Functional Areas of a Business - What Does Each Functional Area Do?
Each of the functions of a business has an important part to play in ensuring the business is run properly. The Mind Map and PowerPoint Presentation [279 KB] give you a little more detail about the different things each department is responsible for. Let's assume that we are looking at a medium to large business that has a different department for each function.
Image: Each department has many tasks to do but can you think about what tasks each department might do? Copyright: David Di Biase, stock.xchng
Task 3
Print out the page and cut out each of the statements below. Each of the tasks is carried out by Kettleby Foods, but which functional area does each belong to? Sort the statements into piles for Human Resources, Customer Services, Marketing/Sales, Research and Development, Administration/IT Support, Production/Operations and Finance and Accounts. For example, the first statement, 'Interviewing a member of staff for promotion' would go in the Human Resources pile.
Interviewing a member of staff for promotion
Preparing a report on daily sales figures
Meeting a sales representative from a supplier
Ordering a supply of potatoes
Preparing a report on the health and safety policy
Repairing a faulty piece of equipment on the production line
Chefs testing out a new fast meal idea
Staff packing the finished product into boxes
Planning how many shepherds pies need making next week
Working with a trade union to solve a problem about a member of staff who is consistently late to work
Doing a survey of customers to find out their views of different products
Paying local authority business rates
Ordering supplies of paper for the photocopier in the accounts department
Investigating a new piece of software to monitor quality of pies
Dealing with a complaint from an employee that the production areas are too cold
Arranging the payment of the annual bonus to staff
Stripping down and cleaning production equipment each night
Taking the minutes of a meeting of the senior managers
Sending a fax to a meat supplier in Ireland
Monitoring cars and other vehicles entering the factory site
Planning a different way of producing the range of chicken and broccoli pies
Discussion of prices for the 'Healthy Living' range with Tesco
Dealing with a complaint from Tesco about the quality of cumberland pies
Ordering new sets of overalls for the production workers