Organizations are built from a group of functions which provide support for the operations within a business. The functional department each serves a particular function in an organization to achieves its objectives. Most businesses have organizational structures which determine the manner in which the organization carries out its production activities. Some of the functions include Human Resource, Accounting, Marketing, Administration, Manufacturing, Purchase, and Sales. However, some of the functions are very necessary for the purpose of continuity. The essay shall discuss three of them and how they provide for the achievement of the goals of the business.
Human resource (personnel department) is the department in any organization which is responsible for hiring employees and making sure that once hired; they get proper orientation and training to do their jobs well. The (HR) management identify job areas needed in the firm as well as the type of skill required (Hagel, 2013). Then, they advertise the job vacancy on newspapers and other communication media to invite interested people to apply. After applications, they shortlist suitable candidates who are then called for interviews until they find the best who is then hired for the announce position. Similarly, the HR oversees the training of the new employees.
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In supporting the goals of the organization, the HR meets the staffing objectives by competing in the job market to ensure it gets the best employees to ensure high production and profitability. Further, the HR makes the work environment better by using motivational techniques such as promotion, increasing pay regularly and providing other benefits such as cars and accommodation. Still, the HR allows for changes in the firm by developing and recruiting people to steer the change process to achieve the change objectives. Lastly, it keeps all the data of its employees to facilitate smooth operations.
Marketing
The current business world is very competitive. Therefore, it’s crucial that every organization has the best marketing strategies if it wants to stay in business. The marketing professionals in any organization are tasked with determining the products which their firms produce to the market place. They do this by carrying out surveys to know how their consumers perceive their products, the type of customers, where the product is prevalent and what needs to be improved on. Employees concerned with marketing have to decide on the various ways of introducing and retaining already existing products in the market (Jackson, et.al, 2013).For example, they have to know how to integrate and use the market mix and the 4ps on their products.
Consequently, the marketing department has the responsibility of establishing the prices of the good based on the production cost, the types of advertisement and promotions best suited for the firm. Similarly, the section creates the budgets for the different marketing strategies and chooses the right distribution channels for the products produced for example putting them in grocery stores or bulk merchandise outlets .therefore, the function is important in achieving the organization's objectives of gaining highest profits at the lowest production costs.
Accounting is yet another function necessary in any organization. The department, through the designated employees, deals with activities associated with money. For example, the receivable accounts specialists trace the debts owed to the company and informed those with the debts to pay in a specified amount of time or risk punitive measures. On the other hand, the accounts payable specialist in the department records all the debts that the company owes other stakeholders to and makes a point of paying them (Cherian,et.al,2013). Additionally, we have the payroll professionals who are in charge of preparing the remuneration records for the employees as well as ensuring that they are paid in time. The department meets the organization's goals of safeguarding its financial position as well as being cost effective.
Organizational structure is the grouping of a company’s employees according to their specialization. An organizational chart starts with the chief executive officer, several officials and then the employees. The workers may include the chief financial officer, and human resource officer and the director of marketing .there are different structural designs which companies use to carry out their designated operations ( Evan, 1966). To determine the best structure in an organization, the leadership needs to assess the functioning groups of the work processes and whether they are natural.
The above functions all need one design to be successful hence the Functional Organizational Structure is the most appropriate .this structure groups the workers by the specific functions performed. The structure advocates for the use of departments to make the organization run smoothly (Evan, 1966). The structure is the most utilized in the modern world where various professionals strategize the staffing, recruitment and motivation, financial activities and purchasing.
The heads of these departments are referred to as managers, and although they are in charge of the workers performing specific roles, they are answerable to either one manager the vice president (deputy CEO) who presides over all the operational areas.
This type of structure has the advantage of function separation which leads to efficiency, high production, and innovation which is good for the company. However, challenges arise when the functional areas focus on themselves too much to the extent that they cannot support other departments thus affecting the whole organization. For example, a company whose sales and production units are different entities may find it hard to satisfy the customers since they lack proper communication to address the customers’ complaints and needs.
The functional organizations play a significant role in the overall growth of business. For starters, it makes communication easier because each manager can pass information to their workers because of their small numbers. On the other hand, when deliberating issues affecting the company, the directors can discuss with the members of their department and then give the feedback to the higher authorities instead of convening meetings with many people preventing others from giving their opinions.
Further, they enable evaluation of the employees. The linear structure of the departments allows the supervisors to evaluate the work of the subordinates. For instance, they can review the employee skills and their relationship with other staff members. Consequently, they can finish their annual appraisal reports which are mandatory for most companies.
Conclusion
Functional areas are necessary to facilitate an organization's growth and development. The functional organizational structure is the most widely used design because it has divided its employee population regarding their expertise. Marketing, human resource, and accounting are the most important departments in any organization as they provide for the hiring of the best and experienced staff, best methods to sell their products to their clients and to manage the finances to avoid bankruptcy or threat. Departments make communication and evaluation of work easier as well as making each worker performs its best due to the nature of competitiveness. However, the structure has some disadvantages such as paralysis of the organization due to too much focus at the department level.
References
Evan, W. (1966). Organizational lag: Human organization , 25 (1), 51-53
Jackson, R. W., & Wood, C. M. (2013). The marketing environment: A new paradigm. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 17(1), 35–50.
Cherian, J., & Farouq, S. (2013). A review of human resource accounting and organizational performance International Journal of Economics and Finance, 5(8), 74–83
Hagel, J. (2013). The global finance function: Five focal points. Journal of Accountancy, 216(3), 20–21.
