IB Summary
, UNIT 1: business organization and environment
1.1 Introduction
A Business is an organization that uses resources to meet the needs of customers by
providing a product or service that they demand.
Business inputs:
Business inputs are human, physical, and financial resources needed by businesses to
produce goods and services. There are four main types of inputs:
- Land
- Labour
- Capital (finance needed to set up a business)
- Enterprise (a risky or innovative project)
Business functions
Human Resource Management: The aim of human resources is to manage human
resources to help the business achieve its overall objectives
Finance and Accounts: responsibility for monitoring the flow of finance into and out of the
business
Marketing: responsible for market research and for analyzing the results of such research
so that consumer wants can be correctly identified
Operations Management: responsibility for ensuring adequate resources are available for
production, maintaining quality levels and achieve high productive efficiency
Economic Sectors
These are measured by employment rates of output levels.
Primary Sector: Industries that extract natural resources for production
Secondary Sector: Firms that manufacture and process products from natural resources -
-- industrialization describes its growing
Benefits: improves standard of living / lower imports and higher exports / more
jobs / value is added to the raw materials
Problems: can encourage migration to cities, housing and social problems /
pollution, environmental problems
Tertiary Sector: Firms that provide services to consumers and other businesses
Quaternary Sector: Focused on information technology (IT) businesses and information
service providers such as research and development