Deck 1: Introduction: Business and Its Environment in a Globalizing World

Question 1

According to John Kay the profit-seeking paradox is that:

A) The most profitable companies are not the most profit-oriented
B) The most profitable companies are the most vulnerable to takeover
C) The most profitable companies give their customers the worst deal
D) The most profitable companies pay the highest wages to employees

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Christine Lagarde is head (in 2018) of which international organization?

A) World Bank
B) International Monetary Fund (IMF)
C) United Nations
D) International Labour Organization (ILO)

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The basic economic problem facing society is:

A) Inflation
B) Scarcity
C) Greed
D) Pollution

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The definition of a stakeholder in a private sector business is:

A) Just the owners and managers of the business
B) Just the owners, managers, and employees
C) The owners, managers, employees, and customers
D) Any individual or group that is affected by a decision of the business

Question 5

Which four economies constitute the BRIC group?

A) Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Cyprus
B) Brazil, Russia, India, Cuba
C) Brazil, Russia, India, China
D) Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China

Question 6

In the UK the hourly rate below which, by law, pay for employees aged over 25 years must not be allowed to fall is known as the:

A) National living wage
B) National minimum wage
C) Jobseeker's allowance
D) Decency threshold

Question 7

The private sector of the economy is characterized by the following features: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Profit motive
B) Central planning of production by government
C) Competition between businesses
D) Production of goods and services for sale

Question 8

Tax avoidance may be defined or characterized as: (Please select all that apply.)

A) An illegal activity of non-payment of tax
B) A legal activity of tax planning by large companies to minimize corporation tax on the economic activity they conduct in a specific jurisdiction
C) A way of minimizing tax liabilities that is not illegal but might be judged to be immoral
D) Using tax law to gain a tax advantage not intended by Parliament

Question 9

Adam Smith characterized the operation of the market system in the following terms: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Private businesses are motivated by the goal of serving the common good
B) Though motivated by self-interest private businesses are inadvertently led to serve the common good
C) To make a profit businesses are led to serve the needs of customers
D) The common good is never realized through the pursuit of self-interest in the market

Question 10

In addition to a specific business organization or firm, the term 'business' may be used to refer to: (Please select all that apply.)

A) A specific legal form such as a public limited company
B) The business system,
C) The activities of a voluntary organization seeking to influence decisions taken by a business
D) The business community

Question 11

Firms may seek 'locational advantage' from which of the following? Please select all that apply.

A) The availability of skilled labour
B) The quality of infrastructure such as transport networks
C) The ethnic composition of the workforce
D) A favourable tax or regulatory environment

Question 12

When we refer to businesses as complex, internally differentiated systems, which of the following aspects of the business environment do we focus on? Please select all that apply.

A) General
B) Internal
C) Immediate
D) External

Question 13

Examples of the spatial scale of the business environment may include the following: (Please select all that apply.)

A) National
B) Oligopolistic
C) Monopolistic
D) Global

Question 14

When we conduct a stakeholder analysis of business, which of the following statements are generally true? Please select all that apply.

A) All stakeholders have the same interests
B) All stakeholders are affected in some way by the business
C) All stakeholders are affected in the same way by the business
D) Stakeholders have varying degrees of influence over business decisions

Question 15

The term business is only ever used to refer to private sector, profit-making companies.

Question 16

In the 1980s Conservative governments used the policy of privatization to bring about a major shift in the boundary between the public and private sectors in the UK.

Question 17

Only poor societies and poor people in rich societies have to face the problem of scarcity.

Question 18

There is general agreement within society about how the success of private sector business is defined and measured.

Question 19

A market system can be characterized as a decentralized mechanism for deciding the allocation of resources.

Question 20

In reality there is no such thing as a free market in the sense of firms being left entirely free to make decisions for themselves.