Naquitta Simon
Bus 1101 0600
Professor Maneri
Assignment #1
June 9, 2016

“The Changing Face of Business” 1. Business is important to a country’s economy because it provides the means through which its citizens’ standard of living improves. At the heart of every business endeavor is an exchange between a buyer and a seller. A buyer recognizes a need for a good or service and trades money with a seller to obtain that product. The seller participates in the process in hopes of gaining profits—a main ingredient in accomplishing the goals necessary for continuous improvement in the standard of living.

2. Non-profit organizations are a substantial part of the U.S. economy they control more than $2.6 trillion in assets and employ more people than the federal government and all 50 state government combined.3 In addition, millions of volunteers work for them in unpaid positions. Not-for-profits secure funding from both private sources, including donations, and government sources. They are commonly exempt from federal, state, and local taxes.
Without funding, they cannot do research, obtain raw materials, or provide services.

4. Private enterprise system: economic system that rewards firms for their ability to identify and serve the needs and demands of customers.

Basic Rights in the Private Enterprise System: capitalism to operate effectively, the citizens of a private enterprise economy must have certain rights. These include the rights to private property, profits, freedom of choice, and competition. Private property: most basic freedom under the private enterprise system; the right to own, use, buy, sell, and bequeath land, buildings, machinery, equipment, patents, individual possessions, and various intangible kinds of property.

The Colonial Period: Colonial society emphasized rural and agricultural production. The economic focus of the nation centered on rural areas, because prosperity depended on the output of farms and plantations. The success or failure of crops influenced every aspect of the economy.

6. The Industrial Revolution: It moved business operations from an emphasis on independent, skilled workers who specialized in building products one by one to a factory system that mass-produced items by bringing together large numbers of semiskilled workers. The factories profited from the savings created by large-scale production, bolstered by increasing support from machines over time. As businesses grew, they could often purchase raw materials more cheaply in larger lots than before. Specialization of labor, limiting each worker to a few specific tasks in the production process, also improved production efficiency.

The Age of Industrial Entrepreneurs: Building on the opportunities created by the Industrial
Revolution, entrepreneurship increased in the United States. The entrepreneurial spirit of this golden age in business did much to advance the U.S. business system and raise the overall standard of living of its citizens. That market transformation, in turn, created new demand for manufactured goods.
The Production Era: Work became increasingly specialized, and huge, labor-intensive factories dominated U.S. business. Business focused attention on internal processes rather than external influences. Marketing was almost an afterthought, designed solely to distribute items generated by production activities. Little attention was paid to consumer wants or needs. Instead, businesses tended to make decisions about what the market would get.
The Marketing Era: As incomes nose-dived, businesses could no longer automatically count on selling everything they produced. Managers began to pay more attention to the markets for their goods and services, and sales and advertising took on new importance. During this period, selling was often synonymous with marketing. They envisioned a process of determining what consumers wanted and needed and then designing products to satisfy those needs. In short, they developed a consumer orientation.

The Relationship Era: As business continues in the 21st century, a significant change is taking place in the ways companies interact with customers. Since the Industrial Revolution, most businesses have concentrated on building and promoting products in the hope that enough customers will buy them to cover costs and earn acceptable profits, an approach called transaction management.