The administration department
Administration
The administration department also known as the services department provides important services for other departments within a business to help them function properly. Different companies have different uses for their administration department, like in a small business an administration department will be used to manage and take responsibility for departments like human resources or finance. In larger companies they require more departments such as marketing thus giving administration more responsibility over more departments in a business. Some examples of the work that the administration department are:
* Clerical work, including filing and keeping records
* Typing and other various secretarial duties
* Organising meetings
* Photocopying
* Designing and producing forms
* Reception and managing telephone calls
* Dealing with queries
* Collecting and distributing mail
* Managing office resources
The services which administration provide usually depends on the size of the business. In addition to the services mentioned above, administration also provides services such as cleaning, security and maintenance.
Activities of the administration department
Clerical services
The main function of the administration department is mainly clerical, which is mainly office work like word processing of letters to organising company mail, the administration department provides these clerical services to other departments in the company in order to help them run more efficiently, some clerical services include:
* Word processing letters or documents, making and taking telephone calls and booking appointments
* Sorting mail, delivering, posting and processing mail
* Organising meetings
* Taking control of the reception area
* Dealing with general inquiries
* Creating, keeping and changing records
Cleaning and maintenance
All businesses need regular cleaning, this is vital especially if hygiene is key to that's businesses specific industry such as leisure centres. Also regular maintenance is vital as well as it could make sure the business is running smoothly especially if that business relies heavily on its facilities or machinery which need regular maintenance checks. Some of the jobs included with cleaning are:
* Keeping the work area clean for employees and possibly customers
* Cleanliness and general maintenance of facilities
* Refurbishing and redecorating the building, inside and out
* Maintaining machinery
Security
Security is also of utmost importance to any company. A business may need to have security possibly due to having either expensive machinery, things of value within the premises or cash, which need to be guarded and watched by security.
Some companies need a certain type of security, like leisure centres require lifeguards. Technology over time has also helped with the ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
* Keeping the work area clean for employees and possibly customers
* Cleanliness and general maintenance of facilities
* Refurbishing and redecorating the building, inside and out
* Maintaining machinery
Security
Security is also of utmost importance to any company. A business may need to have security possibly due to having either expensive machinery, things of value within the premises or cash, which need to be guarded and watched by security.
Some companies need a certain type of security, like leisure centres require lifeguards. Technology over time has also helped with the running of security and helped develop the way it's performed, some of the technological advances which have helped over the years are; mobile phones, CCTV camera's and eye recognition scanners.
Some other duties of security, which they perform, are:
* Signing visitors in and out of the premises safely, and issuing them with visitor ID cards, this is to ensure overall company safety to ensure the safety of employees already on the premises
* Ensuring that intruders or unauthorised people are kept out possibly by using security dogs or a perimeter patrol of the premises
* IT security, such as the protection of internal company servers from hackers and viruses
* In store security, this may not apply to all businesses, security within a business (mostly in retail) to stop shoplifters or just general security duties
IT support
The administration department also provides important IT support for other departments within a company, this means they are processing information for other departments with the help of IT resources available within the company, some of the functions IT within a business can include:
* Spreadsheets to record financial information
* Database processors for customer, employee and company supplier information
* Payroll system to calculate employee wages or salaries
* E-mail to communicate with customers, employees or customers
* Website support
Administration, McDonalds
McDonalds, as one of the largest fast food companies McDonalds, requires vast amounts of administration resources to help it function efficiently and also help other departments within McDonalds to run effectively as well.
Clerical
McDonalds as such doesn't directly offer clerical services, which we can see, but in order for the company to run effectively McDonalds uses clerical services in various ways, from:
* Word processing documents, e.g. annual accounts
* Sorting out company mail, e.g. from people interested in buying into the franchise or general inquiries
* Organising meetings, can possibly be done internally within McDonalds restaurants with staff and managers, but also can be done at a higher level between corporate executives and other organisations
* Creating and keeping records, very important, as this is vital to monitor how the business is doing
Cleaning and maintenance
As with any other business cleanliness is vital, especially as McDonalds is a company, which deals with food and regularly young customers such as young children. As cleaning is so vital to McDonalds some of the tasks staff are required to do are:
* Wash hands regularly to ensure personal hygiene is kept up
* Wear gloves when handling with raw food
* Hourly cleaning around the premises
* Employees with long hair are encouraged to wear hairnets or some sort of hat
* Employees who are ill are suggested to stay off work
* Toilets are cleaned hourly
* All litter must be cleared from the floors
* Regular maintenance duties if needed to the premises
Security
Security as such is not seen as much of a problem with McDonalds as they believe they have a friendlier enough atmosphere to not need it, this they feel gives the customers freedom to feel that they are in a friendly atmosphere and are encouraged to offer that back to the employees of McDonalds. If staff are required to offer security duties such as dealing with trouble makers then they are encouraged to deal with that situation in the appropriate manner either by reporting it to the manager on duty or filing a official report of the incident for later if charges are made.
IT support
McDonalds itself doesn't run hugely on IT support but places where it does rely on IT are:
* Looking after the company website
* An onsite e-mail communication system
* Dealing with inquiries through the company website
* Organising the payroll system through checking in and checking out through a computer
* Also head office may deal with larger issues using IT
Administration,
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury Schweppes is a worldwide confectionary and beverages provider, to ensure that the company is running effectively Cadbury Schweppes must have a large administration department which to help with the running of other departments within it. Some of these functions which administration perform may not always apply throughout the business as Cadbury Schweppes is a worldwide business and different issues affect different parts of the company which it is place within the whole world.
Clerical
Cadbury Schweppes as a company relies heavily on its efficient use of its clerical services to help other departments within the company, some of the functions of the clerical services are:
* Distributing mail to customers, suppliers or company letters to employees
* Organising meetings with employee organisations or workers unions
* Taking general inquiries at they're customer service centre
* Creating, keeping, amending and publishing records
Cleaning and maintenance
Cleaning and maintenance is of the utmost importance to Cadbury Schweppes as it deals with food. Cadbury Schweppes ensures that it tries to keep the highest hygiene standards possible; here are some of the guidelines it tries to set out to make sure this is the case:
* Employees wear the clothing provided by the company when manufacturing their products
* Washing hands regularly after, between and before a shift starts
* Employees who are ill are urged to stay at home to ensure that no products are affected
* Cleaning companies are hired to ensure that the factories are clean after a days work and that it's clean ready for the next day
Security
Security is also important, as this is to ensure the safety of staff most importantly, as Cadbury Schweppes is seen as a peoples brand they offer regular tours of the company, either in its factories or other departments within the company, to ensure that security for this and that security is kept tight Cadbury Schweppes on the whole the security function offers support such as:
* ID cards for visitors
* CCTV system running 24 hours a day
* Onsite security within the premises of the business
* Staff keeping watch to make sure that other staff members are using the machinery safely
* Cadbury Schweppes has hired a company to build it website and also with that they are providing security for it to ensure that hackers don't deface it
* Security fencing around factory premises
* Security posts at the entrances of Cadbury Schweppes' premises to ensure that the right people are being let into the site
IT Support
As a worldwide company Cadbury Schweppes needs to keep in close contact with its various departments throughout the world and keep a close relationship with its huge customer base, IT has given Cadbury Schweppes this by providing:
* Cadbury Schweppes with a website, even though this not created by Cadbury Schweppes it still provides a good source of information for customers
* Databases which records employee information
* E-mail, which allows the company to communicate between customers, employees and company suppliers
* A effective payroll system for employees where they sign in and out to record their working hours
* Word processing information such as, annual reports, company news letter, sending out mail to customers
* Recording data
