Introduction to Business

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Introduction to Business
BSUAD-1017516 Th 6-923PM, CR-137)
(Introduction to Business) is a 3-units
introductory course surveying the functions,
characteristics, organization, and problemsof
business. Transfer credit CSU,UC,USC
Poorna Pal, MS MBA Ph.D. Professor of Geology
Business Coordinator Program Review Glendale
Community CollegeOffice SG-152, Ph. Ext
5517 E-mail ppal_at_glendale.edu
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In this Information Age the U.S. is
increasingly becoming a service economy. Note
that

• all additional jobs in U.S. since 1970 have been
  created in economys service providing segment
  and
• most of them are non-governmental jobs.

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Data source Bureau of Labor Statistics
ftp//ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.ceseeb1.txt
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We are mostly a service economy and most of our
jobs are in the private sector.
2007 137.6 million total non-farm employment
115.40 million service providing ( 115.42
million private 22.2 million government )
22.2 million goods producing jobs
ftp//ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.ceseeb1.txt
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That our labor-force is well-educated (by 2007,
almost one in three had Bachelors degree or
better) reflects this and the fact that
employability rises with educational attainment.
Data source Bureau of Labor Statistics
(ftp//ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat7.tx
t)
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Most of this employment growth has been in the
economys small business sector. And small
business owners are hardly an uneducated lot!
24Bachelors Degree
Source U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Small
Business Owners (SBO) Owners Education Levels
at Start-Up, Purchase, or Acquisition of the
Business (http//www.census.gov/csd/sbo/edu.html)
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The aging of our population too poses a problem.
Demographics define

• the kinds of goods and services that are needed,
  and
• the kinds of goods producers and service
  providers we can have.

Data source 2008 Economic Report of the
President http//www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/2008/B34.xl
s
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Demographics explain the Asian resurgence

• Compared to the 15-65 years old working
• population,
• Europe, North America and Oceania have too many
  elderly (gt65 years old), whereas
• Central America Caribbean, Middle East North
  Africa, South America and Sub-Saharan Africa have
  too many children (lt15 years old).

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The confluence of four factors today supports and
expands the entrepreneurial opportunities
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Advances in Information Technology have aided
Trade, Commerce and Globalization, e.g.,
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Your entrepreneurial effort is likely to succeed
if you start it for the following reasons

• You have a passion and love for what you'll be
  doing, and strongly believe ? based on educated
  study and investigation ? that your product or
  service would fulfill a real need in the
  marketplace.
• You are physically fit and possess the needed
  mental stamina to withstand potential challenges.
  Less-than-robust health has often been
  responsible for bankruptcies.
• You have drive, determination, patience and a
  positive attitude. When others throw in the
  towel, you are more determined than ever.
• Failure doesnt defeat you. It is a "learning
  process" if you learn from your mistakes, and use
  these lessons to succeed the next time around.
  Studies of successful business owners showed they
  attributed much of their success to "building on
  earlier failures.
• You thrive on independence, and are skilled at
  taking charge when a creative or intelligent
  solution is needed. This is especially important
  when under strict time constraints.
• You like ? if not love ? your fellow man, and
  show this in your honesty, integrity, and
  interactions with others. You get along with and
  can deal with all different types of individuals.

Source The Seven Pitfalls of Business Failure
and How to Avoid Them by Patricia Schaefer
(http//www.businessknowhow.com/startup/business-f
ailure.htm accessed on 8/30/08)
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A private enterprise system rewards the
firm/business for its ability to identify and
serve the needs and demands of its customers, and
therefore operates in the framework of four basic
rights

• Right to private property Every participant has
  the right to own, use, buy, sell, and/or bequeath
  most forms of property.

• Right to profit Every firm/business has the
  right to all profits, after taxes, it earns
  through its operations/activities.

Rights

• Right of free choice Every participant in
  thesystem has the freedom ofchoice (with regard
  to jobs,purchases, and investments)

• Right to compete Every parti-cipant has the
  right to compete freely and fairly in the
  marketplace.

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Why public policy needs strategies to promote
small/medium-sized enterprises (SME)?

• The growth of a vibrant, thriving, highly
  productive and profitable SME sector is crucial
  for sustaining our living standards. It creates
  an abundance of job and investment opportunities.
• Appropriate public policies must be therefore
  designed to remove barriers to SMEs growth and
  to offer adequate incentives to foster their
  development.
• We need to continually examine if the
  entrepreneurs and managers at SMEs and their
  financiers are doing all they can to address the
  growth challenges.
• Rapidly changes in the international regulatory
  environment require that SMEs understand their
  implications.

Adapted from Path to Prosperity
http//www.cme-mec.ca/national/documents/sme_fina
l.pdf