UNIT 6 - Influences on business

Economic growth

A period when GDP is rising, causing income and employment to rise.

Globalisation

The process by which business activity around the world has become increasingly interconnected.

Productivity

A measure of output of each worker on average.

Consumer income

The total amount of income that all customers in the country receive and which they have available to spend.

Level of employment

The numbers of people in work in a country

Level of unemployment

The number of people out of work in a country.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

A measure of how much a country produces in a year.

Level of income

The average income of people in a country.

Recession

A period when GDP is falling, causing income and employment to fall.

Distribution of income

Refers to how the income is shared amongst different people in the community. The distribution of income can become more unequal if the incomes of the rich are rising faster than the incomes of lower earners.

International economic climate

Refers to what is happening to income and employment in different parts of the world.

International branding

Creating an image or values for a product that are communicated in countries around the world.

Capital

Money or assets such as machines, buildings, vehicles.

Free trade

The absence of restrictions on trade between countries.

Trade

The import and export of goods and services.

Tariff

Tax on a good or service that is imported.

Quota

Limit in terms of weight or value on the amount of a good or service that can be imported.

Regulations

Rules about the goods and services that can be sold in a country.

Multinational companies

Businesses that operate in different countries around the world.

Unit cost

The cost per unit produced. The greater the productivity of workers, the lower the unit cost of production.

Ethics

About what is right and wrong.

Child labour

The use of young children, below the legal age of employment, in order to achieve low-cost production.

Ethical marketing

Marketing activities that seek to give customers information to make good choices for themselves.

Fairtrade

The movement that encourages businesses to pay a fair price to suppliers in developing countries and consumers to buy fair trade products.

Environmentally friendly

An adjective that describes consumers and businesses that act to make production sustainable.

Sustainable production

When production does not lead to the depletion of natural resources.

Renewable resources

Resources that can be used more than once, such as wind or water power, or that can be recreated such as crops.

Non-renewable resources

Resources that can only be used once.

Recycling

When resources are reused to produce something.

Global warming

The rise in average temperatures that scientists say is taking place.

Ethical businesses

Business that behave in a morally correct way.

Waste disposal

The process of getting rid of unwanted materials.

Pollution

Causing harm to the environment including air, land and water.

Climate change

The process is when average temperatures rise or fall and patterns of weather change.

Economic climate

Refers to how well the country is doing in terms of levels of income and employment.

Income

The amount of money that people receive from work and from assets they own.

Customers

Buyers who buy goods and services for the satisfaction or the benefit they will get from them.