Goods and Services 23/08/10

What do businesses do? Businesses produce goods and provide services Examples of organisations producing goods – Nissan cars, Nintendo computer games consoles, Windows computer programs Examples of organisations providing services – Bannatynes leisure facilities, Excite leisure facilities, Livingston Taxis, Royal Bank of Scotland.

What is a good? A good is tangible (you can see it and touch it) eg a table, a car, a washing machine. We can split goods into different groups – Durable goods – these are goods which last for a good period of time eg cars, computers, telephones etc Non-durable goods – which are used once or twice and can’t be used again eg food, washing powder, disposable cameras, disposable razors etc

cont Consumer goods – these are goods which organisations make so that you and I can use them eg cars, computers, central heating systems etc Capital goods – these are goods which other organisations buy to help them manufacture other goods and provide services eg hammers, nails, production lines, robots, computers

What is a service? A service is intangible – you can’t touch or see it – people doing things for you but you pay them. Eg window cleaner Services do not last a long time – once you’ve used the service it is gone. Consumer services – which we as consumers use eg taxis, bus service, education, health Capital services – businesses use them to allow them to produce or provide other goods and services eg computer maintenance engineers.