ACCA BT Syllabus B. Organisational Structure, Culture, Governance and Sustainability - Business Organisation - Notes ^{5 / 7}

Research & Development

This department has achieved great importance in today's competitive world.  

Organisations are always on the look out to improve their products (process research) or even to create portfolio innovation to be better and ahead of competition (product research). 

The main roles of an R&D department  besides improving and inventing products is to anticipate customer needs and this is why most of the time R&D falls under the umbrella of Marketing.

Purchasing

Purchasing is regarded as a very important management function in an organisation.  

The main reason for this is that firms must be able to purchase goods and services at an acceptable price and quality.  

The purchasing manager has to obtain the best purchasing mix.

• Quantity

• Quality

• Price

• Delivery

Production or Operations

The main job of the production department is to convert raw materials into finished goods.  

They are also after using the methods of production which are the most efficient for the production in question.  

This is only made possible if good planning is conducted prior to the implementation of production.  

Costs are to be monitored all the time thus wastage should be avoided as much as possible

Direct service provision

This department or function has to do with the delivery of a service directly to the end consumer.  

For example an accountancy firm falls under this category.  To ensure the best service for all clients, good time management is to be enforced. 

The salient characteristics of services are:

• Intangibility

• Inseparability (from service provider)

• Variability

• Ownership (you can never be an owner of a service)

Marketing

The main concern in a marketing department is the consumer.  This department tries to identify customer needs and wants, try to accommodate them in the best possible way and better then the competitors and in the case of a profit making organisation, all this must be at a result of a profit.  

Many people think that Marketing is purely sales.  In fact, Sales is only one are of marketing. 

The main difference between a marketing oriented firm and a sales oriented firm is that the latter generates profits through sales volumes whilst marketing oriented firms incur profits by establishing long term customer satisfaction.

Administration

The Administration department should support the other departments by processing administrative requests such as correspondence, photocopying etc. 

These people must have excellent communication skills to coordinate the needs between the departments.

Finance

It is important that the finance department has continuous links with the other departments.  

The main role of this department, though, is to manage the finances of an organisation by monitoring income and expenditure.  

It is also in charge of preparing the final accounts and to raise finances of the company.  

This is generally done by either issuing shares or taking loans.

Human Resources

Human resources management (HRM) is in charge of recruiting and selecting employees, motivating employees and making the most effective use of human resources.