Definitions 1.2

Question 1

Recession

Answer 1

two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth

Question 2

Sustainability

Answer 2

making something using materials that will still be around for future generations, perhaps because you are planting a tree for every one you fell

Question 3

Capacity utilisation

Answer 3

this measure actual usage of your facilities as a percentage of the maximum possible

Question 4

Corporate brand

Answer 4

a brand that represents the whole company as well as its products

Question 5

Crowdfunding

Answer 5

obtaining external finance from many individual, small investments, usually through a web based appeal

Question 6

Loss leader

Answer 6

pricing a product below cost in order to attract further, profitable business

Question 7

Price sensitive

Answer 7

when customer demand for a product reacts sharply to a price change (that is, demand is highly price elastic)

Question 8

Pricing tactics

Answer 8

short-term pricing responses to opportunities or threats

Question 9

Barriers to entry

Answer 9

factors that make it hard for new firms to break into existing

Question 10

Impulse purchasing

Answer 10

buying in an unplanned

Question 11

Long tail

Answer 11

the huge number of tiny businesses appealing to minority tastes that can find a profitable existence online because they can target the whole planet, not just the local area

Question 12

Opportunity cost

Answer 12

the cost of missing out on the next best alternative when making a decision (or when committing resources)

Question 13

Wholesaler

Answer 13

the middleman between the producer and retailers, who breaks bulk down from container lorry-loads into manageable parcels, such as a case of 12

Question 14

Cash cow

Answer 14

a product that has a high share of a low-growth market

Question 15

Dog

Answer 15

a product that has a low share of a low-growth market

Question 16

Rising star

Answer 16

High market share of a high growth market

Question 17

Problem child

Answer 17

Low market share high market growth

Question 18

Homogenous goods

Answer 18

these have no points of differentiation and therefore each one is the same as every other (making competition focus on price)

Question 19

Zero-hour contracts

Answer 19

employment contracts that agree employee duties and hourly pay rates, yet offer no guarantee of any work (and therefore income) in any specific week

Question 20

Flexible approach

Answer 20

an approach to operations that implies a move away from mass production to batch production, the ue of machinery that can be quickly reprogrammed to carry out a range of tasks, and the creation of a multi-skilled and flexible workforce that can quickly adapt to meet a firms changing requirements

Question 21

Hot-desk

Answer 21

an approach that provides a temporary desk for home-workers to use when they come to the main office; they are not allowed to leave any of their own possessions there

Question 22

Peripheral workers

Answer 22

those workers who are not seen as being central to a firms operations. They may carry out necessary tasks, but may be required only on a temporary basis and may be easily replaced

Question 23

Subcontracting

Answer 23

where another business is used to perform or supply certain aspects of a firms operations

Question 24

Hygiene factors

Answer 24

‘everything that surrounds what you do in the job’, such as pay, working conditions and social status; all are potential causes of dissatisfaction, according to Herzberg

Question 25

Labour turnover

Answer 25

the number of staff leaving a company as a percentage of the number employed

Question 26

Job satisfaction

Answer 26

the sense of well being and achievement that stems from a satisfying job

Question 27

Piece rate

Answer 27

paying workers per piece they produce - for example, £2 per pair of jeans made

Question 28

Trade union

Answer 28

an organisation that represents the interests of staff at the workplace

Question 29

Flexitime

Answer 29

giving staff flexibility over their arrival and leaving times as long as the right number of hours are completed

Question 30

Kaizen

Answer 30

continuous improvement, usually achieved by workforce engagement and involvement