Business covers a broad range of commercial, industrial or professional activities ("What is a 'Business'," n.d.). The business, as an organized entity, can be for profit or not ("What is a 'Business'"). There are limitless activities commercial or social enterprises can engage in for operation. These could include product and/or service planning, development, promotion, distribution and/or marketing. Further, operating in given market conditions require, for a business, to be organized in specific ways.
The word "business" can also refer to specific activities an organized entity performs in one or more given areas, usually referred to as "line of business". Thus, business, for current purposes, refers to organized entity or activities in one or more areas.
For commercial, for-profit entities, examples are numerous. Google is, for one, a global, for profit business. Offering products and services based on search engine marketing and advertising, Google is a commercial entity designed around product innovation and human capital and is aimed at commercial profit. The company has, like many companies in recent decades, multiple social roles beyond immediate profit purposes falling under what is commonly referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility.
Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is an example of non-for-profit, humanitarian business. MSF helps war afflicted and/or natural disaster hit communities recover from wide scale crises by offering medical assistance and healthcare. The organization is, indeed, a very early example of companies, increasingly known as social enterprises. Funded by unconventional means (e.g. donations, federal assistance and, most recently, crowd funding), MSF adds humanitarian and social values for communities but also avoids more profiteering practices of for-profit enterprises. This line of business is, if anything, becoming more broadly adopted and is becoming a more favorable and sustainable business practice.
References
What is a 'Business'. (n.d.). Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business.asp
