Chapter 1 Taking Risks and Making Profits within the Dynamic Business Environment - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 1 notes, suitable for quick review and memorization.

Business

Any activity that seeks to provide goods and services to others while operating at a profit.

Goods

Tangible products such as computers, food, clothing, cars, and appliances.

Services

Intangible products (that can’t be held) such as parking, education, health care, insurance, entertainment, recreation, tax preparation, haircuts, and travel.

Entrepreneur

A person who risks time and money to start and manage a business.

Revenue

The total amount of money a business takes in during a period by selling goods and services.

Profit

The amount of money a business earns above and beyond what it spends for salaries and other expenses.

Loss

When a business’s expenses exceed its revenues.

Standard of Living

The amount of goods and services people can buy with the money they have.

Quality of Life

The general well-being of a society, including political freedom, environment, education, health care, safety, leisure, and rewards from goods and services.

Stakeholders

All the people who stand to gain or lose by a business’s policies and activities; their concerns should be addressed.

Outsourcing

Contracting with other companies (often abroad) to perform some of a firm’s functions, such as production or accounting.

Onshoring (Insourcing)

Foreign companies opening offices or factories in the United States.

Nonprofit Organization

An organization whose goals do not include personal profit for owners; uses gains to meet social or educational goals.

Land (Factor of Production)

Natural resources used to create wealth.

Labor (Factor of Production)

Workers who contribute to production.

Capital (Factor of Production)

Financial resources and equipment used to produce goods and services.

Entrepreneurship (Factor of Production)

The drive to create wealth by taking risks and organizing production.

Knowledge (Factor of Production)

The information, know-how, and expertise that Peter Drucker described as the most important factor.

Business Environment

The surrounding factors that can help or hinder business, including economic/legal, technological, competitive, social, and global contexts.

Economic and Legal Environment

Government actions that promote entrepreneurship by private ownership, reducing interference, enforcing contracts, providing tradable currency, and reducing corruption.

Technological Environment

Technology and tools that improve effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity; includes growth of e-commerce, cloud storage, databases, and risks like identity theft.

E-Commerce

Buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet (B2C, B2B, C2C).

Cloud Storage

Data stored in logical pools across multiple servers, managed by a hosting company.

Database

An electronic storage file for information.

Identity Theft

Illicit harvesting of personal information (e.g., SSN, birth dates, credit card numbers) for illegal purposes.

Demography

Statistical study of the human population’s size, density, and characteristics (age, race, gender, occupation, income), important for market analysis.

Demography by Age

Age distribution of the population (e.g., percentages in age brackets such as under 18, 18–24, 25–34, etc.).

Current Race Demography (U.S.)

Approximate share by race: White ~66%, Hispanic ~16%, Black ~12.6%, Asian ~5%.

Projected Race Demography (2050)

Projected shifts with the biggest increases in Hispanic and Asian populations.

Service Industry Importance

Services contribute over 80% of the value of the U.S. economy, with most employment growth historically coming from services.

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

Technologies that increase productivity across sectors; can reduce employment in some areas, underscoring the need to be adaptable and resourceful.