A Business Unit is most commonly recognized as an independent transaction-processing entity. It is defined as an organization or the subset of an organization which is independent in its accounting and operational functionality. A Business Unit is basically a profit making centre which has a prime focus to segment the market and be able to enhance the product offerings of the company. They usually have a separate clearly defined marketing plan, a well-defined marketing campaign and a detailed analysis of the competition, even when they are essentially a part of a bigger business entity.
In organizations, subsidiaries are often confused with business units. But these two have some significant differences. A company which is at least 50 percent owned by another company, more commonly known as the parent company is referred to as a subsidiary. The subsidiary is a complete corporate body, whereas the business units are sub-components or components of these subsidiaries. Business units are a smaller entity like a department or a functional group within a company which is responsible for handling the issues and affairs of that specific activity. Examples of business units include marketing, finance, operations, accounting, sales, human resources and research and development divisions.
Companies can have multiple independent business units into itself or as a branch, and each one of them is responsible for their own profitability. For example: General Electric is a company having 49 business units.
There are three important parameters that are usually seen as the success determining factors of a business unit:
- The autonomy and power delegated to a business unit manager
- The degree of functionality and facility sharing between multiple SBUs
- The way of handling new products in organizations
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