1. An introduction to business:
1.1 Definitions：
Organizations mediate between the wider society and the individual, and joining an organization as an employee exposes the individual to substantial direction and control. Despite the self-activity of their members, organizations as corporate bodies do have economic and political powers above and beyond those of the particular individuals that comprise them.（個人理解的含義為：商業是一個連接個人與外部社會的中介組織。個人通過成為這種中介組織的雇員來控制組織的走向。盡管每個組織中的個體有其自身的行動（或者說價值觀吧），但組織作為一個合作的整體有其凌駕于個人之上的經濟政治力量。）
另一個簡短的定義：A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose.（商業就是一群人組成的一個嚴密的組織去完成一些特定的目標。）
這里面可以看到商業的三個重要組成部分：一個清晰的目標（Distinct purpose）；由人組成（People）；有嚴密的組織架構（Deliberate structure）
1.2 Business, roles and responsibilities
Fundamentally, business need to balance the needs & expectations of stakeholders（平衡干系人的需求與期望）
There are also many useful frameworks including the triple bottom line,which is the idea that business should have 3 areas of focus:
Economic: a focus on Profit
Social: a focus on People
Environment: a focus on the Planet
1.3 Success?
想一想為什么有的公司能這么成功，但是有的沒有
1.4 Stakeholders分析模型
Definition: The stakeholders in a firm are individuals and constituencies that contribute, either voluntarily or involuntarily to its wealth-creating capacity and activities, and who are therefore its potential beneficiaries and or risk bearers.（干系人指一些能有意無意地影響到公司盈利能力，從而讓自己從中獲利或者經歷風險的個人或組織）
分類：
Internal- operate within the business and core to its day to day functioning.
External- outside the firm but who care about or are affected by its activities and performance
存在的問題：
Business需要平衡干系人的需求，因為干系人關心的點未必是和商業目標一致的。比如說，經理總是希望以最低的公司雇人；但是員工卻希望拿到盡可能高的工資。同理，供應商希望能以更高的價格賣東西；但是我們卻希望以更低的價格買進。
問題分析流程：
i、Identified stakeholders（確定干系人）
ii、Identified their interest（明確干系人的利益——他關心的是什么？）
iii、Indicate their competent interest（從economic，social，environment三個方面看有什么因素會影響他們的利益？）
Competing interests可以從另外3個角度來分析影響stakeholders利益的因素:
Resources base 關心錢（或者說經濟）的：Investors, Customers and ?Employees
Industry structure 關心行業發展（或者說社會）的：Supplier, Competitors and regulator
Social political ?Arena 關心環境的：Government, Local ?communities, Protest group
vi、Address whether we can balance the interest or not -If not , there is issue (No need to resolve it)（分析，當干系人利益受到影響的時候，我方能否平衡（或者說解決）這一影響對我方的影響。如果不行，那就是問題，需要去解決。）
1.5 Creating & adding Value
Businesses create “value” for customers by doing things like（商業的本質是為市場（消費者）提供價值）：
i、Providing Quality Products & Services– what do they offer to the marketplace
ii、Focusing on Exceptional Customer Service– often a key source of competitive advantage
iii、Building efficient and effective systems of work – reflected in the resource-based view (RBV) affirm success
The Input /Output Model:
可以從以下6各方面評價它：
Environmental(climate change, emissions, pollution);political(policy, unrest & conflict, elections);economic(interest & exchange rate, competition, price);social cultural(demographics,diversity, buying trends);technology(online, mobile computing, robotics);legal(law, regulations, health & safety).
Value Chain:
The Primary Activities:
–Inbound logistics（采購）– these are the processes related to receiving, storing and distributing inputs internally（包括內部的采購，儲存和資源分配）
–Operations（生產）– these are the transformation activities that change inputs into outputs that are sold to customers
–Outbound logistics（出廠物流）– these activities deliver your product or service to your customer, like collection, storage, and distribution
–Marketing and sales（營銷）– these are the processes you use to persuade customer to purchase from you instead of your competitors
–Service（服務）– these are the activities related to maintaining he value of your product or service to your customers, once it has been purchased
The Support Activities:
–Procurement（資源取得）– this is what the organization does to get the resources it needs to operate
–Human Resource Management（人力資源管理）– this is how well the company recruits, hires, trains, motivates rewards and retains its workers
–Technological Development（科技發展）– these activities relate to managing and processing information as well as protecting the companies’ knowledge base
–Infrastructure（基礎設施）– these are the companies’ support systems, and the functions that allow it to maintain its daily operations
2.The central role of managers
Four functions of management：
–Planning（計劃）typically involves understanding your environment, developing strategies, setting goals etc.（分析當前環境，想出應對策略，設定目標等）
–Organizing（組織）typically involves designing the organization, and deciding on and managing the work of the team（對人員進行分組，并分配工作）
–Leading（領導）typically involves understanding behavior, inspiring, motivating, influencing, communication etc.（通過溝通，影響力，發掘員工內部動力，激勵法，理解員工行為等方法來領導完成工作）
–Controlling（規范）typically involves defining standards, and measures of performance and success（指定一些標準，績效考評等來規范員工）
3.Critical thinking in business
簡單的說就是用第一周的那八個點來批判性地看第二周講的三個主要模型（stakeholder分析模型；Value Chain模型；Four functions of management）
