Business

Business has a very important role to play in a capitalist economy. It is business activity that generates most of a nation's wealth, creates the lion's share of jobs, and provides most of the...

A positioning map should not be confused with a perceptual map. The first is the actual positioning of a brand within a competitive marketplace, while the second is the consumer perception of a...

One advantage is that Nike is an internationally known brand and can thus sell shoes all over the world. Nike also can keep labor costs down by using laborers in the developing world—this allows...

A company profile is just what the name implies. It is a document explaining what your company is and what you do. It is a public-facing document, so one should take care to not include any...

The average cost curve is u-shaped because costs reduce as you increase the output, up to a certain optimal point. From there, the costs begin rising as you increase the output. To understand why...

In business, regionalization is a business strategy frequently employed by globalized companies to compensate for some of the problems raised by globalization. Globalization means the...

Major branded hotel chains have the choice of standardizing their offerings across the brand or of letting individual properties customize their offerings to meet the needs of local markets. The...

In an ideal world, there’s clear differences between business administration and public administration. The former’s main concern is the business itself. When it comes to business administration,...

Environmental uncertainty is when conditions are constantly changing within a business environment. As a result, management has little influence over factors that are outside of the company’s...

People study ethics in order to learn about morality, integrity, responsibility, conscience, dignity, respect, and honor, as well as to learn about the difference between right and wrong or good...

In its most basic terms, the Dunlop Systems Theory in Industrial Relations is about the structure and development of relationships among the three integral members of labor relations (labor,...

There are a number of advantages and limitations to using graphs and charts. To start with the advantages, graphs and charts enable data to be summed up and understood in an instant, without...

Globalization is the transfer of goods, services, and technology from one country to another. Countries sign treaties to ease the process of doing business for foreign firms. For example, the US...

The political environment of business refers to the political or government actions that impact business operations. The political factors usually go hand in hand with the legal ones and are...

If both supply and demand increase at the same time, we’ll get a new market equilibrium point. In a free market, demand, or the willingness of customers to purchase a particular product, depends on...

This phrase means that a person is either born with leadership skills or without them. Those that support this theory are of the opinion that you cannot teach a person to be a leader. Before we go...

This definition of management does not integrate the growing role of technology in business processes and therefore in the management process. A better definition to convey the present-day concept...

When establishing a product mix, a business must decide where it places itself in terms of its target market. Does it want to compete to be the best-priced product, or the most luxurious, for...

Entrepreneurship involves the development of a business around an innovative idea, with the aim of regional or international growth. The entrepreneur in this case will need to find avenues to...

Almost no one has unlimited economic resources. Most people, most families, and certainly all countries experience shortages in funds. In other words, they want (or perhaps need) more than they can...

There is a difference between opened and closed environments in a management information system. In an open environment, the various components of an organization will communicate and share...

The very word "organization" emphasizes the importance of planning, since without planning, there is no way to be organized. In the short-term, planning covers such basic matters as cashflow,...

A project is defined as a temporary activity aimed at achieving specific/narrow organization objectives. Programs, on the other hand, are organization activities aimed at achieving broader...

Behavior, output and input controls are managerial means of controlling job requirements and expectations and end results in terms of company objectives and production targets. Effectiveness of...

The main factors affecting tourism demand include the economy, the number of sights and sites of potential interest to tourists, such as historical locations or natural wonders that cannot be seen...

The best way to think of the difference between travel and tourism is one is part of the other but this did does not mean that they are the same. In short, tourism is a part of travel, but not all...

Proponents of privatization argue that it facilitates economic growth and should be prioritized by governments. However, detractors maintain that little has been done to mitigate the negative...

The four main functions of a supervisor are planning, organizing, leading, controlling. To understand the role of supervisor, it is first critical to understand that supervisor duties are...

A free market economy has two key advantages. First, it allows for individuals to innovate. Individuals have the freedom to create new ideas, new products, and new services to sell for profit. They...

The fishbone diagram was designed by Japanese quality control expert Kaoru Ishikawa. His purpose was to provide a means of identifying underlying causes of problems so that solutions were not...

In business, authority and responsibility need to be aligned appropriately, with the person responsible for certain outcomes having the authority to make them happen. Authority refers to the...

The similarities between oligopoly and monopoly competition are: They both exhibit imperfect competition in that oligopoly has few sellers while monopoly has many sellers. Firms have some level of...

Direct materials are those that are used directly in the production process and are reflected in the final product. For example, timber would be a direct material in the production of furniture. In...

We'll begin with two scenarios to illustrate price elasticity of demand. First, there is a particular movie you want to buy on DVD, but the price is rather high when the movie is first released, so...

In accounting, a transaction is an agreement between a buyer and a seller to exchange or transfer goods, services, or assets. Transactions are recorded in journals, also known as Books of Original...

Social researchers in many different fields use both surveys and observational approaches in conducting in-depth, qualitative research. Some researchers will use one method or the other or, in some...

Business functions refer to all the various activities carried out by a business as it seeks to meet its goals and provide its goods or services to the public. Business functions are generally...

The contribution sales ratio is the contribution to the income of the company that each sale of a product has. Essentially, it is a factor or percentage that determines how much money the company...

In general, capital means the money, wealth, or financial assets of a business. These assets are held in various forms, used for expenditures, and represent a portion of a company's net worth. The...

The difference between a method and a procedure is similar to the difference between strategy and tactics, in that the two are often confused, and understandably so. Perhaps the easiest way to...

Someone with good listening habits pays full attention to the speaker and asks follow-up questions to indicate that she is listening. In addition, the listener does not interrupt and resists the...

Efficiency involves using the least amount of resources in order to achieve the greatest results. Scheduling tools that measure the number of people needed to service the customers in a store is...

Trade refers to the buying and selling of goods and services, facilitated by a medium of exchange, such as money. When goods and services are exchanged for other goods and services, without the use...

A business entrepreneur is any individual who starts and operates a business while assuming the risks associated with any such venture (e.g., using one's own collateral in exchange for start-up...

The terms listed are payment terms. Payment terms are defined as the time period within which a firm expects payment for goods or services rendered. The terms listed above are defined as: 1/15,...

While “productivity” is not exclusive of “quality,” as “productivity” can, indeed, refer to the quality of output as well as the quantity of items produced or services performed, for purposes of...

The role of a consumer is not just important in an economic system—it is essential. Without the consumer, the economic system could not function, since the entire process of production takes place...

There are a number of different pricing strategies which account for different competitive landscapes. Pricing strategy is an incredibly important aspect of the marketing mix. Cost-plus pricing is...

First and foremost, marketing is concerned with maximizing sales to boost business earnings. The concept of marketing sheds light on marketing as a discipline and how it has influenced businesses...

Almost all of the time marginal cost and variable cost are not equal. Marginal cost refers to the amount of money a business has to pay to produce more of something. Variable cost connects to the...