Study Business Studies notes on Business and the Environment for A-Level. Useful for revision, homework, and exam preparation in Zimbabwe.
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This is the A-Level Business Studies notes. It is a free notes for revision.
ADVANCED LEVEL BUSINESS STUDIES NOTES BUSINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Business - A business is an organisation or economic unit were goods and services are \#exchanged for one another or for money - Business organisations require resources for them to be able to achieve their aims - All businesses are formed for a reason; the reason why they are formed is termed the aim. In other words aims are that what the business organisation seeks to achieve The need for business activity The role played by the business organisations in the society and the economy at large can be classified as follows - Business activities contribute positively to the living standards of the society by providing goods and services required to satisfy consumers needs and wants - Business activities facilitate the efficient utilisation of economic resources e.g. land \& labour. These are utilised for the partial benefit of the society at large e.g. the use of the Victoria falls for tourism purposes has increased the economic activities in the town, thus improving the living standards - Business activities facilitate the specialisation of economic efforts, whereby economic players specialise in the production of goods and services which they have an comparative advantage over others and then trade their produce with others e.g. semi arid regions in Zimbabwe produce sorghum and trade it. The business activities enable people in semi arid regions to buy maize thus making them better off The problem of scarcity of resources - Businesses require economic resources for them to be able to produce goods and services - It is a fact that these resources are limited in supply e.g. a business manager has to make use of the resources availed to him/her by the owners. It means a business with $$ 20000$ as its capital cannot afford to acquire equipment costing $$ 120000$ with its available resources - The basic economic problem of scarcity is partially addressed by choosing the best alternative amongst the competing uses - Management must choose an option which maximises the long term benefits to the business under the constrained circumstances Levels of business activity Business activities can be classified into three categories as follows: Primary - Primary business activities take out goods which are already provided by nature e.g. agriculture, mining and fishing - Usually output from primary business activities requires further processing before it can be distributed to the finished goods …