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ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ
Ανώτατο Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα Πειραιά
Τεχνολογικού Τομέα
Business English
Ενότητα # 1: Economics and the Business
Environment
Ευαγγελία Κουτσογιάννη
Τμήμα Διοίκησης Επιχειρήσεων
Άδειες Χρήσης
• Το παρόν εκπαιδευτικό υλικό υπόκειται σε
άδειες χρήσης Creative Commons.
• Για εκπαιδευτικό υλικό, όπως εικόνες, που
υπόκειται σε άλλου τύπου άδειας χρήσης, η
άδεια χρήσης αναφέρεται ρητώς.
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Χρηματοδότηση
• Το παρόν εκπαιδευτικό υλικό έχει αναπτυχθεί στα πλαίσια
του εκπαιδευτικού έργου του διδάσκοντα.
• Το έργο «Ανοικτά Ακαδημαϊκά Μαθήματα στο
Ανώτατο Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα Πειραιά Τεχνολογικού
Τομέα» έχει χρηματοδοτήσει μόνο την αναδιαμόρφωση
του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού.
• Το έργο υλοποιείται στο πλαίσιο του Επιχειρησιακού
Προγράμματος «Εκπαίδευση και Δια Βίου Μάθηση» και
συγχρηματοδοτείται από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση
(Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινωνικό Ταμείο) και από εθνικούς πόρους.
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Economics and the Business Environment
Learning Objectives
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In this section you will
acquire specific vocabulary related to crucial economic issues
learn the terms associated with the basic types and legal forms of
business organizations in the American jurisdiction
practise sentence patterns
revise question words
Economics
Economics is the study of how wealth is created and distributed.
By wealth we mean anything of value, including the products
produced and sold by business. How wealth is distributed means
“who gets what”.
The way in which a society answers the questions of what goods and
services are to be produced, how and how much is to be produced
and for whom to produce determines the economic system, or
economy, that a society has:
• A planned economy, in which the answers to the basic economic
questions are determined through centralized government planning.
• A free-market economy, which is characterized by the private
ownership of resources, and the use of a system of markets and
prices to coordinate and direct economic activity.
Resources
Economics is concerned with the efficient use of resources in the
production of goods and services to satisfy human material wants.
Economic resources refers to all natural and human resources that
go into the production of goods and services. They are classified
as land, capital and labour.
• Land refers to the land and the raw materials on and in the land
which are usable in the productive process.
• Capital refers to all manufactured aids to production, that is,
machinery, equipment, buildings, and distribution facilities that are
used in an organization’s operations.
• Labour refers to physical and mental talents of people which are
usable in the productive process.
Economics Glossary
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wealth: abundance of valuable material possessions or resources/ πλούτος
distribute: to give or deliver (something) to people or business/διανέμω
determine: to cause, affect, or control; fix or decide causally/ καθορίζω
ownership: legal right of possession; proprietorship/ιδιοκτησία
resources:the collective wealth of a country or its means of producing wealth(also
factors of production/ πόροι
material wants: physical needs/ υλικές ανάγκες
raw material: material before being processed or manufactured into a final form /
πρώτες ύλες
capital: the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business
by an individual, firm, corporation, etc. / κεφάλαιο
labour: the body of persons engaged in the productive activity/εργασία;εργατικό
δυναμικό
The characteristics of a market economy
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In a free market economy the factors of production are owned by private
individuals who have the freedom to engage in the economic activities of their
choice. Self-interest is the driving force of such an economy, and competition
functions as a regulatory and control mechanism.
The basic coordinating mechanism is the price system. Through this system
individual decisions determine what is produced, the methods of production and the
distribution of production. Not only does the market system decide on resource
allocation and distribution of production, but it is the mechanism that carries out
these decisions by an elaborate network of trade among individuals and countries.
Money plays an important role since it facilitates these trading activities.
Specialization and an advanced technology are employed because they boost
productivity at low cost.
The characteristics of a market economy
Glossary
• self-interest: personal interest or advantage/ προσωπικό
συμφέρον
• competition: a rivalry among businesses for sales to potential
customers/ ανταγωνισμός
• allocation: the act of distributing or assigning sth to sb for a purpose
/ επιμερίσμός, κατανομή (ενος ποσού), ανάθεση (καθηκόντων)
• trade:the act or process of buying, selling, or exchanging
commodities, at either wholesale or retail, within a country or
between countries/ εμπόριο
• specialization: division of labour/ εξειδίκευση
• productivity: the rate at which goods and services having exchange
value are produced/ παραγωγικότητα
Demand, supply and price
Prices are determined by the workings of supply and demand in
competitive markets. The supply of a particular product is the
quantity of the product that producers are willing to sell at each of
various prices. Producers are expected to offer more of a product for
sale at higher prices and to offer less of the product at lower prices.
The demand for a particular product is the quantity that buyers are
willing to purchase at each of the various prices. Buyers are
expected to buy more of a product when its price is low and to buy
less of the product when its price is high.
Under pure competition, the market price of any product is the price
at which the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied.
Economists call this price the equilibrium price.
In real world, however, groups of sellers act in alliance with each other;
as a result they have considerable control over prices.
Other factors that affect prices are the development of new products,
and fluctuations in income due to inflation or recession.
Demand, supply and price Glossary
• supply: offering goods and services for sale/ προσφορά
• demand: the ability and desire to purchase goods and services/
ζήτηση
• quantity: magnitude, size; amount of anything/ ποσότητα
• equilibrium price: the price at which the quantity of a product offered
is equal to the quantity of the product in demand/ τιμή ισορροπίας
• alliance: a merging of efforts or interests by persons or organizations/
συμμαχία
• income: the monetary payment received for goods or services, or from
other sources, as investments/ εισόδημα
• fluctuation: continual change from one point or condition to another /
διακύμανση
• inflation: a rise in the general (average) level of prices/ πληθωρισμός
• recession: a general business slump, less severe than a depression/
ύφεση
Business
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Business is the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, the goods
and services that satisfy a society’s needs.
The purpose of any business, as Drucker put it in “The Practice of Management”, is to
create a customer.
A person who risks his or her time, effort, and money to start and operate a business is
called an entrepreneur.
Types of business organizations
Businesses are classified as one of three types:
• Manufacturing businesses are organized to process various
materials into tangible goods, such as cars or televisions.
• Service businesses provide intangible services, such as legal
advice or haircuts.
• Merchandising businesses which include wholesalers and
retailers. They purchase goods produced by manufacturers and then
resell them to customers.
Types of business Glossary
• satisfy: to fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or
demands of (a person)/ ικανοποιώ
• customer: a person who purchases goods or services from
another; buyer/ πελάτης
• entrepreneur: a person who organizes and manages any
enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable
initiative and risk/ επιχειρηματίας
• manufacturing business: they process or make products
from raw materials, esp as a large-scale operation using
machinery/ κατασκευαστικές εταιρίες
Types of business Glossary
• service business: they supply services or
utilities/εταιρίες παροχής υπηρεσιών
• merchandising business: they engage in the
commercial purchase and sale of goods or services; trade
/ εμπορικές εταιρίες
• wholesaling: the business of selling goods to retailers in
large quantities/ χονδρική πώληση
• retailing: the sale of goods individually or in small
quantities to consumers/λιανική πώληση
Legal forms of business organizations
Sole proprietorship
• A sole proprietorship is a business owned by an
individual and often managed by the same person.
• It is the simplest form of business to enter, control, and
leave.
• The main disadvantage is unlimited liability, that
holds a sole proprietor personally responsible for all the
debts of his or her business.
Legal forms of business organizations
Partnership
• A partnership is an association of two or more persons who
act as co-owners of a business for profit.
• Partners sign an agreement which indicates how profits and
losses are shared. All partners need not be equal.
• General partners are responsible for running the business
and for all business debts.
• Limited partners receive a share of the profits in return for
investing in the business. However, they are not responsible
for business debts beyond the amount they have invested.
Legal forms of business organizations
Corporation
• A corporation is a limited liability business that has a
legal personality separate from its owners.
• A corporation lists its shares on the Stock Exchange,
where they are bought and sold by the general public.
• A privately-owned for-profit corporation is owned by
shareholders, who elect a board of directors and
appoint its management staff.
Legal forms of business organizations
Glossary
• sole proprietorship: also known as the sole trader or simply a
proprietorship; a type of business entity that is owned and run by one
individual/ ατομική επιχείρηση
• debt: a liability or obligation; something that is owed/ χρέος
• unlimited liability: legal obligations of general partners and sole
proprietors who are responsible for paying off all of the company debts
personally if the company can't make its payments/ απεριόριστη
ευθύνη
• agreement: an arrangement that is accepted by all parties to a
transaction/ συμφωνία
• run a business: manage a business/ διευθύνω μία επιχείρηση
• general partners: a partner with unlimited liability for the debts of the
partnership/ ~ ομόρρυθμη εταιρία
• limited partners: a business partner who has no management authority
and no personal liability/~ ετερόρρυθμη εταιρία
• invest (in): to lay out (money or capital in an enterprise, esp. by
purchasing shares) with the expectation of profit / επενδύω
Legal forms of business organizations
Glossary
• corporation: an association of individuals having a continuous
existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers
and liabilities distinct from those of its members/ εισηγμένη εταιρεία
στο χρηματιστήριο
• limited liability: a liability restricted by law or contract, as the liability of
owners of shares in a corporation or limited company /περιορισμένη
ευθύνη
• share: one of the equal fractional parts into which the capital stock of a
corporation is divided/ μετοχή
• stock exchange: a building or place where stocks and other securities
are bought and sold/ χρηματιστηριο αξιών
• shareholder: a holder or owner of shares/ μέτοχος
• board of directors: a body of elected or appointed members who
jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization/ διοικητικό
συμβούλιο
Τέλος Ενότητας