The Business Environment
The economy is a collection of different actors or components that need to function in coordination with each other in order to move the economic condition to a better situation. In essence, the economy is the overall results of the transactions among these different actors or components. One of these components is the organization, which may be a nonprofit organization or a for-profit organization, which could also be considered as a business organization.
Business is an important part of the economy, especially when considering that it is one of the major actors in the economy. At the most basic level and within the most basic model of the economy, the transactions occurring within this economic system mainly depend on businesses/organizations and households. The households referred to the population or people working with, for, or in businesses. The transactions between households and businesses occur in two main forms. One type of transaction is involves the transfer of payments from the business to the households in exchange for resources, which can also be considered as factors of production (Burton-Jones, 2011). For example, a business organization could transact with households by employing people. In such an employment relationship, businesses provide salaries and wages for the people, in exchange for their labor. Businesses could also engage in a tenant relationship with households, wherein the businesses pay rent to households that own pieces of land or facilities. On the other hand, another type of transaction involves a transfer of payments from households to the businesses, for the purpose of getting certain goods or services (Burton-Jones, 2011). For example, a consumer that needs a particular product from a specific business organization would need to pay for that product in order to get it. In this way, money flows from the consumer to the business organization (Bartlett, Doz & Hedlund, 2013). Based on these considerations, the role of business in the economy is as a major actor transacting with other actors so as to ensure that resources continue to flow. It is this flow of resources that ensures that economy is maintained, or ensures that economy continues to grow.
Organizations can be classified as for-profit or nonprofit. The main similarities between these types of organizations include the involvement of financial resources, as well as transactions between these organizations and their target clientele. Basically, every organization needs to be able to manage available financial resources, considering that there are limitations in these financial resources, and the organization must be able to continue to fulfill its functions within such limitations (Bartlett, Doz & Hedlund, 2013). In addition, every organization also needs to transact with clients. These clients may include other organizations, groups, or individuals.
However, for-profit organizations and nonprofit organizations are considerably different in terms of the utilization of financial resources, and in terms of the overall mission of their operations. For instance, for-profit organizations operate by utilizing available financial resources for the purpose of increasing such resources several economic gains in their operations. These organizations are focused on the generation of profit. In contrast, nonprofit organizations are not focused on the generation of profit, but more on the use of financial resources to provide goods or services while maintaining the functionality of the entire organization (Bartlett, Doz & Hedlund, 2013). Note that a nonprofit organization also gains financial resources, but such financial resources are not classified as profit that could be distributed to the owners or shareholders. This is where another difference between for- profit organizations and nonprofit organizations comes in. For instance, the mission of for-profit organizations is to post profits that could be distributed to its owners, investors or shareholders. This means that a for-profit organization has the role of addressing its fundamental fiduciary duty to its owners, investors or shareholders. In contrast, a nonprofit organization has the role of providing a certain kind of benefit to its target clients/population. For example, a nonprofit organization may be focused on the utilization of financial resources to benefit a particular community in need of educational development (Bartlett, Doz & Hedlund, 2013).
In the current situation of the economy, the fiscal policy is classified as contractionary. This fiscal policy focuses on reducing expenditure in order to reduce budget deficits. On the other hand, the monetary policy of the economy is classified as expansionary. The Federal Reserve is focusing on increasing the money supply to encourage economic growth (Burton-Jones, 2011).
In the case of soybeans as an agricultural product, in order for the organization to access global markets, the strategy should involve establishing partnerships with organizations located in overseas markets (Bartlett, Doz & Hedlund, 2013). For instance, the organization would focus on establishing a partnership with a distribution company located in the Philippines. The agricultural company in the United States would provide soybeans to the distribution company in the Philippines, and this distribution company would be the one responsible for transporting the soybeans to the vendors in various areas of the Philippine market.
In today's business situation, one of the main emphases is corporate social responsibility. For example, in the case of Apple, this corporate social responsibility strategy involves minimizing environmental impact through recycling. It can be argued that this corporate social responsibility has a significant effect on the stakeholder group of suppliers, especially because the policy of Apple requires that the suppliers must ensure that the materials they provide to Apple satisfy requirements, such as specifications on recycling of aluminum for Apple mobile phones and computers.
Overall, the economic situation can be considered as the result of the various interactions of actors, such as households and organizations. The flow of resources within the economy ensures that the economy continues to grow over time. However, in the current globalized economy, it is important to consider opportunities in other areas of the world to ensure the profitability of organizations, and maximize the contributions of organizations to the global economy.