Business Functions Analysis: The Body Shop International Ltd. Case

This report provides an analysis of the roles of human resources, marketing, and finance within The Body Shop International Ltd, a UK-based cosmetic company. It delves into the responsibilities of each department, including talent management, compensation, training, market analysis, and financial management. The report highlights the company's recruitment and reward strategies, including the "Open Hiring" initiative and cash reward systems. It also examines financial strategies, such as profit and loss statements and balance sheets, to assess the company's financial health. The report concludes that effective HR strategies are crucial for The Body Shop's success, contributing to employee development, productivity, and overall business growth. Desklib offers a variety of resources, including solved assignments and past papers, to support students studying business and related fields.

Introduction to
Business Studies

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Role of Human resource, Marketing and finance function in the organisation..........................3
Human resource strategy of the Body Shop international Ltd. ................................................5
Finance strategy of the Body Shop international Ltd. ..............................................................6
Comparison.................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals:....................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
A business may bed define as the process of an individual or group of individuals who
are engaged in different commercial, industrial and commercial activities(Yoke and Ngang, 2017) .
The main motive of the business is to earn more and more profit and stand in the market for a
long period of time. The following report is going to cover the information about the role of
human resource, finance and marketing functions in an organisation. This report also covers the
information related to the HR strategies and financial management within the organisation. The
whole report is based in regarding to The Body Shop International Ltd. The company is a UK
base brand, and deals in the exotic cosmetic items. The headquarters of The Body shop is located
in London and the company was founded in March 1967 by Anita Roddick. Afterword, this
report covers that which strategy is suitable for the company.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Role of Human resource, Marketing and finance function in the organisation
Role of Human resource: -
HR department is that division of department who are responsible for managing and
recruiting the employees of an organisation(Chowhan, Pries and Mann, 2017) . Human resource
plays a very important role in the smooth functioning of the business. In context to the Body
shop company, the roles are as follows: -
 Talent management: - the HR team of the organisation responsible for the hiring,
recruiting and supporting the employees of a company in order to increase the retention
rate. They provide the workforce to the different department of the organisation
according to their need and demand.
 Compensation and benefits: - the employees of the Human resource department is also
responsible for handle the rewards and benefits functions of an organisation. The
compensation department is responsible for establishing the compensation structure for
the employees of an organisation and on the other hand the benefits department is deals
with the insurance and health coverage of the employees.

 Training and development: - the HR department is also responsible for developing the
training and development programme for the employees of an organisation. These
programme not only improve the professional and personal skill of the employees but
also improves the productivity of the employees which help in achieving the set
objectives in a very effective manner(Cooke, 2018) .
In context to the Body shop, the human resource team of the company play a very important role
in the success. The HR manager of the company have to regularly focus on the good functioning
of this department so that employees of the organisation always feel safe, satisfied and healthy.
This not only increase the employee’s retention rate but also help in maintaining a good working
environment.
Role of Marketing:
Marketing department is that part of business who are responsible for promoting the
goods and services of the business which ultimately drive up the sales of the company product.
The stability of the company is totally depending on the marketing department(Martin, Javalgi and
Ciravegna, 2020) . In relation to the Body shop company, the roles of marketing department are as
follows: -
 The main role of the marketing department is to identify the need and demand of the
customer and their main goal is to convert the customer into the consumer. They are also
responsible for maintaining the long-term relationship with their customer's and the other
people.
 The marketing department of the organisation is always on the forefront that's why they
are responsible for analysing the market trend. They determine whether the products of
the company achieve success in the market or not.
 In addition to this, the marketing team also coordinate with the other department of the
business and help them in attaining the set corporate goals.
 Beside promoting and increasing the sale of the organisation, the marketing department
also play an important role in developing good or strong corporate image in the market
and in the heart and mind of the consumer(Kusumadewi, 2019) .
 They not only deal with the customer or retailer but also reach to the investor to create a
good and strong image of the company in the mind of stakeholders.

In relation to the Body Shop, the manager of the marketing department is required to focus on
these roles of the department to achieve a successful position in the market. The manager of the
marketing department always has to focus on the different trends of the market, so that they
make the product according to the customer needs. This help them in creating a good image in
the market.
Role of finance: -
Finance department is that part of the company who are responsible for generating the
funds from the different sources available in the market. Along with this they also maintain the
accounts of the company and also responsible for maintaining the reports. In context to the Body
shop company, the roles of finance department are as follows: -
 The employees of the finance department are responsible for recording the daily
transactions of the business which include sales, purchase, payment, receivable and many
more. They also responsible for maintaining the financial statement and filing the return
annually(Abutabenjeh, 2021).
 This department is responsible for managing the organisation cash flows and ensures that
enough fund is available in the organisation in order to meet the day to day expenses
 they also help in giving the information to the company that which project is to be pursue
and which project gives the highest return in future.
In relation to the Body shop, the manager of the finance department is required to focus on the
different sources of generating fund available in the market. This not only help them in
expanding their business all over the globe but also help in smooth functioning of each and every
department of the company.
Human resource strategy of the Body Shop international Ltd.
 Recruitment strategy: - the company recently introduce new method for recruiting the
employees for the organisation. The strategy is called” Open Hiring” according to this
strategy the company gives job to the employee without taking interview, background
check and drug check.
 Training: - the Body Shop use the action learning as a strategy which is a part of people
management essentials (PME) in order to give training to their employee and developing
their training programme. These training not only improves the skills of employees but
also increase their productivity of doing their something (Mulolli and Islami, 2020) .

 Reward strategy: - the company use the cash reward strategies for motivating the
employees of the organisation. These strategies improve the productivity of the
employees and they work hard to achieve all the set objectives of the company.
Finance strategy of the Body Shop international Ltd.
Profit and loss statement: - this may be defined as a statement which comprise the sales, cost and
expenses incurred by the business during a fiscal year. The profit and sales of the company has
been increased by six million British pound 2016 to 2019. In 2019 the revenue of the body shop
company was measured around 805 million British pounds. The total worth of the company has
been measured in 2020 is 884 million euros(Tseng, 2021).
Balance sheet:- this may bed define as a statement which included the assets, liabilities, equity
capital and total debts of the company. The total asset of the company has been measured
35,339.10 million in 2019 .
Comparison
From the above information in relation to the Body Shop Ltd it has been seen that the HR
strategies is very suitable for the company in order to achieve a successful position in the market.
These HR strategies not only help the company in the smooth functioning of all the business
department but also help them to achieve their goals. With the help of these strategies they
provide proper training to their employees which improves the productivity of the employees as
well the company. If the Body shop company applies these strategies in their business then this
improves the whole working of the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that the effective functioning of the different
department of the business not only help the company in achieving all the objectives of the
organisation but also help in achieving a successful position in the market. Different department
of the company has its own roles and responsibilities and all these are working together in order
to attain the set goals of the company. The above report is concluded the role of marketing,
finance and human resource department in relation to the Body Shop international ltd. The report
is also concluded the different Human resource strategies which are used by the Body shop
company in order to the employees and along with this the different financial strategies to grow
and stand in the competitive market. Afterwards it has been concluded that HR strategies

contributes most significantly for the Body Shop international Ltd to grow all over the globe and
achieve a successful position in the market.

REFERENCES:
Books and Journals:
Yoke, T.C. and Ngang, T.K., 2017. A study on soft skill development among final year diploma
in business studies students. MOJEM: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational
Management. 3(2). pp.32-50.
Chowhan, J., Pries, F. and Mann, S., 2017. Persistent innovation and the role of human resource
management practices, work organization, and strategy. Journal of Management &
Organization. 23(3). pp.456-471.
Cooke, F.L., 2018. Concepts, contexts, and mindsets: Putting human resource management
research in perspectives. Human Resource Management Journal. 28(1). pp.1-13.
Martin, S.L., Javalgi, R.R.G. and Ciravegna, L., 2020. Marketing capabilities and international
new venture performance: The mediation role of marketing communication and the
moderation effect of technological turbulence. Journal of Business Research, 107,
pp.25-37.
Kusumadewi, R., 2019. The Role of Marketing and Individual Environment Association in
Elevating the Customer Value. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute-
Journal (BIRCI-Journal). 2(4). pp.451-460.
Abutabenjeh, S., 2021. Strategic management in state government two servants of the same
master: Procurement and finance. International Journal of Public Administration, 44(7),
pp.607-621.
Mulolli, E. and Islami, X., 2020. The competitive role of human resource management strategies
on SMEs in a transitional economy. Mulolli, E., Boskovska, D., & Islami, Xh.(2020).
The competitive role of human resource management strategies on SMEs in a
transitional economy. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current
Research. 8(4). pp.521-529.
Tseng, J., 2021. How do finance companies' advantages affect competitive strategies in short‐and
intermediate‐term loan markets? A theoretical analysis. International Journal of
Finance & Economics .26(3). pp.4295-4302.
(Yoke and Ngang, 2017) (Chowhan, Pries and Mann, 2017) (Cooke, 2018) (Martin, Javalgi and
Ciravegna, 2020) (Kusumadewi, 2019) (Abutabenjeh, 2021) (Mulolli and Islami, 2020) (Tseng,
2021)