Areas of Business Management

In order to stay in business a company must be profitable and liquid. To do so, it needs to provide sufficient value to its customers so that the revenues exceed the total costs. The main role of business managers is to address and solve any problem that confronts company’s efforts to create value for their customers. In addition to their problem-solving abilities and skills, business managers should be expert in the seven functional areas of business: production, marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, management information systems, and product research and development. Below is a brief description of each business area. Production Management includes the purchase and inventory of raw materials and semi-finished inputs, their usage in the production process, the control over goods inventory and shipping, transportation and distribution of final products. Managers are required to maintain an efficient production process with a carefully selected team that can easily adapt to new equipment and schedules. Marketing Management allocates company resources toward marketing activities. Through conducting market researches managers are able to determine the products, their prices, quantities and characteristics, which will create value for consumers. They also manage the advertising, promotion and sales. Finance Management includes planning, organising, directing and controlling the financial activities of an organisation, such as procurement and utilisation of funds. Accounting is focused on collecting and evaluating all cost data and combine it with revenue data to determine an organisation's profits, assets and liabilities. Accountants provide the valuable information about the financial position of a company. Human resource management is responsible for the recruitment, management and direction for the people who work in the organisation. It deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organisation development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. Research and development managers are expected to increase production efficiency by introducing new process technologies to expand the range and quality of a company’s products by developing new product technologies. Information systems managers manage information flows within the company and between the company and its suppliers and customers. In addition, they also provide and ensure flawless access to the Internet. The organisation's overall business strategy and its implementation by the different departments are crucial to its success. Business managers assess the strengths and weaknesses of the company in relation to their competitors both at home and abroad; determine the organisation's objectives and goals; formulate and implement its strategy; assess the success of the company and, if necessary, over time revise its basic competitive strategies. In order to gain professional knowledge and expertise in any of the areas of business management, colleges and other educational institutions offer a number of management courses: Human Resource Management, Administration and Office Skills, Finance, Accounting, Project Management, even some Psychology Courses like Positive Psychology. Young professionals can always take advantage of any of these courses to master their skills and become more efficient at their workplaces.