Spain 1º Bachillerato Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Activity
Chapters: 3
1. Economics
Scarcity and the economic problem · Economics and other disciplines
- The Problem of Choice: Scarcity and Opportunity Cost – Our wants are unlimited but resources like money, time, land and workers are limited. This is scarcity, and it forces us to choose. The value of the next best option we give up is the opportunity cost. Economists study how people and societies make these choices. Every society must decide what, how and for whom to produce. Market, planned and mixed economies answer these differently, and a welfare state makes sure basic needs of all are met.
2. Entrepreneurship
The entrepreneur and intrapreneur · Entrepreneurial spirit and opportunities · Beliefs and fear about entrepreneurship · Social skills and group management · Entrepreneur self-assessment · Mission, vision and launching a project
- From Ideas to Startups: Entrepreneurship – An entrepreneur turns an idea into a business by bringing together land, labour and capital and taking the risk. New ideas replace old ways, which economists call creative destruction. Startups grow with help from investors, banks, incubators, government schemes such as Startup India and Make in India, and small firms called MSMEs. A business plan maps the idea, costs and customers. The profit and loss statement shows Sales − Costs, and the balance sheet shows Assets = Liabilities + Capital.
- Entrepreneurship Development – Entrepreneurship is starting a new business by spotting a need, putting resources together and taking the risk. India needs entrepreneurs for jobs, new ideas and balanced growth. The process runs from knowing yourself to launching and growing. Start-up India (2016) supports new firms, funding comes from savings, angels, venture capital, banks and crowdfunding, and intellectual property rights protect new ideas, brands and creative work.
- Data Protection and Intellectual Property Rights – Intellectual property (IP) is a creation of the mind, such as a story, song, program, invention or logo. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) give the creator control over its use. Copyright protects creative works (text, music, art, software code) automatically once created; a patent protects a new, useful invention for about 20 years and must be applied for; a trademark protects brand names, logos and slogans. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work as your own without credit. Infringement is using protected IP without permission (copyright, patent or trademark infringement). Public licences let creators share on their own terms: Creative Commons (BY, SA, NC, ND) for creative works, and software licences such as GPL (copyleft: modified versions must stay open) and Apache (permissive: can be used in closed products with notices).
3. Business activity
Technological revolution and business models · Markets, customers and digital marketing · Company culture, talent and leadership · The workplace and the company of the future · Business strategy and digital transformation · Case analysis and SWOT
- Business Models – A business model explains how a business creates value, delivers it to customers and captures value back as money. The business model canvas breaks it into 9 blocks: customer segments, value proposition, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key activities, key resources, key partners and cost structure. Common types are one-time sale, subscription, freemium, marketplace (platform), advertising, franchise and social enterprise. Technology keeps creating new models. A good model is tested with real customers and changed using feedback.
- Digital Marketing – Marketing starts with understanding the market: who the customers are, what they need, and which group (segment) to target. Digital marketing reaches these customers through the internet: search engines (SEO and paid search), social media, email and messages, content and influencers. It follows the funnel: awareness, interest, purchase, loyalty. Unlike a newspaper ad, it can be measured: click-through rate = clicks ÷ views, conversion rate = buyers ÷ visitors. Services (like a haircut or a lesson) are intangible and cannot be stored, so they need extra care. The internet also created new business models such as subscription, freemium, marketplace and sharing platforms.
- Leadership: Guiding a Team to a Shared Goal – Leadership is the ability to influence people so they work willingly toward a shared goal. Good leaders have vision, communicate well, are fair and build trust. The main styles are autocratic (leader decides), democratic (team takes part) and laissez-faire (team decides itself). No style is always best: it depends on the situation and the team. Leaders also shape company culture, grow talent, and good leadership includes everyone, including women.
- Business Environment: Meaning, Dimensions and Demonetisation – Business environment is the total of all outside forces, people and institutions that can affect a firm but that it cannot control. It is dynamic, uncertain, complex, relative and made of linked specific and general forces. Studying it helps firms spot opportunities, see threats, plan and cope with change. It has five dimensions: economic, social, technological, political and legal. Demonetisation of old ₹500 and ₹1000 notes in November 2016 is a big example of an environment change.
- Innovation in Business – Innovation means turning a new idea into a product or process that is actually used or sold. Firms innovate with small, steady improvements (kaizen) or with research and development (R&D) that is costly and risky but can bring big leaps. Digital tools speed this up. Patents, copyright and trademarks protect ideas so rivals cannot simply copy them.
- Business Strategy – A business strategy is a long-term plan that takes a firm from where it is to where it wants to be. It starts from a mission (why the firm exists), turns it into SMART objectives, checks the firm's position with SWOT, chooses where to compete (Ansoff matrix: markets and products) and how to compete (Porter: cost leadership, differentiation or focus), and then puts the plan into action with people, money and control.