Functional Areas of a Business

Functional Areas of Business

Greg Davis

Management 521

March 7, 2013

Dr. Wilson

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss two functional areas of business management that interest this student. A discussion of my individual role as a manager in each of the two areas will also be provided. The two functional areas to be discussed are: Leadership and Operations management.

Business Functions

Businesses are comprised of many facets. This is true whether they be small entrepreneurial endeavors or large organizations that employ thousands of people. The Management 521 course at the University of Phoenix posits that there are eleven distinct functional areas of business. Every business does not have each functional area, but there are some areas that touch businesses of all sizes. The most important functional area is management. Management is the glue that holds every other function together by coordinating the effective use of all resources, both physical resources and those based on human capital. Leadership is a subset of management and involves working with people and influencing them to accomplish a goal. Leadership might be one of the more difficult functional areas to master since it involves the uncertainty of dealing with other human beings.

Management

Without management of some sort, it would be unlikely that groups of people would be able to effectively focus on common goals. The success or failure of a business organization is due not so much to its systems or strategies, but rather the character and skill of individual managers (Heathfield, 2013). In larger organizations it is important for senior managers to have the “big picture” of the organization in mind. Through this global view, the skilled manager will be able to coordinate the activities that comprise all the functions of business. Without coordination, individual efforts within an organization may be counterproductive to one another. At the very least, without...