What are the major functional areas of management? Discussion

Major functional areas of management; An acceptable and practical classification includes four broad functional areas:

Production: 

This area is normally kept under the control of a production manager who is responsible for the performance of entire production-related activities. This area may further be classified into major sub-activities:  

• Purchasing.
• Material Management, and.
• Research and Development.

Marketing: 

Philip Kotler views marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and group obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others.

American Marketing Association defines market­ing management as;

"Process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create an exchange that satisfies individual and organizational objectives.”

The course content of marketing management generally includes the marketing concept, consumer behavior, marketing mix, market segmentation, product and price decisions, promotion and physical distribution, marketing research and information, international marketing, etc.

Modern marketing management is bridging the gap of demand and supply through de-marketing, remarketing, over-marketing and meta- marketing. Modern marketing, from a societal point of view, is the force that harnesses a nation’s industrial capacity to meet social needs and wants.

This area involves the distribution of an organization‘s product to the buyers. This can be divided into the following sub-areas:

• Advertising.
• Marketing Research.
• Sales Management.

Finance and Accounting: 

Financial management can be looked upon as the study of the relationship between the raising of funds and the deployment of funds. The subject matter of financial management is capital budgeting cost of capital, portfolio management, dividend policy, short and long term sources of finance.

This area deals with the record-keeping of various transactions and management of financial resources. This may further be divided into;

• Financial Accounting.
• Management Accounting. 
• Costing.
• Investment Management, and. 
• Taxation. 

Personnel: 

This aspect deals with the management of human resources in the organization. It includes the following areas: 

• Recruitment and Selection.
• Training and Development.
• Wages and Salary Administration, and.
• Industrial Relations.