WHAT IS BUSINESS? GARRY ALFONSIUS Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Universal Institute of Professional Management UIPM Singapore A. ABSTRACT All of people know about business. A business is defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities. Businesses can be for- profit entities or they can be non-profit organizations that operate to fulfill a charitable mission or further a social cause. The term "business" also refers to the organized efforts and activities of individuals to produce and sell goods and services for profit. Businesses range in scale from a sole proprietorship to an international corporation. Several lines of theory are engaged with understanding business administration including organizational behavior, organization theory, and strategic management. Keywords: Business, Business Structures, Business Strategy B. INTRODUCTION Historical studies of the evolution of different management functions have often emphasized a process of professionalization (Calvert, 1967; Layton, 1971; Willmott, 1986). As Armstrong (1986: 25) has argued, while traditional accounts of professionalism emphasize collegiate control of independent ethical and technical standards, the managerial professions are ‘relatively self- conscious specialisms which compete at a group level for access to the key positions of command’. These managerial professions have not only sought to monopolize a chosen area of expertise through conventional accreditation mechanisms, but also emphasize their unique skills in resolving the central problems of the business organization. Developments in the global economy have changed the traditional balance between customer and supplier. New communications and computing technology, and the establishment of reasonably open global trading regimes, mean that customers have more choices, variegated customer needs can find expression, and supply alternatives are more transparent. Businesses therefore need to be more customer-centric, especially since technology has evolved to allow the lower cost provision of information and customer solutions. These developments in turn require businesses to re-evaluate the value propositions they present to customers e in many sectors, the supply side driven logic of the industrial era has become no longer viable. A business model