Designed specifically for students new to the study of business, this book gives context to the subject, exploring the range of environments in which business operates. Part One introduces core political, economic, socio-cultural and technological environments of business, and their inter-relationships Part Two goes beyond these topics and focuses on a range of contemporary issues relevant to each environment; this enables the reader to access the theory through lively current debates. These include the changing public sector, corporate social responsibility and ethics, globalization, and work-life balance. A range of themes is clearly presented in each chapter to avoid over-simplifying the presentation of the business environment. These themes are designed to demonstrate to the reader that business is diverse and complex and there are many inter-relationships between the environments. There are interesting short cases and examples throughout, as well as a longer case study at the end of every chapter; cases include the Nintendo Wii, BlackBerry, Nike, eBay, Nokia, EasyJet and Toyota.The analytical approach the text takes, showing different opinions and perspectives and challenging key issues, will stimulate lively discussion and debate. Online Resource Centre A comprehensive Online Resource Centre provides all the teaching and learning materials needed to support each chapter, removing the need for lecturers to look for additional seminar and test materials, and giving students the resources they need to check and build upon their understanding. Lecturers can track students' progress and understanding using an online test bank of 300 questions offering immediate answers that can be customised and loaded on to the university's VLE. Seminar activities can be based around the additional online case studies, whilst lecturer's notes with outline answers and discussion points to accompany the review questions in the text provide a framework for class debate. Students can test themselves using online multiple choice questions with feedback or the online flashcard glossary.Weblinks to useful sites provide a quick resource for further research, and web exercises guide the student to specific articles on the web, accompanied by questions to stimulate critical thinking.