FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF MANAGEMENT
Management is universal in nature. It is used everywhere. Its scope is not limited to the business only, wherever there is group of persons, management automatically comes into existence.
The functional areas of management are as follows:
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Production management is also known as Operations Management. Production means the creation of the utilities. The goods are produced by the way of conversion of raw materials into work-in-progress and then the work-in-progress into finished goods. Production management is very essential for the business because whatever is produced will be sold by the business. Production management aims at ensuring availability of right type of product in the adequate quantity at the right time by incurring the least cost. The other activities involved in production management are as follows:
- Location and layout of plants and buildings
- Designing of the product
- Purchase and storage of the materials
- Planning and control of production operations
- Repairs and maintenance
- Inventory control
- Quality control
- Research and development activities
- Determination of quantity and quality to be produced
- Work analysis and listing
- Time and motion study
- Determination of method and procedure of production.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Finance is the life blood of the business. The continuous management of finances is needed at all the levels to ensure the optimum utilization of funds available with the business. Financial management aims at allocating the funds from the source which will generate least cost and application of funds from where the maximum profit can be generated. Management of finances involves following activities:
- Assessing financial needs
- Determining the sources of raising funds
- Taking the investment decisions i.e. capital budgeting decisions
- Determination of optimum capital structure
- Budgetary control
- Determining cost of each source of capital
- Proper utilization of funds
- Working capital management
- Ensuring fair return to the investors.
- Coordinating the various departments financial needs.
- Preparation analysis and interpretation of the financial statements.
- Negotiating for outside financing.
- Determination of dividend policy, etc.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation and control of the programs designed to create, build and maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers for the purpose of achieving the organizational objectives. Marketing management is responsible for organising, directing and controlling all the marketing activities included in the process of marketing. Marketing management consists of the following activities:
- Identifying and assessing the needs of the consumer by conducting the market research.
- Planning and developing suitable products and services.
- Setting appropriate prices for products and services.
- Selecting channels for distribution.
- Selecting the modes of promotion of the products such as advertisement using different medias, publicity, maintaining public relations etc.
- Making the marketing strategy.
- Choosing appropriate marketing mix.
- Conducting market surveys at regular intervals.
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Personnel management is also known as Human Resource Management. To quote Mary Parker Follet, management is the art of getting things done through others; this states that management is all about dealing with the personnel of the organization. Personnel management is the management of manpower and is basically concerned with the recruitment, selection, training and maintaining the cordial relations, which contribute maximum towards the achievement of the objectives set. The personnel management involves following activities:
- Manpower planning
- Recruitment of employees
- Selection of employees
- Training and development of employees
- Orientation of employees
- Compensation, promotion and transfers of the employees
- Motivation of the employees
- Stress management of the employees
- Ensuring proper communication among the employees.
- Supervision of the employees
- Ensuring health, welfare and safety measures adopted for the employees.
- Controlling the performance of the employees.
- Job evaluation.
- Job description.
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
Office is the nerve centre of the business. Office is to be managed properly for the quick, better and desired results. The functions of office management involves:
- Maintaining and keeping the records.
- Developing efficient system of communication.
- Development of time and labor saving devices.
- Establishing cordial relations between all sections of an enterprise.
- Keeping up to date system of accounting.
MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
Materials form a major part of any product. It is very important for every firm to keep strict control on the materials receipts, supply and use of materials. The following are the main functions of material management:
- Determination of requirements of materials
- Selection of sources of supply.
- Purchasing the right quantity of materials at the right time from the right place at the right time.
- Storage and preservation of the material.
- Proper material handling
- Inventory control.
- Determining material levels.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
The art of managing the organization’s relationship with the customers and prospective clients refer to customer relationship management. It refers to the study of needs and expectations of the customers and providing them the right solution. This includes:
- Identification of the target market.
- Collecting and storing the data related to the market.
- Establishing proper communication channel with the customers.
- Analyzing the sales data.
- Personalizing the interaction with the customers.
