Report on HR, Marketing, and Finance Functions at Marks & Spencer

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the business functions within Marks & Spencer, a leading British multinational retailer. It focuses on the roles of Human Resources (HR), Marketing, and Finance departments, highlighting their significance in organizational success. The report examines the HR function's role in employee performance analysis, recruitment, training, and development; the marketing function's role in satisfying customer demands, brand promotion, and pricing strategies; and the finance function's role in organizing financial resources, budgeting, and profit planning. Furthermore, the report explores collaborative working practices between departments, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and communication. It also delves into the role of financial management and reporting, including financial planning, capital management, strategic decision-making, and satisfying stakeholders. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of these functions for long-term sustainability and competitive advantage.

INTRODUCTION TO
BUSINESS STUDIES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Role of HR, Marketing and finance functions within organisation............................................1
Develops understanding of collaborative working practices......................................................2
Knowledge of role of financial management and reporting within organisation........................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Business studies refers to that activity which affect the day to day lives of the people.
Business activity defines to that term which reflects an individual earning by producing the
commodities to gain the high customer base and enhance the profit margin. This will show the
decisions that is taken by the organisation for their survival to a longer period of time. In every
organisation different department can function and all these are very significant for the company
to gain the higher profits and revenues. This report is based on Marks and Spencer that is a
leading British multinational retailer company that deals in clothing, food, financial services.
This report includes role of HR , marketing and Finance functions. It also inculcates the
collaborative working practices and role of financial management and reporting in the
company(Khajeheian, Friedrichsen and Mödinger, 2018).
MAIN BODY
Role of HR, Marketing and finance functions within organisation
In this there are several types of role that a different functions within the organisation can
perform. In case of Marks and Spencer , role of HR, finance and marketing are to be discused
below:
Role of HR
 Analyse the employee performance- The main role of human resource function within
the Marks & Spencer is evaluate the performance of the workers by examine their current
and past information. This gives the productive work by the employees side to the
company that helps in generating higher profits and revenues(Ribeiro-Soriano, 2017).
 Recruiting and selection- The other role of HR manager is to recruit and hire best
suitable applicant for the job role so that working can be done smoothly in Marks and
Spencer. It will increase the profits and revenues by hiring the best candidate. It will
develops the image of the brand within marketplace.
 Training and development- The major role of human resource function is to provide
training and development to their employees as per their skills and capabilities so that
high returns can be enjoyed by the firm in their long term survival. In context of the
Marks and Spencer, human resource function play a significant work to provide the
training and development to their staff members so that working capabilities and skills is
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to be maximised and organisation will gain the long term survival and competitive
advantage within the marketplace.
Role of Marketing
 Satisfying the customer demands- In terms of Marks & Spencer marketing manager can
play a role of fulfilling the customer demands by analysing their needs and wants so that
organisation will gain higher profits and revenue and also enjoy the large loyal customer
base(Likoko and Kini, 2017).
 Promoting the brand- Marketing function is playing a significant role within Marks and
Spencer by promoting the goods and services in market and attracts the large base of
customers so that high amount of profits are to be enjoyed and due to this brand image is
maximised. Promoting the brand is very effective for the company to gain the high
market share and position so that long term survival can be enjoyed by the business
organisation.
 Adapting the right price- The main role of the marketing function is to focus on the
price of the products and services so that large number of customers are to be attracted. In
terms of the Marks and Spencer, marketing function is working properly in terms of
deciding the price effectively that helps in attracting the large number of customers and
gaining the high competitive advantage within the marketplace(Rekarti and Doktoralina,
2017).
Role of Finance function
 Organise the company financial resources- It is a significant role of finance function in
Marks and Spencer in which they can manage all the financial and monetary resources so
that funds can be utilised effectively and company will gain the profitable results. It is
very beneficial for gaining the high market share and revenues. It also helps in gaining
the rival firm advantage so that it will sustain to a longer period of time.
 Developing budget- The another role of finance is to allocate and prepare the budget for
attaining the task to gain high profitable results. By preparing the best financial budget
extra cost is not be included that will impact the profit margin.
 Profit planning- The major role of the finance function is to planning for the profits so
that business can be survived for a longer period of time. In terms of Marks and Spencer,
financial function helps in planing the profits for the business organisation so that they
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can sustain for more time with market position and image. It also helps in gaining the
competitive advantage within the marketplace(Ekpenyong, 2018).
Develops understanding of collaborative working practices
Collaboration defines the process of action that reflects the working within the company
which is to be done within a group for attaining the goals and objectives in a set time period. In
this organisation can developing the team that is based on voluntary workers who are working
for attaining the overall goals related to profit earning and longer sustainability. In terms of
Marks & Spencer, it includes the several understanding related to the collaborative working
practices that can be shown below:
 Collaboration between Human resource and marketing- In context of the Marks and
Spencer, collaboration between the marketing and human resources department is very
effective for doing and attaining the task in effective and smooth manner. In this
marketing department helps the HR department to attracts the new talent for the vacant
jobs so that human resource department can gain the higher results in terms of recruiting
and selecting the applicant. Both these departments helps in gaining the productive
results.
 Collaboration between finance and production department- In terms of Marks and
Spencer, the collaboration between production and finance department is very significant
for gaining the monetary resources and attaining the task by effectively utilisation of
resources. In this department of finance can prepare the budget for production
department so that they can produce the goods and services accordingly and spend the
money according to that so that efficient and proficient results can be gained(Akrout and
Diallo, 2017).
Knowledge of role of financial management and reporting within organisation
Reporting is a term that is very effective for the organisation for enhancing the profits
and revenues. It is used by the business enterprises for forecasting, enhancing the decision
making ability, marketing guide etc. that will enhance performance within the company so that it
will survive for a longer period of time. It is a document that presents the data related to the
specific purpose. Financial management is a significant term that can organise, monitoring and
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controlling the resources for attaining the goals of the firm. In terms of Marks and Spencer role
of financial management and reporting can be shown below:
 Financial planning- The major role of the financial management is planning the
activities related to the finance within the organisation. In context of the Marks and
Spencer, company financial management is highly focused on the use of the available
data for effectiveness understand the needs and requirements of the firm and also the
overall country economy. This will helps the Marks and Spencer manager to prepare a
plans and budgets accordingly so that high profitable results can be enjoyed(Olokundun
and et. al., 2017).
 Capital management- It is the another major role of the financial management within
the company where the financial management can examine the estimate requirement of
capital within the business organisation on a regular basis. In context of the Marks and
Spencer, financial management play a role of managing the capital by taking the decision
related to the source of funding for fulfilling all the capital needs of the company for
gaining high profits and revenues(Durepos, Prasad and Villanueva, 2016).
 Assisting manager in the strategic decision making- In this the major role of the
reporting is to keep all the essential notes and data for fulfilling all the needs of the
business enterprises on the daily basis. In terms of the Marks and Spencer, reporting
department helps the business activities by providing all records related to the working so
that proper strategies can be taken. It helps in enhancing the profits and reducing the
expenses so that working can be maintained effectively and efficiently.
 Satisfy the interested parties- It is an effective role of the reporting management within
the company. In this reporting manager of the Marks and Spencer helps in focus on
satisfying their parties which are majorly impact the organisation. The parties are
shareholders, creditors, customers and also the general public.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that the business study is a prominent term for
gaining the higher profits and revenues so that longer sustainability can be enjoyed. This report
helps in enhancing the knowledge related to the role of finance, marketing and finance so that
company benefits can be enhanced and also it helps in smooth functioning of the work and gain
the competitive advantage within the market place. This term is also significant for maintaining
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the collaboration within the marketplace so that task can be attained effectively and also gaining
the brand image. In this financial management and role of reporting is play a prominent role in
forecasting the budget and also managing the capital so that productive outcomes can be
attained.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akrout, H. and Diallo, M.F., 2017. Fundamental transformations of trust and its drivers: A multi-
stage approach of business-to-business relationships. Industrial Marketing
Management, 66, pp.159-171.
Durepos, G., Prasad, A. and Villanueva, C.E., 2016. How might we study international business
to account for marginalized subjects?. critical perspectives on international business.
Ekpenyong, L.E., 2018. Constructivist approaches: An emerging paradigm for the teaching and
learning of business education. Nigerian Journal of Business Education
(NIGJBED), 3(1), pp.149-158.
Khajeheian, D., Friedrichsen, M. and Mödinger, W., 2018. An introduction to competitiveness in
fast changing business environment. In Competitiveness in emerging markets (pp. 3-11).
Springer, Cham.
Likoko, E. and Kini, J., 2017. Inclusive business—a business approach to development. Current
opinion in environmental sustainability, 24, pp.84-88.
Olokundun and et. al., 2017. Experiential pedagogy and shared vision: a focus on identification
of business opportunities by Nigerian University Students. Journal of Entrepreneurship
Education, 20(2), pp.1-12.
Rekarti, E. and Doktoralina, C.M., 2017. Improving business performance: A proposed model
for SMEs.
Ribeiro-Soriano, D., 2017. Small business and entrepreneurship: their role in economic and
social development.
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