Introduction to Business Management - Unit 1.1

Vocabulary terms and definitions regarding the nature of business, business functions, and economic sectors as presented in the lecture notes.

Business

An organization that aims to meet the needs and wants of individuals or organizations through activities such as producing crops, extracting raw materials, creating a product, or providing a service.

Capital intensive

Processes that use a large proportion of land or machinery relative to other inputs, especially labour.

Labour intensive

Processes that use a large proportion of labour relative to other inputs, especially machinery and land.

Goods

Tangible products that a consumer can physically take home.

Services

Intangible products that the buyer does not physically take home.

Human Resources

The business function responsible for ensuring that appropriate people are employed to make the product or service and that they are suitably rewarded for doing so.

Finance and accounts

The business function responsible for ensuring that appropriate funds are made available to make the product or service.

Marketing

The business function responsible for ensuring that the business offers a product or service desired by a sufficient number of people or businesses for profitable operations.

Operations management (or production)

The business function responsible for ensuring that appropriate processes are used in order to make the product or service, and that the product or service is in desired conditions.

Primary sector

The sector where all raw materials are acquired, which can be through extraction, mining, farming, fishing, hunting, or trapping.

Secondary sector

The sector where raw materials are processed, usually by manufacturing, into consumer durables, non-durable consumer goods, and capital goods.

Tertiary sector

The sector where all services are provided, which can include financial, leisure, healthcare, education, transport, and security.

Quaternary sector

A subgroup of the tertiary sector that provides services focused on knowledge, such as IT, the media, and web-based services.

First-mover advantage

The advantage achieved by a business that finds an untapped opportunity or gap in the market before competitors.

Business idea

The fundamental activity that the business will perform, which can be market-driven (based on market needs) or service-driven.

Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

Critical thinking and inquiry into the process of knowing, focusing on the nature of knowledge and how we know what we claim to know.