Institute of Commercial Management | Qualification Subject

Business Management & Administration

ICM Professional Diploma Unit

The Organisational Background to Business Administration

The Management Framework to Business Administration

  • What are business administration and management?
  • The board of directors
  • Functions within an organisation
  • The ‘systems’ approach to organisation
  • Planning-control feedback cycles

Characteristic Features of Organisations

  • The structure of organisations and the need for authority
  • The features of bureaucratic and non-bureaucratic organisations
  • Traditional principles and types of organisation
  • More about systems and subsystems

The Structure of Business Enterprises

  • The pattern of organisations
  • Business types including; sole-trader enterprises, partnerships, limited partnerships, the limited liability company, non-profit-making units (clubs and societies), public enterprises
  • Public sector organisations; autonomous public corporations, nationalised industries, local government institutions, central government departments

Functions within Organisations

The Production Function

  • The production process and types of production
  • Site selection and factory planning
  • Plant and equipment
  • Materials and materials handling
  • Production administration
  • Costing aspects of production
  • Work study
  • Maintenance and production
  • CAD, CAM and CIM

The Purchasing Function

  • The nature of purchasing and the role of the purchasing officer
  • Purchasing department procedures, inventory control, stores control and economic order quantity

The Research and Development Function

  • The functions of the research and development department
  • Basic research
  • Problem-based research
  • Ideas generation
  • Applied research and development
  • Patents, trade marks and service marks
  • Research and development in the business organisation

The Marketing Function

  • Introduction to marketing and the marketing philosophy
  • Market analysis and research
  • Promotion, publicity and public relations
  • Pricing policy
  • Credit control
  • Sales administration
  • Transport and distribution (logistics)
  • Export marketing

Personnel Department

  • The need for staff
  • The functions of the personnel department and a personnel policy
  • Employee records
  • Promotion, transfer, termination and dismissal
  • Industrial relations practice
  • The remuneration of staff

The Administrative Officer’s Role

Office Administration

  • The role of the administrative officer
  • Facilities management – the ‘new-look’ office administrator
  • The office and its functions
  • The clerical function, business correspondence, mail inwards, mail outwards, systems for producing business correspondence
  • Meetings, conferences, functions and delegation

Other Responsibilities of the Administrative Officer

  • The organisation and methods department
  • Security aspects of business
  • Risk management
  • The environment of organisations
  • What is a claimant?
  • Assessing the impact of claimants

Example Candidate Response Booklet

Example Candidate Response (ECR) Booklets are a source of crucial information for Centres and Candidates as they use real candidate responses. We ask Senior Examiners to comment on five or more responses in terms of why the mark was awarded with commentary about how to improve the answer (if necessary).

Recommended Reading

Main Text:

Business Management & Administration – G Whitehead & G Whitehall (Institute of Commercial Management)

Indicative Text:

Alternative Text and Further Reading:

Modern Business Administration – R C Appleby (Pitman)

The Structure of Business – M Buckley (Pitman)