HKUGA College S3 Business Studies (2024-2025) Past Paper Notes PDF

HKUGA College S3 Business Studies (2024-2025) Module 1 - Introduction to Business Management Part B - Key Business Functions Name: Class: ( ) Learning Objectives Students are expected to (i) describe the role and importance of the following key...

HKUGA College S3 Business Studies (2024-2025) Module 1 - Introduction to Business Management Part B - Key Business Functions Name: Class: ( ) Learning Objectives Students are expected to (i) describe the role and importance of the following key business functions: human resources management, financial management, operations management, marketing management, information management and risk management. (ii) explain the interrelationship and integrated nature of different business functions in solving business problems. 1. Key Business Functions Case Study 1 Scater sets up a café in Mong Kok. He is thinking what kind of tasks for running his business. Discussion (a) Suggest THREE tasks that Scater needs to do for her business. human resources management (e.g. recruitment); financial management (e.g. budgeting); operations management (e.g. designing jobs); marketing management (e.g. promotion); information management (e.g. distributing information) and risk management (e.g. buying insurance) (b) Do you think Scater can perform all the tasks by himself? Why? No, because Scater does not have expertise in all tasks / not have time to perform all tasks.. P. 2 of 9  A. Human Resources Management human resources the process of acquiring, training, appraising (評估) and compensating employees, management as well as dealing with matters concerning employee relations (僱員關係) and (人力資源管理) employees’ well-being Functions of Human Resources Department - To forecast the number and types of employees the company needs to achieve manpower its objectives. planning - To decide what positions the company needs to fill and how they are to be filled. staffing - To recruit, select and employ capable applicants for the company’s vacancies - To evaluate employees’ performance by designing a performance appraisal performance system, which includes setting performance standards. appraisal - Employees’ performance is evaluated by comparison with the standards. (工作評核) Feedback is given to employees. This can help improve employees’ work performance. reward - To design a fair and competitive compensation system which can motivate, management attract and retain competent employees. training and - To design training and development programmes for employees to improve development their skills and competencies (能力). - To promote harmonious relationships among the company, employees and enhancing the labour union through internal communication. employee relations - With good employee relations, employees will be more committed to their work and to the company. ⇓ Importance of Human Resources Management - allowing the company to attract, recruit and retain competent employees who can help the company achieve its goals - helping the company develop a quality workforce - matching the supply of and demand for human resources by hiring suitable employees to fill job vacancies and laying off excess employees - helping ensure that the company has observed all labour regulations P. 3 of 9  B. Financial Management financial the management of the financial resources (i.e. assets) and financial obligations management (i.e. liabilities) of a company to achieve the company’s goals and maximise the (財務管理) company’s net worth (資產淨值) Functions of Financial Department - To assess the company’s business performance in terms of profitability (盈利 financial analysis 能力), liquidity (變現能力), solvency (償債能力) and management efficiency (管理 (財務分析) 效能) using accounting ratios. - To help identify the company’s strengths and problems. financial planning - To forecast the company’s financial needs and developing budgets to meet and budgeting those needs. making investment - To identify good investment projects to maximise the company’s net worth. decisions - To determine the sources of financing (e.g. shares and bonds, bank loans and making financing retained profits) and raising funds for the company to make investments, and decisions to support its operations and expansion. making working - To manage the company’s current assets and current liabilities which can help capital (營運資金) the company maintain its liquidity. decisions ⇓ Importance of Financial Management - planning the company’s financial resources as well as allocate and utilise its funds effectively to achieve its goals - ensuring the smooth operation and survival of the company by acquiring necessary funds and maintaining working capital effectively - helping the company achieve stable growth P. 4 of 9  C. Operations Management operations the management of operating systems (營運系統) and processes that transform management inputs and outputs (營運管理) Functions of Operations Department plan for - To determine the company’s production capacity (生產能力) to capacity meet customer demand. choose a - To find a location that can minimise production costs and facility increase operational efficiency. location design the - To design the workflow and determine the sequence of designing effective workflow production processes. production - To assign and allocate tasks to different job positions, as well processes design jobs as design the workplace and work environment. - To design a facility layout to fit the company’s production processes, such as determining what equipment should be design a used and where it should be placed. facility layout - Facility layout affects the efficiency of material handling, the utilisation of equipment and the productivity of employees. - To keep track of the company’s inventory, which includes raw materials, work inventory (存貨) in progress (在製品) and finished goods. management - To make sure that all inventory is in good condition and available whenever the company needs it. - To impose quality control regulations for employees to follow. quality assurance - To inspect products, toots and equipment regularly. (品質保證) - To acquire quality raw materials from suppliers. logistic and - To ensure that the goods are packaged securely for transportation and distribution delivered to customers within a reasonable time. management ⇓ Importance of Operations Management - ensuring the smooch operation of the company by overseeing production processes and maintaining sufficient inventory - increasing the overall productivity of the company by ensuring that production is carried out effectively and that resources are used efficiently - ensuring that the quality of the company’s goods and services meets quality standards through proper quality assurance P. 5 of 9  D. Marketing Management marketing the process of identifying customers’ needs and executing marketing strategies so management that a company can meet customers’ needs with its goods and/or service better (市場營銷管理) than competitors and make a profit Functions of Marketing Department - To conduct marketing research to obtain market information, which can help conducting identify customers’ needs, forecast customer demand and evaluate the marketing company’s marketing performance. research - It can also help the company explore market opportunities and deal with threats. - To divide the market into smaller segments with distinct needs, characteristics segmenting the and consumption patterns. market, selecting - To evaluate the attractiveness of the segments and select target market(s) to target markets serve. and determining - To determine the company’s market position, which can reflect the company’s market position competitive advantages (競爭優勢), i.e., its advantages over its competitors. product - To determine the goods or services the company offers to strategies satisfy its target customers’ needs. price - To determine the amount of money target customers need to formulating strategies pay to obtain the product. marketing place - To determine how to make the product available to target strategies strategies customers, e.g., through physical stores or online platforms. - To determine the kind of activities needed to communicate the promotion product’s features and merits to target customers, and to strategies persuade them to buy the product. implementing and - To turn marketing plans into action by working with people inside and outside controlling the company. marketing - To measure and evaluate the results to ensure that the marketing activities are activities conducted as planned. managing - To attract new customers and retain existing customers. customer - To enhance customer loyalty (顧客忠誠度). relationships ⇓ Importance of Marketing Management - identifying and satisfying customers’ needs - helping the company compete with competitors by formulating suitable marketing strategies to better satisfy target customers’ needs than its competitors, the company can generate revenues - helping the company maintain long-term relationships with customers and therefore enhance customer loyalty - monitoring changes in the market and respond to those changes accordingly P. 6 of 9  E. Information Management information the process of gathering, processing, storing and distributing information to management support a company’s operations and decision-making (資訊管理) Functions of Information Management Department - To develop a system that can store, process and manage business transaction data resulting from daily operations. - To set up and maintain the company’s information system which allows other departments to obtain reliable and timely information which can aid their decision-making. Help from Information Management Department Importance Department record and store employees’ personal make various decisions such as promotions and salary human information, attendance and performance adjustments resources appraisal results store employees’ training records provide employees with appropriate training collect and store financial data (e.g. data · prepare financial statements and conduct financial finance on the company’s income and expenses) analysis to assess the company’s performance and generate accounting reports · prepare budgets for the company keep track of inventory and update stock · check the availability of inventory easily count · reorder inventory in time to avoid running out of stock operations store and analyse data of returned identify potential product quality issue and production products problems store and analyse data from marketing · understand customers’ needs and preferences and research forecast customer demand · formulate appropriate marketing strategies and evaluate the company’s marketing performance marketing store customers’ information and purchase · tailor goods or services for customers records · recommend products to customers based on past purchase records collect, store and process sales data evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies. - To set up and maintain network systems to facilitate communication. ⇓ Importance of Information Management - supporting different departments in decision-making by setting up and maintaining information systems which can provide useful business information - supporting the company’s daily operations by storing, processing and managing business transaction data - facilitating communication and collaboration among employees by setting up and maintaining network systems for communication P. 7 of 9  F. Risk Management risk management the process of identifying and assessing a company’s exposure to various types of (風險管理) risk and developing measures to minimise losses Functions of Risk Management Department identifying and - To helps identify the possible risks that the company faces and assess the measuring risks company’s exposure to the risks. - To formulate risk management strategies and choose the most appropriate measures to control and manage the risks. risk - To eliminate the risk of loss by not engaging in activities avoidance which would cause a loss. risk - To bear or retain the risk of loss by setting aside an amount of controlling risks assumption money to cover potential losses. risk - To reduce the risk of loss by preventing the loss from reduction happening or by reducing the size of the loss. risk - To transfer the risk of loss to another party (often through transfer insurance or contractual agreements). ⇓ Importance of Risk Management - reducing the uncertainty of the company’s business operations by identifying and assessing the risks which may cause losses - minimising losses and protect the company’s employees and assets by adopting the most suitable risk management strategies P. 8 of 9  G. Interrelationship of Business Functions Each key business function plays an important role in helping a company to accomplish its objectives. However, they are not independent of each other. The six key business functions are interrelated with each other in the daily operations of a company. Reasons for Interrelationship of Key Business Functions - A business function can only be executed effectively with support from other support needed business functions. from other - To complete its own tasks successfully, a business function often depends on business functions other business functions to provide the required information, resources and/or services. - Business functions need to work together to carry out a business plan or to solve a business problem. cooperating to - Most business activities are complicated and can only be accomplished implement successfully by people with different kinds of expertise. business plans - It is better to understand business functions as units linked to each other rather than as separate units. P. 9 of 9