Economic sectors Production can be classified into 4 broad types of business activity or economic sectors (i) Primary- Deals with extraction of raw materials e.g. farming, fishing, quarrying (ii) Secondary- Conversion of raw materials e.g. computers , baking, clothing (iii) Tertiary- provision of services e.g. banking, teaching, insurance (iv) Quaternary- Focused on IT businesses and information service providers e.g. research & development, consultancy (i) The importance of each sector in a country’s economic structure changes over time (ii) The relative importance of each sector varies significantly between different economies. Refer to page 6 Industrialization The growing importance of the secondary sector manufacturing industries in developing countries. In developed countries there is a decline in the importance of secondary sector activity and an increase n the tertiary sector. This is referred to as de-industrialization. Activity 1 • Identify which business function is most likely to undertake the following roles Role Setting prices of new products Recruiting an new production manager Allocating resources to purchase capital equipment Deciding on the appropriate levels of stocks for raw materials Finding out if customers prefer one product design to another Determining the level and the number of employees the business needs for future operations Function Assignment • Research on four types of businesses (two local and two international businesses). Identify the sectors in which they operate in and their main activities.
