For Introduction to Business courses. This best-selling text by Ricky Griffin and Ronald Ebert provides students with a comprehensive overview of all the important functions of business. Each edition has introduced cutting-edge firsts while ensuring the underlying principles that guided its creation, "Doing the Basics Best," were retained. The seventh edition focuses on three simple rules- Learn, Evaluate, Apply. - NEW- Chapter 2: "Understanding the Environments of Business" - This new chapter puts business operations in contemporary context, explaining the idea of organizational boundaries and describing the ways in which elements from multiple environments cross those boundaries and shape organizational activities. This chapter sets the stage as an introduction to some of the most important topics covered in the rest of the book, for example: - The Economics Environment includes the role of aggregate output, standard of living, real growth rate; GDP per capita; real GDP; purchasing power parity; and the Consumer Price Index. - The Technology Environment includes special attention to new tools for competitiveness in both goods and services and business process technologies, plus enterprise resource planning). - The Sociocultural Environment focuses not only on Ethical Compliance and Responsible Business Behavior and what happened at Enron and Arthur Andersen but why. - The Business Environment features sections on such emerging areas of interest as outsourcing, viral marketing, and business process management. - "The Aftermath of 9/11" - not only what these events did to the U.S. economy, but what, because of its flexibility and strength, they did not do. - NEW-"Say What You Mean" - This new feature emphasizes student's need to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, across cultures. Sensitizes students to cultural differences and prepares them to address the needs of other countries. - NEW- Self-Check Exercises- Special self-check assessment exercises are introduced at 3 points in the chapter allowing students to review core concepts presented in the chapter. Tests students understanding of core concepts and all answers are presented in the back of the book with a specific page reference to ensure their success of the concepts. - NEW- Internet Field-Trips- These two-part Internet activities take students inside real world companies to explore how these companies conduct business. Starting in the middle of the chapter, after students have become acquainted with the fundamentals, students begin a focused, hands-on exploration of a real world organization.