Business definition, classificationa and ownwership

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012

Unit 1

Business (1)

1) Are these words familiar to you? 

Organization

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Goods

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Services

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Consumers

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Capitalist economies

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Privately owned

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Profit

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Wealth

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Not-for-profit

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State-owned

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Company

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Owners

2) What is a business?

A business is any _________________ that makes ______ _________ or provides ________________ , or both to ___________________.

Goods Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012 Are physical products, for example 1 ________________ 2 ________________ 3 ________________

Services Are non-physical items, for example, 1 _________________ 2 _________________ 3 _________________

Businesses Are predominant in capitalist economies.

Most of them are privately owned They are administered to earn profit and increase the wealth of their owners.

Can also be not-for-profit or state-owned .

A business owned by multiple individuals can be called a company.

Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012

What is it? 

A business organization

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Money gained in business

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A person who buys good or uses services

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Object or articles that are produced to be sold

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The state of being rich

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A company that is owned by private investors

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An economic system (the opposite of Communism)

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Not making or interested in making a profit

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An organized group of people, such as a club, society, union or business

Basic forms of ownership Form Sole proprietorship

Definition

Can you give an example?

A for-profit business owned by one person. The

Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012 owner has unlimited liability.

Partnership

A for-profit business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability.

Franchising

Large companies that sell their names and products to smaller companies in order to make a profit Limited liability business that has a separate legal personality from its members.

Corporation or Company

Limited liability business that can organize for-profit or not-for-profit. A cooperative differs from a for-profit corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decisionmaking authority.

Cooperative

Unit 1

Business (2)

Departments Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012

How can we organize a business?

DEPARTMENTS

ACTIVITIES

Marketing

To increase brand awareness To create an advertising campaign To change the image of the company’s star product

Sales

Andalusia’s sales are going down There is a distribution problem in Asturias There is not enough money to give a pay rise

Accounting

To reduce payment terms To speed up the billing process

Purchasing

There is not any paper left for the printer There is a problem with the new photocopier The big boss needs some new furniture

Human Resources

There is a selection process

Administration

There are last month’s reports to be filed There are lots of new product codes to be entered into the system There are next month’s billing to be completed

Unit 2

Communication (1)

Purposes of Communication Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012

 Communication involves the Exchange of Information  Communication involves transmitting (sending) information from a sender to a receiver. The information that’s sent is called the message  Messages are sent using a particular medium. Examples of media include: email, letter, phone...  The receiver of the message can send feedback to show they have received it and understood it. Feedback is important for judging how successful the communication has been

• Before sending a message, you need to choose a system A communication system is made up of a method, a channel and a medium of communication

Choose the best method of communication 

Written messages can be kept and read many times

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Oral messages are spoken (they are more personal, and good for getting immediate feedback)

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Visual methods involve images or body language (they express meaning quickly without words

 Pictorial methods use pictures (e.g. J is a quick, informal way to express happiness)  Graphical methods use graphs, charts and diagrams to show technical information and data

Choose the right channel of communication 

Internal and external: Messages that don’t leave the business go through internal channels. Messages sent to receivers outside the firm are sent through external channels

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Formal and informal: Formal channels are used for official business (e.g. Formal letters sent to suppliers, or job applicants). Informal channels are less official (e.g.

Word-of-mouth messages)

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Confidential and non-confidential: Confidential messages (e.g. Financial data) need to be private

Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012 

Urgent and non-urgent: Urgent channels are used to deliver important messages quickly

Choose the right channel of communication The medium means the equipment you use to send the message.

This will depend on the method and the channels of communication

Unit 2

Communication (2)

Barriers to communication  Barriers can prevent good communication 

Jargon: This is technical language to do with a particular subject. People who aren’t experts in that subject may not understand

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Noise: This could be traffic noise making it hard to hear a phone call. Or it might be visual noise (e.g. Too much information o a page can make it hard to pick out the important points

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Poor choice of channel or medium: E.g. An urgent letter sent by secondclass post may not get there in time. And complex information might be best written down, rather than spoken, so that the receiver doesn’t forget any of it

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Inappropriate presentation: A message’s presentation should be suitable for the audience. E.g. An advert should be easy to understand, if it’s too complex, customers might lose interest

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Emotional interference: E.g. If the sender and the receiver don’t get on personally, it can affect how the communication is understood

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Trust and honesty: If the receiver thinks the sender is dishonest they may be suspicious about the content of the message

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Cultural differences: Communicating internationally can be tricky. Foreign languages can easily be mistranslated. Also, what seems polite in one country may be rude in another

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The status of the sender: People outside a business are often more likely to trust information if it comes from somebody who’s high up in the organisation

Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar

Business and Administration Course 2011/2012

 Checking documents for errors is a good idea Errors can also be a barrier to communication. They can make messages misleading and confusing. Luckily, written and visual messages can be checked for errors before they are sent 

Errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar: In formal business documents, this looks unprofessional (the firm may lose respect if words aren’t spelt correctly)

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Errors in tone: This will depend on the sender, message and receiver. A formal business letter to a customer needs formal language. If the tone is too chatty, it can seem disrespectful

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Factual errors: Factual errors can cause big problems. E.g. Putting the wrong prices in a catalogue could damage a firm’s reputation. Giving out misleading information could even be a criminal offence

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Problems with graphics and diagrams: Graphics are supposed to make information clearer. But if they’re labelled, they could just add to the confusion

P

lease, don’t forget

 Checking business documents for error can save embarrassment, confusion, and more serious problems  The main drawback of checking for mistakes is that it takes time and money to do it properly. But it’s usually time and money well spent

Language Assistant: Ms. Brittnee Gilleylen

Module Teacher: Joaquin Guadix Escobar