Answer:
flows of material, information, and knowledge
Explanation:
In simple words, functional areas refers to the different divisions in an organisation made by the top management so that different task can be performed separately by different expert employees. For example all the employees in sales division will be grouped together so that all activities related to sales can be performed efficiently.
However such a framework can often lead to problems in operations due to different objective of every division, therefore, the top management have to make sure that all the activities could be coordinated for the ultimate benefit of the organisations.
Hence organisations use tools such as inventory control techniques, information and knowledge expertise to coordinate and monitor the activities of different departments.
