Page 27 - Introduction to Business

The Nature of

Contemporary

Business

hy study business? You see businesses— CHAPTER 1 E
Wsmall, medium, and large—all around What Is Business? N
you, and they affect your everyday life. Just as
you make decisions every day—about how hard
you are going to work, how you are going to CHAPTER 2
spend your scarce time and money, and what The Environment of Business
you are going to do tomorrow to achieve your PART O
goals for the future—businesses make similar
choices, but on a global scale and with a profit CHAPTER 3
motive. Events that happen around the world, Business Governance, Ethics,
such as scandalous news stories about certain and Social Responsibility
business executives’ practices and reassuring
stories about business executives who con-
CHAPTER 4
tribute to society, and the pervasiveness of tech-
nology and the Internet have direct impacts on Small Business and
business success or failure that touch you every Entrepreneurship
day. All of these are important reasons to study
business—to make you more aware of the world
around you and of how business affects you as a
consumer, an employee, or an employer.
In this text you will learn the fundamentals
of all the major functional areas of business—
management, marketing, accounting, finance,
and operations management. You will come to
understand how these areas are interrelated and
how they are all affected by globalization, tech-
nology, and ethics. We hope that this text will
help you decide which functional area of busi-
ness you may want to major in. But if you decide
that a business major is not for you, you will still
gain valuable commercial insights that will help
you succeed in any job you take in the future.
Part One sets the stage by examining the
nature of contemporary business. It starts with a
definition of business and goes on to explore the
environmental factors that influence business. It
then analyzes and studies the importance of
business ethics and social responsibility. Finally,
it examines the vigorous world of small business
and entrepreneurship. 1

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