Evolution of Business

Business:

          An organization or economic system where goods and services are exchan­ged for one another or for money.
        Businesses include everything from a small owner-operated company such as a family restaurant, to a multinational conglomerate such as General Electric.

Evolution of Business

·         Business and its related activities began three to six thousand year ago.

·         Think of the division of labor needed to build the pyramids in Egypt.

·         It took leaders or rulers to plan, organize and control the task among people

In history these major business systems are seen which are:

1.       Feudalism.

2.      Mercantilism.

3.      Capitalism.

   v  Further it is also divided in following six periods:

·         The Colonial Period.

·         The Industrial Revolution.

·         Entrepreneurs.

·         The Production Era.

·         The Marketing Era.

·         The Relationship Era.

“TIMELINE OF BUSINESS HISTORY”

Time Period	Events
500-1500 AD	Feudalism: ·         Throughout the middle ages this business system endured. ·         The business or economic system in which one class of people (aristocrats) control the property rights to all valuable resource, including people. ·         The system of tenant farming evolved. ·         Laborers began to receive rewards and profits.
Until 18th Century	Mercantilism: ·         Business economic system in which merchants and bankers organize the trade of products across markets and countries until they are put to their most valued use. ·         They recognize an opportunity to profit from the difference in prices by trading commodities between one and the next. ·         Merchants and bankers are traders who notice a difference between the value and the price of commodities.
From Early 19th Century	Capitalism: ·         Business economic system in which capitalist or industrialists privately own the physical capital of industrial productions and it is use to produce, trade and distribute products. ·         Capitalism gave rise to increasing conflicts between capital and workers. ·         Capitalism start the social hierarchy.

Time Period	Events
Before 1750	ERAS OR PERIODS IN BUSINESS HISTORY: Colonial Period: ·         It’s really a pre Colonial to Civil War Era ·         Based on agricultural production like fruits. ·         During this era people usually fulfill their needs by selling or exchanging of agricultural production. ·         Slaves were commonly used by plantation owner generally in south.
Around 1750	Period of Industrial Revolution: ·         Workshops began to established and produced items using semi-skilled workers. ·         Specialization of labor, limiting each worker to a few specific tasks in the production process ·         Production Flourishes when materials can be purchased at a lower price. ·         The improvement of railroads and steamboats increased demand. ·         Mass production comes into play.
During late 1800s	Period of Industrial Entrepreneurs: ·         World becomes little bit advanced in technology, so production and demand also increased ·         It was peak time for enormous entrepreneurial opportunities ·         Some ideas are still common in entrepreneurs today such as taking risks.

Early to late of 1920s	Era Of Production: ·         Every single company or Business emphasized on producing more goods, faster and leading to innovations in different aspects such as assembly lines, cost control, testing etc ·         The customer’s wants were thrown out the door and producers focused their attention on what the company wanted. ·         Patents were invented in order for products to remain unique and not copied
Around 1950	Era of Marketing: ·         Companies steered their focus toward what the needs of the customers were (Customer Orientation). ·         It develops a new trend of promoting goods ·         Branding also came about during this period.  Branding is all about creating an identity in consumer’s minds ·         The marketing era still effects today the society of business
Started from 1980	Relationship Era: ·         It is also called “TODAY’S ERA” ·         Companies realize that keeping a customer is more effective and golden rule of business is to attract new customers. ·         Companies are also trying to gain a better relationship with their customers rather than relying solely on their product and its quality. For ·         Example, o   Several brands use slogans like.

Conclusion:

                     Business system evolved from earliest time to feudalism, mercantilism, and then to capitalism.

                     People organized themselves into business system to take control of productive resource and them to create capital and wealth.

                    The way business as commerce, occupation, and organization evolved to allow land, labor, capital, enterprise to be used to be used more productively and profitable.

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Credit goes to Mahnoor and Faizan