The business environment describes everything that influences business. This includes people, such as suppliers and consumers, and factors such as advances in technology, laws and social trends.
The choices made by businesses and governments affect us all. As such, it is important that we have a good understanding of how the business world really works.
The Business World articles throughout Network provide working examples of the business concepts you have learned about in a chapter. Taken from newspapers and industry magazines and blogs, these articles offer insight into the real-life practicalities of everything from setting up a business using crowdfunding to making sustainable consumer choices.
The business environment is constantly changing and developing. To stay up to date with the latest business news, you should read the business pages of newspapers and follow business news websites.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
• Business is the act of providing goods and services in return for money. • Goods are physical items that satisfy a need or want. • Services are non-physical items that satisfy a need or want.
• Goods and services can be sold by a business to consumers (B2C) or business to business (B2B). • Money is anything that is accepted as payment for goods or services.
• A local business is one that sells goods or provides a service to the local community. • A national business is a business that only operates within the country where it was established. • A global business is a business that operates in many countries around the world. • Teamwork is when a group of people work together to achieve a common goal. • A presentation involves communicating information to an audience. • Charts and graphs make it easier to understand and analyse information. • Use a bar chart when you want to show how things compare to each other. • Use a pie chart when you want to show percentages or proportions of a whole. • Use a line graph when you want to show a trend.
• The business environment describes everything that influences business. 9