Functional Areas of Business

Functional Areas of Business Paper

Sansannah Ervin

University of Phoenix

Functional Areas of Business Paper

        Robbins and Coulter (2012) describe Henry Mintzberg’s 1973 findings regarding the roles of managers, defining them as interpersonal, informational, or decisional.  Robbins and Coulter (2012) would later go on to identify five functional areas of business including Research and Development, Manufacturing, Marketing, Human Resources and Finance. This paper will focus on the interpersonal, informational and decisional roles of managers within the Human Resources, Marketing and Manufacturing functional areas of business.

Roles of Managers within Human Resources

According to Robbins and Coulter (2012), interpersonal roles involve people (subordinates and persons outside the organization). It is the writer’s position that managers within the Human Resources functional area of business routinely operate in such role. This view is supported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in which key responsibilities of Human Resource Managers were identified. Specifically, Human Resource Managers oversee the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of new staff. Additionally, they serve as a link between an organization’s management and its employees (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014).

Managers within Human Resources also operate in a decisional role as well. In this role, managers must resolve conflicts by acting as a negotiator or mediator. An article by Sue Kavanagh supports this view as well. She states, “…when two people have a dispute, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees. A human resources advisor should look at both sides of the equation and help to come up with a solution…” (Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland, 2002).

Roles of Managers within Marketing

Informational roles involve collecting, receiving and disseminating information (Robbins and Coulter, 2012). It is the opinion of this paper’s author that managers within the Marketing functional area of business routinely operate in such role. Managers within this functional area will frequently collect information through various means (i.e. focus groups, surveys, etc.) to monitor trends that indicate the need for a new product or service. Managers in the Marketing functional area may also be the recipient of information that must be disseminated for public consumption.

An example would be Ryerson’s recent acquisition of Southern Tool Steel. The Manager within the Communications & Marketing functional area received information from the company President/CEO regarding the particulars of the acquisition and subsequently had staff disseminate the information to the public via a press release, thereby supporting the company’s corporate growth strategy.

Roles of Managers within Manufacturing

Decisional roles entail making decisions or choices (Robbins and Coulter, 2012). Managers within the Manufacturing functional area of business routinely operate in such role. Managers within this functional area frequently must make decisions or choices regarding production. For example, whether to increase or decrease production (or to leave as is). However, these decisions are not arrived made arbitrarily. They typically are based on information that has been collected (i.e. production reports, sales reports, etc.). So it is this writer’s view that managers within the manufacturing functional area operate in at least two roles, informational and decisional.