Session 6

An introduction to business functions

Human resource management (HRM):

is responsible for all the activities concerned with the employment of the
people within a business.
HRM involve a wide, ongoing debate about deferent approaches to the
management of people.
Activities within the function
1Staffing policy and planning;
2Job design and analysis;
3Recruitment and selection;
4Induction and socialization;
5Performance management-job appraisal;
6Motivation;
7Health and safety;
8Industrial relations;
9Training and development;
10- Downsizing , redundancy , dismissal;
Discipline.
Marketing:
the activities that occur between the business and its customers.
It is not just selling and advertising;
It is the process by which companies create value for customers and build
strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in
return
The development of the concept of marketing (Blythe, 2005):
a- Production orientation;
b- Product orientation;
c- Sales orientation;
d- Consumer orientation.
- A more recent development is social marketing, which means that marketers
should take some responsibility the needs of society at large and the
responsibility of their production activities.

Activities within the function

The marketing mix according to (McCarthy, 1960) which called the four Ps of
marketing:
Product: what the customer wants and expects to get.
Place: The product should be available in every place.
Promotion: To make the consumer aware of the existence of a product or
service. It is not just advertising.
Price: The product should always be seen as representing good value for money
(value to customers means the ratio of what they receive benefits to what they
give up costs).
o Booms and Bitner (1981) added another three Ps, to make the 7-Ps
framework:
People: all services are dependant on the people who perform them.
Process: Services are usually carried out with the customer present.
Physical evidence: Almost all services contain some physical evidence.
Accounting and finance:
Responsible for communicating appropriate financial information to internal and
external stakeholders, many of whom will not be financial experts.
Managerial accounting:
is concerned with providing information to managers whom are inside an organisation
and who direct and control its operations.
Activities within the function
The nature and purpose of the accounting and finance activities carried out
within a business fall into two main categories:
1- Management accounting: for internal use:
1- Planning and budgeting.
2- Management, operational control.
3- Performance evaluation.
4- Making decisions about particular activities, tasks and functions.
5- Making decisions about investment and disinvestment.

Financial accounting:
is concerned with providing information to shareholders, creditors, and others
stockholders who are outside an organisation.
Activities within the function
Financial accounting: for external use:
1- External reporting.
2- Provide information for the current and potential investors.
3- Disclosure about stewardship.
4- Disclosure that facilitate public accountability .
5- Encouraging competition by making information available to competitors.
Operations:
The activities that produce the goods and/or deliver the services required by its
customers.
This function is often seen as a transformation process, changing inputs into
outputs.
Operation management objective is making sure that the processes work effectively
and efficiently.
Activities within the function
Operations management activities includes:
1- Forecasting;
2- Design;
3- Capacity planning;
4- Scheduling;
5- Processing;
6- Managing inventories;
7- Assuring quality;
8- Motivating employees; -9- Deciding where to locate facilities;
10- Supply chain management;

Information management (IM):

"the range of processes by which information is handled by individuals and
organisations.
These processes aim to define, collect, process, analyse, present, distribute and
record information. The combined result of these processes is to make the work
of the organisation more effective."

IM is central because:
1IM is a conscious process; it dose not just happen, but should be based on
planning.
2The purpose of IM is to assist in decision making.
3The definition of IM highlights that IM is for the benefit of all levels of a business.

Activities within the function

Both internal and external communication and information systems.
- IM can bring about change in almost all business processes and is critical to much of
the innovation that takes place
- Information and communication technologies can manipulate , analyze, and
transport information in a host of new and creative ways.
- Increasing use of ICT by customers.
- The security of both business and customer information is a major concern.