Business Studies For Dummies

Introduction 1
 
Part I: What Is Business? 5
 
Chapter 1: Understanding Business and Business Studies 7
 

Chapter 2: Identifying the Internal and External Influences on Business 21
 
Chapter 3: Using Business Analyses 37
 
Chapter 4: Making Decisions 61
 
Part II: How Business Works 75
 
Chapter 5: Structuring and Evolving Organisations 77
 
Chapter 6: Meeting Stakeholder Demands 91
 
Chapter 7: Organising for Success 103
 
Part III: How to Be a Business and Do Business 119
 
Chapter 8: Understanding Business Strategy 121
 
Chapter 9: Creating Great Products and Services 137
 
Chapter 10: Marketing Your Products or Services 151
 
Part IV: Money, Money, Money 171
 
Chapter 11: Understanding Finance 173
 
Chapter 12: Structuring Accounts 193
 
Chapter 13: Investing in the Present and in the Future 211
 
Chapter 14: Using Numbers in Business 231
 
Part V: The Awkward Bit: The People! 245
 
Chapter 15: Knowing People 247
 
Chapter 16: Managing Human Resources 269
 
Chapter 17: Handling Employee Relations 289
 
Part VI: Putting It All Together 307
 
Chapter 18: Examining Operations 309
 
Chapter 19: Delivering Great Projects 327
 
Chapter 20: Using Technology to Your Best Advantage 341
 
Part VII: The Part of Tens 357
 
Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Succeeding at Business School 359
 
Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Put Your Knowledge to Work Outside the Classroom 367
 
Index 375

Richard Pettinger, MBA, is the Principal Teaching Fellow in Management Education at the Department of Management Science and Innovation, University College London. He is also Director of the BSc/MSci Information Management for Business programme, a major national initiative to transform undergraduate and pre-professional business and management education.