People in Business

• What is a business?

  An organisation that buys and sells goods and services
• What is a commercial business?

  A type of business that provides goods and services to consumers and aims to make a profit

  e.g SuperValu, B.O.I, Apple
• What is a non-commercial business?

  A type of business that puts people and the community first ahead of profit. It provides a service for people

  e.g. Trócaire, The GAA, Amnesty International
• Define stakeholder

  The individuals and organisations that are affected by the actions, objectives and policies of a business
• What is an entrepreneur?

  • Spots a gap in the market and creates an idea for a business
  • Combines land, labour and capital to set up a business
  • Takes financial and personal risks
  • Aims to earn a profit
• What is an investor?

  • Provides the entrepreneur with capital to establish and operate a business
  • They then become a shareholder of the business and earns a dividend on the business's profits
• Define loan capital

  A loan from a lender used to invest in a business. The borrowed money must be repaid with interest within an agreed period
• Explain what a grant is

  Money given to a business by state agencies (e.g. LEO). It doesn't have to be repaid as long as certain conditions are met e.g. create a number of jobs
• Define equity capital

  Money invested in a business by individuals or other businesses. Shareholders become part-owners and earn dividends
• What is the role of an employer in a business?

  • Hires staff to do work in the business
  • Responsible for providing safe working conditions
  • Pays the agreed wage/salary for a fair day's work
• Explain what a wage is

  Money earned weekly by an employee based on the number of hours worked
• Define salary

  A fixed bi-weekly payment to an employee regardless of the number of hours worked
• Explain the role of an employee in a business

  • Hired by an employer to do work in return for a wage/salary
  • They have the skills and qualifications to perform their job
• Explain what a producer does

  A firm that takes raw materials and manufactures them into finished products
• Define consumer

  • Buys goods/services for personal use
  • Without them, business would fail
• Explain the role of a manager in a business

  • Responsible for the day-to-day running of the business
  • Ensures that the firm achieves its goals
  • Leads and communicates to manage employees
• What is a supplier?

  An individual/firm that supplies raw materials and finished products to businesses
• Describe the role of a service provider to businesses

  • Provides services to businesses to operate successfully
  • Operates in the tertiary sector
  • e.g. A.I.B, insurance firms, retailers
• Explain the role of the government

  • The body of people that govern the country
  • Imposes taxes on businesses to invest in infrastructure e.g. schools, electricity, healthcare
  • Government agencies provide financial support to entrepreneurs e.g. LEO, Enterprise Ireland
• What is the local community?

  • Individuals, households, organisations that are located close to the business
  • Firms develop a CSR strategy to behave responsibly to them
• Illustrate what interest groups are with an example

  • Groups of people who meet to work towards a common goal
  • They have more capital, power and skills when they work together
  • They use techniques to influence the opinions and actions of decision-makers, e.g. lobbying and boycotting
  • Ibec lobbies against the government, society and media on issues affecting its members e.g. transport and taxation
• Explain the term lobbying

  To persuade decision-makers to support laws/rules that give a advantage to an specific industry/organisation
• Explain the term boycotting

  The refusal to buy goods/services from a firm to show dissatisfaction with them e.g. exploitation of workers
• Describe the role of ISME

  • Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association
  • Represents the small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland
  • Lobbies on issues that affect its members e.g. the impact of raising the minimum wage
  • Provides advice to its members e.g. employment law
• What is SIMI?

  • Society of the Irish Motor Industry
  • Represents the views of the motor industry - dealerships, retailers, vehicle testers
  • Campaigns to the government, media, public on issues affecting the motor industry
  • e.g. high tax on petrol/diesel, high import duty on UK imported cars, insufficient electric charging ports
• Explain what a trade union is

  An organisation that represents employees. They try to improve their pay and working conditions and to protect their rights e.g. SIPTU
• What does IFA stand for and explain its role

  • Irish Farmers' Association
  • Represents the interests of Irish farmers in Ireland and Europe
  • Lobbies and campaigns to improve farm income and conditions for farming families
• Define what a co-operative relationship is

  Stakeholders work together towards a common goal/mutual benefit. This ensures better results than if they worked independently or against each other. This creates a win-win scenario for both parties
• Explain the term competitive relationship

  Stakeholders work towards different goals. They each want to achieve an objective at the expense of the other. This creates a win-lose scenario between the parties
• What is a dependent relationship?

  Stakeholders need each other for success. They cannot achieve their goals without the help of the another
• Explain what a dynamic relationship is

  The relationship between stakeholders are constantly changing. It can be co-operative, dependent or competitive
• Describe a co-operative relationship between an entrepreneur and an investor

  • Entrepreneur generates an idea for a business and creates a detailed plan
  • Investor provides capital to the entrepreneur to set up and expand the business
  • Entrepreneur now has funds to start a business and the investor becomes a shareholder and earns dividends on the business's profits
• Describe a competitive relationship between an entrepreneur and an investor

  • CEO of a business might pursue decisions that they believe brings the most benefit to the business, but it may make the shareholders unhappy
  • Shareholders may want to remove them from their position due to dissatisfaction of their actions
• Illustrate a co-operative relationship between an employer and employee

  • Employer provides a wage/salary, good working conditions and non-financial rewards to employees
  • In return, employees increase their productivity and motivation to increase business sales and profits
• Describe a competitive relationship between an employer and employee

  • Employers may make some employees redundant to reduce business costs
  • Employees fear for their job security resulting in decreased productivity and motivation
• Illustrate a co-operative relationship between a business and the government

  • Government state agencies provide financial support to businesses
  • Businesses provide employment in the area which lowers social welfare claims
• Illustrate a competitive relationship between a business and the government

  • Businesses may illegally underpay taxes owed to the government (corporation tax)
  • The government has less revenue to fund public services and infrastructure for citizens
• Explain the co-operative relationship between a consumer and producer

  • Producer conducts market research to find out about consumers' likes and dislikes about products
  • Consumers get products that satisfy their needs, increasing producers' sales and profits
• Describe a competitive relationship that occurs between consumers and producers

  • Producer makes a poor-quality product or gives the consumer a poor-quality after-sales service to save the business money
  • Consumer becomes unhappy and decides to make future purchases from competitors, reducing producer's sales, profits and reputation
• Illustrate a co-operative relationship between a producer and another producer

  • Two producers in the same line of business combines their resources, e.g. capital and marketing, to increase awareness of their goods/services
  • This increases both producers' sales and profits