AP Business with Personal Finance Course Book

Overview and Table of Contents

Source physical pages 2-13.

Table of Contents Table of Contents...................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1................................................................................................................................................1 What Is a Business? ............................................................................................................................1

1.1 Defining a business.......................................................................................................................2

1.2 Market opportunities and problem–solution fit..........................................................................3

1.3 What is value? ..............................................................................................................................6

1.4 Value creation: solving customer problems.................................................................................7

1.5 Value capture: charging more than it costs .................................................................................8

Chapter 2..............................................................................................................................................16 Markets and Competitive Advantage...............................................................................................16

2.1 What is a market?.......................................................................................................................17

2.2 How prices form .........................................................................................................................18

2.3 Competitive advantage: what it is and what it isn't...................................................................19

2.4 What makes a market more or less competitive? .....................................................................20

2.5 Competing on cost: commodity markets...................................................................................20

2.6 Competing on differentiation.....................................................................................................21

2.7 Barriers to entry as a strategic asset..........................................................................................23

2.8 Monopolies and the absence of competition ............................................................................24

Chapter 3..............................................................................................................................................34 PESTEL Factors and the Business Environment................................................................................34

3.1 Why outside forces matter: introducing PESTEL........................................................................35

3.2 Political factors...........................................................................................................................37

3.3 Economic factors........................................................................................................................37

3.4 Social factors...............................................................................................................................38