Functional Areas in Business

Task 1 Research different functional beas, provide definitions of each of these functions * customer Servise Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the earthly concern opinion that a product or service has met the customer expectation. Its importance varies by products, industry and customer defective or broken merchandise can be exchanged, oft only with a receipt and within a specified time frame.Retail stores often have a desk or counter devoted to dealing with returns, exchanges and complaints, or will perform related functions at the point of sale the perceived success of such interactions being dependent on employees who can chasten themselves to the personality of the guest, customer service plays an important role in an organizations ability to generate income and revenue. From that perspective, customer serv ice should be embarrassd as part of an boilersuit approach to systematic improvement.A customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has of the organization. * ICT Stands for Information and Communication Technologies. ICT refers to technologies that provide admission to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on communication technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell ph unitys, and opposite communication mediums. In the preceding(a) few decades, information and communication technologies have provided society with a vast array of unseasoned communication capabilities.For example, pot can communicate in real-time with others in different countries using technologies such as instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), and video-conferencing. Social networking websites like Facebook entirelyow users from all over the origination to re primary(prenominal) in cont act and communicate on a regular basis. Modern information and communication technologies have created a global village, in which people can communicate with others across the world as if they were living next door. For this reason, ICT is often studied in the context of how modern communication technologies affect ociety. * dispersal Distribution means ensuring that goods are delivered to the right place on time and in the right condition. Commerce The movement of goods and services from the source through a diffusion channel, right up to the final customer, consumer, or user, and the movement of payment in the opposite direction, right up to the original producer or supplier. Securities pay of principal, interest, or dividend by the issuer of a security to the security holders, on a regular (typically monthly or quarterly) basis.Statistics An order or pattern formed by the tendency of a sufficiently large number of observations to group themselves around a central value. The f amiliar bell-shaped curve is an example of normal distribution in which the largest numbers of observations are distributed in the center, with progressively fewer observations falling evenly on the either side of the center (average) line. See also frequency distribution, normal distribution, and standard distribution. * Marketing The management attend to through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.As a practice, it consists in coordination of four elements called 4Ps (1) identification, selection, and development of a product, (2) aim of its price, (3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customers place, and (4) development and implementation of a promotional strategy. As a philosophy, merchandising is based on idea ab bulge come out the handicraft in terms of customer subscribe tos and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of Harvard Business Schools emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C.Levitt) Sel ling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of get people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariably does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer rents. * Human resources The division of a company that is focused on activities relating to employees. These activities normally include recruiting and hiring of new employees, orientation and training of current employees, employee benefits, and retention.Formerly called personnel. * Sales The activity or business of selling products or services. Contract involving transfer of the possession and ownership (title) of a good or property, or the entitlement to a service, in exchange for money or value. Essential elements that must be present in a valid sale are (1) competence of twain the buyer and seller to enter into a contract, (2) m utual agreement on the terms of exchange, (3) a thing cap up to(p) of being transferred, and (4) a consideration in money (or its equivalent) paid or promised. Finance Finance is the study of how investors allocate their assets over time under conditions of demonstration and uncertainty. A key point in finance, which affects decisions, is the time value of money, which states that a unit of capital today is worth more than the same unit of currency tomorrow. Finance aims to price assets based on their risk level, and expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub categories public finance, corporate finance and personal finance. * ProductionThe processes and methods employed to transform tangible inputs (raw materials, semifinished goods, or subassemblies) and intangible inputs (ideas, information, knowledge) into goods or services. * Research and development Systematic activity combining both basic and applied research, and aimed at discovering solutions to problems or creating new goods and knowledge. R&D may result in ownership of intellectual property such as patents. In accounting for R&D costs, the development costs may be carried forward but the basic and applied research costs are often written-off as incurred. Administration Management The interpretation and implementation of the policy set by an organizations board of directors. The judiciary of a business is synonymous with the surgical process or management of business operations, maybe including important decision making. Thus it is likely to include the efficient organization of people and other resources so as to direct activities toward common goals and objectives. Task 2 Using Newcastle College website find out about entry requirements to a Level 3 Business related program 5 GCSEs A C or equivalent at Pass level, ideally inc English Maths.If English is not your first language you will need an IELTS score of 5. Task 3 Using the college library research using a b ook the area of business you are most interested in Business administration is the process of managing a business or non-profit organization so that it remains stable and continues to grow. This consists of a number of areas, ranging from operations to management. There are many different roles related to business administration, including business support, office manager, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), among others. Most companies have a dedicated group of administrators.Main Areas The main areas incorporated into business administration are operations, logistics, marketing, economics, Human Resources (HR), and management. An administrator oversees these parts of an organization to make sure that theyre all functioning properly and efficiently individually, and that theyre all working together to make the business profitable. He or she may also come up with ways to make the department more profitable, and often delegates tasks to employees in the department. Large companies usu ally have at least one administrator defineed to each area. RolesMost companies have a range of administrative roles in different parts of their corporate hierarchy. At the office level, there are business support officers, who might develop and maintain an office database, oversee other employees for projects, and help the manager with analyzing performance trends. At the next level there are office managers, who oversee an entire office, make budgets and analyses of staff performance, design procedures, and assign projects, among other things. If an organization is large, it may have several assistant managers to help the overall office manager.After office-level managers, there are division administrators, who oversee large portions of an organization. They by and large specialize in one area of business administration. For instance, a company might have a person with a specialization in HR administration oversee that department and make sure its working efficiently to meet the business overall goals. This includes things like measuring the performance of HR staff members, hiring new staff for the department if needed or getting rid of non-performing staff, and making sure that the process for hiring is workable.The head of overall operations in business administration is usually referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or president. The CEO and president may be the same office, but this varies between companies. The CEO, depending on the size of the company, may have several vice presidents, each responsible for one area of company operations. For example, there could be a vice president for marketing, one for research and design, and one for sales or customer relations. Each of these operate independently. Work EnvironmentThe work environment for someone in business administration depends mostly on the type of job he or she is doing. Those on the lower end of the hierarchy often work in structured environments and make denounce reports to the ir superiors, while those higher up may have more freedom with their schedules. Depending on the type of organization, work hours may be 9 to 5 or they may be more flexible. Overtime is often required when big projects are nearing completion, or when annual analyses and presentations need to be made.Generally speaking, anyone in this type of linear perspective needs to have excellent communication skills, as he or she will be working with a lot of different people, sending out memos, and making reports. They also need to be comfortable with making presentations, and they need to be able to lead people. Another important skill is being able to understand how many different parts of a system or organization work together, so that they can make workable systems and figure out whats wrong with those that dont work.Most are also very good at math and have an understanding of economics, since they usually make budgets and analyze their office, department, or companys performance. Educati on some(prenominal) universities offer business administration programs for both online and offline study. A typical curriculum covers the critical aspects of operating a business such as customer service, business finance, marketing, and human resources. Aspiring administrators can improve their marketability by minoring in a related field such as an applied science for engineering or psychology for marketing and sales.Most large companies want applicants that have at least a masters degree in a business-related field. This involves getting hands-on experience, typically by interning at a corporation to get a feel for how the different aspects fit together. Depending on a students chosen area, he or she may need to write and enact a business plan to prove your competency for example, he or she might need to come up with a marketing or sales plan for a hypothetical product, targeting it at a given demographic.