Page 695 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 7

Businesses have several levels of employment, based on the amount of educa-
facts & tion and experience required. Common levels are entry, career, specialist, manage-
ment, and executive/entrepreneur.
Entry-level occupations usually involve routine activities and require little
figures training. These jobs are open to people with little or no previous business educa-
tion or experience. If you have not worked in business before, this is where you
might begin. People hold entry-level jobs for only a short time until they have
developed enough experience and skill for promotion. Examples of entry-level
There is still a gender gap in jobs are cashier, counter person, clerk, receptionist, and operator.
salaries for technology jobs, Career-level jobs require more complex duties. People in career-level occupations
but it is narrower than the gap have the authority to control some of their work and make some decisions. To be
in other career areas and is successful, they should have a basic understanding of business and skills in the areas
getting smaller. The average in which they are working. They usually view their work as more than a job and
annual salary of tech workers have an interest in the area of business as a potential career. Career-level jobs in-
in 2005 was $69,000 for men clude sales associate, reservations agent, word processor, bank teller, and customer
and $63,000 for women. The service representative.
nearly 10 percent difference Specialist occupations require a variety of skills in one or more business
has declined almost 4 percent functions and extensive understanding of the operations of a specific company
in just over a year and is much or industry. Specialists are the people considered the most skilled or expert in
lower than the national aver- the activities they perform on the job. Specialists in businesses include buyers,
age gender wage gap in all researchers, Web designers, programmers, analysts, professional salespeople,
occupations—24 percent.
technicians, machine operators, and people in similar technical or skilled
positions.
Supervisors/managers hold the first levels of management positions. They must
have a high level of knowledge in the parts of the organization that they supervise.
They also must be effective decision makers and have strong leadership ability.
People in supervisor/management occupations are responsible for specific units in
a business and must make decisions about operations and personnel. The job titles
associated with this level of employment are supervisor, assistant manager, and
manager. The people who perform management tasks within work teams are
often called team leaders.
Executives/entrepreneurs perform all the management tasks associated with
owning a business or managing a major function, a large unit in a company,
or the entire company. People who work in executive/entrepreneur occupations
are fully responsible for the success or failure of the company. They must pos-
sess a comprehensive understanding of business and management. They spend
most of their time planning and evaluating the work of the organization. The
positions held by executives/entrepreneurs are vice president, president, chief
executive, and owner.

CAREERS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The growth of trade between countries and increasing global competition
provide continuing evidence of the importance of international business. It
has never been easier to travel to other countries, communicate with people
around the world, buy products produced in other places, and sell products
and services abroad. The Internet makes access to almost any business and
millions of customers only a mouse-click away. We are members of a global
community generally, and a global business community specifically. As busi-
nesses expand into international markets, so do the opportunities for inter-
national business careers.
International business careers have all the advantages of a career in
one country plus more. In addition to the excitement and challenges that

682