Evolution of Business Slide Show Narrative

Slide 1: The Evolution of Business. April 2012. Presented By Josie Boss

Slide 2: Today’s discussion regarding the Evolution of Business will begin with Feudalism proceed to Mercantilism introduce us to Capitalism then Commerce explain Property Rights and final we will learn about The Industrial Revolution.
Slide 3: The Concept of Feudalism at its heart involved a system of fair exchange. The King Granted Land, protection & title to Lords. In return, the Lords took an oath to the King promising Loyalty, military support and the sharing of any profits generated by the land. The lords divided their land grants amongst Vassals (Knights) also promising protection and honoring the right for Vassals to pass down title & land to heirs. Vassals committed to loyalty, military service when called upon and the sharing of profits from the land. Vassals were allowed to not only work their land on their own but they could sublet the land to tenants (Serfs) providing protection and the ability to earn a living. Tenants provided the Vassals loyalty, military services and profits from the land. Conflicts between Lord & Vassals were settled in the Kings Court while bigger crisis which affected the kingdom were decided in council which included the King and all his Vassals.
Slide 4: Mercantilism was the next step in business evolution. As the populations increased and the demand for more good and land grew it was only natural that countries expanded beyond their borders and began interacting with foreign kingdoms. This uncontrolled International interacting or trading began to take a toll on local economies as it drained areas of natural resources and affected the balance of produced goods. In some cases too much gold & silver was being used to purchase foreign trade items and in other cases not enough of actual food items were being produced for local consumption and trading. As a result of this dilemma, two new classes of business participants were created. Merchants who controlled the importing and exporting of goods and Bankers who saw to it that good & silver exchange was uniformed and exchanged fairly for goods based on value. Mercantilism was also very tied to the protection of nationalism. Trading of goods was priorities first to colonies of the nation. This assured the continued grown of the kingdom and it kept gold & silver flowing in the local economy. Surplus of good were then allowed to be traded to outside countries however, the value was still overseen by local Bankers. It is at this time that we are also introduced to Tariffs (Taxes) which assure the ruling class funds for oversight and enforcement of regulations
Slide 5: Capitalism. With Countries now trading among themselves and with each other there arose a need for understanding your trading partner’s economic structure. Capitalism takes many forms in the global market. For example there are State controlled economies where all social & economic demands are provided by the ruling entity. There is Social Capitalism where most of the good are traded by individuals but social needs are provided by the state. A free market Economy has Laissez-Faire or hands off attitude by government and all is provided by the citizens. A mixed economy is what we generally associate true Capitalism to be here in the United States. Regardless of which type of Capitalism you create its biggest influence has to be in the redefinition of classes. Capitalism creates a self-sustaining economy. As more good are needed more labor is required to produce them. As more people are employed more funds are available to purchase more goods. Thus money management allows individuals to obtain social status and cross over to a higher class. As this demand for labor got greater labor found the need to organize and assure that proper wages and benefits were being provided. As more products were demanded Private Ownership was encouraged to assure that the goods and products stayed within the local economy. This also created strong property rights for Individuals thus finally eliminating any remaining form of feudalism. No longer was the everyday economy driven by basic living requirements Capitalism now was driven strictly for the accumulation of profit. Profit which would assure the continuation of the self-sustaining economy.
Slide 6: Commerce. As the control of the economy shifted from Monarchs to common people there arose a need for universal rules and value assessment. The bases for any economy is the transfer of goods to consumers. As simple as this sounds it is in fact a very complex transaction which allows many ways for fraud and deceit. The establishment of a Commerce system helps minimize errors and in most cases assure a fair and even transaction. Lawyers, bankers, merchants, brokers and Judges all form a strong necessary support group for this system. The original form of transfer was the straight trade or Barter of goods. Later some form of bullion or money was used. Even later the promise to pay (credit) after a good was delivered was also accepted in the completion of the transaction. As you can see whether it is barter, money or credit the need to assure that both parties are protected requires the establishment of a safe, fair universal understanding system we call commerce.
Slide 7: Property Rights. As the transfer of goods get more and more complicated we are first and foremost faced with the task of identifying who owns the product/good which is being transferred. There are several entities which can claim the rights of ownership such as State owned property which is owned by the people of the State but controlled by the governing body of said State. Not to be confused with Common Property, which is owned and govern by a selected group. Private Property on the other hand is perhaps the most sensitive and most controversial right as it establish the right of an individual as owner. This simple concept provides the opportunity for abuse and deceit as it comes down to one person’s word of ownership against another. The final form of ownership is actually not really ownership as no one owns the property. It is referred to as open property. Regardless of who or what owns the property the owner(s) have certain rights. They possess the right to use the goods, the right to earn income from the goods, the right to trade, gift, lend or sell the good and finally they reserve the right to declare, preserve and protect ownership. The interesting thing about this final right to declare, preserve and protect ownership of one’s property has now been extended to include the protection of the idea of creation. Through the use of patent and copyright laws this ownership right does indeed take us to new business frontiers.
Slide 8: The Industrial Revolution. With the protection of ideas established as a property right new and better ways to produce goods became an industry in itself. Any improvements to existing methods of production were ideas which could be sold and profitable to the inventor. This ignited a furry of new and improve methods of the manufacturing of goods and the creation of new machinery. During this time of innovation business experience an improvement in transportation, farming, manufacturing and construction. This improvement was due largely to the invention of the stationary steam engine. This period also saw many changes in textile, iron & chemical production, machine tool manufacturing and improve gas lighting. With the creation of this new machinery came the need to train new labor. This skill labor now had an added value and thus was more expensive than common labor. With the increase in wages these skilled laborers were elevated to a middle class who improved their standard of living and created more consumer demand for good and housing. As of today the Evolution of Business continues as we enter the world of a Global Economy and anxiously await new methods in which we will transfer goods to one another.