Within corporate resource planning, which option correctly completes the classic list: money, materials, information, and ______?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: people

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
Enterprise management commonly references four foundational resources that must be planned, controlled, and optimized: money, materials, information, and people. Understanding this framework helps align operations, HR, finance, and IT toward organizational objectives.



Given Data / Assumptions:

  • The context is corporate/enterprise resource management.
  • We are identifying the fourth pillar that complements money, materials, and information.
  • The focus is on broadly recognized management categories, not specific software or icons.


Concept / Approach:
People (human resources) are the workforce—decision-makers, operators, engineers, and knowledge workers—whose skills and collaboration transform materials using money and information into value. This four-part view underpins many planning models (e.g., the 4M/5M frameworks in operations: manpower/people, machines, materials, methods, and sometimes money/measurement).



Step-by-Step Solution:

List the known three: money, materials, information.Identify the missing central resource class used universally: people (human resources).Verify that the other options do not constitute foundational corporate resources.


Verification / Alternative check:
Management textbooks and operations frameworks consistently cite people as a core resource distinct from information systems or online technologies, which are tools enabling people.



Why Other Options Are Wrong:

  • Icons/on-line: these are UI or connectivity descriptors, not resources.
  • Information system: a tool and enabler rather than a foundational resource class.
  • None of the above: incorrect because ‘‘people’’ is the accepted completion.


Common Pitfalls:
Equating ‘‘information systems’’ with ‘‘information’’; information is the content, systems are the means to process it. The irreplaceable resource remains people.



Final Answer:
people

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