Operational managers make operational decisions that usually involve an intermediate action. Today, the trend is toward giving lower level nonmanagement employees the information they need to make decisions previously made by managers. Functional Areas M ost organizations are divided into four functional areas with related types of activities. Operations carries out the primary activity of an organization. Sales and marketing sell an organization's product or service.
Finance includes all activities related to recording the monetary transactions of an organization.
Human resources manages the people who work for an organization. Many organizations also have a fifth area, information systems , that provides support for the entire organization by managing the organization's information and information systems. Other Approaches to Management Organization M any companies have adopted or are experimenting with structures different from the traditional functional organization. These approaches include fewer levels of management, employees organized by process not function, use of self-managed teams wherever possible, and employees continuously learning new skills. Qualities of Information T he qualities, or characteristics, of valuable information include being accurate, verifiable, timely, organized, meaningful, useful, and cost effective.