Functional areas

All businesses need to carry out these functions, but not always in separate departments . A sole trader, for instance will  carry out all the function himself or herself.

Finance deals with money and accounts. It manages the flows of money into,out of and inside the business. This includes:

-setting budgets, paying wages, paying bill etc.

It also keeps al the financial records of the business. It must make sure they are accuarte and available to any official body (e.g. tax authorities) that needs to see them. 

Human resources is in charge of all aspects to do with the people in the business. It hires people, trains them, promotes them if they do well, disiplines them if they break rules and releases them from employment.It deals with bodies such as trade unions and ussues such as employment tribunals. It also responsible for motivation.

Marketing is in charge of three main areas linked to customers:

-It must find out what customers want through market research.

-It must let customers know that products are available and where they can buy them, through advertising.

-It must try to persaude customers to buy the products of the business, through advertising and promotion.

Production is linked to the actual manufacture of a good. Traditionally, it is charge of buying and organising raw materials, buildings, machines and processes, and ensuring that all work together efficiently. It is also responsible for quality. Businesses that sell services will not have a production functional area, but will still have to maintain quality.

Administration provides all the service operations that the business needs, This may include:

• reception
• communication
• filing
• reprographic
• celerical work
• organisation and record keeping (e.g. meetings and diaries)
• cleaning
• security.