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Business Functions and Business Processes
2. How could a university organize its business education around business processes rather
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than business functions? What would be the benefits to students?
3. Assume your uncle raises bees for honey on his farm. You help him package the honey
and sell it on the Internet. Reproduce Figure 1-1 for this small business example. Add a
one-sentence description for each function as it relates to selling this artisan honey online.
4. Go to the Amazon Web site (http://www.amazon.com), and step through the process of
buying an item without actually purchasing the item. Based on this experience, describe the
flows of information between Marketing and Sales, Accounting and Finance, and Supply
Chain Management at Amazon. How easy is it to buy that item?
5. Using the Internet, research your state’s regulations for employing teenagers—such as
minimum age of employment. Do the same for a neighboring state. Are the two state
regulations the same? Why would it be important for Human Resources to communicate
this information to a hiring department?
6. Think of the last time you bought a high-tech electronic item. How does the process of
buying that item cut across the store’s various functional lines? What information from
your receipt would need to be available to the business functions? Which business
functions would need that information? How could your receipt help in the process of
returning that item?
7. Assume you own and run a small ice cream shop located on the grounds of a private pool.
You want to maximize sales and decide that allowing customers to buy on credit could be a
big driver of sales since most people come to the pool without cash. What information do
you need to keep track of to make sure a given customer doesn’t go over their $20 credit
limit. What problems might occur?

For Further Study and Research
Amrani, Radouane E., Frantz Rowe, and Bénédicte Geffroy-Maronnat. “The Effects of Enterprise
Resource Planning Implementation Strategy on Cross-Functionality.” Information Systems
Journal 16, no. 1 (January 2006): 79.
Aurand, Timothy W., Carol DeMoranville, and Geoffrey L. Gordon. “Cross-Functional Business
Programs: Critical Design and Development Considerations.” Mid-American Journal of
Business 16, no. 2 (Fall 2001): 21–30.
Economist. “Silo But Deadly.” December 5, 2009. http://www.economist.com/node/15016132.
Hannon, David. “Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Revolutionizes Its Supply Chain.”
InsiderPROFILES 2, no. 2 (April 2011). http://insiderprofiles.wispubs.com/article.aspx?
iArticleId=5706.
Hannon, David. “How TUMI, Inc. Cut Inventory by 30% and Increased Sales by 25%.”
InsiderPROFILES 2, no. 1 (January 2011). http://insiderprofiles.wispubs.com/article.aspx?
iArticleId=5600.
Temkin Group. “2011 Temkin Experience Ratings.” March 29, 2011. http://www.temkingroup.
com/news/2011-temkin-experience-ratings.

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