Every business needs to look after their finances and have a department to deal with all financial duties including salaries for employees, paying bills, paying suppliers and keeping information of accounts for all departments. That’s why it is vital to understand the information in order to plan on what to do next whether that being for the whole outlet or a certain department. This is very vital for any business, as you would need someone to go over and finalise how well the business is doing financially.
The finance division deal with and help the business activity by: Financial accounting This section of the finance department looks after the financial records of the organisation, more commonly known ‘looking after the books’. This will be head to the chartered accountant and because of the size of Sainsburys they would employ someone to deal with this. The accountant will be responsible for all the financial information and presenting the findings in balance sheets, profit/loss statements.
The work of this section will show the organisation just how well they have performed and performing. Another key part of this section is to advise where and how to raise finance for the operation or expansion of the organisation. This implements that the head of this section will deal closely with banks and investors. Money is one of the most common reason for people opening up a business so finance is very vital and it could lead to the demise of the company if statistics are not inspected closely. Management accounting
This part of the finance department headed by a chartered management accountant is responsible for measuring and analysing the day-to-day performance of the organisation. Staff in this section will calculate how much each component of a product costs. Equally important is working out how to reduce these costs so the profit figures are higher. Another substantial part of their work is to calculate how much of the organisation’s ‘overheads’ (its rates, power bills, research costs, transport etc) should be allocated to each product they make in store, which includes fresh bread and cobs.
Administration This department more commonly known as the ‘backbone’ of any organisation supports all other departments to run smoothly on a day-to-day basis whether that being keeping the store tidy or keeping company records. Administration is very important for Sainsburys as customers would not like to visit a unsafe outlet without security, rubbished store with litter all over the place so this activity would effect the businesses performance if not dealt with. This department covers numerous roles such as: Office services
An office services supervisor runs this section that covers the reception and switchboard operations, the management’s secretarial support, photocopying/faxes and office supplies. Office services are very vital as this is a form of communication whether that being faxes from customers or suppliers. Legal services Here they provide the legal services to the organisations other departments. For example it would carry out all legal work relating to the purchase of land for new outlets, or the sale of land no longer needed.
A very vital section as a company will develop mast problems if the legal rules have not been abided and it may also lead to shutdown. But as from the size of Sainsburys they would count this very important as from the size of the business and wealth. General support services This area includes building maintenance and repairs, caretaking, cleaning, security and catering for employees when lunch breaks. This section makes sure everything is in order and working properly. Very important as if they have a failure on a certain department in the outlet it may decrease the amount of that product sold and displease customers.
But more importantly it would decrease productivity time, which then becomes loss of revenue. Marketing and Sales Businesses also carry out range of activities to find out about customer needs and then try provide them with that service, this all counts on feedback and this is very important for Sainsburys as they operate in the tertiary sector where they offer a service for the public so keeping customers happy would be a high priority. Marketing is vital for further success and revenue and Sainsburys do look for further success so marketing is also a great part of the activity.
In simple terms the marketing role is to: – Identify and – Anticipate and – Satisfy customer requirements in a way that is profitable for Sainsburys Another way of describing it is ‘the getting and keeping of customers’ The marketing manager ; corporate strategy The marketing manager must base their work on the corporate strategy of Sainsburys and come up of ways to uphold the strategy. Example could be offering more services to customers; Sainsburys offer petrol stations, premier point cards, free books for school on selected brands and other services.
The strategy may change maybe because the directors are unhappy with profits and have thought of new ways to gain more customers. This is very common with any PLC company as competition is very high not only with the retail sector but offering the best services for customers. This section basically makes sure the corporate strategy is being implemented and successfully. Marketing planner This job is to analyse marketing opportunities and to identify where and when to enter new markets and when to leave if declining.
Marketing planners have to give advice on decisions such as when to improve existing products, which is often done to extend their life span, and when to introduce new products and services for customers. Such decisions are based on findings from market research carried out by the business itself whether that being street or house-to-house surveys and some will be from published material’s by research institutes and government departments. The research done here would also give good feedback on how to keep customers happy and gain more business.
