Question

Communication between departments or functional units of companies is known as

Answer 1

There are different ways to answer this. Here is one way; I will use a management consulting firm as an example.

Business Function- A major organizational unit of a business which has specific responsibilities and performs activities on a regular basis to enable the business to carry out its mission. The function refers to both the organizational unit and the types of activities it performs.

Business Process- A set of activities, which draw on one or more business functions to help carrying out the organization’s mission. The business process often cuts across organization and functional lines. It may involve multiple organizations and business functions.

Example re: Management Consulting Firm (MCF)

Business Functions: Business Development, Human Resources, Finance and Administration, Operations (Service Delivery).

Business Process: Conduct consulting engagements for ABC Companies.

MCF draws on business development to sell consulting engagements to ABC; human resources to recruit qualified consulting staff to work on consulting engagements; finance and administration to track MCF’s engagement costs for billing purposes; and operations, headed by the firm’s managing partner, supported by individual partners, to carry out the engagements. MCF has drawn on four major business functions to perform the major business process of conducting consulting engagements.