The level of want satisfaction that an economy can achieve is limited partly by the quantities and qualities of its known resources. Resources are the means available for producing goods that are used to satisfy wants. Hundreds of different kinds of resources exist in the economy. Among these are labor of all kinds, raw materials of all kinds, machinery, buildings, semi-finished materials, fuel, power, transportation, and the like.
Resources can be classified conveniently into two categories: a) labor or human resources, and b) capital or nonhuman resources. Labor resources consist of labor power or the capacity for human effort, both of mind and of muscle, used in producing goods. The term capital can be misleading since it is used in several different ways not only by non-economists as well. But here it is used to include all non-human resources that can contribute toward placing goods in the hands of the ultimate consumer. Specific examples are buildings, machinery, land, available mineral resources, raw materials, semi-finished materials, business inventories, and any other non-human tangible items used in the productive process.
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21st Century Organizational Transformation 