Exploring Business

Table of Contents

• Licensing Information

• Preface

• Chapter 1: The Foundations of Business

  • Introduction
  • Getting Down to Business
  • What Is Economics?
  • Perfect Competition and Supply and Demand
  • Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, and Monopoly
  • Measuring the Health of the Economy
  • Government’s Role in Managing the Economy
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 2: Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

  • Misgoverning Corporations: An Overview
  • The Individual Approach to Ethics
  • Identifying Ethical Issues
  • The Organizational Approach to Ethics
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Environmentalism
  • Stages of Corporate Responsibility
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 3: Business in a Global Environment

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The Globalization of Business
  • Opportunities in International Business
  • The Global Business Environment
  • Trade Controls
  • Reducing International Trade Barriers
  • Preparing for a Career in International Business
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 4: Selecting a Form of Business Ownership

  • Factors to Consider
  • Sole Proprietorship
  • Partnership
  • Corporation
  • Other Types of Business Ownership
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 5: The Challenges of Starting a Business

  • Chapter Introduction
  • What Is an Entrepreneur?
  • The Place of Small Business in the Business Landscape
  • What Industries Are Small Businesses In?
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Ownership
  • Starting a Business
  • The Business Plan
  • How to Succeed in Managing a Business
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 6: Managing for Business Success

  • Chapter Introduction
  • What Do Managers Do?
  • Planning
  • Organizing
  • Directing
  • Controlling
  • Managerial Skills
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 7: Recruiting, Motivating, and Keeping Quality Employees

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Human Resource Management
  • Developing Employees
  • Motivating Employees
  • What Makes a Great Place to Work?
  • Performance Appraisal
  • Labor Unions
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 8: Teamwork and Communications

  • The Team and the Organization
  • Why Teamwork Works
  • The Team and Its Members
  • The Business of Communication
  • Communication Channels
  • Forms of Communication
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 9: Marketing: Providing Value to Customers

  • What Is Marketing?
  • The Marketing Mix
  • Pricing a Product
  • Placing a Product
  • Promoting a Product
  • The Product Life Cycle
  • The Marketing Environment
  • Careers in Marketing
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 10: Product Design and Development

  • Chapter Introduction
  • What Is a Product?
  • Where Do Product Ideas Come From?
  • Identifying Business Opportunities
  • Understand Your Industry
  • Forecasting Demand
  • Breakeven Analysis
  • Product Development
  • Protecting Your Idea
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 11: Operations Management in Manufacturing and Service Industries

  • Operations Management in Manufacturing
  • Facility Layouts
  • Managing the Production Process in a Manufacturing Company
  • Graphical Tools: PERT and Gantt Charts
  • The Technology of Goods Production
  • Operations Management for Service Providers
  • Producing for Quality
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 12: The Role of Accounting in Business

  • The Role of Accounting
  • Understanding Financial Statements
  • Accrual Accounting
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Challenges Facing the Accounting Profession
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 13: Managing Financial Resources

  • The Functions of Money
  • Financial Institutions
  • The Federal Reserve System
  • The Role of the Financial Manager
  • Understanding Securities Markets
  • Financing the Going Concern
  • Careers in Finance
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 14: Personal Finances

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Financial Planning
  • Time Is Money
  • The Financial Planning Process
  • A House Is Not a Piggy Bank: A Few Lessons from the Subprime Crisis
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 15: Managing Information and Technology

  • Data versus Information
  • Managing Data
  • Types of Information Systems
  • Computer Networks
  • Data Communications Networks
  • Security Issues in Electronic Communication
  • Careers in Information Management
  • Cases and Problems

• Chapter 16: The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business

  • Law and the Legal System
  • Criminal versus Civil Law
  • Negligence Torts
  • Product Liability
  • Some Principles of Public Law
  • Cases and Problems