The World of American Business

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1. How is business more supportive of freedom than government, although government leaders are elected and business leaders are not?

2. Why are entrepreneurs more respected than CEOs?

3. Why do Americans prefer free enterprise rather than capitalism to call business system?

4. Study the biography of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, John D. Rockefeller, and Bill Gates. What similar qualities do you find in them?

Essential Definition of Business in America

• Business= institutions directly or indirectly operated and owned by private individuals (or group of individuals) run for making profit.

• Business does not include (1) public, government-owned-and-operated institutions and (2) non-profit organizations (church, charities, and educational institutions).

Why Americans Highly Respect Business

1. Business is more firmly based on competitionthan other institutions.

2. Business is the best way to realize the American Dream of getting rich.

3. Business, not the government, is seen the best means of developing the nation.

4. Successful entrepreneurs are accepted heroes.

5. Business is the only career which enables one says “I’m my own boss”

Competition: the Strong Basis of American Business

• Competition, accepted not only as a value, but also the major source of progress and prosperity, and the means for preserving individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard-work, flourish more in business than other institutions.

• Business is a race open to all, and success goes to the swiftest person, regardless of social status.

• Competition encourages hard-work. In business, the one who works harder is likely to win.

Business—Best Way for American Dream

• Business offers the best opportunity to realize the American Dream of getting rich.

• In 1800s, farmers also run business to add money they get from farming.

• Even poor people turned to be rich through hard work and self-reliance in running business.

• Inspired by Alger’s Ragged Dick, a novel about a poor city boy who shines shoes but manages to rise from rag to rich by running business, many people up to the present day start businesses.

Business—the Best Means of a Nation’s Development

• The monopoly of power naturally possessed by the government eliminates competition, and thus the production and distribution process are seen inferior.

• The main duty of the government to issue regulations that guarantee fair opportunity and competition among the entrepreneurs.

• To develop its economy, there should be not less than 2% entrepreneurs among a country’s population.

Successful Entrepreneurs = Heroes

Successful entrepreneurs are accepted heroes, because:

• They succeeded in building something great out of nothing.

• They provide working opportunities for many people.

• They help the nation’s economy run.

Entrepreneurs vs. CEOs

Entrepreneurs CEO

A leader or hero A manager

Start a business Manage a business

powerful and wealthy

powerful and wealthy

Reasons Why Present Americans Prefer Entrepreneurship

• entrepreneurship is a means of achieving professional freedom and creativity;

• entrepreneurship provides good financial rewards;

• Entrepreneurship offers more time for their families;

• Entrepreneurship enable them to have more control over their career path (a realization of their disliking of submitting to a higher authority).

Characteristics of American Entrepreneurs (Bureau of Census' Consumer Population Survey)

Married74%

Never Mrd12%

Divorced10%

Others4%

Social Status

Male66%

Female34%

Sex

Characteristics of American Entrepreneurs (Bureau of Census' Consumer Population Survey)

College56%

graduate school 11%

high school33%

Education

$< 24,000

2%

$ 25,000-74,000

70%

≥75,00028%

Yearly Income

American Business in Global Market Place

• By the 2000s, American business has gone global by building or moving American factories outside of USA, by letting foreign business operate in USA, or by outsourcing.

CHANGING AMERICAN WORKFORCE

5.1

18.4

66.2

78

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1900 1950 2009 2018

Number of Working Women in US(in million)

18

28

46.7 46.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1900 1950 2009 2018

Percentage of Women in US Labor Force

Occupational Distribution(2004-2009)

0102030405060708090

100

9281.9

7.1 10

32.4 32.2

68.8

817.1

92.9 90

67.6 67.8

31.2

Men

Women

Distribution of Position(estimation)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

employees middle management

CEO

9281.9

7.1

817.1

92.9Men

Women

Degrees Earners(2008)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

professional Master doctoral

5259 52.7

4841 47.3

Men

Women

References

Althen, Gary. 2003. American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States. Maine: Intercultural Press.

Bigsby, Christopher. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press

Datesman, M.K., Crandall, J., & Kearny. 2005. American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture. New York: Pearson Education Inc.

Maravilla, Nach M. 2011. “A Profile of America's Entrepreneurs”. URL: http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol14/profile.htm

National Center for Education Statistics, “Projections of Education Statistics by 2016”, Tables 27-31. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2016/tables.asp#t27

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Perspectives on Working Women: A Data book”, Bulletin 2008, 1980.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2010. Current Population Survey, Table 11, “Employed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity”.