Exam 1: The Foundations of Business

What is an oligopoly?

General Motors operates several divisions in supplying cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs to its customers. Each division engages the usual business participants, overlaps management functions with other divisions, and works in basically the same functional areas as all of the others. Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Saturn, and GMC trucks are among the company’s product lines. Its few major competitors include Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota. Each automaker sells a large portion of all the products sold in the marketplace, and each differentiates its product lines. -The industry conditions illustrated in this scenario are best characterized as _____.

When the United States experiences a slowdown in economic activity and GDP goes down for two consecutive quarters, it is called a(n) _______.

One way that economists measure the performance of an economy is by looking at a widely used measure of total output know as the _____.

When a fast-food chain responds to environmental concerns by eliminating Styrofoam containers, it shows a desire to be a ______.

Because the cost of starting a business in an oligopoly is usually _____, the number of firms entering it is _____.

Connor Industries Inc. constantly scans the environment to keep ahead of competition and to survive as a business. The owners seek statistics that provide valuable information about the future of the economy for periods ranging from three to twelve months. Knowing the _____ is of great benefit to Connor.

If the quantity demanded for cars is lower than the quantity supplied, we can expect that:

_____ refers to the quantity of a product that buyers are willing to purchase at various prices.

As a functional area of business, _____ measures, summarizes, and communicates financial and managerial information and advises other managers on financial matters.

What is the free market system?

Under monopolistic competition, large companies exercise control over prices.

In an environment of perfect competition, external influences ensure that the market will arrive at an equilibrium point at which both buyers and sellers are satisfied.

Product differentiation can be achieved by _____.

In practice, we have "full employment" when about 95 percent of those desiring to work are employed.

Supply is the quantity of a product that sellers are willing to sell at various prices.

Macroeconomics is the study of the economic choices made by individual consumers or businesses.

The _____ is an index based on results of a monthly survey of 5,000 households published by the Conference Board.

An economic indicator is a statistic that provides valuable information about the economy.

The ups and downs due to the expansion and contraction of the economy constitute the _____.