Business culture in different departments
A variety of operations keep businesses, especially large corporations, running efficiently and effectively. Common business operation divisions or departments include production, marketing, finance, management and human resource management. Business activities are becoming increasingly global as numerous firms expand their operations into overseas markets. Many American firms, for example, attempt to tap emerging markets by pursuing business in china, India, brazil, and Russia and other European countries. Multinational corporations, which operate in more than one country at once, typically move operations to wherever they can find the least expensive labor pool able to do the work well
Management
The function of management in business mainly has to do with the expertise of efficient organization, planning, direction, and control of the operations of a business. In organizational management, management has two principal aspects. One relates to the establishment of so-called lines of responsibility, drawn usually in the form of an organization chart that designates the executives of the business, from the president to the foreperson or department head, and specifies the functions for which they are responsible. The other principal aspect relates to the development of a staff of qualified executives (Griffin, 2012). Planning in industrial management has three principal aspects. One is the establishment of broad basic policies with respect to production; sales; the purchase of equipment, materials, and supplies; and accounting. The second aspect relates to the implementation of these policies by departments. The third relates to the establishment of standards of work in all departments. Direction is concerned primarily with supervision and guidance by the executive in authority; in this connection a distinction is generally made between top management, which is essentially administrative in nature, and operative management, which is concerned with the direct execution of policy. Control involves the use of records and reports to compare performance with the established standards for work and to make important decisions (Williams, 2010).
HR
The human resource department is responsible for personnel management. It is concerned with people at work and their relations within a firm. The main function of the human resources manager usually includes staff recruitment, training, and welfare. The term personnel management is somewhat misleading in that it is usually line managers who manage the work force, while the main HR managers provide a mainly supportive and advisory service (Montana and Charnov, 2000,pp.211).
Businesses rely on effective human resource management (hrm) to ensure that they hire and keep good employees and that they are able to respond to conflicts between workers and management. Hrm specialists initially determine the number and type of employees that a business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then responsible for recruiting new employees to replace those who leave and for filling newly created positions. A business’s hrm division also trains or arranges for the training of its staff to encourage worker productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction, and to promote the overall success of the business. Finally, human resource managers create workers’ compensation plans and benefit packages for employees (Montana and Charnov, 2000).
Finance
Finance involves the management of money and this is the key function of the finance department I a firm. All businesses must have enough capital on hand to pay their bills, and extra capital to expand their operations. In some cases, they raise long-term capital by selling ownership in the company. Other common financial activities include granting, monitoring, and collecting on credit or loans and ensuring that customers pay bills on time. The financial division of any business must also establish a good working relationship with a bank. This is particularly important when a business wants to obtain a loan. The overall goal of finance departments is to maximise profits for the firm and shareholder by proper management of funds
(Chandra, 2008, pp.6).
Corporate finance departments basically deals with how businesses raise and spend their money ( Griffin, 2012). Companies spend or invest funds in projects that might make the firm more profitable, such as a new factory or an improved product. Corporate finance involves selecting projects that maximize profits and make the best use of a company’s funds. Sometimes businesses can fund these projects on their own. Other times businesses must raise funds from outside the company. Corporate finance departments also involves finding the best way for businesses to pay for their projects.
Marketing
Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that consumers need and want and providing those goods and services at the right price, place, and time. Businesses develop marketing strategies by conducting research to determine what products and services potential customers think they would like to be able to purchase (Moore and Pareek, 2010). It involves the application of marketing strategies with the end goal of meeting a company’s needs (Moore and Pareek, 2010, pp.7).Firms also promote their products and services through such techniques as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to inform potential customers and motivate them to purchase. Firms that market products for which there is always some demand, such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they face competition from other firms marketing similar products. Such products rarely need to be sold face-to-face. On the other hand, firms that market products and services that buyers will want to see, use, or better understand before buying, often rely on personalized sales. Expensive and durable goods—such as automobiles, electronics, or furniture—benefit from personalized sales, as do legal, financial, and accounting services.
Globalization is a catchall term for many processes that are at the heart of the global economy: the spread of instant global communications; the rapid growth of international trade, global capital markets (markets in which national currencies are traded), and foreign investment; and the emergence of a new breed of global corporation. The global economy is the product of all these things, and more than the sum of them. It is a revolution that enables any entrepreneur to raise money anywhere in the world and, with that money, to use technology, communications, management, and labor located anywhere the entrepreneur finds them, to produce goods or services that can be sold anywhere there are customers.
