Identify and explain the core and support

functions of an organisation
Assessment criteria:

1. The concept of core business is explained, with examples

2. The relationships between the different core activities of an organisation are
described, with examples
3. A value-adding process within an organisation is explained, with examples
4. Attempt: 1
5. Assessment criteria 1
6. 1. Core business
7. When an organisation commences operations, it needs to decide what its core
business is going to be. This is the set of functions, processes and capabilities that
produce most of the organisation’s value. In other words, the business activity or
activities that are the main sources of an organisation’s profits and success.
8. A business will generally devote most of its resources and creative energy to its core
business. Core business activities are areas where you try to innovate and build
competitive advantages. The core business is the primary area that a company focuses
on in business operations. All companies try to maintain a strong position in these
areas of business so that they remain market leaders. Most businesses may have
multiple functions but concentrate on the focal point so that they are able to keep the
resources and employees focused.
9. Understanding the core functions can help the business run optimally by giving them
a competitive edge. Before you start focusing on them, you may have to first define
them. Each unit of the business has to be analysed for its strengths and weaknesses. It
is also important to find a synergy between the business units so that they are able to
complement each other. For example, a company that manufactures products for sale
would classify both manufacturing and sales as their core business activities. Both of
these activities will need to be integrated for the business to be successful.
10. All organisations (big and small) need core business processes to exist so that they
may be able to function properly. Defining and maintaining the core processes is
critical for organisations to survive in this competitive market. Primary (core)
activities contribute to a product or service's physical creation, sale, maintenance and
support. These activities include the following:
11. ● Inbound operations. The internal handling and management of resources coming
from outside sources -- such as external vendors and other supply chain sources.
These outside resources flowing in are called "inputs" and may include raw materials.
12. ● Operations. Activities and processes that transform inputs into "outputs" -- the
product or service being sold by the business that flows out to customers. These
"outputs" are the core products that can be sold for a higher price than the cost of
materials and production to create a profit.
13. ● Outbound logistics. The delivery of outputs to customers. Processes involve
systems for storage, collection and distribution to customers. This includes managing
a company's internal systems and external systems from customer organizations.
14. ● Marketing and sales. Activities such as advertising and brand-building, which
seek to increase visibility, reach a marketing audience and communicate why a
consumer should purchase a product or service.
15. ● Service. Activities such as customer service and product support, which reinforce a
long-term relationship with the customers who have purchased a product or service.
16.
17. 2. Examples of core business activities
18. The following are illustrative examples of core business activities:
19. ● A business that primarily generates value by communicating to customers, for
example, a firm that brands products designed and manufactured by another company,
would classify marketing as a core business activity.
20. ● A business that sells products, for example, a real estate company, would classify
sales as a core business activity.
21. ● A business that provides technology services to its customers would classify
technology as a core business activity.
22. ● A manufacturing business would classify production as its core business activity.
23. ● A recruitment agency would classify recruitment activities as its core business
activity.

24.Assessment criteria 2

25. 1. The relationships between the different core activities

26. Your business's functions are the things it does – production, sales, marketing,
research and billing, for example. The organizational structure defines the relationship
and interactions between the parts of your business, and identifies how the chain of
command runs through the different levels.
27. Core processes are end-to-end, cross-functional processes that directly deliver value
to external clients or intermediaries. Core processes are often referred to as “primary”
processes as they represent the essential activities an organisation performs to achieve
its goals and objectives, fulfil its mission and attain its vision.
28. These processes make up what is called the value chain, which is the set of high level,
interconnected core processes each of which adds value to the product or service. The
value chain creates and delivers the product or service, which ultimately delivers
value to customers. Each core activity identified for an organisation cannot operate in
isolation. Organisations are made up of multiple activities that work together in order
to achieve organisational goals. For example, the production section of an
organisation won’t have anything to produce if the sales section isn’t making sales.
Similarly the customer service activity cannot function if there aren’t any customers
brought in by the sales section. You can see that each core department has an inherent
link to other core sections in order to perform their work.
29. The interrelationship between different business functions is crucial to the success of
any business. Each business function, or department, needs to understand the impact
that their actions or inaction can have on other parts of the business. In order for a
business to achieve productivity and profitability, the relationship between the various
business functions must be carefully managed.
30.
31. 2. Value chains
32. A value chain is a concept describing the full chain of a business's activities in the
creation of a product or service -- from the initial reception of materials all the way
through its delivery to market, and everything in between.
33. The value chain framework is made up of five primary (core) activities -- inbound
operations, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, service -- and four
 secondary (support) activities -- procurement and purchasing, human resource
management, technological development and company infrastructure.
34. A value chain analysis is when a business identifies its primary and secondary
activities and sub activities, and evaluates the efficiency of each point. A value chain
analysis can reveal linkages, dependencies and other patterns in the value chain.
35. The value chain framework helps organisations identify and group their own business
functions into primary and secondary activities. Analyzing these value chain
activities, sub-activities and the relationships between them helps organisations
understand them as a system of interrelated functions. Then, organisations can
individually analyze each to assess whether the output of each activity or sub-activity
can be improved -- relative to the cost, time and effort they require.

36.

Assessment criteria 3

1. Value-adding process explained

These are activities that add value to a business process or product and for which the
customer is willing to pay. Value-added activities help in converting a product from a state of
raw material to a finished product or take an idea and convert it into service in the least
possible time, at minimum costs. It aims at completing a business activity correctly the very
first time and helping the business to deliver the product or service while fully conforming to
customer requirements or specifications.

There are several examples of value-added activities found commonly among different
organisations:

● Process steps are lean and controlled, no process steps skipped

● Unnecessary movement of goods or resources within or outside the organisation removed

● Unnecessary paperwork within or in between departments which is not required eliminated

● No re-work done due to defects or mistakes found in products or services

● Quality checking, testing, assessing and moderating done continuously

● Best services to customers (inside and outside) properly delivered leading to customer
satisfaction

● Exact procurement to avoid unnecessary storage or overstocking

● Important resources such as expensive machinery or labour used efficiently to maximise

productivity

● On-time delivery to customers (inside and outside) of the organisation

2. Non-value-added procedures and activities

These are those which do not add any value to the product or service but are an inherent part
of the process. Customers are not willing to pay for such services. These activities prove to be
a burden on the organisation and affect its efficiency. Valuable resources in the organisation
are engaged in completing these activities despite the fact that such activity is slowing the
progress of the organisation.

3. Examples of how to add value

3.1. The faster the better

The first way to increase value is simply to increase the speed you deliver the kind of value
people are willing to pay for, everybody is impatient. A person who did not realise that they
wanted your product or service until today, now wants it yesterday. People perceive a direct
correlation between speed and the value of your offering. A person who can do it fast is
considered to be a better and competent person offering a higher level of quality than a
person who does it slowly, or whenever they get around to it.

3.2. Offer better quality

The second key to creating wealth is by offering better quality than your competitors at the
same price. Remember, quality is whatever the customer says it is. Total quality management
can best be defined as: “Finding out what your customer wants and giving it to him or her
faster than your competitors.”
Quality does not just mean greater durability or excellence in design. Quality refers to utility,
to the use that the customer needs to put the product or service. It is the customer’s specific
need or the benefit that the customer seeks, that defines quality in his or her mind.

3.3. Add value

The third way is by looking for ways to add value to everything you do. Remember, if
everyone is offering the same thing, these factors of the product or service become the basic
minimum or the expected norm in the market. If you want to stand out as a person or as a
producer, you have to “plus” whatever you are doing so that your customer perceives your
offering as being superior to that of your competitors.

You can add value to a product or service by improving the packaging or the design. You can
increase its value by simplifying its method of use. Apple transformed the entire world of
computers by making them easy to use for the unsophisticated person. Simplicity became an
enormous source of added value for Apple, and for countless other companies that have
followed the same route.

3.4. Increase convenience

The fourth way of increasing value is by increasing the convenience of purchasing and using
your product or service. Fast food stores by the thousands are a simple example of how much
more people are willing to pay for convenience than they are if they have to drive across
town to a major shopping centre or a major grocery store.

3.5. Improve customer service

A fifth way of creating value and increasing wealth is by improving customer service. People
are predominantly emotional. They are greatly impacted by the warmth, friendliness,
cheerfulness and helpfulness of customer service representatives. Many companies are using
customer service as a primary source of competitive advantage in a fast-changing
marketplace.

3.6. Changing lifestyles

The sixth key to creating wealth is changing lifestyles and the impact they are having on
customer purchasing patterns and behaviours throughout the country. There is a national
trend toward cocooning or staying at home more and making the home environment more
enjoyable. People’s tastes are very different from the tastes of people a generation ago.

More people want to travel and take vacations, thereby creating a boom in the travel, leisure,
resort and cruise industries. Changing lifestyles and demographics can create opportunities
that will enable you to offer a product or service to a clearly identifiable market that can
make you wealthy in a short period of time.

3.7. Offer planned discounts

The seventh key to creating added value is just planned discounts. This involves finding ways
to sell higher and higher volumes of products and services to more and more people at lower
and lower prices. FMCG ( fast-moving consumable goods) is a good example. Wholesales
sell more goods at discounted prices, their profit lies in the product turnover and not the
selling price.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 2: EXPLAIN THE TYPES OF WORK DONE

WITHIN THE VARIOUS CORE ACTIVITIES OF AN ORGANISATION

Attempt: 1

Assessment criteria 1 - 2

1. Activities of an organisation are identified

Departments in organisations can be likened to teams. They are both made up of individuals
who are working towards satisfying their needs through the accomplishment of group goals.
For this reason, the main functions of a specific team and the roles of other teams are
combined with the information relating to a specific department.

There are many different departments in organisations. These departments vary from
organisation to organisation and are determined by the needs of the business. Employees in
each of the departments are required to perform functions and roles that have been
specifically designed so that the goals and objectives of the organisation are met. The size
and specific functions of the departments also differ.

Each organisation is different and the types of functions and activities will vary. However, we
will explain the concept of identifying functional activities using the following examples.
These are examples from a manufacturing undertaking, however the same principles can be
used in any organisation.

2. Purchase function

Materials required for production of commodities should be procured on economic terms and
should be utilised in an efficient manner to achieve maximum productivity. In this function
the finance manager plays a key role in providing finance.
In order to minimise cost and exercise maximum control, various material management
techniques such as economic order quantity (EOQ), determination of stock level, perpetual
inventory system etc. are applied. The task of the finance manager is to arrange the
availability of cash when the bills for purchase become due.

The production environment relies on the purchase function to ensure that the required
materials are purchased and available to be put into production.

3. Productivity function

The production function occupies the dominant position in business activities and it is a
continuous process. The production cycle depends largely on the marketing function because
production is justified when they are resulted in revenues through sales.

Production function involves heavy investment in fixed assets and in working capital.
Naturally, a tighter control by the finance manager on the investment in productive assets
becomes necessary. It must be seen that there is neither over-capitalisation nor under-
capitalisation. Cost-benefit criteria should be the prime guide in allocating funds and
therefore finance and production managers should work in unison.

Production is the key function in turning raw materials into a final product that can be sold
and distributed to customers. Production is only as complex as the items that are being
produced. For example building vehicles will require many processes within the production
process in comparison to making rubber balls.

4. Marketing and distribution function

As goods produced are meant for sale, distribution function is an important business activity.
It is more important because it provides continuous inflow of cash to meet the outflow
thereof. So while choosing different distribution channels, media of advertisement and sales
promotion devices, the cost benefit criterion should be the guiding factor.

If cost reduction in distribution function is effected without compromising efficiency, it will

lead to increased benefit to the enterprise in the form of higher profit and to the consumers in
the form of lower cost.

As every aspect of distributary function involves cash outflow and every distributing activity
is aimed at bringing about inflow of cash, both the functions are closely interrelated and
hence should be carried out in close unison.

Marketing is one of the most important functional departments in organisations as it

generates sales. Sales are the activity that brings in money for everyday functioning. The
marketing department may consist of employees and sub-departments who are assigned the
following titles:

● Marketing
● Sales

● Public relations office

● Research and development

● Market research and advertising

The role will be identified and outlined in the marketing function. The employee who is
assigned the marketing tasks in an organisation is responsible for developing and
implementing a marketing strategy for:

● New possible markets and products

● Existing markets and products

● Managing the product lines and brands

● Designing the strategies used for pricing

● Promoting sales

● Promoting specific products

5. Accounting function

Charles Gastenberg visualises the influence of scientific arrangement of records, with the
help of which inflow and outflow of funds can be efficiently managed and stocks and bonds
can be efficiently marketed. Moreover, the efficiency of the whole organisation can be
greatly improved with correct recording of financial data.

All the accounting tools and control devices necessary for appraisal of finance policy can be
correctly formulated if the accounting data are properly recorded.

For example, the cost of raising funds, expected returns on the investment of such funds,
liquidity position, forecasting of sales, etc. can be effectively carried out if the financial data
so recorded are reliable. Hence, the relationship between accounting and finance is intimate
and the finance manager has to depend heavily on the accuracy of the accounting data.

6. Research and development

In the world of innovations and competitiveness, expenditure on research and development is

a productive investment and R and D itself is an aid to survival and growth of the firm.
Unless there is a constant endeavour for improvement and sophistication of an existing
product and introduction of newer varieties, the firm is bound to be gradually out marketed
and out of existence.

However, sometimes expenditure on R and D involves a heavier amount, disproportionate to

the financial capacity of the firm in such a case, it financially cripples the enterprise and the
expenditure ultimately ends in a fiasco.

On the other hand, heavily cutting down expenditure of R and D blocks the scope of
improvement and diversification of the product. So, there must be a balance between the
amount necessary for continuing R and D work and the funds available for such a purpose.
Usually, this balance is struck out by joining the efforts of the finance manager and the
person at the helm of R & D.

This department is located in the manufacturing department and has the specific role of
ensuring that the manufacturing team has sufficient technical information in the form of:

● Drawings

● Specifications

● Recipes

● Bills of material etc.

This planning is essential so that the manufacturing processes can be completed without any
error and human guessing taking place.

7. Financial management and economics

Financial management draws heavily on Economics for its theoretical concepts. The
development of the theory of finance began as an offshoot of the study of economics. A
finance manager has to be familiar with the two areas of economics, i.e. microeconomics and
macroeconomics.

Microeconomics deals with the economic decisions of individuals and firms, whereas
macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole in which a particular business unit is
operating.

The concepts of microeconomics help a finance manager in developing decision models like
fixation of prices, cost volume profit analysis, break even analysis, inventory management
decisions, long-term investment decisions called capital budgeting, cash and receivables
management models or working capital management decisions etc.

A firm is also influenced by the overall performance of the economy as it is dependent upon
the money and capital markets for the procurement of investible funds. The finance manager
should, thus, recognise and understand the macroeconomic theories, monetary and fiscal
policies and their impact on the economy as a whole and the firm in particular.
8. Human resources

Personnel function has assumed a prominent place in the domain of business management.
No business function can be carried out efficiently unless there is a sound personnel policy
backed up by efficient management of personnel. Success or failure of every business activity
boils down to the efficiency of the men/women entrusted with the respective function.

Human resources can be described as the mental and physical characteristics that people use
to produce goods and services. Employees have become important assets, thus a specialised
department was defined. It is for these reasons that management needs to ensure that their
staff are working at their most productive and efficient levels. There is a greater need for a
separate human resource department in larger organisations than there is in smaller
organisations. Small organisations do exercise human resources, even if they have not got a
separate department.

In brief, the human resources management function can be described as consisting of

attracting, retaining, and developing the human capital within the organisation. These are also
considered the core activities that the human resource manager is responsible for. These
functions are important for the operations of the entire business as the staff members in the
organisation are the individuals who are required to perform all the production,
administration, financial etc. duties. In the latter paragraphs, it will be possible to see how the
human resource function fits into the organisation and how it contributes to the effectiveness
of the organisation.

The core activities of attracting, retaining, and developing human capital have further, more
specific activities that are required to be performed by management in the human resources
department.

Attracting human resources consists of these additional tasks that are required to be
performed:

● Human resource planning, which involves making estimations about the quality and
quantity of people who may be required by the organisation in the future

● Recruitment requires that when a job becomes vacant inside the organisation, the necessary
steps are taken to ensure that this post will be filled by someone from inside or outside the
organisation

● The selection can range from a short interview to a very complex analysis procedure

● Placement involves allocating the person to the most suitable job

● Induction is the process where the new employee learns how to become an effective
member of the organisation
Retaining human resources is achieved through compensation, ensuring health and safety in
the organisation and fair labour relations. The development of human resources is achieved
through training and development and performance management.

The production department interacts with the human resource department and their
effectiveness is dependent on this department. The reason for this is that production in an
organisation cannot take place efficiently if unskilled, not enough, unsuitable and untrained
people are placed into positions that have specific requirements.

It is the task of the human resource manager to ensure that production can take place
effectively and efficiently. On the other hand, the production of goods and services creates
profit and the more money that is created, the more people will be able to be employed. It is
possible to see that the departments in organisations work together and contribute to the
functioning of the entire organisation.

If the human resource department is not functioning efficiently, staff members who are
employed will be unsuitable, unskilled, untrained, and insufficient numbers of people will be
employed.

If the human resource department is operating effectively, then all other departments in the
organisation will function efficiently because they are all dependent on productive staff
members. Management needs to care for its staff members to ensure that their employees are
loyal, supportive, and do not take part in unrest, strikes and boycotts. This illustrates that the
human resource department has the potential to add great amounts of value to the
organisation.

Human resources have already been used in some examples in previous outcomes, but one
area that was not covered was the role of the organisational developer. This person can expect
to perform activities like the ones that have been listed below:

● Identifying the future staff needs

● Writing and implementing staff procedures and procedure manuals

● Writing and implementing company policy documents, including the company code of
conduct

● Performs some research on staff productivity issues

● Determines the size and composition of the departments in the future and plots the
organisations’ future needs

● Concentrates on the development of the careers of employees who show great potential
SPECIFIC OUTCOME 3: EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF A SELECTED WORK
UNIT IN AN ORGANISATION IN RELATION TO THE CORE BUSINESS

ssessment criteria:

1. The function of the selected work unit within an organisation is explained, in relation
to the core business
2. The value-adding contribution that the work unit adds to the organisation is identified,
with examples
3. The inter-relationship between work units in achieving organisational objectives is
explained

Attempt: 1

4. Assessment criteria 1

5. 1. Work unit within an organisation

6. All the tasks that are done in organisations are categorised into their necessary
functional departments. Departments specialise in certain activities and staff members
in each of the departments are assigned specific tasks.
7. The documents that describe the specific tasks and roles of employees are known as
job descriptions. Any activities that are related to the purchasing of goods are
assigned and categorised into the purchasing department. The purchasing department
also has some influence over profit, thus the management in this department must
keep tight control over purchasing.
8.
9. The following are departments in organisations that are required to ensure the
efficiency of the organisation:
10. ● The purchasing department - controls all the purchasing in the organisation and
needs to keep control to ensure that profitability is achieved. Purchasing must be
performed so that production can occur
11. ● The sales department - is mainly involved in selling goods, but the calculating
price also falls into their responsibility. Price is causally related to profit
12. ● The production department - transforms raw materials into finished goods so that
goods are available to be sold
13. ● The marketing department - is responsible for bringing the necessary attention to
the product, so that it can be sold for a profit
14. ● The finance department - is required to obtain, use and control funds within the
organisation. This department controls the spending of all the other departments
15. ● The administration department - provided all the other departments with the
information they might need
16. ● The human resource department - plans the staff members who are employed by
each department. They ensure that workers will be able to be productive, thus helping
in the goal of profitability
17. It is possible to see that each of the departments listed above is required to perform
different tasks. These all help in achieving efficiency in the organisation. An
organisation comprises many people and departments who are performing in a
manner that is aligned to reaching the predetermined goals and outcomes of the
 business. Each particular role and function is required for a specific purpose, which
forms part of the entire organisation.

Assessment criteria 2

1. Activities and accomplishments that add value

Value-add contributions include measurable roles and activities. These are examples of
value-add activities and contributions with ways to carry them out:

1.1. Saved money

Often people only think about making money, but saving money can be just as valuable, if
not more so. While salespeople go out and make money, an HR person can add value by
reducing turnover, which saves a fortune. An accountant can save money by implementing an
internal audit that catches errors before they cause problems.

1.2. Awed customers (customer and brand loyalty)

Lots of customers are customers of habit and a competitor can break that habit by offering a
sale or a nice perk. Awed customers do not let competitors in the door (or in the case of retail,
do not go into the doors themselves). This is not just about meeting customer needs, it is
going above and beyond to make sure the customer is satisfied.

1.3. Increased sales

This is the most obvious of the value-added activities. A company needs income to survive
and selling something is how that happens. Increasing those sales, whether through a
salesperson who is a smooth talker, or an engineer who develops a new product that
practically sells itself, brings increased sales to the company and a clear indication of added
value.

1.4. Reduced the time or steps to complete a work process

Have you ever had a job where there was a long, tedious process to produce a monthly
report? Everyone hates things like that. What if you could reduce the time needed to get this
report done? What if you automated it? Everyone would sing your praises forever.
2. Benefits of adding value

Employees who have an identifiable, noteworthy value add impact on their organisation are
eligible for pay raises, promotions, recognition and appreciation. Added value is equivalent to
the increase in value that a business creates by undertaking the production process. It is quite
easy to think of some examples of how a production process can add value.

Adding value = the difference between the price of the finished product/service and the cost
of the inputs involved in making it.

Consider the examples of new cars rolling down the production line being assembled by
robots. The final, completed and shiny new car that comes off the production line has a value
(price) that is more than the cost of the sum of the parts. Value has been added. Exactly how
much is determined by the price that a customer pays. Businesses can add value by:

● Building a brand - a reputation for quality, value etc. that customers are prepared to pay for.
Nike trainers sell for much more than Hi-tec, even though the production costs per pair are
probably pretty similar

● Delivering excellent service - high quality, attentive personal service can make the
difference between achieving a high price or a medium one

● Product features and benefits - for example, additional functionality in different versions of
software can enable a software seller to charge higher prices, different models of motor
vehicles are designed to achieve the same effect

● Offering convenience - customers will often pay a little more for a product that they can
have straight away, or which saves them time

3. The key benefits to a business of adding value

● Charging a higher price

● Creating a point of difference from the competition

● Protecting from competitors trying to steal customers by charging lower prices

● Focusing a business more closely on its target market segment

Assessment criteria 3

1. Ways to improve collaboration between departments and achieve objectives

Inter-relationships are when each department has a relationship with the other departments
inside the organisation. The departments need to communicate closely with one another.
While each department has its own goals, these goals actually help the company reach its
ultimate goal.

1.1. Provide context

It can be difficult for team members to feel committed to a project and motivated to
collaborate with other departments if they do not have the visibility or the understanding of
how they impact the big picture. Give your team a holistic view of the project and a common
goal. Encourage information sharing framed around shared objectives. When teams are
guided by a common vision and objective, they understand how their work fits into the larger
context, they are more empowered to take initiatives.

1.2. Cultivate empathy

Having a mutual understanding between departments can make collaboration smoother and
more effective. Encourage teams to “walk a day in the other’s shoes” and see the challenges
of other departments from a different perspective.

Help employees understand the constraints and challenges faced by teams from different
departments. Cultivate a sense of curiosity to help them learn about each other’s work and
even come up with ideas of how one team can improve their process to help other teams
become more effective.

It is important to encourage a culture of mindfulness in which team members keep their

personal emotions in check so they can relate to their co-workers in a positive and productive
manner.

1.3. Develop a common language

Jargon and department-specific language can alienate those in other teams. They also make
communication much more challenging. Confusions arise when team members do not have a
common understanding of terminologies used in interdepartmental communications. Not only
will there be frustrating back-and-forth but also the risk of miscommunication that would
derail an entire project.

To improve cross-functional communications, develop a common language that would be

shared during new members’ onboarding process. In certain industries and for specific
functions, the use of technical language could be hard to avoid. Encourage team members to
learn the basic terms used by other departments, so they can effectively communicate on a
day-to-day basis.
1.4. Get involved in other departments’ processes

Imagine a creative team spending two months to come up with an elaborate design only to
have the marketing folks tell them that it is not reflecting the strategic direction of the brand.
These scenarios are not only infuriating and demoralising for the individual team members
but can also impact the timeline and budget of the entire project.

Unnecessary frustrations can be avoided if teams are involved in the other departments’
processes while a project is underway to ensure that the solution proposed by one team is in
alignment with the overall strategic vision and can be supported by the capability of other
departments.

1.5. Facilitate consistent communications

The increasingly fast pace of the workplace environment means everyone involved in a
project needs the most up-to-date information at all times. To encourage information sharing
and to help team members stay on top of items they need to review and comment on, you
need the right software to facilitate such interaction.

These applications allow you to automate notifications so the right team members can get the
appropriate communications at the right time while keeping information available to
everyone else at all times. They also help eliminate the back-and-forth nature of email
communications, which are hard to keep track of and can get confusing very quickly.

1.6. Set the tone

Healthy relationships between department heads can have a significant influence on how well
team members collaborate and it is important to create a culture of collaboration within the
leadership team. As managers, we can shape a collaborative culture by building relationships
with managers in other departments by setting the tone and leading by example.

Initiate periodic meetings with your counterparts to understand their progress and challenges,
while helping each other brainstorm ideas and problem-solve. This can foster a sense of
collective responsibility for the organisation’s success and build a sense of trust between
departments that would become invaluable for seamless collaboration.

1.7. Celebrate wins

Celebrating wins and acknowledging each other’s roles in the success of a milestone or
project helps cultivate trust and respect among team members from different departments. Do
not limit your celebration to the completion of a big project. Set milestones and make it a
habit to celebrate small wins.
Small wins help sustain momentum and motivation while breaking down barriers and silo
walls. It feels good to win, and if “winning” requires inter-departmental collaboration, then
such acknowledgement will provide positive reinforcement for future work together.

1.8. Encourage feedback

As managers, we need to build an environment in which team members feel comfortable

speaking up to share their opinions. In a fast-paced work environment, we depend on each
and everyone involved in a project to react to changes in plans and processes in a timely
manner.

Encouraging feedback can help empower team members, thus contributing to streamlining
and improving processes and collaboration between departments. It is important to foster a
culture of providing and accepting constructive feedback framed in a way that focuses on the
circumstances and not directed personally at a team member.

1.9. Foster trust

Long-term, successful collaboration is built upon trust and transparency. Trust is the
foundation of any high-performing team and transparency is a critical element in building
trust among team members. There are many aspects of trust - trust of integrity, trust of ethics
and trust of competency. The more you can encourage trust in these different areas, the more
likely you will be able to build trusting relationships between teams and among individuals.

Consistency is key when building trust. Team members need to know that they can depend on
each other every day without fail, knowing that while they are doing their best their
teammates are putting in the work as well.

1.10. Promote an environment of psychological safety

In many of the highest-performing teams, a strong degree of psychological safety, defined as

a ‘‘shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-
taking,’’ existed. It can be common for members of one department to assume a position of
absolute authority on a specific topic, but unchecked, that authority can become a weakness.
The outside perspective of a non-expert can often provide some priceless insights.

When there are no silly questions to ask or ideas to share, collaborators are free to stretch
their imaginations and find truly innovative solutions to challenging problems. With a
respectful consideration of ideas among all colleagues in a discussion, there is greater room
for growth, understanding, and effective collaboration.

1.11. Provide an informal venue

The key is to provide the cultural environment and the physical spaces people need in order
to run into one another and encourage the spontaneous conversations that can often result
from those impromptu meetings. Although there are fewer opportunities to build physical
spaces for informal collaboration on remote teams, it is still possible to manufacture these
spaces and experiences. Something as simple as keeping an informal channel in your team
communication tool, or regular video chats can make a difference.

It can also be valuable to provide other informal opportunities to collaborate outside the
office, whether that takes the form of company-sponsored volunteering events, a sports
league, a trivia team or any number of other activities that can bring a diverse crew together.

2. Conclusion

Seamless and effective collaboration between departments requires effort, and sometimes
changes at the leadership and cultural level; however, the work involved in making those
changes can produce transformative results.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 4: IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN THE LINE AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS WITHIN A
SELECTED ORGANISATION

Assessment criteria:

1. The concept of line and support functions is explained with examples

2. The relationship between a line and support function is explained, with reference to
own work unit

Attempt: 1

Assessment criteria 1

1. Line and support functions

A line position is directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the organisation, such as
producing or selling a product or service. Line positions are occupied by line personnel and
line managers. Line personnel carry out the primary activities of a business and are
considered essential to the basic functioning of the organisation.

Line managers make most of the decisions and direct line personnel to achieve company
goals. An example of a line manager is a marketing executive.
Although a marketing executive does not actually produce the product or service, he or she
directly contributes to the firm's overall objectives through market forecasting and generating
product or service demand. Therefore, line positions, whether they are personnel or
managers, engage in activities that are functionally and related to the principal workflow of
an organisation.

Support positions serve the organisation by indirectly supporting line functions. Support
positions consist of support personnel and support managers. Support personnel use their
technical expertise to assist line personnel and aid top management in various business
activities. Support managers provide support, advice and knowledge to other individuals in
the chain of command.

Although support managers are not part of the chain of command related to the direct
production of products or services, they do have authority over personnel. An example of a
support manager is a legal adviser. He or she does not actively engage in profit-making
activities but does provide legal support to those who do. Therefore, support positions,
whether personnel or managers engage in activities that are supportive to line personnel

2. Authority

Support authority is the right to advise or counsel those with line authority. For example,
human resource department employees help other departments by selecting and developing a
qualified workforce. A quality control manager aids a production manager by determining the
acceptable quality level of products or services at a manufacturing company, initiating quality
programs, and carrying out statistical analysis to ensure compliance with quality standards.
Therefore, support authority gives support personnel the right to offer advice in an effort to
improve line operations.

Functional authority is referred to as limited line authority. It gives a support person power
over a particular function, such as safety or accounting. Usually, functional authority is given
to a specific person with expertise in a certain area. For example, members of an accounting
department might have the authority to request documents they need to prepare financial
reports, or a human resource manager might have the authority to ensure that all departments
are complying with equal employment opportunity laws. Functional authority is a special
type of authority for support personnel, which must be designated by top management.

3. Support functions within an organisation

Support or secondary functions support the various primary activities. Business support
functions are key enablers to an organisation's success, but they are overhead and their
activities need to be aligned to support the efficient and effective delivery of organisational
goals.

Reviewing the provision of support services:

● Identifying and utilising best practice activities

● The creation of business cases and recommendations on whether to outsource all or some
of the services

● The review of policies and processes that drive working practices and resource expenditure

● The organisational structure and management of support service functions

● The design and implementation of new ways of working that are aligned with the
organisation's strategic objectives

● Cultural change that puts internal and external customers at the heart of support services'
provision

3.1. Human resources

Recruiting, hiring and retaining employees - the human capital of an organisation is important
as people perform all the activities in a business. The recruiting, hiring and retaining of staff
members should be done effectively so that the most suitable staff members are employed for
specific functions. People have a great ability to add value to any organisation.
3.2. Payroll

Paying employees and awarding their benefits - this is a core function because people will
only work hard, be productive and add value to an organisation if they are remunerated.
Payroll is a business-critical function that can add value, often beyond an organisation’s
expectations. A strong and consistent payroll strategy, for example, reduces operational risk
to the business by improving compliance with legal and auditing requirements.

Automating and streamlining payroll also reduces operational costs and can virtually
eliminate errors in payroll administration whilst improving employee engagement and
ultimately productivity. Whether streamlining payroll includes outsourcing is dependent upon
each organisation’s requirements and in-house resources.

3.3. Finance/accounting

Effective management of all the financial transactions - this adds value to businesses as they
need capital resources to expand and to exist. Finance departments collect a lot of data on
customers and clients. They know, among other things, who these people are, how they pay,
what they like to buy, and when they make their purchases. They also know the costs and
buying habits of your production and operations teams.

In short, if you are looking for business insights, plunging into your finance team’s data pools
can do wonders for you and transform how your sales, marketing, operations and supply
chains function and measure performance

3.4. IT

Information technology - adds value so that the organisation is positioned in a competitive

position. Information technology fosters innovation in business. Innovation results in smarter
apps, improved data storage, faster processing, and wider information distribution. Innovation
makes businesses run more efficiently, and innovation increases value, enhances the quality
and boosts productivity.

3.5. Project management/management

Project management - is a role that is performed so that tasks and functions are coordinated
and run smoothly. This adds value through the efficient production of goods and services.
Added value in workplace management refers to delivering spaces that are attractive and
efficient to enable employees to perform their tasks. Management can create value for
employees by creating a workplace environment that enables the employees to concentrate
more on their job and not have to bother about the slightest workplace inadequacies.

By understanding what they actually bring to the business and how they add value for
customers, managers become more focused and, as a result, more productive.
3.6. Procurement and purchasing

Finding new external vendors, maintaining vendor relationships, and negotiating prices and
other activities related to bringing in the necessary materials and resources used to build a
product or service.

3.7. Company infrastructure

Necessary company activities such as legal, general management, administrative, accounting,

finance, public relations and quality assurance.

Assessment criteria 2

1. Line and support functions

Every business has its own version of the line and support positions. The way they are
structured determines how well the organisation works. Line and support functions have
built-in inherent conflicts that management has to reconcile to have a smooth-running
organisation.

2. Line positions

Line positions in a company are those that have the responsibility and authority for achieving
the major goals of the corporation. Typically, these goals are targets for revenues and profits.
Line employees are those directly involved in the daily operations of a business by selling or
producing a product or service. These positions can include production, marketing and sales.
They are the primary activities of a company and are essential to the basic operations of a
business. Because of the importance of producing and selling, managers of line positions
have the responsibility for making most of the decisions of a company.

3. Support functions

The primary purpose of support functions in most companies is to provide assistance and
specialised advice and expertise to colleagues in line positions. Support functions include
human resources, maintenance, legal, accounting and public relations. Support positions can
be further defined as technical or support people. Examples of technical positions are
accountants and engineers. Support positions are clerks, secretaries and data processors.
Support employees are not directly involved in producing and selling activities.
4. Lines of authority

The power and authority of decision-making are different for line and support managers. Line
managers usually have final authority to make executive decisions in the company and to
direct the activities of personnel involved in producing and selling. On the other hand, the
authority of support managers is limited to supervising the activities of other support
personnel and advising line managers. Support managers are subordinate to the actions of line
managers.

5. Line and support conflict

The conflict between line and support workers is common. Line employees are usually older
and have more experience than support employees, who are typically younger and better
educated with college degrees. Line workers may believe that support workers are
meddlesome, arrogant and do not have enough field experience in the key functions of the
company. Support workers may say line workers ignore their advice and sometimes even
avoid being around them.

6. Conflict resolution

Management has several ways to resolve the conflict between line and support employees.
One way is to define the responsibilities and authority levels of each line and support position
so that each person understands their role in the business.

This makes it possible to hold all employees accountable for the consequences of their
activities. Another way is to combine line and support workers into a team that is responsible
for achieving specific goals of the organisation. This method forces the group to work
together in their efforts to improve performance and meet objectives.

Every organisation and company needs a certain line and support functions. Line workers
produce goods and services and sell. Support employees provide advice and support to line
workers that are intended to help them achieve company objectives.

Management has the responsibility to clearly specify the duties and authority levels of all
positions in order to prevent conflict and resentment between employees. If a conflict does
arise, managers have several ways to resolve the problems.

7. Value chains

The value chain framework helps organisations understand and evaluate sources of positive
and negative cost efficiency. Conducting a value chain analysis can help businesses in the
following ways:

● Support decisions for various business activities.

● Diagnose points of ineffectiveness for corrective action.

● Understand linkages and dependencies between different activities and areas in the
business. For example, issues in human resources management and technology can permeate
nearly all business activities.

● Optimise activities to maximize output and minimize organizational expenses.

● Potentially create a cost advantage over competitors.

● Understand core competencies and areas of improvement.

A value chain analysis can offer important benefits; however, when emphasizing granular
process details in a value chain, it's important to still give proper attention to an organisation's
broader strategy.

A value chain analysis is a process that helps organizations understand points in their value
chain, as well as relationships between these different points. Conducting a value chain
analysis helps a company identify factors that create or hinder cost efficiency in its business
model.

When undergoing a value chain analysis, businesses should regard the framework as a
starting point rather than a complete start-to-finish process.

Here are some steps that companies can take to understand their value chains:

● Break each primary and secondary activity down into sub-activities. Organisations can then
analyse each function on a more granular level, to compare the financial return of each
function to the time, effort and cost required.

● Look for connections between sub-activities. Often, the inefficiency of one activity or sub-
activity is linked to another. For example, an ill-advised HR hire can create issues that
permeate into many different sub-activities. Technology and inbound operations can also
have rippling effects throughout a company's value chain.

● Diagnose areas of improvement. Consider trends and patterns in the different sub-activities
and connections between sub-activities, and evaluate for potential improvement opportunities
in those particular points in the value chain.