The main activities of the finance function are:
- Record all business transactions
- Measure the financial performance of the business
- Control the finances and cash flow so the business does not go bankrupt
- Take financial decisions by comparing predicted performance with actual performance
Cadbury uses this function to help them budget on developing new products and paying the employees. They record all of the profits and cash flow made; these documents are kept on file. The finance section supplies budgets to other departments within the business. An example of this is to development and research. They do this so that they can then develop or improve existing products to re-vamp them. This will then lead to the company making a higher profit. This will depend on if he product is successful or not. If this section was not around then Cadbury would end up losing track of their financial dealings and would not know where their money was going.
Marketing
The marketing section of Cadbury’s looks after many aspects within the company. Some of these aspects are,
- Marketing research – data collection, (primary and secondary), analysis and presentation
- Customer care and services
- Customer complaints
- Issues about the company
- Sales promotion and advertising
- Prepare sales budgets and forecasts
- Providing support services to sales staff
- Credit clearance and credit control
- Processing orders and preparing quotations and invoices
- Identifying and implementing the market mix
Cadbury carries out market research to identify what the customer needs and what they think of the products this can be done in two ways, primary research – asking customers what they think – questionnaires and surveys. Another way in which you can research is by secondary data this would include using existing information, from newspapers, magazines and books. The marketing section is also responsible for getting the business marketing mix correct. In Cadbury this means they must get the right.
- PRODUCTS- Cadbury adds its logo (a pint and a half of milk) to the package, and adds a certain quality to the chocolate that the other competitors don’t. This brings satisfaction to the customers.
- PRICE- in local areas, most corner shops sell Cadbury chocolate at the same price as competitor e.g. Cadbury flake costs 35p, while a Galaxy ripple bar cost 35p as well.
- PLACE- Cadbury sells its products to shops that deal with beverages and confectionery e.g. corners shops, super markets petrol station, school, pubs etc. These business are usually visited by customers on a daily bases.
- PROMOTION- Cadbury advertises its products on television, Internet, poster’s, newspapers and magazines.
This section within Cadbury helps to find out what the customers want from Cadburys. They find this out from primary and secondary data collection. The reason why Cadbury wants to find out information is because it will help make higher profits. Cadbury marketing section must not promote a product that production will not be able to produce in time. They need to be in close contact with production to make sure that they will be able to make the products in time. If this section was not in the Cadbury’s company then they would not be able to promote offers and new products to the public. They would also not be able to reflect on ideas and suggestions from the general public about their confectionary. These ideas and suggestions could help improve Cadbury’s profits.
Research and development
The research and development department is the department that researches new products and develops the old products. To remain successful, Cadburys must constantly work to create new and better products and processes. The research that they do involves carrying out investigation to come up with new idea, this can be done by carrying out brainstorms, examining competitor’s products, asking the public what they think of existing products and questionnaires. Development involves turning the findings of the research into useful products or processes to help the company. The research and development department must work closely with the marketing and production departments in particular this is because marketing and production are the beginning and end of producing a product.
Cadbury have recently just developed some of their existing products. Cadbury Carmel has now changed to Cadburys Dairy Milk with Carmel. The packaging has also been changed, to foil. The reason why Cadbury has done this could have been to draw the public’s attention to the chocolate bars because the sales have been down on them and to keep the chocolate fresher once opened. The name also fits in with other chocolate bars because there is also a biscuit, mint and bubble version of this chocolate bar e.g. Cadbury Dairy Milk with…
Production
The production department of Cadburys produces the products. The function of production is to change inputs in to outputs. The transformation is taken through by processes, these add value to the output such as materials and Labour so that the finished product can meet customer needs. The output could either be a service or a product. A high level of added value can be achieved if there is, effective labour, minimum wastage and maximum utilisation of equipment. The production team is also responsible for keeping up with demands made from the customers and providing them with the sufficient goods. Other activities that happen in the production department are:
- Maintaining and improving quality
- Maintenance and control of machinery and equipment
- Ensuring adequate stocks of raw materials and finished goods
- Meeting the specific need of customers
- Controlling production methods and planning the scale amount of production
- Controlling costs and working efficiently
The three main things that the production team at Cadbury’s are responsible for are, making the goods and providing the service at a high standard, making the right quantity at the right price at the right time with the right quality and using resources efficiently with out wasting them.
Administration
The Administrational area within Cadbury’s provides a supporting role to the other functions. One of the main purposes of the administrative system in Cadbury’s is to create a working order, which will create a routine to enable them to function smoothly. Cadbury Administrational area checks that all of the office work is completed; they also make sure all the paper work can be accessed easily if necessary and sent to any people that need it. They try to make the business operate as efficiently as possible. The department also controls most external communications. By having an administrational area, it brings the business together, so that they will all work towards the same goals. It may also cover a range of tasks including, sending out letters to people inside and outside of the business clerical work, collecting and distributing mail, keeping records, organising meetings and responding to enquires, cleaning and maintenance also supply security for the premises. The administration function is key because it facilitates the successful production of products and efficiency in the business. Without this function the business wouldn't run properly and nothing would get done.
An Explanation of how the functional areas help Cadbury meet its objectives.
Human Resources
Cadbury’s Human Resources would help them meet their objectives of “Highly motivated staff.” This objective is helped being met; this will then help increase production levels and quality of the products they produce. Another objective that the Human Resources section helps meet is “Working together to create brands people love.” As the employees have been employed because they have a certain standard and are motivated they will be able to work as a team and work together rather than against each other. This will then lead to Cadbury’s “Surviving” as a business because the employees are working together to produce the products at a high standard.
Finance
The Finance section at Cadburys helps meet several objectives at Cadbury’s. These are “Grow earnings per share by 10% each year,” “Increase market share,” and “Cash Flow.” Cadbury’s keeps a close eye on the financial documents within the company. The Finance company has helped reached these objectives by looking after the capital side of the business and supplying money to other functional areas for them to research products. If the finance section lends money to the research and development section and they find a product that they can develop the money that was lent can then be repaid with a profit. If the development is successful.
Marketing
Cadburys is hoping to go in to “Healthcare Products,” so the marketing would be able to do researching to what the general public thinks of this idea and to see if this is a profitable market to go into. This would help Cadbury to achieve ones of its objectives, which is “To be the Number one product in a given market”. They are achieving this objective by marketing their products to the right markets and by achieving this objective it would lead them to achieve another objective, which is to make a “Profit”
Research and Development
By research and development Cadbury can achieve their objective, ‘Growth’. By research and development Cadbury is growing by the department researching and developing ideas they can achieve their objectives. They can then develop new lines of chocolate and other products. Research and Development also helps meet another objective set by Cadbury’s, which is “Branch into healthcare products” Research and development can help met this by finding out what the general public think of this idea and to see if there is a profitable market there, then they can then develop these products.
Production
The production department in Cadburys helps to meet several objectives, which are “Highly motivated staff,” This helps to be achieved by the employees being motivated so that they work hard and produce products at an efficient rate. Another objective that they are meeting is to “Survive” because they need to produce products at a constant rate for them to be able to make a profit and to survive without them going bankrupt (even though Cadburys is making a high profit).
Administration
This section helps Cadburys to meet their “Survival” objective, because this department provides a supporting role to the other functions and with out this function the other function would not be able to perform successfully. Another objective that the administrational function helps meet is “Working together to create brands people love,” They do this by encouraging staff to work towards the same goals which then leads to the business being brought together effectively.
