NATURE OF

BUSINESS

Presented by:
Danica C. Solis
Cyrene Padua
BA400 (Philosophy and Business)
 Business
“Every human activity which is engaged in
for the sake of earning profit may be called
business.”
 A business is an organization or
enterprising entity engaged in commercial,
industrial or professional activities.
(investopedia)
According to L. H. Haney
“Business may be defined as human activities
directed toward providing or acquiring wealth
through buying and selling of goods.
In the words of B. W. Wheeler
“An institution organized and operated to
provide goods and services to the society,
under the incentive of private gain” is
business.
• Stephenson defines business as, "The
regular production or purchase and sale of
goods undertaken with an objective of
earning profit and acquiring wealth through
the satisfaction of human wants."
• According to Dicksee, "Business refers to a
form of activity conducted with an objective
of earning profits for the benefit of those on
whose behalf the activity is conducted."
• Lewis Henry defines business as, "Human
activity directed towards producing or
acquiring wealth through buying and selling
of goods."
 History of Business

Pre Barter or Entreprene Industrial Age of

industrial Exchange urship era Revolution Marketing
era and
Informatio
n
 Importance of Business
• Supply of goods and service
• Create employment
• Improvement of the standard of living
• Development of efficiency , culture and
industrial arts
• Urbanization
• Help to industry
• Development of International Relationship
 FEATURES OF BUSINESS

Connected with
production
Buyer and
seller
Risk and
Uncertainties
Business skills
For economic
Success
Profit is the
Main
objective
Deals in
Numerous
transactions
Exchange of
Goods and
services
Philosophical Triad of Business

Philosophical
Imperative

Ethics
Social
Responsibility
 Business and Individual

• The remote end of business is man

who, in the ultimate analysis, is the
reason for the existence of
business.
• Customers are the most important
people for any organization.
 Points to remember:
• 1. Repeat business is the backbone of
selling.
• 2. Organisations are dependent upon their
customers.
• 3. Without customers the organisation
would not exist.
• 4. The purpose of the organisation is to
fulfil the needs of the customers.
• 5. The customer makes it possible to
achieve business aims.
 Business and Society
• Business is an economic activity, which is
related with continuous and regular
production and distribution of goods and
services for satisfying human wants.
• Society may be defined as a community, a
nation, or a broad grouping of people
having common traditions, values,
institutions, and collective activities and
interests.
Society as the Macro environment
• The idea of the macro environment is just
another way of thinking about society.
• A convenient conceptualization of the
macroenvironment is to think of it as being
composed of four segments: social,
economic, political, and technological.
• The social environment focuses on
demographics, lifestyles, and social
values of the society.
• The economic environment focuses
on the nature and direction of the
economy in which business operates.
• The political environment focuses on the
processes by which laws get passed and
officials get elected and all other aspects of
the interaction between the firm, political
processes, and government.

• Technological environment represents the

total set of technology-based advancements
taking place in society. This segment
includes new products, processes, and
materials, as well as the states of knowledge
and scientific advancement
The Rationale of Philosophical
Inquiry
Time was when the process of providing
man’s needs for goods and services was as
simple as exchanging one type of commodity
for another, where a fair return in the
exchange in the form of a desirable
commodity was sufficient.
The exchange process was as simple as the
immediate needs of those who carried out the
transaction. In the course of time, needs have
multiplied, and the exchange process became
complex, resulting in a diversified system of
transactions which we now understand and
experience under a specific discipline called
business.
Sourcing Business
Principles
Look past the messenger and focus on the
message.

Focus on collecting knowledge.

...But focus more on collecting

knowledgeable people.

Give before receiving.

Always work on next.

Eat as many of your words as you

can.

Turn ideas into actions

Learn about squirrel nests.

Dimension of Business
Dimensions of business

Strategy and Finances Operations

Development

Marketing
Business Notion from
the Philosophers
Aristotle

Aristotle, influenced by the

classic tastes of his day,
frowned upon trade as
debasing and ignoble. He
distinguished between property
acquisition as natural and
unnatural.
Confucius

On the issue of wage,

Confucius held the amount of
wages of the labourer should
be according to the product
which he contributed.
According to him it should be
by daily examinations and
monthly trials and by making
their rations in accordance with
their labors.
Mencius
• Mencius held the same
position on the division of
labor. According to him, the
exchange of the
husbandman’s various
articles for grain is not
oppressive to the potter and
the founder, and the potter
and the founder in their turn,
in exchanging their various
articles for grain, are not
oppressive to the
husbandman.
Ssu-Ma Chien

• A Chinese philosopher of
the school of Confucius
professed a doctrine where
two traits were notable. One
was acceptance of business
as a worthwhile activity in
its own right-not for either
its political or its religious
implications. The other trait
was anticipation of the so
called law of supply and
demand.
Adam Smith

• He proposed his doctrine of

laissez faire by which he
meant that businessmen
should be left alone to do
what is in their self interest,
and the result would be that,
as if guided by an invisible
hand or divine, they will
automatically and inevitably
do what is best for the
consuming public.
GAP Inc

Case study
 Philosophy
• Think: Customers first
• Inspire: creativity
• Do: what’s Right
• Deliver: results
Statement of the Problem

Why the retailer’s

sales keep
dropping?
 Causes of the Problem
• Shoppers are reluctant to spend on
clothing.
• A lack of compelling brand identity
• Consumers expect low prices and
promotions
• Advertising has reflected the creative
confusion.
• Intense Competition
 RECOMMENDATION
• Strengthen customer loyalty
• Combat competition in the market
• Enhance identity of individual brands
• Reducing design to sale cycle.
• Identify and penetrate consistent target
segments.