1. Unit 8 P1 P2
Job roles in a business

2. Functional Areas in a business
Explain the purpose of different functional areas in two contrasting businesses.

3. What are the different jobs available in a supermarket?
cashier
manager
baker
customer service
assistant manager
security
owner
supervisor
cleaner
finance
delivery
sales
r+d
chef
Shelf stacker

4. Key job levels
Businesses organize themselves to achieve their specific aims and objectives, which means that no two businesses will share the same structure. However, in in all medium-to-large businesses, there will usually be four key job levels.
Owner/Directors
Managers
Point out to students that the pyramid shape shows that there are fewer people in the higher level roles and more in the lower level roles.
Point out that there are subsections within sections – e.g. support staff having their own structure.
Supervisors
Operatives and Support staff

5. Differences between job roles
There are a number of differences between key job levels in
a business. The roles of staff in managerial, supervisory, operative and support roles will vary in terms of:
their key responsibilities
their tasks or activities – what the job entails
their job security
decisions to make and problems to solve
the skills, qualifications and personal qualities they require
the related pay and benefits.
Think about the job roles of a supermarket manager and a checkout assistant. How do you think they are likely to differ in terms of each of these things?

6. The role of a manager
Managers are often responsible for the work of several other members of staff as well as their own.
Key tasks: running a business or department, meeting targets, managing and motivating staff, planning for the future.
Job security: dependent on the success of the business.
Skills/qualifications: usually educated to degree level.
Personal qualities: leadership, ambition, commitment, drive.
Pay and benefits: variable depending on the size of the business, but can exceed £100,000. May also also benefit from share option schemes, private healthcare, pension contributions, a company car and performance-related bonus schemes.

7. The role of a supervisor
Supervisors, also known as duty managers or team leaders, are the link between the manager and the operatives. They are responsible for staff within their own department.
Key tasks: ensuring the smooth, day-to-day running of their own department and managing and motivating their staff.
Job security: variable, although supervisors cost less than managers so they may be less vulnerable to business changes.
Skills/qualifications: dependent upon area of work.
Personal qualities: attention to detail, ability to motivate staff, reliability.
Pay and benefits: dependent on the size of the company, but less than managers.

8. The role of an operative
Operatives are responsible for carrying out specific tasks, which are crucial to the day-to-day running of the business.
Key tasks: doing own job professionally, whether it be as a supermarket checkout assistant or restaurant waitress.
Job security: dependent upon the demand for the organization’s products and services.
Skills/qualifications: dependent on job.
Personal qualities: hardworking, reliable, able to work within a team.
Pay and benefits: variable – can be salaried or paid hourly.
The operatives are also the people who actually produce the goods or services of the business.

9. The role of support staff
Support staff assist the operatives, supervisors and managers. Their roles are not directly related to the production of an organization’s goods and services.
Key tasks: can include administrative duties, IT support, security, maintenance and cleaning.
Job security: variable, although it is rare for any organization to operate without support staff.
Skills/qualifications: variable.
Personal qualities: reliability, attention to detail (possible supervisory skills for skilled support staff).
Pay and benefits: unskilled support staff often receive minimum wage. Skilled support staff are paid according to their specific skills and level.

10. Investigate a job role Choose a job and find out about; Types of tasks
Types of decisions
Level of responsibility
Skills, qualifications, attributes of the job holder
Salary level and other benefits.

11. Research- P1
Choose one organisation and produce a leaflet about the different types of job roles they have. You must include;
Types of tasks
Types of decisions
Level of responsibility
Skills, qualifications, attributes of the job holder
Salary level and other benefits.
Produce a hierarchy to show where each job role sits.

12. Operative/ Shop floor staff
Hierarchy.
Manager
Supervisor
Operative/ Shop floor staff

13. M1 - How do job roles differ?
Choose two contrasting organisations to compare. Compare the job roles in the two businesses and for at least 5 job roles, explain how these differ and what the similarities are.

14. Example comparison Crew member – McDonalds Volunteer- cancer research
Join us and you'll become part of a crew, or a team, that works together to provide the best quick service, family restaurant experience – by far. If you've visited one of our restaurants before, you’ve probably got some idea of what's involved in working here. But you might not realise the variety and scope of the role. Specific responsibilities that involve serving customers include working behind the counter on the till and being out in the dining areas looking after our customers' needs. A franchised restaurant is a restaurant operated by a local business person trading under the McDonald's name. Currently over half of our restaurants in the UK are franchised but from a customer point of view there's no difference. For employees there will be minor differences between a company and a franchised restaurant. Please refer to additional information for more details. Requirements: Quite simply, you'll be working in our fast moving, high energy environment and we’re looking for a genuine smile plus an ability to connect with customers and make them feel valued. Attributes: To join us as a Crew Member you’ll need to be confident in approaching and dealing with diverse groups of people. Friendly, courteous and helpful behaviour will come naturally to you and you’ll work well as part of a team. Effective communication skills such as attentive listening, face-to-face verbal communication and eye contact are a must. You’ll also need to understand the importance of maintaining high standards of quality and service as well as cleanliness. The ability to maintain high energy levels whilst working both efficiently and productively is essential. Finally, your appearance should be smart and clean.
Many of our volunteer roles do not require you to have any experience or specialist skills and we will provide all the training and information you need.
All Cancer Research UK volunteers have a staff member who they can go to for help and support. Often there are also more experienced volunteers to offer advice to new members of the team.
Students volunteer to gain skills and work experience to help them get a job while others work full-time but wish to volunteer during evenings or weekends. Some of our volunteers have had a break from the job market and want to build up fresh experience and we also have many retired people who are looking to put their experience and some of their newfound free time to good use.
The main differences are......
The main similarities are...

15. Organisational Structures.

16. What is an organization chart?
An organization chart is a diagram which shows the internal structure of a business, and how the different jobs within it fit together.
Different businesses are organized in different ways, to
best achieve their objectives. However, an organization
chart for any business will clearly show:
the different functional areas of the business and the job roles within each functional area
how many people work in each functional area
the different levels of responsibility/authority in the business – who is in charge, and who reports to whom.

17. What is an organization chart?
This is an organization chart showing how the subject departments (functional areas) of Science, English and Maths are organized in one school.
Headteacher
Deputy Head
Head of Maths
Head of English
Head of Science
The task of drawing a school organization may be more complicated than it first appears if there are lots of layers, unclear reporting lines, people doing a mixture of roles, etc. This should lead to some discussion about the nature of organizations.
Maths Teacher
English Teacher
Science Teacher
What do the horizontal and vertical lines indicate?
Draw an organization chart for your school!

18. Chain of command and span of control
In an organization chart, the people near the top have responsibility for those below them.
The chain of command refers to the number of layers through which messages (commands) have to pass in order to get from the person at the top level of authority to staff at the bottom level. The larger the business, the longer the chain of command is likely to be.
Photo © 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation
The span of control is the number of people under the supervision of any given manager (i.e. the people below them in the chart).

19. Hierarchical and flat structures
Large businesses and organizations such as Thorpe Park and your school will usually have a hierarchical structure.
This is a form of organization with many different levels of responsibility. The more levels in a business, the more opportunities there are for promotion up the hierarchy.
Smaller businesses or organizations will tend to have flat structures – where there are only two or three levels. These types of business are more informal, with close contact between managers and the rest of the staff.
This might be the right time to look at some organization charts from various businesses which represent the two structures. This will facilitate a class discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of both. Suggested starting points for the discussion might be:
Flat structures – mean fewer layers for decisions to pass down, which means there is less chance of miscommunication.
Hierarchical structures – are more formal and work better for large organizations. There is more scope to move up a hierarchical structure, for example in terms of possibilities for promotion.
What advantages and disadvantages of flat and hierarchical structures can you think of?

20. P2- Organisational structures
Write a factsheet in which you identify the different organisation structures you can expect to find in a business. (see exemplar)

21. M1 part 2- how do organisational structures compare?
Compare the organisational structures for two contrasting organisations. What are the similarities and differences in the charts?

22. ASDA UK Structure Andy Bond – Head of UK Operations
Divisional Director (North)
Divisional Director (South)
Divisional Director (West)
South West Division
Clusters x9
M4 Cluster
Wales Division
Divisional Director (East)