Managing Activities to Achieve Result

[Name of Student]

Managing Activities to Achieve Result

Task One

1.1 Business processes and Business Functions at Microsoft

There is a difference between business processes and business functions (Slack N et al, 2008, pp. 15-20); the following are the definitions which show the difference between the two:

A business process is a set of interlinked activities that convert input into output, hence, creating value with the help of its employees and sophisticated machinery. A business process can also be thought of as something which focuses more on strategy of the business, and plans the outcomes. It encompasses a business model, a business strategy, the business aims, goals and values, and practices of a business.

A Business Funtion refers to “activities that take place in a specific functional area”. Figure 2 below shows the 6 main fuctional areas in operations of Microsoft Corporation.

Figure 2

Business function can be thought of as the actual activities that are essential in running the overall business. For example, when people in the HR department of a company are conducting interviews of people and hiring them, or when a company's Sales department is making a decision regarding the pricing strategy, it all comes under the umbrella of business functions.

Evaluation of Business Processes and Business Functions

Microsoft Corporations Business Processes focus on creating value for their customers (Microsoft Corporation Annual Report, 2012), together with expanding their business. Its mission statement states that Microsoft focuses on developing market software, services and hardware that can facilitate customers and businesses to realise their potential. Moreover, Microsoft is driving to introduce innovative technology that provides convenience and value to customers.

Microsoft Corporation has played a vital role in improving the living standard of people, and by doing so, they have accomplished their aim.

Microsoft has been successful in achieving customer satisfaction; this can be judged from the fact that the volume of their technologies is high, they have a variety of business divisions, and software and hardware products are simple and user-friendly.

1.2 Mapping Processes

In any organisation, there are a number of challenges involved in managing a large-scale project. Project manager have to coordinate all the different tasks of a project and develop all appropriate schedules, which include the starting and finishing times of all the different tasks. Furthermore, while concentrating on separate individual tasks, managers also have to monitor the project's overall progress and make sure that it is finished on time. In 1950s, the PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) model was developed to assist project managers, and it helped to reduce challenges. Microsoft Corporation can use this model to map its different processes.

PERT

PERT is a model or a diagram, which represents the sequence of the different tasks involved in finishing a project; their interdependencies and the estimated duration of every task. It is especially helpful in showing the impact that the delay of a single task can have over the entire project, and project managers can change the timescales accordingly if required (Manchester Metropolitan ...