A Tuesday at the bakery: Every business does four kinds of work, every day: people, money, customers, making.
By eight o'clock at the bakery: By eight o'clock Lena has already done four different jobs. A baker rang in sick, so she rearranged the shifts. The flour supplier's bill is due, so she paid it. She wrote a sign for the new sourdough. And she checked the second oven, which has been running hot.
A business function is one of the main areas of work inside a business. When Lena ran the bakery alone she did all four herself. As the bakery grew she hired someone for the money and someone for the baking, and the four jobs became four people. In a large company each one is a whole department. The work is the same; only who does it changes.
Human resources
- The people.
- Hiring, training, pay, rotas, keeping staff motivated.
- At Lena's: covering the sick baker's shift.
Finance and accounts
- The money.
- Paying bills, keeping records, budgets, watching the cash.
- At Lena's: paying the flour supplier.
Marketing
- The customers.
- Finding out what they want, pricing it, telling them about it.
- At Lena's: the sourdough sign in the window.
Operations
- Making the product.
- Production, quality, equipment, stock of materials.
- At Lena's: the oven that runs hot.
The name gives the job away: Human resources is about humans. Finance is about money. Marketing is about the market, which means the customers. Operations is about operating, which means making things happen.
If a question describes a problem, ask which of the four it is really about.
Free preview
This is the free notes preview
You're reading the free notes. Aimnova Pro unlocks the full study experience — and you can try it with your first topic free to keep:
- FlashcardsLock in vocabulary and key terms with spaced repetition.
- Practice questionsAnswer exam-style questions and get instant AI marking.
- Mock exams & past-paper vaultSit full mocks and see exactly how examiners award marks.
- Personalised study planA daily plan built around your exam date and weak areas.
Each function answers a different question. Put a problem next to the four questions and it is usually obvious which function owns it.
| Function | The question it answers | Typical work | At Lena's bakery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human resources | Who does the work, and are they able and willing to do it? | Recruiting, training, pay and rewards, working conditions, staff leaving | Hiring a second baker; training her on the sourdough recipe |
| Finance and accounts | Can we afford it, and where is the money? | Recording sales and costs, paying bills, budgets, cash-flow forecasts, raising money | Deciding whether the new oven can be paid for this year |
| Marketing | Who is the customer, and why would they buy from us? | Market research, choosing what to sell and at what price, promotion, where to sell | Pricing the sourdough at $4.50 and putting the sign in the window |
| Operations | How do we make it, on time and to the right standard? | Production methods, quality, buying materials, managing stock, equipment | Baking 200 loaves by seven with two ovens and the stock of flour on hand |
Which function is this?: Customers say the loaves have been arriving burnt. That is a how do we make it problem: operations, even though marketing will hear the complaints first.
The supplier says the bakery keeps paying late. That is a where is the money problem: finance and accounts, even though the supplier speaks to the person who unloads the flour.
Notice that the function owning a problem is not always the one that notices it. Ask who would have to fix it, not who heard about it.
Know your predicted grade
Take timed mock exams and get detailed feedback on every answer. See exactly where you're losing marks.
One decision, four functions: Lena decides to launch sourdough. That sounds like one decision. It is four.
What each function has to do
Marketing
Tell customers about it and set a price.
Operations
Bake it, which needs a second oven.
Finance
Find the money for the oven.
Human resources
Roster a baker who can make it.
If any one of the four is missing, the launch fails.
Marketing
promises it
- Sign in the window: sourdough from Saturday
- Price set at $4.50
Operations
makes it
- Needs a second oven to bake it alongside the loaves
- Needs the sourdough starter ready three days early
Finance and accounts
pays for it
- Finds $3 000 for the oven
- Checks the price covers the extra cost
Human resources
staffs it
- Rosters the baker who knows the recipe
- Trains a second baker so Saturday does not depend on one person
When the functions do not talk: Marketing puts the sign up for Saturday. Nobody told operations, and the starter takes three days. Saturday comes, customers ask for sourdough, and there is none.
The most common business failure in a case study is one function promising what another cannot deliver. When you see it, name both functions.
The four functions depend on each other (they are interdependent). A change in one always reaches the others: a marketing push means more baking, more baking means more staff and more flour, and more staff and flour mean more money going out before it comes in.
How this comes up: The functions are the map of the whole course rather than a topic on their own, so questions on them are short: name them, define the term, or say what one of them does.
Where they earn their keep is in longer answers on other topics, when you say which function a problem belongs to and which other function it will affect.
The three short shapes
- State two business functions. Two names, no explanation: human resources and operations.
- Define the term business function. One of the main areas of work in a business, such as marketing, carrying out the tasks that help it meet its aims.
- Describe one task of the finance function. Name the task, then say what it involves: preparing a cash-flow forecast, which sets out the money expected to come in and go out each month.
The trap: describing the wrong function: Customer complaints about faulty products are heard by marketing and paid for by finance, but they are caused in operations.
When a question asks which function is responsible, pick the one that would have to change what it does, not the one nearest the customer.
Define the term business function.
Model answer plan
See the answer broken into clear points, with guidance on how each point earns marks.