1. Functional Areas
By Cameron Short

2. How I have carried out my research
I carried out my research by going on certain websites and also using my common knowledge. In this piece of work I have had to look at all of the different Functional Areas in both businesses. I have mostly used my own common knowledge for this piece of work because I knew a lot of the different areas already and because their wasn't a lot of information on websites about them.

3. Functional Areas
Marketing
ICT
Sales
Finance
Research And Development
Administration
Production
Human Resources
Health & Safety
Park management
Customer Service
Performance Management
Salary Management
Recording Holidays/Illnesses/Time Off

4. Human Resources Training Promotions Hiring staff Health And Safety
Records
All sick absents and holidays
Performance management
Disciplinary
Salary rate
Bonuses
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park would have to train their staff because if not the staff wouldn’t know how to operate the rides and that could lead to putting people lives at risk. They train their staff by showing them how to operate different buttons on each ride or maybe by showing them how to fix rides. Thorpe Park would promote their staff if they have been doing really well e.g. from a ride attendant to a ride supervisor. Thorpe Park may have to hire staff when they open new rides because they might not have enough staff to do the jobs. There are different types of staff that they have to hire e.g. trained Chefs to cook the food. Thorpe Park would have health and safety staff patrolling around the park at all times to make sure that no one gets hurt and that everyone keeps safe. Thorpe Park would keep records of all of their staff’s work rates and if they have been doing well then they can promote them so that they have a better job, higher up in their category. This could boost up the staff’s confidence so that they try harder when working and then the park will get a better reputation. Thorpe Park also keep track of how many days off their staff have. If the staff have lots of days off then they could get sacked because they are not showing enough dedication to their job. This is important because they wouldn’t be making as much progress if staff are not trying hard enough. If the staff are doing well and don’t have days off then they could get promoted because they are showing dedication and it shows that they like their job. This is important because then when they promote their staff they can then bring in new staff to take over the jobs that the staff have just been promoted from. Performance management sort of links in with promotions because if the staff perform well then they can get promoted. Thorpe Park will give out Disciplinary warnings to staff if they are not doing well or working properly. E.g. Not putting enough effort in. Thorpe Park will give their staff a higher monthly salary if they are working well because it shows that they are dedicated to their job and that they are making progress. Bonuses links in with salary rate because if the staff do well they get bonuses in money.
Galliano’s
Galliano’s have to train staff so that they know how to cook pizza’s properly. Galliano’s can’t really promote their staff because there aren’t many jobs to do except from cook or deliver pizza’s. Galliano’s have to hire staff because if not they wouldn’t have anyone to cook or deliver the pizza’s. Galliano’s have to learn to be safe when it comes to making pizza’s because they could burn themselves when they are cooking. Galliano’s have to make records of how well their staff have done in the past because if they have done something wrong in the past and have done something wrong recently they know that they are not a very good person to have as staff. Along with them keeping records they also take account of how many people have had days off and how many times they have had days off. This shows the manager if they are liking their work or not and if they are putting effort into their work. The performance management links in with promotions because the manager can look at the performances of the staff and keeping it in the record books. Like Thorpe Park disciplinary warnings get given to the staff that are not doing very well. The warning will tell them that they have to try better because the work that they are putting in at the minute is not what is expected of them. Galliano’s could potentially give their staff higher payment if they are doing well but the jobs that they do aren’t that hard so the manager wouldn’t really notice any improvements. Bonuses links in with salary rate because if the staff are doing their job well they will get pay bonuses.

5. Marketing designs Pricing Communicating with customers
Working with other businesses
Brand
Advertising
Promotions
Selling Items
Uniform
Website
Market Research
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park have to do market research to find out hat prices are suitable for their products. For example, they need to find out what prices other theme parks are selling their tickets at so that they know what price to roughly sell their tickets for. They could do this by maybe carrying out a survey. Thorpe Park a like all of the other theme parks have brands for such things as food and drinks. A couple of examples of these brands are Cadbury's and Coca-Cola. Thorpe advertise their products on their website, on YouTube, on TV or in the Newspaper. This is a good way of advertising because everyone watches TV so most people are likely to see it. Thorpe Park give their staff promotions if they are doing well at their job well. The sort of promotions that they would do is to put someone that was operating on a smaller ride to then put them on a larger ride. They would do this by showing the staff how to operate the new rides. Thorpe Park sell items like food to people at the park so that the customers don’t have to leave and then come back again later. The staff at Thorpe Park have to wear uniform so that the customers know who they are. Also it helps if someone gets hurt because they know who to come to if they need help. Thorpe Park have their own website so that people can look at what they have to offer, the ticket prices and how much it is to stay there. Thorpe Park Have to do market research to find out what people prefer in rides and what designs people like. They do this by asking people to participate in surveys to help them get an idea of what the customers like or they could do research on the internet looking at other theme parks and what they have to offer. Along with the survey and researching other websites they also have a questionnaire so that people can answer questions about what they like in amusement parks. Communicating with customers is a good way to find out what people like in a business and then once they have got feedback they can improve their business. This will improve their business because then they can improve their business in the way that the customers would like it and then more customers would visit Thorpe Park meaning that they gain more money. Thorpe Park have to work with other companies such as Tesco’s because then they can advertise their rides on food packaging and then that way more people will know about the rides.
Galliano’s
Galliano’s need to find out what prices other pizza selling companies sell their pizza’s at so that they know what would be a good price to sell their pizza’s at. Galliano’s doesn't really have a brand because they are only a small company. Galliano’s advertise themselves in the newspaper so that people in the local area know about them. Galliano’s cant really give their staff promotions because there are not a lot of different jobs in a pizza selling company. Galliano’s just mainly sell pizza’s because that is what there job is to do but they do also sell some other food like chips or burgers. The staff at Galliano's don’t really have a set uniform but the chefs have to wear aprons which say Galliano’s on because it shows that they are a park of that company. On Galliano’s website they have information about where they are located and what their phone number is so that if someone wants to make an order they can just look at the website. Galliano’s have to also do Market research so that they know how other Pizza selling companies are doing. They also do a survey to see what people’s favourite Pizzeria is. If people choose other companies then they know that they have to improve their own designs.
designs
Survey
Questionnaire

6. Customer Service Deal with customer enquires Be friendly to customers
Refunds
Give after sale help
Offer help lines
Deal with product design
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park’s customer service help deal with lots of problems. For example, they deal with customer enquires. This means that if the customers need help with anything or if they have a problem with anything, the customer service will help and then Thorpe Park would get a better reputation overall. It is important to get a better reputation because then they will gain more customers and get more money. The customer service would also have to be very friendly to the customers because then the customers won’t feel scared or intimidated to ask for help. They also have to deal with refunds because if a customer purchases an item from their shop and then doesn't like it, they may bring it back. E.g. a ripped t-shirt. The customer service have to not be offended when a customer does this because if they are it can sometimes show and then the customer might feel intimidated. They have to deal with after sale help as well. This means that if a customer needs help with an item that they have bought, the customer service can show the customer how to work the item. There is another thing that the service do and that is to offer help lines to the customers. For example, if a customer buys two tickets but only receives one. Then they can ring up the customer help line, either to complain or to try and get it sorted out. This would help Thorpe Park because then more customers will feel comfortable when ringing them in the future if they need any more help. They deal with product design as well which means that they deal with bringing out new products and advertising them so that the customers will like them. They do this because then more people will visit meaning they will earn more money and then have more money to bring out new rides.
Galliano’s
The staff at Galliano’s deal with customer enquires. This means that if any customer needs help with deliveries, then they can deliver or if they need to be told what’s on the menu’s, then they can help them. When members of staff are either answering calls or talking to customers face-to-face then they have to be friendly. This sends out a good signal to the customers and then the customers will think that it is a nice place. If the customers find anything faulty with the food then they can get refunds or their money back. E.g. if their food is burnt or not cooked properly. Galliano’s give after sale help. This means that if a customer has complained about the food, a member of staff would talk to them about why they have filed a complaint. Galliano’s can not really offer help lines because all they do is sell food. They can deal with product design by creating new pizza recipes or by adding new combinations of toppings to their pizza’s.

7. Finance Sales from merchandise Budgeting Analyse profit and losses
Set financial targets
Expenditure
Borrowing or leasing
Wages or salary
Over years
Why ?
Over months
Thorpe Park
The finance department at Thorpe Park have to deal with the merchandise and the tickets that they sell. The things that they have to think about is what prices they sell the tickets and the merchandise at. The prices have to be reasonable because if they are too expensive then they would not be receiving as many customers as usual and therefore not making as much money as they could be. They also have to stick to a budget because if they spend to much they will find themselves in dept. This doesn't mean that they can’t spend any money, it just means that they have to be responsible with their money. The finance department have to deal with profit and losses. This means that they can keep up to date with how well they are doing. If they are losing money then they can find out where they have gone wrong. The financial department at Thorpe Park set financial targets for themselves which means that they have to meet a set profit amount. They can make this profit when they bring out new rides. This is because it attracts more customers to the park and then they can make money back on the expensive rides that they produce. It is important that they do this because then the customers won’t get bored of just the same rides. Expenditure means ‘What the park spends’. The main things that Thorpe Park spend their money on are: Paying for electricity, Paying for new rides and paying for wages. It is important that they keep track of there money because if not they could find themselves in debt. Borrowing or leasing may take place if Thorpe Park need to pay for rides or if they don’t have enough money to hire new members of staff that they need. Wages need to be paid each year. They need to make sure that all of the staff get paid correctly and they need to make sure that they have enough money to do so.

8. Research & Development
Consumer wants/ needs.
New technologies/ design/ rides.
In house/ outsourced
Other countries
Other independent designers
Thorpe Park
The staff have to research what the customers have been wanting over the lasts couple of years. They could do this by carrying out a survey to see what the customers like in their staff. E.g. if they like them to be in a happy mood when serving customers. This would help the staff to improve because then they would know what the customers like the staff to be like. They would need to research Into what features other theme parks have. If a certain theme park has a good ride, then Thorpe Park could steal that Idea and build on it to make it better. Then they could build the ride at Thorpe Park. This would mean that they would gain more customers because lots of people would want to go onto the ride. This could even mean that they could steal customers from other theme park’s and gain popularity. When gaining popularity they could make more money and if they have more money then they can improve their park. In house means that Thorpe Park would be using people who work at the park to solve any problems such as maintenance issue’s. Outsourced means that if the maintenance staff at Thorpe Park are not well trained enough to carry out the procedure then they would have to research and hire someone that can carry out the job.

9. Admin Responding to enquires. Placing Orders. Send/ Receive calls.
Send/ Receive mail.
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park have to respond to enquires. If any customers ask questions about the park. E.g. how much the tickets are, then the Admin have to have the knowledge to be able to answer the questions. The Admin have to order new supplies e.g. drinks for the vending machines. If they don’t bring in new supplies then if any of the customers are thirsty they would have to go to one of the restaurants to get a drink instead of just being able to go to the nearest vending machine. The staff at the Admin have to answer calls and they have to answer mail . They have to answer calls because some people may be ringing up to buy tickets. This will mean that the Admin staff would have to make the ticket price seem reasonable because then there maybe customers that want to buy the tickets. As well as this there may be people who want to buy grouped tickets so they would have to sort out the cost of the tickets altogether. Also they have to read mail because there could be some important mail telling them something about the park or they may have to send s to people if they have got injured whilst at the park in the past to see if they are ok or not.

10. ICT Buying new equipment.. Looking after the website.
Monitoring the staff computers.
Sort out computer problems if needed.
Looking after the system.
Thorpe Park
Thorpe park have to buy new equipment so that they can have the newest software's possible. This would mean that it would be easier to design new rides on the new software. They have to look after the website as well. This means that they have to update it regularly because if they bought out a new ride and didn’t advertise it on their website then no one would know that their new ride is released. The manager at Thorpe Park has to monitor the staff’s computers to make sure that none of the staff are going on any unnecessary websites. If they are doing so then the manager can know that they are not putting in enough effort in to their job. The IT staff at Thorpe Park have to make sure that they sort out any problems if needed because if not then there would be a member of staff that when going on their computer, will not be able to do their work. The IT staff always have to look after the system. This may mean that the staff have to make sure that the system doesn't pick up any viruses or doesn't get hacked. They could do this by having anti-virus software’s on the system.

11. Sales Serving customers. To sell products over the phone.
Providing discounts for customers.
Promotions.
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park have to serve their customers well. They can do this by telling the customer how good the product is that they are purchasing so that the customer is persuaded to buy the product and happy with their purchase. Thorpe Park also have to sell products over the phone. E.g. tickets. They can do this by persuading the customers that Thorpe Park is better than the other theme parks and by saying that the rides at Thorpe Park are really good. Discounts can be provided for customers because when there are discounts the prices of items go down and more people purchase items. If the sales department do well with their sales, then the staff will get promotions which means that they get paid more and that they are higher up in the business. This will help them feel more confident with their job because they know that they are doing their job well.

12. Communication Between Functional Areas
Human Resources
Marketing
Customer Service
Finance
Research&Development
Admin
ICT
Sales

13. 10 Ways To Communicate Text Email Face-to-face Facebook Fax machine
Video Calls
Conference Meetings
Letters
Radio
Website
Intranet

14. Communication Methods
Finance
ICT
Human Resources
Admin
Sales
Customer Service
Marketing
Research & Development
Telephone
Fax
Text
Radio TV
Website
Letters
Meetings
How the Functional Area’s communicate
Finance use because a lot of the work that they do is done on computers. The ICT department also use s because they work on computers all of the time. Human Resources would use because everyone has one and they are easy to use. Admin would communicate using because they mainly work on computers as well. Sales would use the TV to communicate because they use the television to advertise their products. Customer Service use text, and letters because they have to send out information to different financial areas within Thorpe Park that use the same types of communication and tell them if there are any problems with customers. Marketing would use websites such as Facebook to communicate because they have to advertise their products on the website so that people know that they have brought out new products. They would use Facebook in particular because it is a popular website for people of all ages. The method of communication that Research & Development would use is because they mostly work on computers.

15. Best Method Of Communication
The best method of communication is .
The best method of communication between the Functional Area’s
Using is the best way for the functional areas to communicate because everyone has an and because they are easy to see what s you have received. Also it is free to send s so it would not cost the company any money. Every member of staff have to send out s at certain points which means that they are regularly on a computer and if they are on the computer it would be easy to send an .

16. The best ways of communication in order from importance (top) to the least important (bottom).
Radio
Intranet
Fax machine
Website
Video Calls
Conference Meetings
Face-to-face
Letters
Text
Facebook -
Using is the best way for the functional areas to communicate because everyone has an and because they are easy to see what s you have received. Also it is free to send s so it would not cost the company any money.
Radio-
Radio would be a good method of communication because if everyone in the park has a radio, they can all talk to each other through it and tell each other if they have any problems.
Intranet-
Intranet would be a good method of communication because everyone can communicate through one piece of software. This means that things will not get confusing for anyone. Everyone in the park would have this piece of software as well which means that everyone will be able to communicate.
Fax Machine-
A Fax Machine would be a fairly good method of communication because yet again, everyone would have one and every department in Thorpe Park has their own phone number so anyone can send or receive messages.
Website-
A website would be a good method of communication because everyone at the park would be able to access this website that is made just for the staff to communicate on.
Video Calls-
Video Calls would be an ok method of communication. It is ok because you can send information instantly to each other wherever you are. The disadvantage of this is that some people may not be able to take the call all of the time because they may be busy doing other things.
Conference Meetings-
Conference Meetings are an ok method of communication because they take along time to get information out but the information can be given out to everyone at one time.
Face-to-Face-
Face-to-Face communication is not the best method of communication because it takes a lot of time to walk from one department, to the other. This could potentially waste a lot of time, when you could be getting ion with work.
Letters-
Letters would be a bad method of communication because it takes time to actually write a letter and when you have written the letter, you will then have to walk to the person that you are wanting to give the letter to. This is because there will be no post boxes at the park.
Text-
Text would be a bad method of communication because you are not supposed to be on your phone at work. If you get caught on your phone you could get sacked from your job and this could potentially ruin other peoples jobs because they could be affected by you having to leave.
Facebook-
Facebook would be the worst method of communication because you are not allowed to access such a website as Facebook when you are working. Most of the time, Facebook will be blocked but if it isn’t and you access it, you will be sacked from your job.

17. Evaluation Strengths:
I completed every slide in the amount of time given.
Correct Spellings.
Weaknesses:
I didn’t write in as much detail as I thought that I could because I thought that I was rushed for time.
Skills that I developed:
I have learnt about how many different jobs there are in a business and about what they do.
Improvised when needed.
Improvements:
I could explain in more detail what each functional area does.
Research harder to find out more of what the functional areas do.
Add more examples of what the functional areas do.
My Strengths
The things that I done well was that I completed all of the slides in the amount of time given. This is good because if I didn’t then I wouldn’t be able to be able to get more marks and that would mean that I would be missing out on marks. The other thing that I did well was that all of my spellings were correct. This is key because I spelt a word wrong, the teacher might not be able to understand it and then she wouldn’t be able to give me the mark.
My Weaknesses
The only weakness that I thought there was, was the fact that I didn’t think that I wrote in as much detail as I thought that I could of. I could be potentially be losing out on marks which is a bad thing because I might be not getting the right amount of marks to get me the grade that I am expected to get.
Skills Developed
I have Learnt that there are lots of different jobs in one business and I have learnt what they actually do. This will help me in the future because I now know that there isn't just one job in a business, there are lots of different things to do. Also I learnt to improve in some answers because there were some questions were I didn’t know what to put but I guessed and wrote something down so that I could maybe be in with a chance of getting the marks.
Improvements
One of the things that I could improve is the fact that I could explain in more detail so that I could get more marks. I could do this by explaining the points in greater detail. Another improvement that I could do is to research into what the functional areas do. This would help me write more to get more marks. I could do this by going on to Thorpe Parks website and researching what they do. The final improvement that I could do Is add in more examples of what the functional areas do. This could be achieved if I researched more about what the functional areas do.

18. Bibliography http://www.Thorpepark.com/