Functional Areas of Business
Paul R. Rezendes
MGT/521
Feb-4th, 2015
Robert Key

Pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) is going to be a challenge for me. With my military leadership and management background combined with the recent completion of a 20 year naval career, it is one I am more than ready for. Successfully converting this military management knowledge over to the functional areas of business and relating them to this degree is my ultimate goal. This paper will focus on analyzing the functional areas of business and the manager’s role in them.

Functional Areas of Business Every business organization follows a similar principal of organization and direct functional areas that keep the business together and running on a daily basis. Some of these include ordering materials, paying bills, answering complaints or questions from customers and any other area that forms the functional areas within the organization. Larger organizations may have several hundred mangers throughout the departments, while smaller organizations may have a single manager in charge of multiple areas at the same time. The manager’s implementation of these functional areas is what leads to success and failure within the organization. “How much difference does a manager make in how an organization performs? The dominant view in management theory and society in general is that managers are directly responsible for an organization’s success or failure”. (Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. 2010)
Organizational Structure of the Functional Business Areas A typical business organization consists of many areas all working together for the greater good and the success of the organization as a whole. As a result, many managers find themselves working together in many departments. The list below is how my place of employment is setup. While it is not all inclusive, I feel it is typical of most business organizational design.
Environmental Health & Safety provides 24 hour on-call response to support the ASU Police Department in resolving emergency situations involving hazardous materials or life-safety issues.
Facilities Development and Management (FDM) is responsible for University facilities, infrastructure and grounds, and manages planning, design, construction, renovation, maintenance and repair at each Arizona State University campus. Financial Services serves the university community in a professional, accessible, customer focused, efficient, and innovative manner by timely processing financial transactions and providing accounting, financial management reporting, financial system training, and treasury management services.
Human Resources is responsible for the recruitment, retention and development of diverse faculty, academic professionals, administrators and staff. Business Services provides products and services to faculty, students and staff.
Real Estate Development Office is committed to acquiring, managing and developing the real property assets and to develop and cultivate a financially attractive real estate portfolio for the University.
University Technology Office (UTO) is responsible for the computers, networks, software and technology development and support at the University. (ASU CFO, 2014)
Functional Area Management Relationships The many functional areas of business must work together in order for a business to be successful. One cannot expect to throw a group of individuals together and expect success without the aid of management to direct and guide the mission in the direction required for that success. So what is a manager’s role in this? According to Robbins and Coulter study (2012), the management concept can be defined as an individual who is involved in the coordination and supervision of all work activities of their employees to make sure that the assigned activities were completed in an efficiently and effectively