IGCSE Business Studies: Classification of Businesses | IGCSE商科：企业分类详解

📚 IGCSE Business Studies: Classification of Businesses | IGCSE商科：企业分类详解

Classifying businesses is one of the earliest skills you will develop in IGCSE Business Studies. Knowing how to group enterprises according to sector, ownership and size allows economists, governments and investors to understand the structure of an economy and to make informed decisions.

对企业的分类是你在IGCSE商科中最早需要掌握的能力之一。学会按照部门、所有权和规模对企业进行分组，可以帮助经济学家、政府和投资者理解一个经济体的结构，并据此做出明智决策。

This guide covers everything you need for the CIE examination: the three production sectors, the chain of production, sectoral change, public and private ownership, business size, and the legal forms of business. Each section includes both knowledge and exam technique, so that you can apply your understanding to case-study questions with confidence.

本指南涵盖了CIE考试所需的全部内容：三大生产部门、生产链、产业结构变迁、公共与私营所有权、企业规模以及企业法律形式。每一部分都兼顾知识讲解与考试技巧，帮助你自信地将所学运用于案例题中。

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1. Introduction to Business Classification | 企业分类导论

Businesses can be classified in three main ways: by industry sector, by ownership and by size. Each classification system answers a different question. Classifying by sector answers the question: “what does the business do?” Classifying by ownership answers: “who owns the business?” Classifying by size answers: “how large is the business?”

企业可以通过三种主要方式进行分类：按行业部门、按所有权和按规模。每一种分类体系回答不同的问题。按部门分类回答的是：”这家企业经营什么？”按所有权分类回答的是：”谁拥有这家企业？”按规模分类回答的是：”这家企业有多大？”

These three perspectives are not mutually exclusive. A single business can be described as a tertiary-sector business, privately owned, and small in size. For example, an independent coffee shop belongs to the tertiary sector, is owned by a sole trader or a partnership, and is a small enterprise. Understanding each dimension gives a complete picture of the business.

这三维视角并不互斥。一家企业可以同时被描述为第三产业企业、私有企业和小型企业。例如，一家独立咖啡店属于第三产业，由个体经营者或合伙企业拥有，并且是小型企业。理解每一个维度，才能形成对企业的完整认识。

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2. The Primary Sector | 第一产业

The primary sector refers to businesses that extract and harvest natural resources from the earth. These businesses are engaged in the very first stage of production, providing the raw materials that other sectors rely on.

第一产业指从自然界提取和收获自然资源的企业。这些企业从事生产的最初阶段，为其他产业提供所依赖的原材料。

Examples include farming and agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining, quarrying and oil extraction. A wheat farm, a coal mine and an offshore oil platform are all primary-sector operations. Their products are used by manufacturers or exported to other countries.

例子包括种植业和农业、渔业、林业、采矿、采石和石油开采。小麦农场、煤矿和海上石油平台都属于第一产业生产经营活动。其产品供给制造商使用或出口到其他国家。

In many developing economies, the primary sector employs a large share of the workforce. However, as productivity improves through better technology and machinery, fewer workers are needed to produce the same output. This is why employment in the primary sector tends to fall as an economy grows.

在许多发展中经济体，第一产业雇佣了很大比例的劳动力。然而，随着更好的技术机械提高生产率，生产同样的产出所需工人更少。这就是为什么随着经济增长，第一产业的就业人数往往会下降。

For the exam, remember that the primary sector produces raw materials, not finished goods. Fishing, agriculture and mining are the clearest examples to use in case-study answers.

考试中请记住，第一产业生产的是原材料，而非成品。渔业、农业和采矿业是案例题答案中最清晰的例子。

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3. The Secondary Sector | 第二产业

The secondary sector covers manufacturing and construction. Businesses in this sector take raw materials from the primary sector and transform them into finished or semi-finished products, adding value through the production process.

第二产业涵盖制造业和建筑业。该产业的企业从第一产业取得原材料，通过生产过程将其转化为成品或半成品，并在此过程中增加价值。

Examples include automobile assembly plants, textile factories, food processing firms, electronics manufacturers, cement producers and construction companies. A bakery converting flour and yeast into bread, or a factory turning steel into car bodies, are both secondary-sector businesses.

例子包括汽车装配厂、纺织厂、食品加工企业、电子产品制造商、水泥生产商和建筑公司。将面粉和酵母转化为面包的面包店，或者将钢材加工成汽车车身的工厂，都属于第二产业企业。

The secondary sector is characterised by machinery, factories and production lines. It is often more capital-intensive than the primary sector, meaning it requires more investment in equipment relative to the number of workers employed. Industrialisation is the process by which the secondary sector expands and becomes more important in an economy.

第二产业的显著特征包括机器、工厂和生产流水线。它通常比第一产业更加资本密集，意味着相对于雇佣的工人数量，需要更多设备投资。工业化是第二产业扩张并在经济中变得更加重要的过程。

A key exam point is “added value”. This is the difference between the selling price of a product and the cost of the materials used to produce it. Manufacturers constantly seek ways to increase added value, such as branding, better design or improved quality, so that they can charge higher prices and earn more profit.

一个关键的考试要点是”增值”。它指产品销售价格与生产所用材料成本之间的差额。制造商不断寻求增加附加值的方法，例如品牌塑造、更好的设计或提高品质，以便收取更高价格并获得更多利润。

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4. The Tertiary Sector | 第三产业

The tertiary sector provides services rather than physical goods. It includes services sold to consumers (consumer services) and services sold to other businesses (commercial services). In most developed economies, the tertiary sector is the largest of the three, both by employment and by share of GDP.

第三产业提供服务而非实物商品。它包括向消费者销售的服务（消费者服务）和向其他企业销售的服务（商业服务）。在大多数发达经济体中，第三产业无论是就业人数还是占GDP比重，都是三大产业中最大的。

Examples include retailing, banking and insurance, transport, healthcare, education, tourism and entertainment. Hairdressers, banks, delivery companies, restaurants and schools all belong to this sector. Even online platforms that connect buyers and sellers are delivering a service.

例子包括零售、银行和保险、运输、医疗、教育、旅游和娱乐。理发店、银行、快递公司、餐厅和学校都属此列。即使是连接买卖双方的线上平台，也是在提供服务。

Consumers have an increasing demand for services. As incomes rise, people spend more on leisure, travel and dining out. In addition, businesses outsource functions such as accounting, marketing and IT support to specialised service companies, which further expands the tertiary sector.

消费者对服务的需求日益增长。随着收入增加，人们在休闲、旅行和外出就餐上的支出更多。此外，企业将会计、营销和IT支持等职能外包给专业服务公司，这进一步扩大了第三产业。

When asked to classify a business in the exam, pay careful attention to whether it produces a good or provides a service. If there is no physical product, it is almost certainly tertiary-sector activity.

在考试中要求对企业分类时，请仔细关注它是生产商品还是提供服务。如果没有实物产品，那么它几乎可以肯定是第三产业活动。

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5. The Chain of Production | 生产链

The chain of production shows the stages through which a product passes, from the extraction of raw materials to the final sale to consumers. It highlights the interdependence of the three sectors.

生产链展示了产品从原材料提取到最终销售给消费者所经历的各个阶段。它突出体现了三大产业之间的相互依赖。

Using a wooden chair as an example: a forester cuts down trees and supplies timber (primary sector), a furniture factory shapes the wood into a chair (secondary sector), and a furniture shop sells the chair to a customer (tertiary sector). Each of these stages is one link in the chain.

以一把木椅为例：林务员砍伐树木并提供木材（第一产业），家具厂将木材加工成椅子（第二产业），家具店将椅子销售给顾客（第三产业）。每个阶段都是链条中的一环。

Primary Sector → Secondary Sector → Tertiary Sector

At each stage, value is added to the product. Added value is defined as the increase in worth a business creates when it transforms raw materials or components into products that consumers value more than the sum of the inputs. The total added value generated across all sectors contributes to a country’s GDP.

在每一阶段，产品都被增加价值。增值的定义是：企业将原材料或零部件

Published by TutorHao | IGCSE Business Revision Series | aleveler.com

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