Mr Jeyabalan Knowledge Test

Question 1

What are the main functional areas of businesses

Answer 1

Finance (may be called ‘Accounting’)
Marketing
Sales
Human resources (may be called ‘Personnel’)
Operations management (may be called ‘Production’)
Customer services
Business support services (may be called ‘IT’ or ‘Administration’)
Research and development
Purchasing (may be called ‘Procurement’)

Question 2

Responsibilities of finance / accounting

Answer 2

Financial control (e.g. budgeting and monitoring financial performance)
Record keeping (e.g. credit sales, credit purchases, receipts, payments, amounts owed by customers and amounts owed to suppliers)

Question 3

Responsibilities of sales

Answer 3

All activities involved in selling goods or services (e.g. direct selling and the use of sales reps)

Question 4

Responsibilities of Human Resources

Answer 4

Workforce planning and the need for recruitment or redundancies
Training
Remuneration (pay and fringe benefits) and other reward systems (e.g. bonuses)
Dealing with disciplinary issues and staff grievances

Question 5

Responsibilities of operation management

Answer 5

How the goods are produced and services are provided (converting inputs into outputs)
Production planning and stock control
Quality management

Question 6

Responsibilities of customer services

Answer 6

Liaising with customers
Managing customer expectations
Resolving queries and complaints

Question 7

Responsibilities of Business support services / IT / Administration

Answer 7

Managing resources
Maintaining equipment
Providing IT support
Providing administrative support

Question 8

Responsibilities of Research and development

Answer 8

Developing new goods and services in response to research findings

Question 9

Responsibilities of purchasing / procurement

Answer 9

Sourcing and providing materials, goods or services

Question 10

Interrelationships between Business Function

Answer 10

If the sales function generates a higher level of sales, the operations management function will need to produce more goods and the HR function may need to recruit more employees.

The R&D function relies on the marketing function to carry out research and then create advertising and promotional materials for the new products.

All of the other functions are affected by and also affect the finance function.

Question 11

Consequences of poor interrelationships between business functions

Answer 11

Incorrect quantities of goods being purchased or produced

Not enough funds being made available for individual functions

Incorrect staffing levels for the needs of the business

Question 12

Primary sector

Answer 12

Any business that grows goods or extracts materials from the land

Question 13

Secondary sector

Answer 13

The secondary sector of industry is concerned with manufacturing. This would involve taking the raw materials from the primary sector and converting them into new products

Question 14

Tertiary sector

Answer 14

The tertiary sector covers a wide range of activities from commerce to administration, transport and more.

Question 15

Primary sector example

Answer 15

Agriculture, fishing and mining

Question 16

Secondary sector example

Answer 16

Builders, car manufacture, steel workers

Question 17

Tertiary sector example

Answer 17

Retail sales
Hospitality (hotels, inns, restaurants, tourism)
Transportation (taxi cabs, commercial airline flights, chartered buses)