Buisness glosarry 2 Flashcards
Foreign exchange market
The market that determines the exchange rate. It is where currencies are traded and therefore exchange rates are determined.
Formal groups
Groups that are set up within a business to carry out specific functions. They may be either temporary (to look at a particular problem or issue) or they may be permanent (managing a particular aspect of business activity).
Forward integration
The integration (or merger) of one firm with another firm that is at a later stage in the chain of production. An example could be a brewery taking over a chain of pubs and clubs.
Four P’s
The marketing mix. The four elements of a marketing strategy that a firm must ensure they meet if they are to meet their customer needs.
Franchise
A type of business organisation where the owner buys into an existing business idea but they keep control over the business. For the right to use the business name, idea and products they will pay a fee and/or pay a royalty.
Frederick Taylor
A theorist who set out the theory of scientific management in a book published in 1911. He studied the way in which tasks were carried out and applied scientific methods to make them more efficient.
Free float
The amount of time that an activity in a process could be delayed without affecting the total amount of time that the process will take. It is calculated by subtracting the earliest starting time (EST) at the start of the task and the duration from the EST at the end of the task.
Free market economy
A type of economic system for allocating resources where markets are used to allocate resources through the price mechanism. Supply and demand set a market price in each market.
Fringe benefits
Payments to workers other than wages and salaries. They may include things like subsidised meals, free transport loans, private health insurance and so on.
Full capacity
The maximum that can be produced by an economy with the existing level of resources.
Full cost pricing
A pricing method that businesses use to determine their prices where the fixed costs are allocated between all the products that are sold.
Gearing ratio
A measure of the percentage of capital employed that is financed by debt and long term finance.
Globalisation
The process whereby trade is now being conducted on ever widening geographical boundaries.
Going concern
The underlying assumption that any accountant makes when he prepares a set of accounts. The assumption is that the business being looked at will remain in existence for the foreseeable future.
Goodwill
An intangible asset. It is the amount by which the value of the firm exceeds the value of the net assets held by the firm. It can be seen as the value of the firm’s reputation and customer base.
Government expenditure
Spending by central government and local authorities on the provision of goods and services, transfer payments and debt repayments.
Government policies
Measures that the government puts in place to try to improve the workings of the economy. The main types are fiscal policy and monetary policy.
Gross domestic product
A measure of the total level of economic activity in an economy - in other words a measure of national income. The total value of all goods and services produced over a given time period (usually a year).
Gross profit margin
The level of gross profit as a percentage of sales.
Group decision making
The process of making regular business decisions through groups set up within the firm.
Handy
An influential management thinker who argued that any definition of a manager is likely to be too broad to be of any value and so he looked at what is involved in being a manager. He considered managerial dilemmas, the role of a manager in keeping business healthy and the manager as a person.
Hawthorne effect
An effect that was identified from a series of studies carried out at the Western Electric Company in Chicago between 1927 and 1932. The studies noticed that whatever changes were made in the working conditions over the five years, output always rose.
Health and safety
The process of ensuring that the working environment within a firm is both a healthy and a safe one.
Hedging
The process of protecting oneself against risk.
Henry Mintzberg
A theorist who argued that a manager in a firm needs to carry out certain roles. He identified three min roles and these are interpersonal roles, information roles and decision-making roles.
Herzberg
A theorist who looked at the factors that affect people’s motivation to work. He identified a two-factor theory that suggested that motivation depends on two causes or factors.
Hierarchy
The organisational structure of the firm from top to bottom into different levels of management.
Holding company
A company that owns and therefore controls other companies.
Horizontal communication
A form of communication that is also known often as lateral communication.
Horizontal integration
When two companies in the same industry and at the same stage in the chain of production merge. For example, a merger between two breweries.
Horizontal merger
When two companies in the same industry and at the same stage in the chain of production merge. For example, a merger between two breweries.
Human capital
The skill, knowledge and expertise of workers.
Human resource management
The process of managing the personnel of the firm.
Hygiene factors
Factors identified by Frederick Herzberg that can lead to workers being dissatisfied.
Import controls
Controls that a government put on to limit the volume of imports entering a country. They may include tariffs, quotas or perhaps even embargos on certain goods. A form of protectionism.
Import prices
The prices of goods brought into a country.
Import restrictions
Restraints that a government may impose to limit the volume of imports entering a country. They may include tariffs, quotas or perhaps even embargos on certain goods. A form of protectionism.
Imports
Goods or services that have been bought from overseas.
Income elasticity of demand
The responsiveness of demand to a change in income.
Income tax
A direct, progressive tax.
Index numbers
Numbers used for expressing average changes in a number of different variables.
Indirect taxation
Taxation on expenditure.
Induction
A programme to help a new employee settle quickly and efficiently into their job. It may include introductions to key personnel, tours around the workplace and information about company systems.
Industrial action
Action that may occur when there is a dispute that cannot be easily resolved between the firm and group of their employees. It may be taken by either employers’ or employees.
Industrial inertia
A situation where a firm remains in its original location even after the initial advantage that led to them locating there has disappeared.
Industrial relations
Relations between employers and employees. Generally the relations between a union or other group representing the workers at the firm and the management of the firm.
Industrial tribunal
An independent body which an employee can appeal to if they feel that they have been unfairly dismissed.
Inelastic
A situation where one variable is unresponsive to changes in another.
Inflation
A rise in the general price level that means that the value of money has fallen.
Informal groups
Groups within a business that are made up of people with similar interests. Not a formal part of the business organisation but arise from people having a similar interest in discussing issues.
Informative advertising
Advertising which emphasises facts and factual information about a product.
Infrastructure
The basic underlying networks of an economy necessary to support economic activity.
Innovation
The process of introducing new ideas that may affect products or the way in which they are made. It can also be considered as the commercial exploitation of a new invention.
Inorganic growth
When a firm grows by taking over or merging with another firm (integration). Often also known as external growth.
Insolvency
A situation where a company does not have sufficient assets to meet its liabilities.
Intangible assets
Forms of fixed asset that are not physical assets and so will include assets like goodwill (the value of the firm’s reputation and customer base), the value of a firm’s brand and investments.
Integration
The process of two firms combining. It may be either horizontal or vertical.
Intellectual assets
A form of intangible asset that includes things like the abilities of individuals and the brands that a company owns.
Interest
The reward received for the investment of money.
Interest cover
A ratio that measures how easily the firm can meet the interest payments on any debts that they have. It is calculated by dividing the profit before tax and interest by the amount of interest paid.
Interest rate
The rate received in exchange for money that is lent to a firm or individual.
Internal constraints
Limits that are placed on the behaviour of a firm by their rules, regulations and policies.
Internal growth
A form of growth where a firm gets larger from expanding by using its own resources. Also often known as organic growth.
Internal rate of return
The rate of return of an investment project where the net present value is zero.
Internal recruitment
The process of recruiting personnel to posts from within the company.
International marketing
The process of marketing a firm’s goods and services in other countries.
International trade
The process of exchanging goods and services between countries. It involves the buying and selling of imports and exports.
Investment
The purchase of capital equipment that firms need to enable them to produce. It may include machinery, equipment and vehicles.
Investment appraisal
The process of assessing potential investment projects to see which ones are most viable (and profitable) for the firm. There are a range of techniques that they may use including the payback method, the average rate of return and discounted cash flow.
Inward investment
Money flowing into a country to be invested there that has come from other countries.
Job description
A paper that is an important part of the recruitment process. It gives details of what the job entails and explains the basic roles and responsibilities of the job.
Job enlargement
The process of giving an employee more work of a similar nature to do. It will often mean them carrying out a larger proportion of the production process for the product.
Job enrichment
The process of giving a person more responsibility for the work they are carrying out. This will often mean the ‘vertical’ extension of their role to give them further responsibilities for more areas.
Job production
A production method where just one item at a time is made which is usually used where the product is a one-off product or perhaps unique to each customer.
Job rotation
The process of changing the roles or tasks that employees carry out from time to time. This is often done to help avoid dissatisfaction among workers.
Job specification
A paper that looks at all the skills and knowledge required by an employee to carry out their role. It therefore gives a profile of the sort of person required for a particular post.
Joint venture
A situation where two companies get together to carry out a business venture. They will share the costs, responsibility and profits but they remain as separate firms.
Just-in-time
A stock control system which operates on the scheduling of stocks in a precise, co-ordinated way, so minimising the quantity needed to be held. Stocks are only ordered a short time period before they are needed for the actual production of the final good.
Kanban
An approach to production which uses just in time stock control to ‘pull’ stocks to production when they are required and is based on establishing very close relationships with suppliers.
Known price item
A good whose price is widely known by consumers. They are usually priced very competitively to attract customers.