Chapter 1

1. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

2. Chapter 1 The Business Environment Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

3. This first chapter dives right into the world of business, explaining what business is, what its main goals and functions are, and how the external environments of business affect the success and failure of any organization. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

4. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Define the nature of U.S. business and identify its main goals and functions. • Describe the external environments of business and discuss how these environments affect the success or failure of any organization. • Describe the different types of global economic systems according to the means by which they control the factors of production. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

5. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Show how markets, demand, and supply affect resource distribution in the United States, identify the elements of private enterprise, and explain the various degrees of competition in the U.S. economic system. • Explain the importance of the economic environment to business and identify the factors used to evaluate the performance of an economic system. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

6. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit • Consumer Choice and Demand • Opportunity and Enterprise • The Benefits of Business • The External Environments of Business • Domestic Business Environment • Global Business Environment • Technological Environment • Political-Legal Environment • Sociocultural Environment • Economic Environment • Economic Systems • Factors of Production • Types of Economic Systems • The Economics of Market Systems • Demand and Supply in a Market Economy • Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy • Economic Indicators • Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Economic Stability • Managing the U.S. Economy Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

7. The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

8. A Businessis an organization that provides goodsor services to earn profits. • Profitsare the difference between a business’s Revenuesand Expenses. • ! Crucial to know that the prospect of earning profits is what encourages people to open and expand businesses • Consumer Choice and Demand: In a capitalistic system like that of the United States (and majority of the world) , consumers have freedom of choice. In turn, businesses must take into account consumer demand in their pursuit of profits. • Opportunity and Enterprise: Unmet consumer demands provide promising opportunities for potential business success. • The Benefits of Business: Businesses produce most of the goods and services consumed, employ most working people, create new innovations, and provide opportunities for new businesses to serve as suppliers. Further, businesses contribute to the quality of life and the standard of living. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

9. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit • Consumer Choice and Demand • Opportunity and Enterprise • The Benefits of Business • The External Environments of Business • Domestic Business Environment • Global Business Environment • Technological Environment • Political-Legal Environment • Sociocultural Environment • Economic Environment • Economic Systems • Factors of Production • Types of Economic Systems • The Economics of Market Systems • Demand and Supply in a Market Economy • Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy • Economic Indicators • Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Economic Stability • Managing the U.S. Economy Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

10. The External Environments of Business Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

11. The External Environment consists of everything outside an organization’s bound­aries that might affect it. Economists examine six major dimensions of the external environment Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

12. Domestic Business Environment The domestic business environment refers to the environment in which a firm conducts its operations and derives its revenues. • Discussion Hints: • GMC… • Al-Mara’ey… Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

13. Global Business Environment • The global business environment refers to the inter­national forces that affect a busi­ness. • various factors affect the global environment at both the General level and Immediate level. Assumingly, you are going to expand your operations from Saudi Arabia to US or Japan, generate and classify some examples for both the general and immediate levels of the global environment that you may face? International Trade agreements … Different languages and diverse cultures .. Competitors .. Currency values .. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

14. Technological Environment • The technological environment generally includes all the ways by which firms create value for their constituents. • Technologyincludes human knowledge, work methods, physical equipment, electronics and telecommunications, and various processing systemsthat are used to accomplish business activities. “Souq.com” the online shopping company… What is needed technological infrastructure necessary to operate the business? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

15. Political-Legal Environment The political-legal environment reflects the relationship between Businessand Government, usually in the form of government regulation of business. • What business can and can’t do • Regulating advertising practices Give some examples according to the Saudi Arabian market … Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

16. Sociocultural Environment • The sociocultural environment includes the customs, mores, values, and demographic characteristics of the society in which an organization functions. Sociocultural forces plays an important role in determining the good and services as well as the standards of business conduct, that a society is likely to value and accept. Examples in Saudi Arabia …. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

17. Economic Environment The economic environment refers to relevant conditions that exist in the economic system in which a company operates. For Instance… If an economy is doing well enough that most people have jobs, a growing company may find it necessary to pay higher wages to be able to attract workers from other companies Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

18. The External Environment plays a major role in determining the success or failure of any business. That’s why managers must have a complete and accurate understanding of their environment and then strive to operate and compete in it Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

19. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit • Consumer Choice and Demand • Opportunity and Enterprise • The Benefits of Business • The External Environments of Business • Domestic Business Environment • Global Business Environment • Technological Environment • Political-Legal Environment • Sociocultural Environment • Economic Environment • Economic Systems • Factors of Production • Types of Economic Systems • The Economics of Market Systems • Demand and Supply in a Market Economy • Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy • Economic Indicators • Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Economic Stability • Managing the U.S. Economy Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

20. EconomicSystems An Economic Systemis a nation’s system for allocating its resources among its individual citizens and organizations. A basic difference among economic systems is the way in which they manage their resources, known as factors of production. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

21. Economists focus on five factors of production: 1. Labor: The human resource element in businesses, labor includes the physical and intellectual contributions people make while engaged in economic production. 2. Capital: The financial resources needed to operate an enterprise are known as capital. 3. Entrepreneurs: An entrepreneur is an individual who accepts the risks and opportunities entailed by creating and operating a new business. 4. Physical Resources: The tangible things that organizations use to conduct their business are physical resources. 5. Information Resources: Businesses rely on information resources, such as market forecasts, the specialized knowledge of people, and economic data. What is the most important factors of production … Justify what ever your answer ? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

22. Two essential criteria are being used to assess the type of the EconomicSystems: The way in which they manage their factors of production. The ways in which decisions are made about production and allocation of goods and services. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

23. According to the previous two criteria you will find two extreme types of economic systems: 1.Planned Economies: These systems rely on partial or total government control of all or most of the factors of production and allocation decisions. With communismالشيوعية all sources of production are owned and operated by the government. 2.Market Economies: Producers and consumers control production and allocation decisions through supply and demand. The political basis of a market economy is capitalism, which allows the private ownership of the factors of production and encourages entrepreneurship by offering profits as incentives. Let’s Classify some countries according to their market systems … Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

24. However, In Reality, there are really no pure planned or pure market economies. Most countries rely on some form of mixed market economy: • A Mixed Market Economies: This type of economy features characteristics of both planned and marketeconomies. • Many countries are moving from planned systems to mixed market systems through (privatization), which involves the transformation of government-controlled businesses into privately owned enterprises. • In the “partially planned system” called socialism, the government owns and operates selected major industries. • …. The postal system in many countries is governmentally owned. • …. Canada privatized its air traffic control system. • …. England and France keep government control of some areas as health care. What about the case in Saudi Arabia … ? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

25. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit • Consumer Choice and Demand • Opportunity and Enterprise • The Benefits of Business • The External Environments of Business • Domestic Business Environment • Global Business Environment • Technological Environment • Political-Legal Environment • Sociocultural Environment • Economic Environment • Economic Systems • Factors of Production • Types of Economic Systems • The Economics of Market Systems • Demand and Supply in a Market Economy • Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy • Economic Indicators • Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Economic Stability • Managing the U.S. Economy Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

26. The Economics of Market Systems Market systems allow businesses the flexibility to decide what to produce, how much to produce, and what price to charge. On the other hand, Customersare a driving force in market systems because they decide what to buy and at what price. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

27. Demand and Supply in a Market Economy Demand and supply are the predominant forces that guide decisions about what to buy and what to sell. • Demand is the willingness and ability of buyers to purchase a product; • Supplyis the willingness and ability of producers to offer a good or service for sale. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

28. The laws of Demand and Supply • The law of demand states that buyers will purchase more of a product as its price drops; • The law of supply states that producers will offer more of a product for sale as its price increases. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

29. The Demand and Supply Schedule • The Demand and Supply Schedule: indicates how much of a product will be sold at various prices. The more consumers are willing to pay for a good, the more producers are likely to divert resources to make more of the good. Conversely, as the price at which consumers are willing to pay for a produce falls, production becomes less profitable and producers cut back on production to divert resources to more profitable areas. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

30. Demand and Supply Curves A Demand Curve : Shows how many products will be demanded at different prices. A Supply Curve : Shows how many products will be supplied at different prices. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

31. The point at which the two curves intersect is the Market Price (or Equilibrium price). Surpluses and Shortages: With a surplus the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded; With a shortage the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied Where is the Entrepreneur's Opportunity ! Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

32. Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy Market economies rely on a Private Enterprise system Private enterprise system: is the one that allows individuals to pursue their own interests with minimal government restriction. Such a system requires the presence of four elements: Private property rights: The ability of individuals to own factors of production Freedom of choice: The ability to choose where to work and what to buy Profits: The ability to take risk to earn profit, and Competition: The ability to compete for customers and scarce resources. Competitionoccurs when two or more businesses vie for the same resources or customers. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

33. Degrees of Competition Economists have identified four degrees of competition in a private enterprise system: Perfect Competition: Market or industry characterized by Many small firms produce almost identical product; no single firm ispowerful enough to influence price. Monopolistic Competition: market or an industry that has Fewer sellers than perfect competition, but many buyers exist, so buyers focus on numerous differentiation strategies, such as brand names, design, styling, and advertising. Product differentiation also gives sellers some control over price. C. Oligopoly: market or an industry that has only a handful of sellers; market entry is difficult because large capital investment is needed. Strongly affected by each other’s actions. D. Monopoly: An industry or market has only one producer; that producer enjoys complete control over price. Let’s Give Some Examples for each …. Refer to Table 1.1 page 36 for detailed comparison.. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

34. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Business and the Concept of Profit • Consumer Choice and Demand • Opportunity and Enterprise • The Benefits of Business • The External Environments of Business • Domestic Business Environment • Global Business Environment • Technological Environment • Political-Legal Environment • Sociocultural Environment • Economic Environment • Economic Systems • Factors of Production • Types of Economic Systems • The Economics of Market Systems • Demand and Supply in a Market Economy • Private Enterprise and Competition in a Market Economy • Economic Indicators • Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Economic Stability • Managing the U.S. Economy Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

35. Economic Indicators Knowing how an economy is performing is useful for both business owners and investors alike. Experts look to various Economic Indicators to help assess the performance of the economy Economic Indicators are statistics that show whether an economic system is strengthening, weakening, or remaining stable.

36. Economic Growth, Aggregate Output, and Standard of Living • Aggregate output is the total quantity of goods and services produced by an economic system during a given period. Simply put, an increase in aggregate output is growth. • An increase in aggregate output is Economic growth. • When output grows, two things usually follow: • Output per capita goes up • The system provides more of the goods and services that people want. • When these two things occur people benefit from higher standard of living. Standard of living refers to the total quantity and quality of goods and services that can be purchased with the currency used in an economic system; standard of living increases when the quantity of goods and services increases, and the economic system provides more of the goods and services people want. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

37. GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced within a given period through domestic factors of production; GDP is a measurement of aggregate output. • Gross national product (GNP) refers to the total value of all goods and services produced by a national economy within a given period regardless of where the factors of production are located. • Real Growth Rate: Real growth depends on output increasing at a faster rate than population; the real growth rate of the U.S. economic system seems quite healthy and the U.S. standard of living should be increasing. • GDP per Capita: GDP per capita means GDP per person. GDP divided by total population equals GDP per capita. • Real GDP: Real GDP means that GDP has been adjusted to account for changes in currency values and price changes. • Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) : Purchasing power parity is the principle that exchange rates are set so that the prices of similar products in different countries are about the same. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

38. Sample Economic data for 2012 Using These information, which do you think is best place to start your business? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

39. Historical Data for the United Kingdom (2003-2012) Do you notice the Growth GDP % ??… what can we conclude…? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

40. Productivity: a measure of an economic growth that compares how much a system produces with the resources needed to produce it; increases in productivity yield increases in the standard of living. • Balance of Trade: A country’s balance of trade is the economic value of all the products that it exports minus the economic value of its imported products. • A positive balance results when the value of a country’s exports is greater than its imports; that is, more money is flowing into the country as a result of export­ing. • A negative balance (Trade deficit) results when a country imports more than it exports. • National Debt: A country’s national debt is the amount of money that is owed to creditors. As an entrepreneur, How can you benefit from these figures ? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

41. Economic Stability • Stability:is a condition in which the amount of money available in an economic system and the quantity of goods and services produced in it are growing at about the same rate. • A chief goal of an economic system, stability can be threatened by certain factors: • Inflation • Unemployment • Recessions and depressions Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

42. Inflation: Inflation occurs when widespread price increases plague an economic system; in other words, the amount of money in the economic system exceeds the amount of actual output. • Unemployment. Unemployment is the level of joblessness among people actively seeking work in an economic system. • when unemployment is high, a surplus of available workers exists. • Unemployment is sometimes a symptom of a recession, when aggregate output declines, or of a depression, a prolonged and deep recession. • People in different sectors may lose their jobs at the same time. As a result, overall income and spending may decline to the extent that businesses begin to implement cost saving measures—including reduction in force (downsizing), leading to more unemployment. • Recession and Depression. Governments and economists define a recession as a period during which aggregate output, as measured by real GDP, declines. • The U.S. economy went into recession in 2008 and many commentators do not believe the economy will begin to recover until 2010. • What is depression? Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

43. Historical Data for the Greece (2003-2012) Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

44. Managing the U.S. Economy The government acts to manage the U.S. economic system through two sets of policies: fiscal and monetary. Fiscal Policies: Policies used by a government regarding how it collects and spends revenues. Monetary Policies: Policies used by the government to control the size of its money supply. Taken together, fiscal policy and monetary policy make up stabilization policy – government economic policy whose goal is to smooth out fluctuations in output and unemployment and to stabilize prices. Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel

45. Summary of Learning Objectives Prepared By: Mostafa Kamel