in this video we're going to investigate the four key functional areas of a business
each area will be explained and then the roles carried out covered finishing with how apple's
functional areas work together to create and launch the iphone 12.
businesses have several functional areas in order to operate efficiently these are
basically departments that employees are split into to carry out the jobs for this
functional area these departments are called functional areas of the business or business
functions this video is going to cover the four major departments that businesses usually have
the first of the functional areas to be discussed is human resources human resources is exactly as
the name suggests is as it is the function of the business that manages the people in the business
the business businesses human resources one role this function performs is the recruitment and
selection of new employees into the business hr are in charge of this process from posting a job
right through to the initial training of the new employee
a second area the hr department is involved in is training slash safety of current employees
this can mean ensuring fire safety trainings up to date to ensure employees health and safety is
attended to at work but also any training involved in ensuring that that employee can perform their
job effectively finally the overall welfare of an employee is usually handled by the hr department
this may include being a point of contact when disputes occur creating policies or being involved
in promotions and disciplinary modern day hr departments are becoming increasingly involved
in the well-being side of the organization's employees hr departments are crucial in terms of
setting the tone for the culture of the business a hr department centred around the well-being
of employees can have a positive effect on the culture and working environment of the business
hr departments also ensure the business remains compliant with updates in employment legislation
another function of the business is the marketing department the marketing department
is interested in finding out the wants and needs of customers and then promoting the products made
based on this information gathered one of the functions carried out by the marketing department
is market research this is finding out what the customers want from their product or service
this can be done through surveys interviews and focus groups another role the marketing department
covers is advertising it is their job to decide on how and where to advertise and the strategies
slash methods that will reach the businesses target audience finally they are responsible
for the sales and promotion of the product the marketing department success
will often be measured by how much sales have increased due to a certain
advertising campaign or promotion such as a buy one get one free or a promotional offer
a marketing department is important as it keeps the business visible to the consumer
but also keeps them on the pulse of what customers want and need from the businesses products
production the production department is responsible for making the product they
need to ensure it's designed to meet the needs and wants of the customer identified
by the marketing department but also that the quality of the product is to the standard required
this department will inform buyers about the raw materials needed to create the desired product
making sure the materials purchased are of the required quality to satisfy the needs
of the customer once the required materials have been purchased this department will then
create the goods using suitable production methods and distributing finished goods
to retailers or consumers they will make sure that the quality of the goods
are controlled and that all products meet the same standard stock control is also part of this
functional area as they need to produce enough products to sell but also not over produce which
will cause problems such as overcrowding in the warehouse or having to discount outdated products
the production department is important as it drives the efficiency of the business forward
is responsible for the product that the consumer will finally purchase
finally the finance functional area is responsible for managing
the money coming into and going out of the business
they will deal with all the financial matters of the business such as raising finance paying wages
paying suppliers and allocating budgets the finance department is in charge of overseeing
the raising of capital they will apply for loans put proposals together for investors and banks
and make sure the business has enough money to continue investing and trading they will
pay employee wages and suppliers they will aim to do this in the most efficient way possible
and have a good overview of how much money is expected to come into
and out of the business they ensure the business has a healthy cash flow so that the business
can be paid and make payments on time this will also involve them creating financial statements
to report on the financial health of the business based on these financial statements they are
also in charge of allocating budgets to other departments to ensure the financial longevity
of the business for example the three departments we just discussed so hr production and marketing
will be given budgets from the finance department that they need to stick to to ensure progress but
also make sure they don't overspend which will impact the business's finances overall the finance
department is majorly important as they monitor the overall financial health of the business
so it can continue to trade and hopefully become more and more financially stable as they progress
functional areas all four functional areas within a business are required to work together
in order for the business to achieve its aims and objectives each department relies on the others to
enable them to complete their specific functional activities let's have a quick look at a simplified
version of how each department may work together to successfully produce and sell the iphone 12.
it is the responsibility of the human resources department to recruit and select appropriate staff
to work within each of the departments we've mentioned in terms of the iphone 12 they need
to hire people that have the technical ability to help design create and sell
the phone if the hr department fails to do this the other three functional areas will struggle
as they do not have the employees with the skill sets required to do the job next the
finance department needs to set budgets for the iphone 12 project these need to be clear and
allow each department to work on the project without restricting them too much financially
but also not giving them free reign to spend money without thought and putting the business
in financial trouble this will involve setting a budget for the production of the iphone 12 but
also for the marketing of it too in the production side of the business the people hired and trained
via hr will then work on producing the iphone 12 to the budget set by the finance department
this will be made in part to the wants and needs identified by the marketing department when they
have conducted their market research having carried out market research and handing this
to the production team the marketing department now has to advertise and promote the product
the production team has made again using employees trained and hired by the hr department
and to budgets set by the finance department as you can see each functional area is dependent
on the other and when they all work together they can achieve huge success for a business such as
the success of the iphone 12 and previous iphones thanks for watching the video we
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