Business (9609) All Major Definitions Flashcards


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1

Above-the-line promotion

a form of promotion that is undertaken by a business by paying for communication with consumers

2

Accounts payable

value of debts for goods bought on credit payable to suppliers; payable

3

Accounts receivable

the value of payments to be received by customers who have bought goods on credit; a.k.a. trade receivables

4

Acid-test ratio

(current assets – inventory)/current liabilities

5

Added value

the difference between the cost of purchasing raw materials and the price the finished goods are sold for.

6

Advertising

paid-for communication with consumers to inform and persuade

7

Articles of Association

this document covers the internal workings and control of the business – for example, the names of directors and the procedures to be followed at meetings will be detailed.

8

Arithmetic mean

calculated by totaling all the results and dividing by the number of results

9

Asset

an item of monetary value that is owned by a business

10

Asset-led marketing

an approach to marketing that bases strategy on the firm’s existing strengths and assets instead of purely on what the customers want

11

Autocratic leadership

a style of leadership that keeps all decision-making at the center of the organization

12

Bad debt

unpaid customers’ bills that are now very unlikely to ever be paid

13

Balance sheet

an accounting statement that records the values of a business’s assets, liabilities and shareholders’ equity at one point of time

14

Bar chart

use bands of equal width but of varying length or height to represent relative values.

15

Batch production

producing a limited number of identical products – each item in the batch passes through one stage of production before passing on to the next stage

16

Below-the-line promotion

promotion that is not a directly paid-for means of communication, but based on short-term incentives to purchase

17

Brand

an identifying symbol, name, image or trademark that distinguishes a product from its competitors

18

Branding

the strategy of differentiating products from those of competitors by creating an identifiable image and clear expectations about a product

19

Break-even point of production

the level of output at which total costs equal total revenue – neither a profit nor loss is made

20

Buffer stocks

the minimum stocks that should be held to ensure that production could still take place should a delay in delivery occur or should production rates increase

21

Business plan

a detailed document giving evidence about a new or existing business, and that aims to convince external lenders and investors to extend finance to the business Capital: factor of production including all man-made resources used by a business

22

Capital employed

the total value of all long-term finance invested in the business

23

Capital expenditure

involves the purchase of assets that are expected to last for more than one year, such as building and machinery

24

Capital goods

the physical goods used by industry to aid in the production of other goods and services, such as machines.

25

Cash flow

the sum of cash payments to a business (inflows) less the sum of cash payments (outflows)

26

Cash flow forecast

estimate of a firm’s future cash inflows and outflows

27

Cash flow statement

record of the cash received by a business over a period of time and the cash outflows from the business

28

Cash inflows

payments in cash received by the business

29

Cash outflows

payments in cash made by the business

30

Channel of distribution

the chain of intermediaries a product passes through from producer to final consumer

31

Closed questions

questions to which a limited number of pre-set answers is offered

32

Closing cash balance

cash held at the end of the month; it becomes next month’s opening balance

33

Cluster sampling

using one or a number of specific groups to draw samples from and not selecting from the whole population, e.g. using one town or region

34

Command economy

economic resources owned, planned and controlled by public sector

35

Commission

a payment to a sales person for each sale made

36

Competition-based pricing

a firm will base its price upon the price set by its competitors

37

Consumer goods

the physical and tangible goods sold to the general public; include durable (can be used more than once) consumer goods, such as cars and washing machines, and nondurable (can be used once) consumer goods, such as food and drinks.

38

Consumer markets

markets for goods and services bought by the final use of them

39

Consumer profile

a quantified picture of consumers of a firm’s products, showing proportions of age groups, income levels, location, gender and social class

40

Consumer services

the non-tangible products sold to the general public (include hotel accommodation, insurance, train journeys etc.)

41

Contribution per unit

selling price less variable cost per unit

42

Contribution-cost pricing

setting prices based on the variable costs of making a product in order to make a contribution towards fixed costs and profit

43

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

this concept applies to those businesses that consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their decisions and activities on customers, employees, communities and the environment

44

Cost of sales

a.k.a. cost of goods sold; the direct cost of purchasing the goods that were sold during the financial year

45

Credit control

monitoring of debts to ensure that credit periods are not exceeded Creditors: suppliers who have agreed to supply products on credit and who have not yet been paid

46

Current assets

assets that are likely to be turned into cash before the next balance sheet date

47

Current liabilities

debts of the business that will usually have to be paid within one year

48

Current ratio

current assets/current liabilities

49

Customer relationship marketing (CRM)

using marketing activities to establish successful customer relationships so that existing customer loyalty can be maintained

50

Debtors

customers who have bought products on credit and will pay cash at an agreed date in the future

51

Demand

the quantity of products consumers are willing and able to buy at a certain price particular period of time, ceteris paribus

52

Democratic leadership

a leadership style that promotes the active participation of workers in decision making

53

Direct costs

these costs can be clearly identified with each unit of production and can be allocated to a cost center

54

Diseconomies of scale

factors that cause average costs of production to rise when the scale of operation is increased

55

Dismissal

being dismissed or sacked from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline

56

Dividends

the share of the profits paid to shareholders as a return for investing in the company

57

Economic order quantity

the optimum or least-cost quantity of stock to re-order taking into account the delivery costs and stock-holding costs

58

Economies of scale

reduction in a firm’s average costs of production that results from an increase in the scale of operations

59

Effectiveness

meeting the objectives of the enterprise by using inputs productively to meet customers’ needs

60

Efficiency

producing output at the highest ratio of output to input

61

Emotional intelligence

the ability of managers to understand their own emotions, and those of the people they work with, to achieve better business performance

62

Employment contract

a legal document that sets out the terms and conditions governing a worker’s job

63

Entrepreneur

someone who takes the financial risk of starting and managing a new venture

64

Enterprise

a factor of production including the driving force of a business, the risk-taking and decision-making unit of a business which organizes the other three factors of production.

65

Equilibrium price

the market price that equates supply and demand for a product

66

Equity finance

permanent finance raised by companies through the sale of shares

67

Ethical code of conduct

a document detailing a company’s rules and guidelines on staff behavior that must be followed by all employees

68

Ethics

the moral guidelines that determine decision-making

69

Extension strategies

these are marketing plans to extend the maturity stage of the product before a brand new one is needed

70

Factoring

selling of claims over debtors to a debt factor in exchange for immediate liquidity – only a proportion of the value of the debts will be received as

71

Fixed costs

costs that do not vary with output in the short rui

72

Flexi-time contract

employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees, e.g. at busy times of the day

73

Flow production

producing items in a continually moving process

74

Focus groups

a group of people who are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, advertisement or new style of packaging

75

Franchise

a business that uses the business

76

Free market economy

economic resources owned largely by the private sector with no or little state intervention

77

Full-cost pricing

setting a price by calculating a unit cost for the product (allocated fixed and variable costs) and then adding a fixed profit margin

78

Goodwill

arises when a business is valued at or sold for more than the balance sheet value of its assets

79

Gross profit

equal to sales revenue less cost of sales Gross profit margin: gross profit/sales revenue * 100

80

Hard HRM

an approach of managing staff that focuses on cutting costs, e.g. temporary and part-time employment contracts, offering maximum flexibility but with minimum training costs

81

High-quality profit

profit that can be repeated and sustained

82

Hire purchase

an asset is sold to a company that agrees to pay fixed repayments over an agreed time period – the asset belongs to the company

83

Histograms

it is not the height of each bar that represents relative values, but the area of each bar.

84

Holding company

a business organization that owns and controls a number of separate businesses, but does not unite them into one unified company

85

Hourly wage rate

payment to a worker made for each hour worked

86

Human resource management (HRM)

the strategic approach to the effective management of an organization’s workers so that they help the business gain a competitive advantage

87

Hygiene factors

aspects of a worker’s job that have the potential to cause dissatisfaction, such as pay, working conditions, status and over-supervision by managers

88

Income statement

records the revenue, costs and profit (or loss) of a bu< period of time

89

Indirect costs

costs that cannot be identified with a unit of production or allocated accurately to a cost center

90

Induction training

introductory training programme to familiarize new recruits with the systems used in the business and the layout of the business site

91

Industrial markets

markets for goods and services bought by businesses to be used in the production process of other products

92

Informal leader

a person who has no formal authority but has the respect of colleagues and some power over them

93

Insolvent

when a business cannot meet its short-term debts

94

Intangible assets

items of value that do not have a physical presence, such as patents and trademarks

95

Integrated marketing mix

the key marketing decisions complement each other and work together to give customers a consistent message about the product

96

Internal growth

expansion of a business by means of opening new branches, shops or factories (a.k.a. organic growth)

97

Internet marketing

the marketing of products over the Internet

98

Inter-quartile range

the range of the middle 50% of the data

99

Inventory

stock held by the business in the form of materials, work in progress and finished goods

100

Job description

a detailed list of the key points about the job to be filled – stating all its key tasks and responsibilities

101

Job enlargement

attempting to increase the scope of a job by broadening or deepe tasks undertaken

102

Job enrichment

aims to use the full capabilities of workers by giving them th do more challenging and fulfilling work

103

Job redesign

involves the restructuring of a job – usually with empl agreement – to make work more interesting, satisfying and challenging

104

Job production

producing a one-off item specially designed for the customer

105

Job rotation

increasing the flexibility of the workforce and the variety of work they do by switching from one job to another: £ M ^

106

Joint venture

two or more businesses agree to work closely together on a particular project and create a separate business division to do so

107

Just-in-time

this stock-control method aims to avoid holding stocks by requiring supplies to arrive just as they are needed in production and completed products are produced to order

108

Labor

factor of production, including the workforce of a business, both skilled and unskilled

109

Laissez-faire leadership

a leadership style that leaves much of the business decision making to the workforce-a “hands-off’ approach and the reverse of the autocratic leadership

110

Land

factor of production, including all natural resources used by a business

111

Lead time

the normal time taken between ordering new stocks and their delivery

112

Leadership

the art of motivating a group of people towards achieving a common objective

113

Leasing

obtaining the use of equipment or vehicles and paying a rental or leasing charge over a fixed period.

114

Liability

a financial obligation of a business that it is required to pay in the future

115

Limited liability

the only potential loss a shareholder has if the company fails is the amount invested in the company, not the total wealth of the shareholder

116

Line graphs

most commonly used for showing changes in variables over a period of timp: thp<;p are time-series graphs

117

Liquidation

when a firm ceases trading and its assets are sold for cash to pay supply other creditors

118

Liquidity

the ability of a firm to be able to pay its short-term debts

119

Long-term bonds

bonds issued by companies to raise debt finance, often with a fixed rate of interest

120

Long-term loans

loans that do not have to repaid for at least one year

121

Low-quality profit

one-off profit that cannot easily repeated or sustained

122

Management by objectives (MBO)

a method of coordinating and motivating all staff in an organization by dividing its overall aim into specific targets for each department, manager and employee £ M ^

123

Manager

responsible for setting objectives, organizing resources and motivating staff so that the organization’s aims are met

124

Margin of safety

the amount by which the sales level exceeds the break-even level of output

125

Marginal costs

the extra cost of producing one more unit of output Market

126

capitalization

the total value of a company’s issued shares

127

Market growth

the percentage change in the total size of a market (volume or value) over a period of time

128

Market orientation

an outward-looking approach basing product decisions on consumer demand, as established by market research

129

Market research

this is the process of collecting, recording and analyzing data about the customers, competition and the market

130

Market segment

a sub-group of a whole market in which consumers have similar characteristics

131

Market segmentation

identifying different segments within a market and targeting different products or services to them

132

Market share

sales of the business as a proportion of total market sales

133

Market size

the total level of sales of all producers within a market

134

Market skimming

setting a high price for a new product when a firm has a unique or highly differentiated product with low elasticity of demand

135

Marketing

the management task that links the business to the customer by identifying and meeting the needs of customers profitably – it does this by getting the right product at the right price to the right place at the right time

136

Marketing mix

the four key decisions that must be taken in the effective marketing of a product

137

Marketing objectives

the goals set for the marketing department to help the business achieve its overall objectives

138

Marketing strategy

long-term plan established for achieving marketing objectives

139

Mark-up pricing

adding a fixed mark-up for profit to the unit price of a product

140

Mass customization

the use of flexible computer-aided production systems to produce items to meet individual customers’ requirements at mass production cost levels

141

Mass marketing

selling the same products to the whole market with no attempt to target groups within it

142

Median

the value of the middle item when data have been ordered or ranked. It divides the data into two equal parts

143

Memorandum of Association

a document stating the name of the company, the address of the head office through which it can be contacted, the maximum share capital for which the company seeks authorization and the declared aims of the business

144

Mission statement

a statement of the business’s core aims, phrased in a way to motivate employees and to stimulate interest by outside groups

145

Mixed economy

economic resources are owned and controlled by both private and public sectors

146

Mode

the value that occurs most frequently in a set of data

147

Motivating factors

aspects of a worker’s job that can lead to positive job satisfaction, such as achievement, recognition, meaningful and interesting work and advancement at work

148

Motivation

the internal and external factors that stimulate people to take actions that lead to achieving a goal

149

Multi-site location

a business that operates from more than one location

150

Multinational

a business with operations and production based in more than one country

151

Net monthly cash flow

estimated difference between monthly cash inflows Net profit: gross profit minus overheads Net profit margin: net profit/sales revenue * 100

152

Niche marketing

identifying and exploiting a small segment of a larger mark* products to suit it

153

Non-current assets

assets to be kept and used by the business for more than one year; a.k.a. fixed assets

154

Non-current liabilities

value of debts of the business that will be payable after more than one year

155

Off-the-job training

all training undertaken away from the business, e.g. work-related college courses

156

Offshoring

the relocation of a business process done in one country to the same or another company in another country

157

On-the-job training

instruction at the place of work on how a job should be carried out

158

Open questions

those that invite a wide-ranging or imaginative response – the results will be difficult to collate and present numerically

159

Opening cash balance

cash held by the business at the start of the month

160

Operational flexibility

the ability of a business to vary both the level of production and the range of products following changes in customer demand

161

Operations planning

preparing input resources to supply products to meet expected demand

162

Opportunity cost

the benefit of the next most desired option which is given up

163

Optimal location

a business location that gives the best combination of quantitative and qualitative factors

164

Outsourcing

not employing staff directly, but using an outside agency or organization to carry out some business functions

165

Overdraft

bank agrees to a business borrowing up to an agreed limit as and when required

166

Overtrading

expanding a business rapidly without obtaining all of the necessary finant a cash-flow shortage develops

167

Partnership

a business formed by two or more people to carry on a business together shared capital investment and, usually, shared responsibilities

168

Part-time employment contract

employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of, say, 40 hours, e.g. eight hours per week

169

Paternalistic leadership

a leadership style based on the approach that the manager is in a better position than the workers to know what is best for the organization

170

Penetration pricing

setting a relatively low price often supported by strong promotion in order to achieve a high volume of sales

171

Performance-related pay

a bonus scheme to reward staff for above-average work performance

172

Person specification

a detailed list of the qualities, skills and qualifications that a successful applicant will need to have

173

Personal selling

a member of the sales staff communicates with one customer with the aim of selling the product and establishing a long-term relationship between company and consumer

174

Pie chart

used to display data that need to be presented in such a way that the proportions of the total are clearly shown

175

Piece rate

a payment to worker for each unit produced

176

Price elasticity of demand

a numerical measure showing the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price

177

Primary research

the collection of first-hand data that is directly related to a firm’s needs

178

Primary sector

a sector of economic activity including businesses engaged in extraction of natural resources

179

Private limited company

a small or medium-size business that is owned by shareholders who are often members of the same family; cannot sell shares to the general public

180

Private sector

comprises of businesses owned and controlled by individuals or groups of individuals

181

Process innovation

the use of a new or much improved production method or service delivery method

182

Product

the end result of the production process sold on the market to satisfy a customer

183

Product differentiation

making a product distinctive so that it stands out from competitor products in consumers’ perception

184

Product orientation

an inward-looking approach that focuses on making products that can be made – or have been made for a long time – and then trying to sell them

185

Product positioning

the pattern of sales recorded by a product from launch to withdrawal from the market

186

Production

converting inputs into outputs

187

Productivity

the ratio of outputs to inputs during production, e.g. output per worker per time period £ M ^

188

Profit after tax

operating profit minus interest costs and corporation tax

189

Profit sharing

a bonus for staff based on the profits of the business – usually paid as a proportion of basic salary

190

Promotion

the use of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct mail, trade fairs, sponsorship and public relations to inform consumers and persuade them to buy

191

Promotion budget

the financial amount made available by a business for spending on marketing/promotion during a certain time period

192

Promotion mix

the combination of promotional techniques that a firm uses to sell a product

193

Public corporation

a business enterprise owned and controlled by the state (a.k.a. nationalized industry)

194

Public limited company

a limited company, often a large business, with the legal right to sell shares to the general public – share prices are quoted on the national stock exchange

195

Public relations

the deliberate use of free publicity provided by newspapers, TV and other media to communicate with and achieve understanding by the public

196

Public sector

comprises of organizations accountable to and controlled by central or local government

197

Qualitative factors

non-measurable factors that may influence business decisions

198

Qualitative research

research into the in-depth motivations behind consumer buying behavior or opinions

199

Quality circles

voluntary groups of workers who meet regularly to discuss work-related problems and issues

200

Quantitative factors

these are measurable in financial terms and will have a direct impact on either the costs of a site or the revenues from it and its profitability

201

Quantitative research

research that leads to numerical results that can be statistically analyzed

202

Quota sampling

when the population has been stratified and the interviewer selects an appropriate number of respondents in each stratum

203

Random sampling

every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.

204

Range

the difference between the highest and the lowest value

205

Recruitment

the process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be filled and the type of person needed to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one

206

Reorder quantity

the number of units ordered each time

207

Redundancy

when a job is no longer required, so the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no fault of his or her own

208

Retained profit

the profit left after all deductions, including dividends, have been made. This is “plowed back” into the company as a source of finance.

209

Revenue expenditure

spending on all costs and assets other than fixed assets and includes wages and salaries and materials bought for stock

210

Rights issue

existing shareholders are given the right to buy additional shares at a discounted price

211

Salary

annual income that is usually paid on a monthly basis

212

Sales promotion

incentives such as special offers or special deals directed at consumers or retailers to achieve short-term sales increases and repeat purchases by consumers

213

Sales turnover

total value of sales made by a business in a given time period; a.k.a. sales revenue; equal to selling price X quantity sold

214

Sample

the group of people taking part in a market research survey selected to be representative of the overall target market

215

Scale of operation

the maximum output that can be achieved using the available inputs (resources) – this scale can only be increased in the long term by employing more of all inputs

216

Secondary research

collection of data from second-hand sources

217

Secondary sector

a sector of economic activity where resources extracted by primary sector businesses are processed and manufactured into final goods

218

Self-actualization

a sense of self-fulfillment reached by feeling enriched and developed by what one has learned and achieved

219

Share

a certificate confirming part ownership of a company and entitling the shareholder owner dividends and certain shareholder rights

220

Share capital

the total value of capital raised from shareholders by the issue of shares

221

Shareholder

a person or institution owning shares in a limited company

222

Shareholders’ equity

total value of assets minus total value of liabilities

223

Social audit

a report on the impact a business has on society (it could cover pollution levels, health and safety record, source of supplies, customer satisfaction and contribution to the community)

224

Social enterprise

a business with mainly social objectives that reinvests most of its profits into benefiting society rather than maximizing returns to owners

225

Societal marketing

this approach considers not only the demands of consumers but also the effects on all members of the public (society) involved in some way when firms meet these demands

226

Soft HRM

an approach to managing staff that focuses on developing staff so that they reach self-fulfillment and are motivated to work hard and stay with the business

227

sole traders

a business in which one person provides the permanent finance and, in return, has full control of the business and is able to keep all of the profit

228

sponsorship

payment by a company to the organizers of an event so that the company name becomes associated with the event

229

staff appraisal

the process of assessing the effectiveness of an employ set objective

230

start-up capital

capital needed by an entrepreneur to set up a business

231

stock

materials and goods required to allow for and supply of products to the customer

232

stratified sampling

this draws a sample from a specified sub-group or segment of the population and uses random sampling to select an appropriate number from each stratum

233

Supply

the quantity of products producers are willing and able to sell at a certain price for a particular period of time

234

systematic sampling

<ill give a required rate of return at a certain level of output/sales-

235

teleworking

staff wong Trom nome out Keeping contact with the office by means of modern IT communication

236

temporary employment contract

employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period, e.g. six months-tertiary sector: a sector of economic activity including businesses engaged in providing services to customers

237

team working

production is organized so that groups of workers undertake complete units of work

238

temporary employment contract

employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period, e.g. six months-

239

tertiary sector

a sector of economic activity including businesses engaged in providing services to customers team working: production is organized so that groups of workers undertake complete units of work

240

team working

production is organized so that groups of workers undertake complete units of work

241

Trade barriers

taxes (tariffs) or other limitations on the free international movement of goods and services

242

Training

work-related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency

243

Triple bottom line

the three objectives of social enterprise (economic, social and environmental)

244

Unfair dismissal

ending a worker’s employment contract for a reason that the law n being unfair

245

Unique selling point (USP)

the special feature of a product that differentiates it from competitors’ products

246

Variable costs

Costs that vary with a change in output

247

Venture capital

risk capital invested in business start-ups or expand have good profit potential but do not find it easy to gain fi

248

Viral marketing

the use of social networking is awareness or sell products

249

Window dressing

presenting the company accounts in a favorable light – to flatter the business performance

250

Worker participation

workers are actively encouraged to become involved in decision making within the organization

251

Workforce audit

a check on the skills and qualifications of all existing managers/employees

252

Workforce planning

analyzing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skills of those workers that will be required by the organization to achieve its objectives

253

Working capital

the capital needed to pay for day-to-day running costs and credit offered to is equal to current assets minus current liabilities.