1.1 Business Orientation = what the business offers

The message is that in business there are only 4 following possibilities to satisfy or create customer’s need: 1. Expert, 2. Product, 3. Self-Service and 4. Commodity. We can call these 4 possibilities “The Business Orientations”.

The name of each Business Orientation reflects both means of satisfying or creating needs and the essence of what a business offers. They are basically the same. The reason not to use just the term “Business Offers” is to differentiate between what the business offers in practice (a new car) and its meaning (a new product = satisfaction or creation of a need through the possibility called “Product).

The term “Business Orientations” can be changed (Business Forms, Business Directions, Business Possibilities to create or satisfy needs etc.) but the names of individual orientations (1. Expert, 2. Product, 3. Self-Service, 4. Commodity) cannot be changed since they express the very essence of their meaning. It is also possible not to use any group term for them.

When shown together the individual Business Orientations are listed in the following order:

1. Expert, 2. Product, 3. Self-Service, 4. Commodity.

The reason is that this order corresponds to our natural perception scale from specific to general and essential.

The Business Orientations stand above the division of the economy into sectors because they penetrate all sectors and business activities in the economy.
For instance in the financial sector one bank may tend to the Expert Orientation while another bank is more Self- Service-oriented.

Business Orientations are the basis of all business in the same way as the 4 basic mathematical operations are the basis of all mathematics.
In relation to business activity and business science, the Business Orientations are what the four cardinal geographical points are to travelling and geography.

The practical use of Business Orientations is that they enable businesses to check where and what they are. They also help to observe and understand situations both in business sectors and in the business landscape as a whole.