Introduction to how business works?
Introduction to how business works?
In this project I will investigate how a business works, my project will cover the following areas:
Aims and objectives
Functional Areas
Equal opportunities
Organisational structures
Communication
Customer services
For this project I will be focusing on one particular business, this is Philip Markham Ltd. It is a family run business supplying classic menswear since 1900.
The company has 20,000 private customers that order directly from the company and the company also supplies its goods to department stores and exclusive menswear retailers across the country. All business customers have private accounts with the company.
The main activities of Philip Markham are to make high quality clothing, and to sell clothing to its customers.
Aims and Objectives
What is an aim?
An aim is a long-term goal. All businesses have these targets to help them develop and progress.
What is an objective?
An objective is part of an aim that has been broken down into smaller steps. This makes the aim easier to achieve and can measure how near the business is to achieving this aim.
An Aim
Objectives
The purpose of aims and objectives
The purpose of aims and objectives is to provide the business with an overall goal to reach; the objectives break down the aims into easier, shorter-term, targets for the company to reach. All departments should work to reach these aims, as they are vital to the success of the business.
Business aims
All businesses have aims, here are some of the most used ones:
Make a profit
Provide goods or services to the community
Provide goods or services to the wider community
Survive as a business
Expand
Maximise sales
Improve quality
Provide a highly competitive service
Provide a charitable or voluntary service
Be environmentally friendly
All targets should be SMART
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Agreed/achievable
R = Realistic
T = Time constrained
These are the aims of Philip Markham:
To make a profit
To sell clothing at a fair, competitive prices
To provide a rapid and responsive service to all its customers
Objectives of these aims
To make a profit- increase and maximise sales.
To sell clothing at a fair, competitive prices- Sell more products to reduce prices
To provide a rapid and responsive service to all it's customers- Employ enough staff to respond quickly, train staff to deal with unhappy customers
Links between the activity and the aims and objectives
One of the activities is to sell clothing to its customers and one of the aims is to make a profit. They are linked because selling clothing will make money, resulting in a profit.
Functional Areas
All businesses have a purpose and so do the people who work there. Those purposes usually fall into five main areas:
Finance
Production
Marketing and Sales
Administration
Human Resources
The above areas make up the five main functional areas of any business. Each function operates to support all the other functions and contributes to the aims and objectives to the business concerned.
The interaction of one area with another is important in order for the business to be effective. For the business to be efficient the links between areas should be close and smooth running. It is to be remembered that the work of one area often depends upon and overlaps with the work of other areas.
Philip Markham only has four functional areas Human resources and administration are put together.
Finance
Finance keeps track of all money going in and out of the business. This writing from
Activities
These are the activities that finance is responsible for db.
· Prepare accounts
· Pay wages
· Budgeting;
· Giving information.
· Controlling debt levels
Preparing accounts.
In this activity the finance department performs a range of activities related to the checking and recording of all amounts received and paid. These are entered into individual accounts of the customers. dc.
Pay Wages
This involves totalling employees wages and bonuses, working all deductions such as tax and insurance. Then working out the N.E.T pay, which they take home.
Budgeting.
This is allocating different areas a maximum amount of money they can spend in a year. Then keeping track of how much they are spending. This is important, so the company doesn't spend too much money. .
Giving information
Another of finance's jobs is to give up to date information to Jack Markham and the directors on different money matters, such as: Income, expenditure, profits and bank balances.
Controlling debt levels Marx denied kelvin007's realism theory.
This is making sure that customers keep up to date with the money that they owe to the company within their credit level. Also finance set credit levels for new customers and adjust levels for clients who haven't kept up with the money they owe.
Job Examples de.
Financial manager: Overseas that all jobs are completed properly
Accounts staff: Keep track of transactions within the accounts.
Interaction
Finance controls all money matters within the business, so it is important to be in close contact with other areas. Finance supplies updated information to directors.!
Contribution
Finance helps provide a bigger profit by budgeting spending. This will make more money.;
Production
Production is responsible for the making of the products
Activities
Activities in production include:
· Cutting
· Tagging
· Finishers
· Packing
Cutting
The big roles of fabric are cut into shape using giant cutters. This is done on giant cutting tables by the stores.
Tagging
The shirts are clipped with a red or a blue coloured tag. The clothes with the red tags are customised orders. The clothes with the blue tags are standard.
Finishers
The finishers add all the finishing touches, such as the buttons and the labels. There are also separate finishers that carry out instructions on the red ticket items.
Packing
The packing department is now uses machines to help fold the shirts. After this the shirts are boxed and affixed with the right paperwork and are ready to be delivered..
Job Examples Weber enveloped kelvin007's functionalism idea.
Purchasing manager: is responsible for purchasing materials
Despatch Manager: is responsible for preparing products for delivery.
Interaction
Production is linked with other areas because it creates the product of the company. If it did not exist then no profit would be made.
Contribution
Production makes the biggest source of income for the company, the garments, all the other areas rely on the money production is expected to make.
Marketing and Sales
Marketing and sales carry out a range of activities to find out what the customers' need/want and then give it to them.
Activities
The activities in marketing and sales include::
· Publications
· Advertising
· Refunding:
Publications
Philip Markham produces two catalogues, the mail order catalogue and the trade catalogue. The mail order catalogue is sent to the customers with regular mailshots to encourage them to buy. The trade customers are contacted regularly by telephone.
Advertising
Marketing and sales places adverts in several publications. The mail order is promoted through several quality newspaper supplements and two women's magazines. They try to aim their advertisements at the typical Philip Markham customer. The advertisements aren't designed in Marketing and Sales; they are produced by an agency that works closely alongside them.
Refunding the company offers a refund policy if the customer is not happy with the goods they receive. The customer returns the goods and a full refund is given.
Job examples:
Sales and advertising manager: Responsible for the achievement of sales targets and in charge of advertising campaigns
Order clerks: are responsible for the process of sales orders
Interaction
Marketing and sales has to work closely with production when they come to promote the product. Also links with finance are essential, as advertising cannot exceed the budget.
Contribution
Marketing and sales helps contribute to the aims and objectives by promoting the clothing, which will increase sales and taking the order off the customers.
Human Resources/Administration
Human resources are concerned with the employees that work for the organisation. Administration is concerned with the day-to-day efficiency of the company. Dc;
Activities
Activities include:
· Recruitment and dismissal of staff
· Health and safety
· Employee organisations and trade unions
Clerical work
Security
Recruitment and dismissal
The human resources department employs new staff. It is important they get the right person. Recruitment goes through several stages- advertising, applications, short listing, interviews and selection. Dismissal is also human resources job; it is usually the last resort after disciplinary procedures...
Health and safety
The law requires all companies to conform to health and safety legislation, it must be checked that the working areas are safe and hazard free to prevent any injuries. Checks are made to ensure that the grounds continue to be safe.
Trade unions
Information is provided to staff about employee organisations and trade unions. They are voluntary organisations and the individual employee can choose whether or not to join.
Clerical Work
This is the general running of the company, some of the tasks included under this heading could be: mail handling, organising meetings, record keeping, document production and responding to enquires. It is vital that these tasks are completed otherwise that company will not run as effectively and efficiently.
Security
Philip Markham employs its own security staffs that are responsible for patrolling the premises and reporting any security risks and contacting the local police where necessary.
Job examples
Security officer- responsible for monitoring and maintaining security to the required standard
Recruitment and training manager- responsible for the recruitment and selection of staff and the training and staff development.
Interaction
Administration provides support services for all the other functional areas.
Human resources recruits and looks after the staff that work in all the other functional areas
Contribution
Human resources/Administration helps the company achieve its aims and objectives by looking after the staff so they can work hard to achieve the goals.
Equal Opportunities
Equal opportunities ensure that employers treat their staff equally and fairly. 8hlzBS
These are employee's rights and responsibilities:
Rights
Responsibly
To be provided with safe working conditions
To be ready and willing to work
To receive written particulars of employment within two months of starting work
To be given a personal service
To be paid a fair wage or salary in return for being ready to work:
To be reasonably competent
To be provided with information concerning rights
To take reasonably care of employers property
In some cases, to be provided with work
To carry out reasonable and lawful instructions
To have any grievances properly dealt with
To act in good faith
Not to be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race or disability ca.
To comply with the express terms of contract
To be allowed to choose whether or not to join a trade union.
To comply with health and safety procedures
To be consulted over matters which will significantly affect terms and conditions of employment
To work towards the objectives of the organisation
To be treated reasonably
To behave responsibly towards other employees
The law backs up equal opportunities. These are the four main acts: The Employment Rights Act 1996
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Race Relations Act 1976
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Employment Rights Act 1996
This act is about the main rights of employees, it states:
Employees must receive written details of their employment terms at least two months before starting work
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This is a preview of the whole essay
To work towards the objectives of the organisation
To be treated reasonably
To behave responsibly towards other employees
The law backs up equal opportunities. These are the four main acts: The Employment Rights Act 1996
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Race Relations Act 1976
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Employment Rights Act 1996
This act is about the main rights of employees, it states:
Employees must receive written details of their employment terms at least two months before starting work
Employees are allowed an itemised pay-slip
Employees can get out of working on a Sunday
Female employees are entitled to maternity leave
Employees are allowed time of work for jury service
Medical leave is to be paid for 26 weeks
Employees have a right to a minimum period of notice (1 to 12 weeks)
Employees dismissed through redundancy have the right to a redundancy pay
Example
A man received over £5,000 after he was dismissed after taking 40 days off work with a serious medical condition.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
This act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against because of his or her gender in:
Recruitment
Selection of Jobs
Promotion
Training
This act is mainly used by women against men.
Example
A large engineering company paid a female employee £10,000 less than a male employee who was doing the exact same job. She received a large amount of money, more than the money she had lost, so it would have been cheaper for the firm to pay the women the same amount as the male employee.
The Race Relations Act 1976
This act makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against someone due to their:
Skin colour
Race
Nationality
Ethnic Origin
This is mainly used by coloured people against white people.
Example is;
A coloured man was awarded money after he applied for a job and was rejected after a face-to-face interview. He was better qualified than the other interviewees were.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (applies to businesses over 15 people)
This act is concerned with people with disabilities; the disability may be physical, sensory or metal. Employers must:
Treat a disabled person the same as other employees
Make adjustments to the workplace, if necessary, to make it easier for the disabled person to work there
Example
Tom McLauchlan was dismissed after he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He was awarded £79,708.
Communication
Communication Methods
Communication is how one party interacts with each other.
There are two main forms of communication and these are verbal and non-verbal.
Verbal
Non-Verbal
Telephone
One to one conversation.
Video Conferencing
Two way radio
Audio tape (talking books)
Public Address Marx oppressed kelvin007's realism idea.
Group discussion
Debate Radio
Television
E-mail Newspapers
Books
Magazines ca.
Websites.
Pictures
Painting
Fax Machine
Letters
Brochure
Leaflets:
Memos
Communication in Philip Markham in Philip Markham every Monday morning there is a meeting between Jack Markham (Managing Director) and his board of directors. Each director holds a meekly briefing with his/her staff to update them on the latest developments. They are to keep people informed.
Production and Sales/Marketing have a meeting every Wednesday morning about sales and production targets. Marx refuted kelvin007's rationalisation hypothesis.
Internal communications are usually by memo, e-mail and telephone. All senior staff has pagers so do people who are regularly away from their desks and need to be contacted.
In Human Resources there is a notice board, which contains information that staff may need. Staffs all have an annual appraisal interview with their own line manager. As well as this face-to-face conversations are held within departments on staff performance and progress.
External communications are also important; these are made using letter, fax and telephone. Senior sales staff visits business customers in arranged meetings outside the site, so does Jack Markham. Private customers are sent regular mail by sales and marketing. Confirmation letters are sent to complaints.
These are the different forms of communication used in Philip Markham and what they are used for:
Meeting
Memoranda
Electronic mail
Telephone
Pager
Notice board
Letter
· Fax
Meeting
This is a formal face-to-face way of communication usually used to discuss business matters. It is used in Philip Markham by the directors to update each other with what is going on in the business.
Memoranda (Memo)
A common way of communicating in organisations, usually in brief messages. It is used in Philip Markham to get a message to members of staff. It is effective because it is a written record and it can be read at the recipient's leisure.
Electronic Mail (e-mail)
Is used to send and receive messages electronically through a computer. It is used in Philip Markham to pass messages between staff. The advantages are that it is free and it is instantaneous.
Telephone
A common form of two-way verbal communication, speech is sent down a telephone line and to the other person's telephone. It is used both internally and externally in Philip Markham to contact both staff and customers. It is used because you can express emphasise, meaning and attitude and immediate feedback is possible.
Pager
Text is sent to a mobile device. Is used in Philip Markham by staff that is away from their desks often and need to be contacted. An advantage of using pagers is that you do not need to know where somebody is to contact them.
Notice board
A board or area where messages can be posted and they read by other members of staff. The notice board in Philip Markham is in the human resources area and all staff read the messages. This method is used because all staff sees the notices and can do in their own time.
Letter
A form of written communication that can be sent from one person to another person or can be a blanket letter, which is sent out to a number of people. It is used externally in Philip Markham to contact customers. It is used because it is formal and is a permanent record.
Fax
Faxing other people is like writing but the letter is scanned electronically passed along a telephone line, at the other end the letter is printed off. It is used in Philip Markham to contact customers and suppliers because it is quick and can be retained for further reference...
How the communication will help the business achieve its aims and objectives
One of Philip Markham's aims is to provide a rapid and responsive service to all its customers. Good communications will help achieve this aim, as the staffs needs to contact the customers about orders and complaints. Foucault theorised kelvin007's structuralism hypothesis.
Organisational structure
All Businesses have lots of different things they have to do. No matter what the size, businesses have to order stocks, keep the books up to date, make and/or sell products and deal with all the paperwork. In a small business one person may do all of the tasks. Whereas in a large business tasks would be shared out. In order to be efficient there is a need for organisation. The one-person business must organise by time, but larger businesses, more often, organise by department.
There are three types of structure:
Hierarchical
Flat
Matrix
Hierarchical Structure
Philip Markham's follows the hierarchical structure (also known as the pyramid structure). This is a taller structure with several tiers underneath. The highest position is at the top and the lowest at the bottom. At the top are the managing directors and at the bottom the workers. This business uses a hierarchical structure because it is a big business with several levels of management. This
The Hierarchical Structure E
Flat
This is another type of organisational structure. It is a wide structure that only has a few levels. There is still a structure from top to bottom but the layers of management in between are smaller.
Businesses with a flat structure tend to be relatively small and have good communications. However they find it hard to keep a flat structure as they expand and job roles can be indistinct...
The Flat Structure
Matrix
Matrix is an alternative structure that tends to be project, or job based. IT has support services, which interconnect with the different projects. They tend to be those that specialise in one-off jobs e.g. civil engineers.
On the next page is a copy of Philip Markham's organisational structure; it's in the hierarchical shape.
Differences between Philip Markham's hierarchical structure and the flat structure: Heidegge
· The hierarchical structure is taller than the flat structure and has more levels.
· The hierarchical structure has several levels of managers, the flat will usually only has one.
· The flat structure is usually used by smaller businesses than the hierarchical. · The flat structure has better communications because of less levels, in the hierarchical structure messages have to pass through more people to reach the bottom so they may become distorted.
Strengths of Philip Markham's structure ·Each member of staff has a clear job role
· There are more promotional prospects
· There is a large number of staff that can fill in for each other through illness etc. Austen denied realism .
· A human resources function that will guide staff
Weaknesses of Philip Markham's structure
· Tendency to departments to become isolated from the others
· Not much communication from staff at bottom on managers at top
· Slow decision-making because so many people have to be consulted
For the business to continue to be successful it will need to work on the weaknesses of its structure so it will need to:
· Work on links between departments Heidegger oppressed kelvin007's structuralism theory.
· Provide good communications between levels Foucault theorised kelvin007's realism theory.
· Speed up process of decision-making to react to changes and challenges
If the weaknesses are not worked on the business may loose efficiency, resulting in the response time to customers rising. One of the aims is to provide a rapid and responsive service to all its customers; this will not be achieved. Also because of the response time raising some customers may turn elsewhere, this loss of sales will lose profit. Making a profit is also an aim.
Customer Service
Customer service is that standard that customers expect from the business. In each individual business customers expect different things.
In Philips Markham the customers may expect some of the following: bd.
High Quality Clothing
Helpful Staff
Fair and competitive prices
Range of styles and sizes
Delivery within 7 days
"No quibble" refunding
In the past customers expected the company to withhold their good reputation. They expected clothing to be of an excellent quality.
At the moment customers expect the company to withhold their good reputation for high quality and affordable menswear.
The business could improve by:
· Checking orders for right goods
· Always deliver on time
· Better staff training so they can handle a wider variety of customers
· Range of delivery times and weekends
· Clearer legal rights
This will benefit the company by:
· Happier customers that will return
· Better reputation
On the following pages are my PowerPoint Presentation slides with my speech.
INVESTIGATING HOW BUSINESS WORKS
PHILIP MARKHAM LTD
GNVQ BUSINESS STUDIES INTERMEDIATE UNIT 1
Philip Markham Ltd is a family firm. It is traditional manufacturers of classic men swear and produces a wide range of exclusive shirts and ties. It also sells a more limited range of trousers, jackets, overcoats and sweaters. Only shirts and ties are manufactured in the factory in Marlington. Other items are obtained by placing orders with specialist manufacturers.
Philip Markham aims to manufacture and sell high quality men's clothing at fair, competitive prices and to all its customers.
Objectives are to use high quality fabric for the shirts and customers can select which style of sleeve of collar they prefer, which type of sleeve fastening and even the length of the sleeve.
The four functional areas I will be looking at are: -
Resources and IT
Finance
Production
Human Resources
Resources and IT
The company operates from a large factory, which was purchased by Philip Markham in the 1920s. Jack's father, the great grandson of Philip Markham refurbished it in the 1970s and the offices are quite spacious and pleasant.
The company first introduced computers in the 1980s. Kim Fields was appointed in 1992 and the company now has a small-networked computer system. Computers are used for:
Recording purchases and sales
Preparing financial and management accounts
Recording payroll information and calculating salaries and wages each month
Recording orders received from mail order customers analysing these
Keeping a database of all personnel employed by the company
Preparing letters and memos
Sending e-mails between departments.
At the time the IT facilities were introduced it has been planned to locate them within the finance function. Finally, however, it was decided that it should be linked to Administration, as it involved all areas of the business. Foucault theorised kelvin007's rationalisation hypothesis.
Marsha Webb is currently investigating how IT could help her to monitor manufacturing levels more easily.
Finance
The ten staff that works in finance are very important to the success of the company's Philip Markham. Above all they make sure that they receive the money they are owed, they pay employee bills - and you receive your salary each month. They also make sure that each department does not spend more than it has been allocated. Each department has a budget, which is monitored by its administrator and director - as well as by finance - which can give up-to-date information on the level of expenditure at any time.
Finance also has the task of preparing all the accounts each year so that they comply with their legal responsibilities to the Inland Revenue.
Pete Martin, however, undertakes number-crunching activities on a far more regular basis. He is their management accountant and his responsible for checking that their production levels and sales are on target. He advises all the directors about the current financial health of the company on a weekly basis. Weber enveloped kelvin007's realism theory.
Typical job title
Function and responsibilities
Financial director
Giving advice to senior managers on the overall financial policy of the organisation. Overseeing the company budget. In charge of all the finance function in the organisation.
Financial manager
Managing the finance function and staff. Advising on financial resources.
Chief accountant
Overseeing the preparation of the final accounts of the organisation.
Management accountant
Producing continuous financial information for management.
Credit controller
Advising on credit policies. Ensuring that money owing to company is kept within agreed levels. This coursework from
Chief cashier
Responsible for the receipt, safe keeping, banking and accounting of all cash received.
Payroll administrator
Responsible for overseeing the company payroll and salary/wage section.
Wages clerks
Assist the payroll administrator in the production of salary and wage details.
Ledger clerks:
Assist the chief accountant in the recording of all financial transaction.
Credit control clerks S8lZia
Assist the credit controller in checking the credit status of new customers and existing accounts. Reminding customers of overdue payments.
Production
In the induction programme Philip Markham show people who visit their Production area and show them all the different operations that are carried out.
The layout of the area has been designed to maximise the flow of materials when they are producing shirts, from cutting to finishing. After shirt material has been cut it is clipped with either a blue ticket - for standard shirts - or a red ticket, for customised shirts. Blue ticket items are passed to the machinists who carry out all the main sewing operations. Red ticket items go to a different group of machinists who also carry out the alterations required. The finishers are responsible for adding all the finishing touches - from the buttons to the label - and they will also carry out any special finishing instructions noted on red ticketed items. Quality control is very importance at Philip Markham and each team - cutters, machinists and finishers - is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process.
Then the shirts and ties pass to the packing department, which is part of despatch. Shirts used to have to be folded by hand. But now this has been partially mechanised and is much quicker. The shirts are boxed and labelled - it is at this stage that the goods have to be linked to the correct paper work and the dispatchers ensure that each box includes the correct delivery note and advise note for the haulier. Philip Markham subcontracts the delivery of its goods. This works out cheaper than keeping a fleet of vehicles and maintaining them.
Also parts of Production are the purchasing staff and the designers. Purchasing is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all of their raw materials are delivered on time. How much to stock, what to stock and for how long are critical decisions. They only have limited storage place and keeping too much cloth in stock is expensive - so they need to maintain good relationships with reliable suppliers.
Their designers are also part of the production team. They have a keen eye on fashion and aim to produce new designs each year. This also means choosing new fabrics and new designs, which will appeal to Philip Markham customers. The design team is busy all year and works at least six months ahead - so that the new ranges can be include in their catalogues which are produced each January (for spring and summer wear) and July (for autumn and winter). Design links very closely with Sales and Marketing as we try to incorporate customer feedback and suggestions into their new designs.
Typical job title
Job role
Production director
Responsible for the entire production function and its operations.
Operations or Works manager
Responsible for the production of all goods as scheduled and to the quality required.;
Purchasing manager
Responsible for the acquisition of raw materials.
Chief engineer
Responsible for all maintenance staff and for scheduling equipment maintenance and recommending modifications.
Chief designer
Responsible for the design team and the design of the finished products.
Production planners
Plan all production to maximise machine use and staffing, taking account of customer requirements.
Production controllers
Check production is going to schedule.
Quality controllers
Check quality is to the required standard.
Buyers/order clerks
Buy the raw materials required for production.
Stores staff
Store and monitor stocks of all raw materials and components and issue these as required.
Draughtsmen
Responsible for the technical design of manufactured equipment.
Foremen
Supervise the maintenance staff and factory operatives.
Despatch clerks
Responsible for the despatching the finished goods.
Designers
Responsible for the actual design of the product.
Engineers
Responsible for carrying out equipment maintenance.
Factory operatives
Undertake the production and assembly of manufactured items by machine or by hand.
Human Resources
Philip Markham would not be successful if it did not have the commitment of its entire staff. In Human resources they focus on the needs of all the staff and try to do all they can to help to recruit the best people they can - and look after them whilst they work there. These are the most important functions of this department.
Their legal experts are Mark butler (for employment law) and Kate Parks (for health and safety). The company operates an equal opportunities policy and aims to treat all its employees fairly and equally in all aspects relating to their employment.
Administration at Philip Markham is carried within each department, but in HR/admin they coordinate central services, such as the switchboard, reception, mail room, security, cleaning and building maintenance and last - but by no means least - the staff canteen. Janet Gregory and her team run this. Janet is always keen to receive suggestions from staff and feedback on different types of snacks and meals they would like to see.
IT services is also part of their function. Kim is IT services Manager and Graham, her assistance, helps by developing their range of IT applications - when he is not supporting users, answering queries, solving problems and trouble-shooting in general! Philip Markham sees IT as a developing and rapidly growing area because of the benefits it can bring to the company as a whole and staff operations in particular. If you will be a computer user at Philip Markham your staff training on IT will be organised by Graham and if you have any problems with your computer, the number to call is 4080.
The larger the organisation is, the more likely to have a several staff working in the Human Resources.
For example: - Human resources director who is a senior manager in the organisation and this is more likely to be found at a large manufacturing organisation which employs thousands of workers.
A medium company will have human resource manager who overseas a much smaller number of staff.
Human resources function is to deal with the employee who works for the company.
Wise organisation regard staff as the most important resource. aak inaa foaa aa.
The reason why I think human resources make their employees an important figure in their company is because their employees are well trained, keen to do their best and committed to the aims of the business.
Supposed employees of one organisation are not motivated at their work then all the money and best equipment in the world wouldn't make that organisation successful.
The A-Z of Human Resource services - A flavour of what we do
For application forms, absences and appraisals
Covers benefits and bonuses
Concerns contracts of employment, conditions of service, counselling services
To discuss your development, your rights under discrimination or disability legislation
All areas relating to your employment, earning, equal opportunities, eye sight tests and exit interviews
To talk to us about fairness at work
If you've grievance, perhaps
For holiday entitlement, hours and health
For illness, interviews and industrial relations
For job descriptions and job share opportunities
If you want to improve your knowledge and know how
For leave of absence, if you need it
For maternity, medical examinations and mentors
For notice periods and National Insurance information
To check on overtime and off-the-job or on-the-job training opportunities
Perhaps for pay, pensions, probationary periods or paternity leave
For qualifications and queries
For references, recruitment, retirement, resignations and your rights in general
Search us out for information on salaries, sickness pay, self-certification
For tax, training, trade union membership, time off
For understanding your rights, for knowing what is and is not unfair
For victimisation and vocational training
For welfare and wages, works council and working conditions
For extra special attention when you need it
For you - a person we like to see
For zappy - the way we operate - and zilch - because nothing is too much trouble!
Typical job title
Function and responsibilities
Human resources director
Deciding the overall staffing policies of the organisation. Advising senior management. Setting the HR budget. In charge of all the HR functions in the organisation.
Human resources manager
Managing the HR department and staff, involved with industrial relations and trade union negotiations, implementing the organisation's HR policies.
Recruitment officer
Responsible for the recruitment and selection of staff.
Training/staff development officer
Responsible for training and staff development.
Personnel/staffing officer
Keeping staff records, monitoring staff welfare.
Health and safety officer
Overseeing all health and safety matters, accident monitoring and prevention.
Security officer
General security, responsible for all security staff.
HR administrative assistants
Administrative work relating to the human resources function.
Orpington College Comparing to Philip Markham LTD
Management Structure --------- Organisation Chart
Academic year
2002/2003
Why have an organisation Structure?
ü Employees know what job to do.
ü Who they are responsible for.
ü What the responsibilities are.
ü To whom they are responsible.
ü How the employee links with other members of staff. Marx refuted kelvin007's
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' organisation structure, as long as it helps people to work efficiently, communicate easily and assists the business to achieve its aims and objectives.
Orpington College is a flat structure organisation and Flat structure does not have many layers, which means information is sent quickly; with less complication or misunderstanding; therefore it produces the correct result.
Having a Flat structure communication is easier {clear information, understanding} between each layer, therefore when decisions are made, they will be specific to advice/order instructions.
It has 13 managers in the College, Chief executive, 3 levels management, span of control between 2 and 4 and 4 top level of management in (guidance &marketing manager - assistance principle, staff & Resources and Clerk to the corporation - assistance principle, finance and information systems - assistance principle, curriculum & Students)
Philip Markham is Hierarchical structure is based on distinct chain of commands from Managing director to sales director (according to Philip Markham). Decisions are made at the top and pass down. This kind of organisational is usually based on clearly defined procedures and roles.
It has 10 managers in the company, no chief executive, managing director, 5 levels management, span of control between 2 and 4 and 4 top level of management in (financial director - production director - HRM/administration director and marketing and sales director.)
Communications at Philip Markham
Internal communications
Every Monday mourning there is a meeting between Jack Markham and his directors. Minutes of this meeting are produced by Maria Forbes and sent to all staff.
Each director holds a weekly team briefing with his/her staff to update them on the latest developments in the organisation. These are unofficial, relatively short affairs, just to keep people informed.
There are weekly meetings each Wednesday mourning between Production and Sales/Marketing about sales and production targets. Any problems in production that are affecting orders are also discussed.
Internal communications are mainly by memo, e-mail and telephone. All senior staff has pagers as well as those who are regularly away from their desk or may need to be called urgently, e.g. the health, safety and security officer, the manufacturing manager and the buildings supervisor.
There is a notice board in Human Resources which contains information on staff events as well as details of job vacancies which are always advertised internally as well as externally.
All staff has an annual appraisal interview with their own line manager but regular discussions are also held on individual staff performances and opportunities for staff training and development.
External communications
External communications are mostly by letter, telephone and fax. Senior sales staffs visit important potential business customers.
Existing business customers are contacted by telephone at least once a month as well as being sent promotional material. Private customers are sent routine mailshots by sales and marketing as well as new mail order catalogues, as these are produce.
In an organisation with dozens of employees, it is important that each member of staff knows exactly what to do, and how this links up with work carried out by other members of staff. People are therefore grouped into functional areas which relate to their job, so that people doing similar jobs work in the same area. These areas are then linked in an overall structure. In a large organisation we are likely to find more functional areas than in a small or medium-sized one. In this case we may find that there are only a few departments performing a variety of functions. 64LV3I
Within a functional. The advantages of Ict upon communication internal and external communication at Cadbury are:
Fast (compared to other methods such as writing a letter)
Can be more accurate (easier to correct errors)
Allows people to use the information quickly and efficient
Can get access to a wide range of information easily
Easy and cheap to store information
Can access information where ever you are in the world (and can communicate with people where ever they are)
Often cheap to access
Quality of information can be better
Disadvantages:
Messages can be misunderstood
Can take time to clarify misunderstanding
Chance that messages can be sent to the wrong people
People can be unfamiliar with the system
Employees may need training (costly)
Employees may feel de-motivated/ stressed by new technology
Messages can be held up due to technical problems
Lack of visual communication can hinder the quality of communication
Employees can suffer from information over load
Ways to avoid some of these disadvantages are by
Training staff
Use face-to-face communication (maybe through the performance management system)
Make sure employees feel they can get to see their manager
Have technical support
Help employees, by satisfying their social needs e.g. through social club
Make sure employees are only given training that will be useful.
Equal Opportunities Legislation and Other Employment Law
Equal opportunities has been a legal requirement since the 1970s at Philip Markham yet a large engineering firm recently paid a substantial amount out of court because other female personnel manager was paid £10,000 less than a male colleague doing exactly the same job.
This situation is under a Sex Discrimination Act 1975 where this act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against on grounds of gender (or gender reassignment) - either directly or indirectly.
In a record settlement just before an ET hearing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in April 2000, Mark Hedley agreed an estimated £300,000 compensation from his ex-employers, the cut-price grocery chain ALDI. This is the highest sum awarded to date under Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and it is understood ALDI settled to avoid damaging publicity. Mark Hedley had been prevented from returning to his £34,000 store manager job after being diagnosed HIV positive - even though he was fit for work.
A report from the Trades Union Congress argues that people of African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian ethnicity don't get their fair share of promotions at work despite having better qualifications. According to the race issues policy officer at the TUC, black people are less likely to be turned down for a job as 'held back' from promotion. People already in work - bring most cases to tribunals not just for being turned down for promotion but also for conditions of work, lack of training and racial abuse. This situation is under The Race Relation Act 1976.
This act makes it unlawful for anyone to be discriminated against on grounds of colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin.
An increasing number of lawyers are offering a no-win, no-fee service to employees who think they have been unfairly dismissed (The Employment Rights Act 1996). This helps those who don't belong to a union to obtain free advice. This, plus the fact that the maximum compensation limit an employee can expect from a tribunal has increased to £56,000, appears to be the reason for the huge rise in cases. Between July 1998 and 1999 ACAS recorded 136, 000 notifications of industrial tribunals - a 30% increase on the previous year.
Since 1986, harassment has been classed as an act of discrimination. It is not only the employee who harasses who is guilty but also the employer if nothing has been done to take 'reasonable steps' to stop it. Firms must make it clear that harassment amounts to gross misconduct.
The Equal Opportunities Commission received 700 complaints about harassment in 1999. Some cases are settled out of court - Dee Mazurkiewica, a former police detective, won a reported £300,000 from Thames Valley police. This was a serious case but smaller settlements - from £5 to £20,000 - can result from acts of 'belittling' - such as making inappropriate or sexist comments or behaving in away that another person finds sexually threatening or insulting.
This situation is under a Sex Discrimination Act 1975
m1 Human Resources anzal al
Human resources involves a wide variety of activities related to the arrangement and implementation of organisational policies, the requirement of opportunities for monitoring, evaluation and change and the application of resources to the fulfilment of organisational ends.
Aspects of 'people management' include:.
The recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff.
The training, development and promotion of staff.
Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions.
These are areas with which the human resources staff is involved. The overall purpose of the human resources function can for that reason be identified as:
To attract and retain good high-quality staff.
To ensure that the organisation operates within the law in relation to employment and health and safety.
The Philip Markham organisation believes they will not be successful if they do not have the commitment of all staff and intend to look after all their employee's needs through the functions of the human resources department..
Finance
The overall contribution of the finance function can be grouped in to three main areas:
Ø Preparing accounts
Ø Preparing wages and salaries
Ø Obtaining capital and resources
Philip Markham employs ten members of staff in the finance department. The department makes sure internal customers receive the money they are owed and customers pay their bills. To keep control of finances the organisation allocates different department budgets and expects them to keep to there planned levels income and expenditure.
Finance also has the task of preparing all the accounts each year so that they comply with legal responsibilities to the Inland Revenue. They also complete VAT returns to HM Customs and Excise. Pete Martin the management accountant at Philip Markham is responsible for checking that production levels and sales are on target. He advises all internal customers who are the directors, about the current financial health of the organisation on a weekly basis. An additional responsibility for the finance function is advising the organisation about more money for the purpose of expansion to buy raw materials or expensive equipment so it can remain competitive obtaining extra finance, called CAPITAL at the best rates possible.
Production Austen obfuscated kelvin007's structuralism hypothesis.
The contribution production makes to the overall business is to make a product and provide a service. The core function of the production department is to obtain the resources required by the organisation and transform those into a product. The production function is also concerned with organising the resources to produce the goods and service in the most appropriate way.
Philip Markham carry out three different operations in their production department, these are as follows:
Ø Purchasing
Ø Manufacturing
Ø Despatch
The layout of the production area has been designed to maximise the flow of materials when producing the shirts from cutting to finishing. The cutting area is near to the stores so that materials can be transported the minimum distance. Quality control is extremely important to Philip Markham and each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process.
The shirts and ties pass to the packing department, which is part of despatch. All items are boxed and labelled and goods linked to the correct paperwork and the dispatchers that each box includes the correct delivery note and advice note for the haulier. Also part of the production function is purchasing staff and the designers. Purchasing is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time.
Sales and Marketing
The contribution sales and marketing makes to the overall business is to identify what the customer needs and providing it.
The activities of sales and marketing include:
Ø Market research - to find out what customer's need and customer opinions on proposed and existing products or services.
Ø Promotion - to inform the customers that their particular organisation can fulfil these needs.
Ø Sales - to provide the goods or service the customer thinks he or she needs.
The contribution of sales and marketing is vital in that it directly influences the number of sales that are made and as a result the profitability of the company.
Each functional area operates to support the business aims and objectives and a range of activities goes on in each one. How the functional areas interact with one another is important. For an organisation to be efficient and effective there must be links between the people who work in different functional areas, especially when their activities overlap.
Philip Markham is aiming to set up an e-commerce site to sell classic menswear and their objective is to be the leading British supplier of this type of clothing on the Internet within the next two years and double sales home and abroad within the same period.
In order to achieve such a particular set of aims and objectives the organisation will need the support of a representative from finance, production and sales and marketing. The finance representative can present all the facts and figures that need to be considered when exploring this venture. The overall budget set-aside for web-page development and marketing is £80,000 in the first year. Tina the financial manager believes this is generous given the financial position of the company. She believes it will be vital to control costs of setting up this new venture and to focus on those products that will bring in the most profit for the company.
Her key consideration is that the site should be secure (identified by a padlock symbol), as payments will be made over the Internet. She has also advised that because VAT regulations differ, a separate order form would need to be completed by purchasers from abroad. The site would have to have a communications link with finance as all payments must be logged, collected and recorded by finance before orders are fulfilled by dispatch. Finance would have to notify dispatch when payments had been received. Only then can goods can be sent. The production representatives Tariq Choudrey (Production Director) and Marsha Webb (Manufacturing Manager) have concerns about the Internet site.
Marsha believes there is a limit as to how much production rates can increase to meet additional orders without sacrificing quality..
Details which need to be addressed are as follows:
Ø The cutting tables - new tables have been requested for two years. They are essential if orders increase at a cost of £15,000 each.
Ø The eleven sewers produce on average five shirts a day each. The maximum which can be produced without additional staff is seven unless quality is sacrificed.
Ø The three finishers spend a lot of time on special orders. More staff will be needed in this area unless the website only allows for 'standard orders'.
Ø The despatch manager advises unless more mechanisation is introduced more staff will be needed if orders have to be completed quickly.
Ø It would be easier to sell knitwear and overcoats on the website most of which are supplied by other companies. However the suppliers of knitwear and overcoats would need at least two months notice if the volume of orders were going to increase substantially
The manufacturing manager supports the overall ideas but stresses it is absolutely no use trying to sell goods which cannot be produced in a reasonable time period as this would do more harm than good to the company's reputation. Production need to be involved in the communication process at all times unless they are fully aware of what is happening at all times there wont be any goods to sell.
The sales and marketing function are excited by this new venture. Jade Marsh (sales and marketing director) would like to see the task of setting the website given to a professional web development firm who are likely to charge £40,000 to £50,000 for a site with multi-media images. This will be vital to show the type of fabric that can be selected, the colour and the designs especially for the ties.
The site must be user-friendly quick to access and use and that it can cope with a large number of 'hits' without crashing. She believes the key date for it to be finalised is September, so that the company can benefit from Christmas orders. In order for the site to be marketed it will cost money, it must be registered with good search engines. She would like to have special offers to tempt visitors to return again. All stationary must be reprinted to include the website address. During the first year the site needs advertising as widely as possible. The sales and marketing director believes that the e-commerce should be located in marketing (as it is a method of selling goods). Ideally she would like two more staff, one to join the mail-order team and be responsible for Internet orders and another to join customer services in case there are any problems with goods sold over the Internet. She believes this would minimise communication problems as all sales will be controlled in one area. She estimates that the company could sell 200,000 shirts and 150,000 ties if a good job of setting up and marketing the website was accomplished.
The human resources function is concerned about three main aspects.
Ø Where the website operations will be controlled. postmodernism hypothesis.
Ø How the website will be developed.
Kim Fields the administration and IT service manager believes she should have control of website operations as she is IT manager especially as computer staff are responsible to her. She believes maintenance of the site will be crucial, it is important to set it up fairly quickly and then it can expand. Kim considers the most sensible route for website development would be to hire their own multi-media web developer to set up the page and sub-contract specialist parts to an outside firm if needed. In addition a programme/copywriter would be needed. The software and other associated costs would be about £10,000. Having these staff would mean that the website could be continually updated in house. Keith is concerned about the effect on staff, he is anxious that the mail-order clerks should be trained to be able to print off and process orders arriving through the website as well as carrying out their current job. He thinks they will need extra help at busy periods such as Christmas. If the website is to be successful than eventually another member of staff may be required. He believes it to be more sensible to move this group of staff to the HR/Admin department so there would be better communications with the computer staff. Keith considers any communication problems during planning the stages can be solved by regular meetings between the IT and sales staff. Finance will also need to be included.
Philip Markham has always aimed to produce menswear of excellent quality at affordable prices. The fabric used for shirts is of highest quality and designers aim to produce new designs each year. The functional areas which relates to these aims is the production department, finance department, human resources and sales and marketing. The first action to take would be in human resources the company needs to recruit the best people for the job including cutters, machinists, and finishers and look after them whilst they work. The finance function make sure that a budget is maintained when buying materials, paying wages and embarking in market research when embarking on achieving these particular aims. The finance function can give up-to-date information on the level of expenditure at any time.
The production function uphold quality control at Philip Markham ands each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process. Production is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time
Human resources relates to these aims because their function is to recruit and train staff to meet all customer needs in relation to providing a service. The function incorporates company policy to treat employees fairly and equally in all aspects relating to their employment. A content workforce will achieve a friendly atmosphere and staff are keen to help consumers as well as each other
