Business and its Environment: An Overview of Business and the Role of Finance in Business

Introduction to the ways that business is related to, and interacts with, individuals, groups and institutions in the current U.S. environment. This course provides the terminology and concepts of the functional areas of business, setting the foundation for interpreting and analyzing the legal, social and ethical issues facing business today. Learners will gain a basic overview of the financial system, including sources of business financing and various types of financial statements. This course was developed and is being offered by Anne Arundel Community College through OECx. All course content is openly licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. You are free to translate, modify and repurpose course materials as long as you provide attribution to the course authors. For more information on Creative Commons licenses, please see http://creativecommons.org/about/license/

• Define the roles of government in controlling business.
• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the three forms of business ownership.
• Explain the differences between the major financial statements.
• Identify sources of business financing.
• Explain stocks, bonds, financial institutions and the role of the Federal Reserve System.