Finance department
Within a finance department, all aspects of financial responsibility and distribution are managed, monitored and reviewed. A finance department will plan out the businesses finances for the coming year, setting each department a budget based on its previous years spending. This department will assess a business’ equity on a whole, if the business falls into a negative equity; they will attempt to sell their liquid assets to fix the situation, as negative equity can lead to the liquidation of a company to save itself from bankruptcy. The financial department will also look at the performance of a business based on the previous year, and compare it with the years before to monitor an increase of sales performance, a businesses liabilities:assests and look ways in which performance can be improved in the next year. This department will also be in charge of taxation, forecasting financial difficulties, working towards cutting out these difficulties. They will produce annual reports that are available to shareholders and in some cases the general public, concerning the financial state and operations of an organisation for the previous financial year.
This department relates to marketing, in that marketing costs businesses money, if it is gotten wrong, it can sometimes be a hefty blow to a business, and the financial department must be prepared to assess the situation, and invest or reject proposals when necessary. A finance department will be the ones that take the blame if a business falls into debt, and even though it could be to the marketing department wasting money on useless marketing, the finance department will take the blame for allowing them the money to market. Also annual budgets will be set to each department, allocating resources for required resources, private contracted businesses etc.
Human Resources
The role of a human resources department is simple, they deal with the humans that affect a business, or have an interest in its performance. They are responsible for the recruitment, retention and motivation of staff. They are also responsible for promotions within the business; this can be pay-rises and the taking on of new roles (promotion to head of department etc.). Although it may seem logical for a finance department to take responsibilities for wages for the staff, this operation is often undertaken by staff in the human resources department, as businesses and employees often like to keep this information confidential.
A human resources department works with the marketing department, in that all the marketing department staff will have been recruited through the recruitment process by the human resources department, they also receive wages and this information is processed by the human resources department. Also, some businesses opt not to have a marketing department, and employ out agencies to undergo marketing for them, it would be the human resources department’s role to liaise with these outside organisations, and manage the money that they require for their services.
Production
A production department, the area of a business, that will produce the end product and get it ready to be sold to suppliers, customers or whomever the business sells their product to. There are many ways in which products can be produced; this can depend vastly on whether the business is targeting niche marketing, or a mass market. A niche market tends to be a very specialised market, in products that are not always appealing to the general consumer. This will be things such as exotic cards, or highly advanced technological products. These products tend to be at high prices because the individuals at whom they are aimed, tend to be extremely interested in such area, and are willing to pay higher prices for the top end products. A mass market is generally the total opposite. Products such as toilet paper, fizzy drinks, and chocolate bars, are aimed at almost everyone as it is this type of product that is used by the general consumer. These products are normally priced at low prices, as they are widely available and consumers tend to buy the cheapest option available. If a business is creating niche market aimed products, they will more than likely use the “job production” method when producing the products. This allows for a high standard of work, as the producer will spend all his time focusing on one product until it is finished, not passing it onto other to pick up from where he left off once he has done his bit. The main advantage of this type of production, is customisation, products that are made individually can be tailored to the needs of the consumer. Taking into account the need for quality when producing niche based products, highly skilled labour must be used to ensure quality of goods. This method of production tends to have high production related costs. When aiming a product at a mass market, production methods such as “batch production” or “flow production” may be used. This helps to increase productivity, and cut costs, allowing the business to make maximal profits on the products. Flow production, or otherwise known as line production or assembly lines, is the process of creating a product at different stages. This was first implemented in a Ford factory, and is used a lot in the automotive industry. This method of production typically using a conveyor belt, along which the products travel stopping at each station. More recently, robotics has played a role in production lines, with the ability to increase productivity using machines, lots of businesses have chosen to lay off staff and take on machinery.
Aspects of quality control will also be undertaken in the production department, this is the process that concerns eradicating products that fall below a certain standard. To prove to consumers that products pass quality testing, the international quality standard ISO 9000 certificate lets consumers know that the quality procedure of a business is adequate of enabling them to constantly deliver quality products to the market. Other methods of quality control are benchmarking and TQM (Total quality management).
Typically in a market orientated business, the marketing department will find out what is wanted by consumers, and pass this information onto the production department, who will then assess the option of putting said products into production. In a product orientated business, the production department will go to the marketing department with their finished product, and the marketing department will then attempt to sell this product to consumers. These two departments also work closely on lengthening the lifecycle of a product. The marketing department can identify weak points in the product, and assess how it may no longer be meeting consumer needs, then the production department, with this information, can attempt to implement product modifications in order in satisfy consumer needs.
