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understand that administration involves the storing, processing,
retrieving and disseminating of information to support the business
functions (i.e. human resources, finance, operations, marketing and
sales, customer service and research and development)
be aware of the importance of administration in ensuring the efficient
running of a business, enabling it to respond to actual and potential
competition
be aware of the range of job roles (ie managers, supervisors and
operatives) and be able to identify appropriate titles and responsibilities
within different management structures (e.g. flat or hierarchical)
understand the difference between routine tasks (such as filing,
inputting data) and non-routine tasks (such as dealing with new product
development)
understand the difference between routine and non-routine decisionmaking and identify the appropriate decision-makers
understand the importance of planning, e.g. for a meeting, and the
consequences of poor planning for a business
understand the processes involved in planning and prioritising
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Human resources
Finance
Sales
Marketing
Customer Services
Production
Research and Development
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Human resources
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Finance
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Sales
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Marketing
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Customer Services
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Production
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Research and Development
◦ management of people
◦ Accurate records of cash flow; predicting profit and loss
◦ Selling products or services
◦ Advertising products/services; knowing what the customer wants
◦ Keeping the customer happy
◦ (if the company makes a product) Making the company’s
product(s)
◦ Researching and developing new products
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Administration is essential for the smooth
running of a business to ensure that they can
compete with others in the same field
Administration involves the storing, processing,
retrieving and disseminating (passing on) of
information that supports the business functions
Administrators perform this function so that
managers do not have to and can concentrate on
decision making
Typical tasks include preparing sales figures,
filing documents, updating databases, sending
out mail shots, setting up meetings
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Within a large organisation there are a
number of job roles, such as directors,
managers, supervisors and operatives
(workers)
Directors
Managers
Supervisors
Operatives (workers)
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Directors
◦ Responsible for the business’s strategy
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Managers
◦ responsible for carrying out the director’s strategy and
making day to day decisions
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Supervisors
◦ Responsible for carrying out the manager’s instructions
and usually look after specific projects or small teams
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Operatives
◦ Are not responsible for other staff and are often given
specific tasks to perform by managers or supervisors
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Answer the first question on the question
sheet
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A routine task is one that is performed regularly
in the same way. Each area of a business will
have its own routine tasks and those will vary
depending on the type of the business.
Examples include filing a tax return every year;
ordering stock every week; filing documents
every day; entering details of invoices into a
spreadsheet every day; re-stocking shelves every
day
Routine tasks are often carried out by operatives.
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Non-routine tasks are unpredictable and
usually “one off” tasks, such as re-fitting a
shop; responding to a customer complaint;
developing a new product; upgrading
equipment
Non-routine tasks often involve high level
decisions and so involve managers
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Businesses are structured to enable decisions
to be made easily. There are far fewer people
at the top of the management structure than
at the bottom. Decisions are usually made
by people at the top of the hierarchy, but
decision making powers can be delegated to
people lower down in the organisation
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In the same way as there are routine and
non-routine tasks there are routine and nonroutine decisions.
Routine decisions involve day to day
judgements about the day to day running of
the business. For example, a monthly
decision about what stationary to order.
A non-routine decision is a more important
decision that may have a major effect on the
business, for example the decision to open a
new shop.
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Delegation of decision making authority can
help to motivate staff and make them feel
valued.
Disadvantages are that staff may not know
who to go to for a particular decision and if
the wrong decision is made and reversed by a
manager then the member of staff making
the decision will feel bad.
If decisions are frequently delegated then the
business is said to have a decentralised
structure.
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Poor planning and poor decision making can
lead to loss of time and resources and
ultimately to business failure.
Planning needs to take place regarding all
areas of the business so that it can function.
Planning needs to take place regarding
resources so that there are no shortages and
regarding staff so that there are enough.
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5.
Identify your objectives
Break the project into separate tasks
Estimate the time needed for each task and
whether they have to done one after the
other or can be done simultaneously. Set
milestones for each task (i.e. dates when
they have to be completed)
Identify the resources needed (e.g. staff,
equipment, materials, money)
Think about how outside influences will
affect the plan (e.g. suppliers)
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Answer the second question on the question
sheet
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Answer the questions on pages 10, 11 and 12