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Marketing Marketing is concerned with the whole activity of the business.

It covers the whole process from research into new products through to sale. Selling is only one aspect of marketing the department is also concerned with market research, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, selling and distribution, servicing and payment, and credit. All of these activities we will examine in detail later in the course. A large company will have a Marketing Director with managers for each of the functions. The sales and service managers will have product and area organisations with local managers of branches. For example, the company may sell and service washing machines and refrigerators through local branches with a product manager who sells to large trade customers. The marketing manager is concerned with advertising most often actually carried out by an advertising agency sales promotions like competitions and free gifts, and public relations (PR) including press releases about new products. PR may be a separate function and include corporate activities like community events and sponsorship. Market research is concerned with identifying customer requirements and attitudes, collecting information about products and markets, and identifying market opportunities and strategies. Production The objective of the production department is to provide to the marketing organisation an agreed quantity of products according to the delivery plan. Products have to be of the right quality and made at the right cost. The main types of production organisation are:

Jobbing, where each job is distinct from every other and usually has to be completed in one stage of production. Printing posters and sales leaflets is an example where each job stands alone.

Batch production, where similar parts are produced in batches and then assembled together, as in making toys like dolls where arms, legs, bodies and heads are made separately.

Flow production, where the product is built up in stages as it moves along the production process, like cars moving through body assembly and paint shop, with engine and transmission, seats and carpets, wheels and tyres being added as the vehicle moves along the production line.

Process production, where a continuous process is used to make chemicals and some foods. Oil refining is a good example raw materials are fed in at one end of the process and final products aviation spirit, paraffin, lubricants, petrol, diesel, heating oils are drawn off as refining proceeds.

Quality controlis an essential part of production and involves setting standards, checking materials and components, monitoring production and following up sales. Quality control is equally vital in services and many stores, banks, hotels and transport firms employ specialist agencies which send inspectors posing as customers to check on the way real customers are treated

Purchasingmay be part of the production department or may stand alone it is involved with all of the other departments. The first stages of purchasing are concerned with specifying and sourcing materials and components. Then come enquiries, negotiation and ordering followed by processing despatch, receipt and inspection and, finally, invoice acceptance. With the spread of just-in-time manufacturing, where parts are delivered to the factory continuously as they are required in the production process, purchasing and stock control are increasingly important functions. Purchasing is becoming much more of a process of sourcing materials, parts and equipment worldwide, as industrial activity is dispersed over the globe and firms buy in components rather than make the parts themselves. Stock controland stores management are also part of production.

Finance and Accounting The Finance Director has responsibility for all the finance and accounting functions. These include obtaining the funds required to run the business either capital raised through share issues, or borrowing long term by debentures or short term for working capital. These funds have to be managed, and that is the job of the Treasury Department. In very large organisations this may include foreign exchange dealing. BP, for example, has its own foreign exchange dealing room to do business with the banks. The finance department is also responsible for the provision of information to the board, shareholders and tax authorities, so it has to produce all the financial accounts required by law and the information for investors and analysts. There has to be an organisation to deal with pay and pensions. Internal budgets and financial information have to be produced for every department and section. This may be carried out by the costing and management accounting sections which also produce control information. Credit management and control are important functions and can form a large department in firms which do a lot of credit business with large numbers of customers. Ensuring payment on time is essential for managing the cash flow. Human Resources Other than their own staff, HR Managers do not manage people. They are responsible for human resources across the whole organisation planning for requirements at all levels, job descriptions, recruitment, training and education programmes, evaluation and appraisal programmes, pay, rewards and incentives, pensions and employee schemes. Much of this work may actually be carried out by line managers for example, annual appraisal interviews but it is co-ordinated by the HR department. The HR Manager has to be aware of competitive conditions in other companies and industries which can attract the same types of skilled workers. There may be negotiations with trade unions at national officer level on pay and conditions, or at factory and office level with local shop stewards and representatives. The HR department has to ensure that statutory requirements are met, including those concerning health and safety at work.

Record keeping is an important part of the work, both for the company's internal purposes and to comply with the regulations.

Research and Development Research is carried out into new products and ways of improving existing ones. Development is the process of planning, making prototypes, setting up feasible manufacturing processes and generally bringing ideas to production and sale. It is important that a firm should have a constant flow of new or updated products to replace those which have reached the end of their commercial life. R&D has to liase closely with marketing, production and purchasing Data Processing Personal computers (PCs) are now on virtually every desk and can be networked into systems linking everyone in an organisation. They have transformed methods of working in the last ten years. Although the PC supplies all the processing power needed by many firms, many others require huge amounts of processing power. Thus banks and building societies have to have huge capacity to cope with real-time processing of withdrawals from cash dispensers and all the other entries on customers' accounts. Supermarkets use direct computer links between tills and warehouses for overnight stock control and supply. Banks and other firms with large systems necessary to cope with peak loads often carry out work for others at off-peak times. This is advantageous to the business, which does not then have to invest in a lot of processing capacity and specialist staff for its payroll function, for example. Contracting-Out of Functions As you can see from the descriptions of departmental functions, the larger the organisation the more interdependent are its parts and the greater the problems of communication, co- ordination and control. Organisations can attempt to overcome some of the problems by contracting out functions to specialists, for example advertising to advertising agencies and facilities management to specialists in property management, office cleaning and data processing. This also makes it feasible for small firms to enjoy some of the advantages of large ones

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