The function of the Sales Department in Sony

The function of the Sales Department in Sony is to sell to the customers. It records the sales made by the business to ensure the objective of to increase sales is met. It looks into the consumer market to find gaps and target parts of the market where they lack customers. This helps to find new customers, which they previously did not have. They also look after the current customers through after-sales services. The Marketing Department's function in Sony is to develop campaigns to promote the business and target new markets. This helps to increase customers and so increase sales.

This then leads to an increased market share, another objective that Sony aims to meet. The Operations department in Sony is extremely important because runs a call centre for customer care. The call centre takes orders, process orders and distribute them to the customer. They also deal with the payment for these purchased goods and deal with the cash collection. The Finance Department in Sony acts as most Finance Department do. It monitors the monthly expenditure of each department and ensures that each department stays within its monthly budget.

It produces profit and loss accounts each month so Sony can see how much was spent in comparison to how much profit was made. Connections between functions Each department contributes to the running of the business. By communications with other departments, it ensures that people are not doing work, which overlaps. It means that more time can be spent meeting its targets and developing the business. Because of this, all departments communicate as this allows the business to do well as a whole. This is constantly monitored along with each department's progress.

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The forms used to communicate are email, communications meetings once a week, general talk in the office environment and telephone (the use of mobile phones is extremely important for those who are not based in the office. Business structures Many organisations are structured in a pyramid structure with many layers known as hierarchy. A basic structure is shown below. However different businesses structure themselves differently because this makes them more efficient in the running of the business. The factors effecting organisational structure are the number of employees, the type of premises used and the type of business.

Larger businesses such as public limited companies and private limited companies however find it difficult to be efficient because of the size. This is why they usually have more layers and are defined into functions as this allows the business to run much more efficiently. An example is shown below: This again is adapted to suit the individual business. The higher up the pyramid you are an employee, the more authority you have. Important decisions need to be made those with more authority so decisions must be taken to the relevant person. This however takes time and so decision making in large organisations is slow.

Also, putting decisions into practice is slow because there is such a long chain of command in large organisational structures. Hierarchal structures are not always tall. In smaller businesses, such as sole traders and partnerships, the business has a flat hierarchal structure. An example is shown below: Flatter hierarchal structures have fewer layers because there are fewer employees. This is an advantage because it means the business is more efficient. Decisions can be made and put into practice quickly because there is a shorter chain of command.

This makes communications much easier compared with tall hierarchal structures. This also means employees lower down the organisation have more responsibility through delegation and this helps to keep them motivated. There is also the matrix structure. This is more commonly used by a projected-based organisation. Firms which are planning to launch a new product or involved in large "one off" contracts may develop their organisation structure around these and have two separate structures: one of the main bulk of the business and one for the employees involved in the new launch or the "one off" contract.

The matrix structure is useful to manage projects and encourages employees to be flexible. It does however make the chains of authority and responsibly unclear. This is the organisational structure of Sony. It is a tall hierarchal structure because it has so many employees and this helps to keep the business running efficiently. Businesses can also be structured by centralisation and decentralisation. Centralised organisations are those where individual branches and offices have to report to before they can make decisions. There is little delegation. Decentralised organisations are businesses where there is a lot of delegation.

Decisions are made without the need to go to the head office. This is important as it motivates employees. A business is structured in a particular way to suit the market it is in and how big the organisation is. The bigger the organisation, the more employees there are. This means that the structure needs to be larger to accommodate all the employees. And the more employee the less efficient the business is so there more layers needed. Sony has a tall structure because it is a large organisation and has over 17000 employees so it is important that the business is as efficient as possible.

Sony can do this by having many layers to each employee is given a restricted role within the business. If the business was to decrease in size and so make some employees redundant, the business could remain efficient by de-layering. This means reducing the number of layers present in the business. Management styles There are different styles of management, which are used by different businesses. There are four main types: autocratic, democratic, consultative and laissez faire. Autocratic is where the management take full responsibility for everything and decisions are made only by them.

There is little delegation and the employees with no authority are expected to put any decision made into practice. Businesses which use an autocratic management styles shows that the business has little believe in the employees and do not trust them to make important decisions. This gives the employees little motivation. Democratic is where management delegate some authority to other employees and allow them to make the decision themselves. The management still have overall control but other employees are given some responsibility.

This style of management gives the employees some motivation as it shows that they have some faith in the employees. Consultative management is when the management delegate some responsibility to other employees. However, once the employees give their opinion, the management will make the final decision based upon the opinion of the other employees. This management style gives the employees some motivation as it shows that the management value the employees opinion but they may feel they do not trust them enough to make a decision without agreement with the management.

Laissez faire is where the employees are given full responsibility by the management. They delegate all authority to them because they believe the team are capable of making the decisions themselves. The management then concentrates on co-ordinating the team's activities and in communication. This method of management shows that the management have faith in employees and trust them completely. This helps motivate employees and make them feel valued as an employee. Sony use the management style of Affects on performance and meeting objectives Organisational structure affects how well a business performs.

If Sony is badly structured, the business will not function properly. It is important employees know their position in the company and who to report to in the chain of command. If not, the businesses performance will suffer and it will not meet all its set objectives. However if Sony is well structured to suit its size and function, the employees will work well as a team and so are more likely to meet objectives. Culture affects how the business performs because if a business believes there employees are important and trust them to make decisions, they will use a management style such as consultative and laissez faire.

This will motivate employees to perform to the best of their ability and the business will work well as a team and work harder to meet objectives. But, if a business has little confidence in employees and use a management style such as autocratic, the employee will not be motivated to perform well and meet objectives as they fell worthless. Communication channels Communications in organisations Sony communicates in many ways, internally and externally. Internally, there are communications down the chain of command.

For example, there are communications from the managers to the supervisors who then communicate with the operatives. There are also communications going up the hierarchical structure. In Sony, the Human Resource department is involved in communications between departments. For example, Human Resources ensures that the Finance and Marketing departments communicate to ensure that the Marketing department don't go over budget. Externally, Sony communicates with customers through advertising. It informs the customer of the products and services it offers in an attracting way.

Sony could also communicate with the customer through sponsorship. By sponsoring, it gives the customer a positive view of the business. Sony can also send newsletters to customers to communicate to them the events that are taking place in the business. Sony communicates with competitors through annual reports. Sony can look at the annual reports of competitors such as Panasonic as Panasonic can look at the annual reports of Sony. Looking at reports of other businesses in the same market will help the business to compete for more market share.

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