Business and Society

Elements of the business environment: legal and regulatory, economic, technological, competitive, social, global

Mergers: vertical→ companies in different stages of related business, horizontal→ same industry, conglomerate→ completely unrelated

Stakeholders: strategic relevance, operational impact, stakeholder motivation/power, ownership theory of firm vs. stakeholder theory of firm

Competition: perfect→ many sellers and no seller is large enough to dictate price, monopolistic→ many sellers produce similar products but they’re perceived as different, oligopoly→ few sellers dominate the market, monopoly→ one seller

Economies: free market (capitalism)→ market determines what is produced and who gets the goods, command economy (communism/socialism)→ government decides what is produced and who gets the goods, mixed economy→ some allocation of resources is made by government and some by the market ex. Canada

Inflation: shoeleather costs, menu costs, misallocation of resources from relative price variability, confusion and inconvenience

Government activities affecting business: crown corporations, laws and regulations, taxations and financial policies, government expenditures, purchasing policies, services

Strategies to reach global markets: exporting, licensing, franchising, contract manufacturing, joint venture, strategic alliance, foreign direct investment

Forces that affect global markets: socio-culture, economic, legal and regulatory, technological

Steps to improve business ethics: top management support, expectations start at the top, ethics embedded in training, ethics office setup (whistleblowers must feel protected), external stakeholders informed, enforcement

Evolution of economies: industrial economy, experience economy, knowledge/transformational economy

Functions of management: planning, organizing, controlling, motivating

Planning managers undertake: strategic, tactical, contingency, operational

Management levels: top, middle, supervisory, requires skills such as technical, human relations, and conceptual

Steps of control: establish clear standards, monitor and record, compare results, communicate results, take corrective action if needed

Fayol and Weber: command, hierarchy, division of labor, subordination authority, communication channels, order, equity, job descriptions, rules, consistent procedures, staffing and promotions based on qualifications

Issues in structuring/restructuring organizations: centralization, decentralization, span of control, tall and flat structures, departmentalization

Organizational models: line and staff, matrix, cross functional teams

Environmental sustainability challenges: climate change, pollution and health, energy crunch, resource depletion

Cutting carbon emissions of businesses: improving energy efficiency, decarbonizing energy supply, transportation innovation, biodiversity, human behavior modification

Business response to sustainability: analysis of the organizations current practices, set sustainable development policies and objectives, executes an implementation plan that’s integrated with the strategic plan, rooted in organizational culture and supported by stakeholders