Graduate Challenge 1: Business Functions and Academic Skills Report

This report, titled "Graduate Challenge 1," delves into the crucial importance of various business functions and the essential academic skills required for undergraduate students. The report highlights the significance of marketing and finance, emphasizing their roles in driving sales, brand awareness, and financial stability within an organization. It also examines the role of human resources in fostering a strong organizational culture through effective performance management, training, and recruitment. Furthermore, the report identifies key academic skills such as practical and research abilities, time management, and prioritization as critical for undergraduate success. The analysis underscores how these skills, when combined with a proactive approach, can significantly contribute to a student's growth and development, preparing them for future academic and professional endeavors. The report concludes by referencing several academic sources to support its findings.

Graduate Challenge
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Table of Contents
LO1 Importance of different business functions ........................................................................2
LO2 Necessary academic skills to be a successful undergraduate student ................................3
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................5
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LO1 Importance of different business functions
Marketing and Finance:
In business there are various functions that unpin the management and workforce.
Marketing and finance play crucial role in business functions. Marketing is ongoing process
which engages customers to the product and firm. Whereas finance refers to a analysing terms
such as debt, capital, money, liabilities etc. Finance is important for business to support operating
activities and functions to run smoothly within the organisation. Marketing and finance both are
base of the entities without which business can't operate in the market. Main motive of business
is to make money and profit (Feng and et. al., 2015). Marketing is the source to profit sales and
revenue and also it assist in brand awareness, promotion as well as advertising. Finance make
business strong by providing funds and assets. Main aim of finance function in entity is to
support firm with enough funds and resources which are required in business. Both functions are
time consuming as well as risky but with proper strategies and frameworks they give a rise in
business and entity.
Marketing and Human Resource:
Business is a broad term and it is important to focus on all the in and out trends and
situations. Marketing and human resource both are required in every phase of business.
Marketing is used by entities to gain profit and money. With assist of marketing firm can
increase sales and product awareness in market as well as in eyes of customers. It is concept
which has different strategies, tools and techniques which are adopted by firm according to
happening of an event or situation. Human resource is also crucial because it reinforces culture
of performance management, training and development, recruiting etc. It assist business to
acquire and search for resources and information which is applicable and required by entities for
their expansion. Thus, both play important role according to their requirement in business.
Human resource are workforce of organisation which provide them with reliable output and
results. Multitasking functions are also performed by human resource (Cummings and et. al.,
2014).
LO2 Necessary academic skills to be a successful undergraduate student
Skills are crucial in academics as they reflects ability and capability of particular
individual to perform a task. In context to academics, skills and knowledge are important and
which has to be taken as tool by students to become successful in future. Two important types of
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skills are practical and research skills. Practical skills are those in which human interaction and
involvement is present. Where as research skills are those in which intensive and broad research
is required about a particular topic. Both these skills has deep impact on students growth and
development. In Academics, other than practical and research skill there are other skills which is
important for students such as time management, concentration, prioritization etc. It depends on
students attributes and behaviour to adopt which type of skills (Shields and et. al., 2015).
Undergraduate students are at learning process thus they have ability to acquire and change
themselves into a valuable asset.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Feng, H. and et. al., 2015. Marketing department power and firm performance. Journal of
Marketing, 79(5), pp.1-20.
Cummings, T. G. and et. al., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage learning.
Shields, J., and et. al., 2015. Managing employee performance & reward: Concepts, practices,
strategies. Cambridge University Press.
Wolff, B.G., and et. al., 2014. Student performance at a community college: Mode of delivery,
employment, and academic skills as predictors of success. Journal of Online Learning
and Teaching, 10(2).
Stelnicki, A. M and et. al., 2015. Who Is the Successful University Student? An Analysis of
Personal Resources. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45(2), pp.214-228.
Benson, V., Morgan, S. and Filippaios, F., 2014. Social career management: Social media and
employability skills gap. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, pp.519-525.
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