University of Phoenix
Management
MGT/521
Kirk Davis
April 21, 2014
Functional Areas of Business
The functional areas of management include law, human resource management, leadership, accounting, finance, economics, research and statistics, operations management, marketing and strategic planning. In large corporations, there may be specific departments to handle each of the functional areas with many levels of management in each area from upper management, mid-level and front line managers. In a small business, these areas are often overlapping and handled by only one or two managers. This paper will focus on small business management functions. As a small business owner gathering a greater understanding of the functions of management in a small business and how to problem solve them are important to the writer.
In Sandra Perks article in the Journal of Enterprising Communities, she noted small business as those with at least five employees but less than twenty. Perks related that one of the main reasons a small business fails to grow is due to the manager's lack of understanding of what is required for growth, and what the barriers are (2010). An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, or SWOT analysis would help small business owners and managers to understand and begin to address the need for growth. If a business is not growing, it is failing. "Small businesses that grow during their first four years of establishment more than double their chance of survival (Perks, p. 221, 2010).
In chapter one of the text, Management, it states that managers plan, organize, lead, and control in an effort to achieve the organizations stated purposes (Robbins & Coulter, 2010).
Each of these functional areas of management is found in every area of a business, often overlapping. In a small business, the manger will use planning when creating the work schedule, and controlling when determining the number of...