MGMT 100 - Chapter 1 Notes

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 1: The Changing Face of Business.

Business

All profit-seeking activities and enterprises that provide goods and services necessary to an economic system.

Profits

Rewards for businesspeople who take risks to offer goods and services to customers.

Not-for-profit enterprises

Businesslike establishments with goals other than returning profits to owners.

Natural resources

Resources provided by nature used to produce goods and services.

Capital

Human-made resources used to produce goods and services (equipment, facilities, money).

Human resources

People who contribute labor, skills, and knowledge to production.

Entrepreneurship

Pursuit of profitable opportunities and willingness to take risks to start and operate a business.

Private Enterprise System (Capitalism)

Economic system that rewards firms for identifying and serving customer needs with limited government intervention.

Adam Smith

Father of capitalism; argued the economy is guided by an invisible hand and competition.

Invisible hand

Idea that competition and self-interest guide resources to meet consumer needs with minimal intervention.

Competition

Battle among businesses for consumer acceptance.

Private property

Right to own and use property as one wishes, within the law.

Freedom of Choice

Consumers’ right to choose among goods and services.

Entrepreneur

A person who seeks a profitable opportunity and takes risks to start and operate a business.

Colonial Period

Early era (before 1776)—primarily agricultural.

Industrial Revolution

Mass production with semiskilled workers and machines; 1760–1850.

Age of Industrial Entrepreneurs

Late 1800s era with technological advances and abundant entrepreneurial opportunities.

Production Era

Focus on producing more goods faster via assembly lines; roughly through the 1920s.

Marketing Era

Consumer orientation—understanding and satisfying needs and preferences; since the 1950s.

Relationship Era

Long-term links with customers, employees, suppliers, and other businesses; loyalty; began in the 1990s.

Social Era

Relationship management using social media; information sharing since 2004.

Relationship management

Activities that build and maintain ongoing, mutually beneficial ties with customers and others; supported by technology.

Current trends in business (general)

Reliability, efficient production, global competitiveness, and technical savvy/innovation.

Digital technologies

Adoption of digital tools and platforms (e.g., online purchasing, remote work tools).

Online purchasing

Buying goods/services over the internet.

Remote work

Working away from the traditional office; often enabled by digital tools.

Gen X

Generation born roughly 1965–1976.

Millennials

Generation born roughly 1977–1995.

Gen Z

Generation born roughly 1996–2015.

Diversity

Inclusion of people of different genders, ethnicities, cultures, religions, ages, abilities.

Work-life balance

Equilibrium between work responsibilities and personal life.

Outsourcing

Using outside vendors to produce goods or fulfill services previously handled in-house.

Offshoring

Relocating business processes to lower-cost locations overseas.

Innovation through collaboration

Growing trend of creating new ideas and solutions through cooperative efforts and technology.

Vision (in management)

Ability to perceive marketplace needs and what an organization must do to satisfy them.

Critical thinking

Ability to analyze information to identify problems or opportunities.

Creativity

Capacity to develop novel solutions to organizational problems.

Change management

Leading and guiding an organization through changes, often involving tough decisions.

Admired company characteristics (overview)

Solid profits, stable growth, safe/challenging work environment, high-quality goods/services, ethics and social responsibility.

New technologies

Emerging tech that transforms business processes and markets.

Emerging nations

Countries experiencing rapid growth and industrialization.