Chapter 1 - Taking Risks & Making Profits within the Dynamic Business Environment

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of business, entrepreneurship, factors of production, and various environmental influences encountered in a dynamic business setting.

Business

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

Goods

Tangible products.

Services

Intangible products such as healthcare and insurance.

Entrepreneur

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

Revenue

Total amount of money a business takes in during a given period.

Profit

Amount of money a business earns above & beyond what is spent for salaries & other expenses needed to run the operation.

Risk

The chance an entrepreneur takes of losing time and money on a business that may not prove profitable.

Standard of living

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

Circular economy

The practice of reusing, redistributing, refurbishing, & recycling products instead of dumping them in landfills to keep them in the value circle.

Factors of production

All resources used in the creation of wealth: Land, Labor, Capital, Entrepreneurship, and Knowledge.

Demography

The statistical study of the human population’s characteristics such as size, density, age, gender & income.

Loss

Occurs when a business’s expenses are more than revenue.

Quality of life

The general well-being of a society in terms of its political freedom, natural environment, education, health care, safety, amount of leisure, & rewards.

Stakeholders

All the people who stand to gain or lose by the policies and activities of a business & whose concerns the business needs to address.

Outsourcing

Contracting with other companies to do some or all of the functions of a firm, like its production or accounting tasks.

Insourcing

Foreign companies setting up design & production facilities in the US.

Nonprofit organization

An organization whose goal does not include making a personal profit for its owners or organizers and is devoted to social causes.

Land

Natural resources used to make homes, cars, & other products; the first factor of production.

Labor

Workers used in producing goods & services; technology is currently replacing many.

Capital

Machines, tools, buildings, and anything used in production of goods; notably does not include money.

Entrepreneurship

The factor of production involving resources that have little value unless individuals are willing to take risks to start businesses to use them.

Knowledge

Information technology that allows businesses to quickly determine wants and needs and respond with desired goods.

Business environment

All the surrounding factors that either help or hinder the development of businesses.

Technology

Tools ranging from phones and computers to robots, artificial intelligence, and social media that make business processes more effective and efficient.

Effectiveness

Producing the desired result.

Efficiency

Producing goods and services using the least amount of resources.

E-commerce

The buying and selling of goods, categorized into Business-to-consumer (B2C) and Business-to-business (B2B).

Database

An electronic storage file for information that allows businesses to know what and where consumers buy.

Identity theft

The obtaining of an individual’s personal information for illegal purposes.

Empowerment

Giving frontline workers the responsibility, authority, freedom, training, & equipment they need to respond quickly to customer requests.

Family leave

Giving workers time off to attend to a sick child or elder relative.

Flextime

Allowing workers to arrive or leave at selected times.

Climate change

Movement of the temperature of the planet up or down over time.

Greening

Saving energy & producing products that cause less harm to the environment.