UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS: ENVIRONMENTS This book – Understanding Business: Environments – is one of a series of four readers which constitute the main teaching texts of the Open University course Understanding Business Behaviour (B200). The other titles are: Understanding Business: Markets edited by Vivek Suneja; Understanding Business: Processes edited by David Barnes; and Understanding Business: Organisations edited by Graeme Salaman. This course is one of three core courses which are compulsory elements in the Open University’s BA in Business Studies. In addition to the compulsory courses, students who are working toward this degree also study courses which include topics such as Economics, Organisational Change, Design and Innovation and Quantitative Methods. The approach of Understanding Business Behaviour (B200) as an introductory course in Business Studies is innovative. The traditional approach employed by courses in this area is to offer introductions to the key social science disciplines: sociology, economics, law, etc. This course uses another approach: it focuses not on disciplines but on key elements of the business world: environments, markets, processes and organisations. This still allows for the discussion of relevant social science theory and research but organises this material not by the logic of academic structures and disciplines but by the logic of business applications and relevance. As with all Open University courses, students are not only supplied with teaching texts; they also receive comprehensive guidance on how to study and work through these texts. In the case of B200, this guidance is contained in four Study Guides which are supplied to students separately. These guides explain the choice of readings, identify key points and guide the students’ work and understanding. A core feature of the guides is an explicit focus on the identification, development, deployment and testing of a series of business graduate skills. These include study skills, cognitive skills of analysis and assessment, IT, and numeracy. Each student is allocated a local tutor and is encouraged to participate in a strategically integrated set of tutorials which are held throughout the course. Details of this and other Open University courses can be obtained from the Course Reservations Centre, PO Box 724, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6ZS, United Kingdom; tel: +44 (0) 1908 653231; e-mail:
[email protected] Alternatively, you may visit the Open University website at http://www.open.ac.uk where you can learn about the wide range of courses and packs offered at all levels by The Open University. For information about the purchase of Open University course components, contact Open University Worldwide Ltd, The Berrill Building, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom: tel.+44 (0) 1908 858785; fax: +44 (0) 1908 858787; e-mail:
[email protected]; website: http://www.ouw.co.uk. SERIES INTRODUCTION It is hardly necessary to justify the