Summary + 5 questions Unit 1

Unit 01 

The business environment

1.1 Different Sectors

There are a lot of different sectors about offering and producing goods in our economy. These include:

- Primary Sector (= extracting raw materials from nature)

- Secondary Sector (= transforming those raw materials into finished or part-finished goods)

- Tertiary Sector (= providing services to individuals and businesses

As well, there are two important terms:

- Manufacturing (= making things -> in the secondary sector)

- Retailing (= selling things in small quantities -> shops in the tertiary sector)

1.2 Business Purposes

The main purposes of businesses are simple:

- To make a profit 

- Not to make a profit

Most companies tend to make a profit. Companies who don't want to make a profit are often runned by the government or are voluntary companies

1.3 Ownership

There are three sectors of ownership in the economy. These are:

- The Public Sector (= business owned by the government)

- The Private Sector (= businesses owned by private citizens, individuals or shareholders)

- The Voluntary Sector (= businesses supervised by trustees)

Types Of Ownership

Then there are four types of ownership possible:

- Sole traders (one-man shops)

- Partnerships (two or more partners)

- Public Limited Companies (shares can be exchanged on the stocking market)

- Private Limited Companies (tend to be smaller than Public Limited Companies and are often Family Businesses. Shares can not be traded on the stocking market

1.4 Key Stakeholders

There are 8 key stakeholders to every company. Key stakeholders are people who have an interest in the company. These are the following ones: 

- Customers

- Employees

- Suppliers

- Owners

- Trade unions

- Employer associations

- Local and national communities

- Government

2.1 Organisational Charts

Organisational charts are created to:

- establish lines of control

- divide up the work that has to be done

Types Of Organisational Charts

Organisational charts can be created on different ways. Here are the four main ways of creating an organisational chart:

- organisational chart by Function

- organisational chart by Geographical Area

- organisational chart by Type of Customer

- organisational chart by Product Group

2.2 Functional Areas

There are a lot of functional areas in a company. These areas are the specialist areas in a company. These ones include the following areas:

- Production

- Finance

- Humon Resources

- Customer Service 

- Marketing

- Sales

2.3 Strategic Planning

Every company sets out two statements that guide the actions of the company. 

- A mission statement: setting out a purpose. Often in a short number of sentences to make the purpose as clear as possible to their key stakeholders.

- A values statement: setting out the core values of the company and what it believes in as a company.

The purpose and the objectives of 

a company must be SMART

The shares of a Private Limited Company can be traded on the stocking market?

1. YES
2. NO

Which one is NOT a key stakeholder

1. Customer
2. Owner
3. Client
4. Government

What are the three main sectors of producing goods and offering these?

1. Primary Sector, Manufacturing Sector, Tertiary Sector
2. Secondary Sector, Tertiary Sector, Retailing Sector
3. Retailing Sector, Manufacturing Sector, Tertiary Sector
4. Primary Sector, Secondary Sector, Tertiary Sector

Is the cascade of the following objectives the right cascade?
Company-Wide Obj. -> Functional Obj. -> Team Obj. -> Individual Obj.

1. YES
2. NO

Which answer(s) consists of 2 functional areas of a company

1. Production & Sales
2. HR & Customers
3. Owners & Finance
4. Customer Sercice & Marketing