given
below:
 The managers and the leaders focuses upon creating a clear and compelling cause that
motivate their employees to work with each other towards common objectives.
 The employees are encouraged to work and team and to bring out various innovative
ideas and to work upon them. With this the employees are motivated and innovations are
incorporated within the organisation.
 For empowering the team, each member of the organisation are asked to share their
strengths as to work with the strengths of every employees the performance can be
improved and the impact of the weakness on their performances can be minimised.
Task 4
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of financial management and reporting within the
organisation
Financial management facilitates an organisation in maintaining various reports that are
related to the financial resources, transactions, performance etc. of the organisation. Such report
facilitates them in planning various activities and taking necessary decisions for the organisation
(Madura, 2020). The financial reporting facilitate the organisation in disclosing the performance
of the organisation for a specific period of time on the basis of which various decisions are taken
by the investors and other stakeholders. The role of financial management and reporting are
given below:

 The accounting team of the finance department post all the transactions and the related
details with the help of which record is maintained for all the transactions. The finance
manager with the help of such records forecast the risk in context of expenses incurred by
the organisation and the sources of income (Finkler, Smith and Calabrese, 2018).
 With the help of financial and reporting management an organisation can efficiently
allocate and utilise their financial resources that facilitates the organisation such as
Unilever in managing their investment and ensuring profitability as well as sustainability
in long run.
 Financial management facilities for companies to manage their working capital with the
help of which the risk of shortage of funds for managing day to day expense and
operations can be mitigated. In Unilever the financial management plays crucial role in
analysing their account receivables and account payables which enables them to manage
their working capital and the flow of funds within the organisation.
 The financial management and reporting leads to formation of various reports and
financial statements with the help of which various decisions are taken by the investors as
such reports are provided to the stakeholders. It is because these reports and financial
statement so prepared reflect the financial position and the performance of the
organisation (Ward and Forker, 2017).
 Financial manager of Unilever has significant amount of authority regarding the use of
financial resources of the organisation and to ensure better utilisation of resources they
analysis the surplus and deficit of the organisation along with the impact of various
factors such as liabilities and debts. This enables them to identify various sources where
investment can be made with which utilisation of financial resources of the organisation
can be ensured.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that it is important for the organisation to analyse the
role of various department so that they can determine the contribution of each department
individually in accomplishing the overall organisational goal. In addition to this various
collaborative working practices are adopted by the organisation that enable them to improve the
performance of the employees and develop better understanding among them which facilitates
them to improve the organisational culture. Also it is concluded that the reports and financial

statement formulated by the finance department are analysed by the stakeholders while decision
making as it reflect the performance and actual position of the organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Abualoush, S.H., and et. al., 2018. The role of employees’ empowerment as an intermediary
variable between knowledge management and information systems on employees’
performance. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems.
Ardito, L. and Dangelico, R.M., 2018. Firm environmental performance under scrutiny: The role
of strategic and organizational orientations. Corporate Social Responsibility and
Environmental Management, 25(4), pp.426-440.
Corredoira, R.A. and McDermott, G.A., 2014. Adaptation, bridging and firm upgrading: How
non-market institutions and MNCs facilitate knowledge recombination in emerging
markets. Journal of International Business Studies. 45(6). pp.699-722.
Erasmus, B., Strydom, J.W. and Rudansky-Kloppers, S. eds., 2016. Introduction to business
management. Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Finkler, S.A., Smith, D.L. and Calabrese, T.D., 2018. Financial management for public, health,
and not-for-profit organizations. CQ Press.
Madura, J., 2020. International financial management. Cengage Learning.
Peng, M.W., 2016. Global business. Cengage learning.
Ward, A.M. and Forker, J., 2017. Financial management effectiveness and board gender
diversity in member-governed, community financial institutions. Journal of business
ethics. 141(2). pp.351-366.