A brief outline of five functional areas of a business

2.  Identify at least five (5) functional areas in
business with confidence.
 State at least two (2) reasons why a company
would organise by functional area.
 Place the description of a functional area in
the selected area.

3. Finance
Research and
development
Human
resources
Marketing
Production
The main
functional
areas

4.  In a small business, these will be done by
individuals
 In a medium/large business, these will be
done by individuals working in functional
areas or departments

5.  All functional
areas must link
together to
achieve the overall
aims and
objectives of the
business.
 This is facilitated
by cooperation
and good
communications
FinanceMarketin
g
Product
ion
R & DHR

6. Includes the legal rights and responsibilities of
employer and employees
Health and
safety
Employee
organisations
and unions
Training,
development and
promotion
Working
conditions
Recruitment, retention
and dismissal
The main
responsibilities of the
human resources
function

7. This is concerned with money and future
plans
This includes:
 Preparing accounts, for example, invoices,
management accounts, financial accounts
for shareholders and Inland Revenue

8.  Preparing wages and salaries
 Obtaining capital and resources, for example
money for expansion or to pay for resources such
as equipment and materials.

9.  Concerned with the main business activities
 Obtains and converts resources( raw materials)
of the business into goods/services
◦ Buildings and land
◦ Equipment
◦ People
◦ Materials

10. This department creates awareness for the firm products and
motivates consumers to buy. They also carry out market
research to identify customer’s needs.
Distribution Promotion
Market research
Activities
include:

11. Activities include:
 Technological developments
 Scientific research
 Design features
 Performance of product
This department is involved with research to explore ways of
improving the company’s existing products, developing new
ones and identifying efficient processes to increase production.