The value chain is a major focus in today's business world, and many organisations and managers allocate considerable resources to understanding and analysing their value chain. The main reason for doing this is either to eliminate activities that do not add value, or to improve on activities that do not add sufficient value.

In order to ensure optimum customer satisfaction, businesses must integrate the activities of various departments and functions. This demands a sound understanding of the chain of activities and their interrelationship with other business activities.

The authors adopt the value chain as a framework in order to help business students to visualise how the value chain works. New ground is broken in that management is not dealt with only from a functional perspective. While the goal is to introduce undergraduate students to the concept of the value chain, it is not, however, to offer a comprehensive directory on the related literature.

This special and abridged version of Business Management has been requested by academics in order to accommodate the needs of accounting students. As accounting students at a number of higher institutions only do a seven-week module in business management, we have selected the chapters which cover the basics of business management as well as the primary functions of the value chain.

We have also included a number of chapters on contemporary management issues such as managing diversity, corporate governance and black economic empowerment. These are issues which all accountants will have to deal with in managing their accounting practices in general. These topics will also be matters on which their clients in a modern South African context will need to be advised on.