Four places, four goals
A corner shop sells milk and bread. A school teaches students. A charity gives food to people in need. A software company writes apps for banks.
All four use digital systems. But they have different goals, different owners and different ways of getting money.
A developer must understand who they are building for. Let us sort them out.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | A group of people working together for a purpose. | A shop, a school, a charity |
| Product | A thing a customer can own or use. | A phone or an app |
| Service | Work done for a customer. | Mending a laptop |
| Private sector | Businesses owned by people or companies, not by the government. | A shop or a software company |
| Public sector | Organisations run by the government and paid for by taxes. | The NHS (free health care in the UK) |
| Tax | Money that people and companies must pay to the government. | The government uses tax to pay for schools |
| Not for profit | Money left over is used for the cause, not paid out to owners. | A charity |
| SME | A small or medium-sized enterprise. A business with fewer than 250 staff. | A local web design firm |
| NGO | A non-governmental organisation. It is separate from the government and works to help people. | A group that helps people who have no food |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: product or service?
Have a go
Quick check: product or service?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Purpose: product or service
Every organisation has a purpose. Many exist to provide a product (something you can hold, own or download) or a service (work done for you).
A phone maker sells products. A taxi firm sells a service. Many do both: a phone shop sells phones and also repairs them.
Three sectors
Organisations are grouped by who owns them and why they exist.
The private sector is owned by people or companies. Most want to make a profit.
The public sector is run by the government and paid for by taxes.
The voluntary or charity sector is not for profit. It works for a cause, and any money left over goes back into the cause.
An NGO is not run by the government, so it counts as private sector, even though it helps people.
Types of organisation
| Type | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) | A private business with fewer than 250 staff. Small is under 50. Medium is 50 to 249 | A local web design firm with 12 staff |
| Large enterprise | A private business with 250 or more staff | A national supermarket chain |
| NGO | A group separate from the government that works to help people | A group that works to bring clean water to people |
| Public sector | Run by the government and paid for by taxes | The NHS, a local council, a school paid for by the government |
| Charity (voluntary) | Not for profit, often with volunteers | A food bank |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Scenario: who needs which system?
Have a go
Scenario: who needs which system?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.