Principal of Business

• Barter


  Exchange of goods or services without using money
• Money economy


  Economy where money is used as the medium of exchange
• Instruments of exchange/payments

  • Barter
  • Bills of exchange
  • Electronic transfer
  • Tele-banking and e-commerce
  • Cheques
  • Money order
  • Debit cards
  • Credit cards
  • Bank draft
  • Telegraphic money transfer
  • Bank transfers
  • M-money/mobile money and mobile wallets
• Private sector


  Part of the economy that is not under direct government control
• Public sector


  Part of the economy that is under direct government control
• Forms of business organisations and arrangements

  • Sole trader
  • Partnerships
  • Co-operatives
  • Companies (including private and public limited companies)
  • Franchises
• Types of economic systems

  • Traditional (subsistence)
  • Command or planned (socialist)
  • Free market or capitalist
  • Mixed (public and private)
• Functional areas of a business

  • Production
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Human Resource
  • Research and Development
• Stakeholders involved in business activities

  • Owners
  • Employees
  • Consumers
  • Suppliers
  • Communities
  • Environment
  • Future generations
  • Government
• Employers


  Provide employment and manage the business
• Employees


  Provide labour services to the business
• Accounts clerk


  Serves as support to the accountant - verifies, organizes, processes and stores the financial records of the company
• Compliance officer


  Ensures that the business operates in accordance with accepted standards - executes the compliance policy to ensure the business meets professional and accepted business standards
• Consumers


  Purchase goods and services from the business
• Suppliers


  Provide goods and services to the business
• Communities


  Affected by the business operations
• Government


  Regulates and taxes the business
• Ethical and legal issues relating to the establishment and operation of a business
• Ensuring that the business is a bonafide firm or establishment and not using it as a front for money laundering and other illicit activities
• Ensuring that capital is legally obtained and not tainted with illegal operations as the source of funding
• In the operations of a business, payment of national insurance contributions and taxes
• The ethical and legal principles that must be adopted in the establishment and operation of a business
• The adoption of an organisation code of ethics
• Policies on environmental issues
• Handling of personal information
• The negative effects of unethical and illegal practices on the business
• Negative effects of unethical and illegal practices

  • Misleading advertisements – unfair and fraudulent practice on the population
  • Withholding of tax – cheating the government of revenue
  • Unethical disposal of waste – pollution
  • Money laundering – distortions in the national economy
• Examples of careers in the field of business

  • Advertising and Public Relations
  • Compliance Officers
  • Strategic Planners
  • Educators (online and face-to-face)
  • Information Officers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Resource Personnel
  • Web Designers
  • Web Planners
  • Software Developers
• Functions of management


  • Planning
  • Organising
  • Directing
  • Controlling
  • Coordinating
  • Delegating
  • Motivating
• Planning


  To create short term and long term goals to achieve the goals a business and sourcing the necessary resources to accomplish these goals
• Management responsibilities


  • Owners and shareholders (by maximising efficiency and creating surpluses)
  • Employees (for example, providing adequate working conditions, training, maintaining good communication and human relations)
  • Society
  • Customers
  • Government
• Constructing simple organisational charts

  1. Line

  2. Line and staff

  3. Functional
• Interpreting simple organisational charts


  • Chain of command
  • Span of control
• Essential characteristics of a good leader

  • Honesty
  • Flexibility
  • Focus
  • Trustworthiness
  • Ability to make intelligent decisions
• Leadership styles


  • Autocratic
  • Democratic
  • Laissez-Faire
• Sources of conflict within an organisation

  • Internal (e.g. poor working conditions)
• Strategies used by employers and employees to gain an upper hand during periods of conflict

  • Employer strategies (e.g. lock out, use of scab labour)
  • Employee strategies (e.g. strike action, work to rule)
• Strategies for the resolution of conflict within an organisation

  • Mediation
  • Arbitration
  • Trade union representation
  • Grievance procedure
• Guidelines for establishing good relations between managers and employees

  • Good communication with workers
  • Improve working conditions
  • Motivating workers
  • Practice good leadership
• Strategies for motivating employees in a business

  • Financial methods
  • Non-financial methods