Graduate Challenge CW1: Business Functions Report on Marks & Spencer

This report provides an overview of the business functions within Marks & Spencer (M&S), a multinational company. The report examines the roles of marketing, production, finance, and human resources in M&S's operations. The marketing function focuses on promoting products and maintaining brand image. Production is responsible for converting inputs into outputs while adhering to quality standards. The finance department manages funds and allocates budgets. The human resource function focuses on recruiting and developing skilled employees. The report concludes that all business functions are essential for the smooth operation and success of the company, with each function contributing significantly to M&S's growth. The report references several academic sources to support its analysis.

Graduate Challenge
CW 1 Business Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Business involves undertaking commercial activities which results in generating revenues
and profits for the enterprise. In order to perform its activities, the company divide its activities
into different departments for smooth functioning. These functions involve marketing, human
resource, production, finance and many other (Cooper and et. al., 2016). The organisation chosen
for this essay is Marks & Spencer, a multinational company in London which deals in clothing,
food, home products. This essay shall cover the role and importance of the business functions.
MAIN BODY
A business revolves around different functions which carry out the operations of the
business. Marks & Spencer have its management team in each of its business function in order to
sell its products under the brand of M&S. The following are the business functions of the
organisation-
Marketing refers to the process of communicating and promoting the product to the
potential customers. The marketing unit of M&S is entrusted with the role to communicate the
self made and owned products to its customers. It regularly promotes the mission and business to
the people in order to maintain its brand image. The importance of this unit is that it helps in
promoting the awareness of the product which M&S is offering to its customers.
Production refers to process of converting the inputs into outputs. The role of production
unit of M&S is to produce the products according to the quality standards of the company in
order to maintain the trust of people in the organisation (Arora and Hanumante, 2017). The
importance of this unit in M&S is convert the inputs into finished product with the standard
quality of the company through which it can generate profits.
Finance refers to the funds which are used for carrying on the activities of a company.
The finance department of M&S is entrusted with a role of effectively manage the funds of the
company by allocating the sufficient budget to each department in order to work efficiently by
maintaining the brand value of the organisation (Aley, 2017). The importance of this department
is that it helps in grabbing the opportunities to grow the business and work towards creating a
brand image.
Human resource refers to the employees and staff that work hard for the success of the
business. The role of human resource unit in M&S is to appoint the right person at right job who

can take the business forward to new success with its talent and skill. It works on recruiting the
skilled and knowledgeable staff at each department according to the requirement so that business
functions are carried easily and efficiently (Vukanović, 2016). The importance of this unit in
M&S is that it helps in improving the skills of workforce in order to make them efficient through
training and development programs.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it is concluded that all business functions plays a role in smooth
functioning of the business. Business units of M&S plays major role in the success of the
company and contribute equivalently in the growth and success of the company (Aagaard, 2016).
Each have their separate roles and responsibility in order to work efficiently.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aagaard, A., 2016. Sustainable business: Integrating CSR in business and functions. Stylus
Publishing, LLC.
Aley, R., 2017. Managing Business Logic with Functions. In Pro Functional PHP
Programming (pp. 147-163). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Arora, R. and Hanumante, A., 2017. Reinventing HR Functions with the Use of Information
Technology. PARIDNYA-The MIBM Research Journal. 5(1). pp.101-107.
Cooper and et. al., 2016, January. International Practices of SH&E Metrics and Its Alignment
with Business Functions. In ASSE Professional Development Conference and
Exposition. American Society of Safety Engineers.
Vukanović, Z., 2016. Business model research agenda positioning: Conceptual frameworks,
functions, benefits, rationale, dynamics, performance, and economic feasibility.
In Foreign Direct Investment Inflows Into the South East European Media Market (pp.
5-66). Springer, Cham.