Importance of business functions in organizations
Business organizations have a set of core and secondary functions that help a company to accomplish a particular task and achieve the mission of a business (Kasemsap 2018, p.76). Organizations carry out these routine functions to transform raw materials into finished products that satisfy the needs of clients. Core or business functions are those that produce services and products for customers and generate income for a company. Supporting or secondary functions help an organization to align its primary functions and facilitate the productions of goods and delivery to clients (Olson et al. 2018, p.62). Companies divide these functions into different departments that help to achieve the goals and mission of the business. This paper shall analyze the importance of different business functions of an organization and how they contribute to the accomplishment of long term and short term goals of a company. The business functions or departments of focus in this article are the production, marketing, accounting and finance, human resource management, and research and development. It shall assess the main functions of these departments and how they affect the productivity of an organization.
Roles of business functions in organizations
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Production
The production department of an organization involves all functions involves in the manufacture of products and services for its clients. Activities involved in the production department include product planning and scheduling, control of inventory, supervision and plant control, plant maintenance, and quality management (Kasemsap 2018, p.77). An organization must make sure that the goods and services produced to meet the required standards that satisfy the needs of clients. It also needs to observe the production costs to make sure they can sell products and services at a reasonable price while earning profits for the organization.
Marketing
the marketing department identifies the purchasing trends of clients and determines the best methods of delivering services and products to consumers(Olson et al. 2018, p.63). It studies and advises an organization on the ideal place to sell their products and attain high sales for their products. Marketing also involves creating awareness of products and services through advertisements to attract people to purchase the products of a company.
Accounting and finance
This department keeps records of all financial records and monetary flows involved when carrying out different business functions. It keeps track of all business statements like cash flows, balance sheets, and income statements of a company (Jarvis et al. 2019, p.359). It helps in planning and management of activities by advising the organization on how to spend for different business operations. The finance department also deals with wages and paying salaries, taxes, insurance, power bills, and all expenses involved in the manufacture and delivery of products to clients.
Human resource functions
The human resource department makes sure that an organization has all the employees that it needs to conduct different activities in its operations. It recruits qualified staff to carry out various activities for a company. The department conducts training programs for the team to increase efficiency in service delivery (Kasemsap 2018, p.79). It deals with the needs of the staff by ensuring safe working conditions and attending to grievances concerning their health and employee relations. The department also creates redundancy procedures to make sure that the organization has the adequate staff needed for the company to run effectively.
Research and development
the R&D department of a company assesses the performance of services and products to determine how they can improve their quality. The department conducts a study of product performance in the market and identifying the improvements to make to meet the needs of clients (Olson et al. 2018, p.65). The activities of this business function help to make a product competitive in the market and improve its quality. It depends on feedback from clients to invent and upgrade their products to satisfy the needs of clients while enhancing business continuity.
Conclusion
Business functions help organizations to maintain business continuity and smooth running of operations. Departments like production, marketing, human resource, research and development, and finance must work together to align business activities that will achieve the mission of an organization. A management strategy for a company helps to consolidate the operations of different departments and ease the flow of instructions from the top management to the staff on the ground. When the organization creates an effective management structure for business functions, it teases the management process and gives an organization a competitive advantage in a market.
Bibliography
Kasemsap, K., 2018. Mastering business process management and business intelligence in global business. In Global Business Expansion: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 76-96). IGI Global. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/67dd/8e138d9e8bdd283eea7f76f58572f9e78e4d.pdf.
Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M., and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73. Retrieved from: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/142304/1/IMM%202018.pdf.
Jarvis, L.C., Goodrick, E., and Hudson, B.A., 2019. Where the heart functions best: Reactive–affective conflict and the disruptive work of animal rights organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 62(5), pp.358-387. Retrieved from: http://155.0.32.9:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/82/1/Strategic%20Management.pdf