question

What is the core goal of successful firms?

answer

To generate long-term profits by delivering unsurpassed value to their customers.

question

Define value

answer

The relationship between the price of a good or a service and the benefits that it offers its customers.

question

Define business

answer

Any organization that provides goods and services in an effort to earn profit.

question

Define profit

answer

The money that a business earns in sales or revenue, minus expenses, such as the cost of goods, and the cost of salaries. Revenue - Expenses = Profit (or Loss)

question

Define loss

answer

When a business incurs expenses that are greater than its revenue

question

What are college students flocking to in the face of an uncertain economy?

answer

Entrepreneurship

question

Define entrepreneurs

answer

People who risk their time, money, and other resources to start and manage a business

question

As entrepreneurs create wealth for themselves, what else happens?

answer

They produce a ripple effect that enriches everyone around them

question

What percent of new jobs in any given year do fast-growing new firms generate?

answer

10 percent

question

Business drives up the _____ of ______

answer

standard of living

question

Define standard of living

answer

The quality and quantity of goods and services available to a population.

question

Standard of living contributes to a higher _____ of _____

answer

quality of life

question

Define quality of life

answer

The overall sense of well-being experienced by either an individual or a group

question

True or False: businesses contribute to society through innovation

answer

True. Think TVs, computers, etc.

question

How can business help raise the standard of living?

answer

Through taxes, which the government spends on projects that range from streetlights to environmental cleanup

question

What are the five distinct eras of American business?

answer

1. Industrial revolution 2. Entrepreneurship Era 3. Production Era 4. The Marketing Era 5. The Relationship Era

question

when was the industrial revolution?

answer

The mid 1700s to the mid 1800s

question

What was the industrial revolution?

answer

Technological advances fueled a period of rapid industrialization

question

Huge _____ replaced _______ artisan ______

answer

factories; skilled; workshops

question

True or False: factories hired large numbers of skilled workers who specialized in a multitude of tasks.

answer

False. They hired large numbers of semiskilled workers who specialized in a limited number of tasks.

question

Although there was unprecedented production efficiency, what was there a loss of?

answer

Individual ownership and personal pride in the production process.

question

When did large-scale entrepreneurs emerge?

answer

The second half of the 1800s, building business empires

question

In what era did businesses dominate their markets, forcing out competitors, manipulating prices, exploiting workers, and decimating the environment?

answer

The entrepreneurship era

question

What did the gov't do toward the end of the 1800s?

answer

They stepped into the business realm, passing laws to regulate business and protect consumers and workers.

question

What happened because the government stepped in and regulated?

answer

It created more balance in the economy.

question

When was the production era?

answer

The early part of the 1900s

question

What did the production era focus on?

answer

Further refining the production process and creating great efficiencies.

question

Who introduced the assembly line? What did it do?

answer

Henry Ford in 1913. Managers focused on efficiency, and the customer was an after thought.

question

What was the "hard sell?" When did it emerge?

answer

The hard sell emerged during the great depression and world war 2. It was aggressive persuasion designed to separate consumers from their cash.

question

What happened after WW2

answer

The balance of power shifted away from producers and towards consumers, flooding the market with enticing choices.

question

What did businesses do to differentiate themselves?

answer

They began to develop brands, or distinctive identities, to help consumers understand the differences among various products.

question

What era did the marketing concept emerge? What was it?

answer

The marketing era; a consumer focus that permeates successful companies in every department, at every level.

question

True or False: Today businesses look beyond each immediate transaction with a customer and aim to build long-term relationships.

answer

True

question

What's more profitable: cultivating current customers or constantly seeking new ones?

answer

Cultivating current customers

question

What is one key tool to cultivating current customers?

answer

Technology

question

What areas do nonprofits focus on?

answer

Health, human services, education, art, religion, and culture

question

Define nonprofits

answer

Business-like establishments that employ people and produce goods and services with the fundamental goal of contributing to the community rather than generating financial gain.

question

What do both businesses and nonprofits rely on?

answer

Factors of production

question

Define factors of production

answer

Four fundamental elements, natural resources, capital, human resources, and entrepreneurship, that businesses need to achieve their objectives.

question

The value of natural resources tends to rise with, what?

answer

With high demand, low supply, or both

question

What does capital include?

answer

Machines, tools, buildings, information, and technology.

question

What is capital?

answer

The synthetic resources that a business needs to produce goods or services.

question

What have become pivotal elements of capital in a large range of industries?

answer

Computers and telecommunications capability

question

What does human resources encompass?

answer

The physical, intellectual, and creative contributions of everyone who works within an economy.

question

True or False: entrepreneurial enterprises can kick-start an economy?

answer

True

question

What are the key ingredients for an entrepreneur?

answer

Economic freedom - freedom from excess regulation - freedom of choice - freedom from too much taxation

question

What factor is the most important?

answer

entrepreneurship

question

What active steps does the gov't take to reduce the risks of starting and running a business?

answer

Ensuring free enterprise and fair competition

question

One government policy that supports business is the relatively low ____ ___ rate, both for individuals and businesses.

answer

federal tax rate

question

What are some agencies that the federal government runs to support business?

answer

- Small Business Administration - Federal Trade Commission, which actively promotes fair competitive practices, which help give every enterprise a chance to succeed.

question

True or False: enforceable contracts aren't important

answer

False

question

A low level of what can dramatically reduce the risks of running a business by ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules.

answer

corruption and bribery

question

Customer satisfaction comes in large part from delivering unsurpassed value. Whats the best measure of value?

answer

The best measure is the size of the gap between product benefits and price. A product has value when its benefits to the customer are equal to or greater than the price that the customer pays.

question

Define speed-to-speed market

answer

The rate at which a new product moves from conception to commercialization

question

True or False: speed-to-speed market rate is not a key source of a competitive advantage

answer

False. It is a key source

question

Describe bleeding-edge firms and leading-edge firms?

answer

- bleeding-edge: launch products that fail because they're too far ahead of the market - leading-edge: offer products just as the market becomes ready to embrace them

question

True or False: investing in worker satisfaction yields tangible, bottom-line results

answer

True

question

Define business technology

answer

Any tools, especially computers, telecommunications, and other digital products, that businesses can use to become more efficient and effective.

question

Define world wide web

answer

the service that allows computer users to easily access and share information on the internet in the form of text, graphics, video, apps, and animation

question

Define e-commerce

answer

Business transactions conducted only, typically via the internet

question

Define demographics

answer

The measurable characteristics of a population. The factors include population size and density, as well as specific traits such as age, gender, and race.

question

True or False: It's important that companies welcome change and manage it well

answer

True

question

What are the 4 broad social trends that have the strongest impact on American business?

answer

1. diversity 2. aging population 3. rising work expectations 4. ethics and social responsibility

question

True or False: growing ethnic populations offer robust profit potent ion for firms that pursue them.

answer

True

question

True or False: targeting an ethnic market will make it hard to cross over into mainstream culture

answer

False. Targeting an ethnic market can also yield remarkable results for products that cross over into mainstream culture

question

How can a diverse staff yield a powerful competitive advantage?

answer

By having various types of people there will be a broad spectrum of innovation and an ability to reach a broad customer base.

question

What does true diversity also include besides racial or ethnic roots?

answer

Differences in gender, age, religion, and nationality

question

What are the threats and opportunities that a rapidly aging population brings businesses?

answer

- Threats: smaller labor pool, companies will compete even harder for top talent, driving up recruitment and payroll costs. Also, taxes may increase - companies with older employees are more likely to find innovative ways to reach the aging consumer market.

question

What higher expectations to young people today entering the workforce have?

answer

Higher expectations in terms of salary, job responsibility, and flexibility - less willing to pay dues by working extra-long hours or doing a high volume of "grunt work."

question

What is sustainability? Is it important?

answer

Doing business today without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It's become a core issue in the marketplace.

question

What two things have blurred the liens between individual economies around the world?

answer

Technology and free trade

question

Define free trade

answer

An international economic and political movement designed to help goods and services flow more freely across international borders

question

Define general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT)

answer

an international trade agreement that has taken bold steps to lower tariffs and promote free trade worldwide.

question

Who has jobs migrated to now in the international economy? Where are these based?

answer

Migrated to the lowest bidder with the highest quality, regardless of where the bidder is based. Often, the lowest bidder is based in China or India

question

How as mexico, canada and the US laid groundwork for a free-trade megamarket? What about Europe?

answer

Through the north american free trade agreement (NAFTA) and the european union (25 countries)

question

True or False: with nationalism on the rise, and growing religious and ethnic tensions around the world, the global economy may continue to suffer collateral damage

answer

True

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