Management: the process used to accomplish organizational goals through planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling people and other organizational resources
Manager: an individual who is in charge of a certain group of tasks, or a certain area or department of a
business
Chief Executive Officer: the most senior manager responsible for the overall performance and success of
a company
Planning: a management function that includes anticipating trends and determining the best strategies
and tactics to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
Organizing: a management function that includes designing the structure of the organization and
creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything work together to achieve the
organization's goals and objectives
Leading: creating a vision for the organization and guiding, training, coaching, and motivating others to
work effectively to achieve the organization's goals and objectives
Controlling: a management function that involves establishing clear standards to determine whether or
not an organization is progressing toward its goals and objectives, rewarding people for doing a good
job, and taking corrective action if they are not
Motivation: factors that influence the behavior of workers towards achieving business goals. Motivation
can be increased by:
a. monetary rewards
b. non-monetary rewards
c. introducing ways to give job satisfaction
Job satisfaction: the enjoyment a worker gets from feeling that they have done a good job
Job rotation: swapping workers round and only doing a specific task for a limited time before swapping
round again
Job enlargement: extra tasks are added to the job to make it more interesting
Job enrichment: adding tasks that require more skill and/or responsibility
Theory X: the average person does not like work. Workers must be constantly supervised so they will
work. Motivation is from external factors, e.g. pay schemes where the workers are paid more for
increased output.
Theory Y: the average person is motivated by internal factors. To motivate workers, you need to find
ways to help workers take an interest in their work, e.g. give rewards, incentives.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs: a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs
dictate an individual's behavior. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging
needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.
Frederick Herzberg's motivation theory: Humans have two sets of needs: one is for the basic needs,
which he called hygiene factors or needs, and the second is for a human being to be able to grow
psychologically, which he called motivational needs or motivators
Hygiene factors: The factors that must be present in the workplace to prevent job dissatisfaction
Organizational structure: the levels of management and division of responsibilities within an
organization
Hierarchy: the levels of management in any organization, from the highest to the lowest. A level of
hierarchy refers to managers/ supervisors, other employees who are given a similar level of
responsibility in an organization.
Chain of Command: The structure in an organisation which allows instructions to be passed down from
senior management to lower levels of management.
Span of Control: the number of subordinates who report directly to a manager
Directors: senior managers who lead a particular department or division of a business
Line managers: people who have responsibility for people below them in the hierarchy of an
organization
Supervisors: junior managers who have direct control over the employees below them in the
organisational structure
Staff managers: specialists who provide support, information and assistance to line managers
Delegation: giving a subordinate the authority to perform particular tasks
Decentralization: taking decision away from the centre of an organization- way from the Head Office.
Glocalization: is a combination of the words "globalization" and "localization." The term is used to
describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally but is also adjusted to
accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.
Culture: is defined as the complex system of values, traits, morals, and customs shared by a society.
Context: refers to the stimuli, environment, or ambience surrounding an event.
The Lewis Model: was developed by linguist and leading cross-cultural specialist Richard D. Lewis. The
model divides humans into 3 clear categories, based not on nationality or religion but on BEHAVIOUR,
namely, Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive.
High-context culture: is a culture by which the rules of communication are primarily and dominantly
transmitted through the use of contextual elements. These include specific forms of body language, the
social or familial status of an individual, and the tone of voice employed during speech. High-context
cultures usually do not have rules that are explicitly written or stated.
Low-context culture: refers to a culture whereby most communications take place through verbal
language and rules are directly written out or stated for all to view
Power distance: is the distribution of power among individuals within a culture and how well unequal
levels of power are accepted by those with less power.
Recruitment: the process from identifying that the business needs to employ someone up to the point at
which applications have arrived at the business
Employee selection: the process of evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for
employment based on the needs of the organisation
A job analysis: identifies and records the responsibilities and tasks relating to a job
A job description: outlines the responsibilities and duties to be carried out by someone employed to do
a specific job
A job specification: a document which outlines the requirements, qualifications, expertise, physical
characteristics, etc. for a specified job.
Internal recruitment: when a vacancy is filled by someone who is an existing employee of the business
External recruitment: when a vacancy is filled by someone who is not an existing employee and will be
new to the business
Induction training: an introduction given to a new employee, explaining the business's activities,
customs and procedures and introducing them to their fellow workers
On-the-job training: occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing the job
Off-the-job training: involves being trained away from the workplace, usually by specialist trainers
The primary sector: The primary sector of industry extracts and uses the natural resources of the earth
to produce raw materials used by other businesses
The secondary sector: The secondary sector of industry manufactures goods using raw materials
provided by the primary sector.
The tertiary sector: The tertiary sector of industry provides services to consumers and the other sectors
of industry.
A mixed economy: has both a private sector and a public (state) sector
Public sector: the sector of the economy in which organisations are owned and controlled by the state
(government)
Private sector: the sector of the economy in which organisations are owned and controlled by
individuals.
Privatisation: the sale of state-owned assets such as public corporations to the private sector.
Sole trader: a business owned and operated by one person
Limited liability: the liability of shareholders in a company is limited to only the amount they invested
Unlimited liability: The owners of a business can be held responsible for the debts of the business they
own. Their liability is not limited to the investment they made in the business.
Partnership: a form of business in which two or more people agree to jointly own a business
Shareholders: the owners of a limited company. They buy shares which represent part ownership of a
company.
Private limited companies: businesses owned by shareholders but they cannot sell shares to the public
Public limited companies: businesses owned by shareholders but they can sell shares to the public and
their shares are tradeable on the Stock Exchange
Production: the process of converting inputs such as land, labour and capital into saleable goods, for
example shoes and cell phones
Inventories: the stock of raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods held by a business
Lean production: the production of goods and services with the minimum waste of resources
Job production: the production of items one at a time
Batch production: tte production of goods in batches. Each batch passes through one stage of
production before moving onto the next stage.
Flow production: the production of very large quantities of identical goods using a continuously moving
process
Just-in-time (JIT): is a production method that involves reducing or virtually eliminating the need to hold
inventories of raw materials or unsold inventories of the finished product
Logistics: the business activity that involves planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of
materials, final goods, and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet
customer requirements at a profit
Inbound logistics: the area of logistics that involves bringing raw materials, packaging, other goods and
services, and information from suppliers to producers.
Materials handling: the movement of goods within a warehouse, from warehouses to the factory floor,
and from the factory floor to various workstations.
Outbound logistics: the area of logistics that involves managing the flow of finished products and
information to business buyers and ultimate consumers (people like you and me).
Reverse logistics: the area of logistics that involves bringing goods back to the manufacturer because of
defects or for recycling materials.
Supply chain: a network of facilities that performs the function of procurement of materials,
transformation of these materials into finished goods, and the distribution of these products to
customers
Logistics management: that part of supply chain management, which plans, implements, and controls
the flow and storage of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption
Customs clearance: the act of passing goods through customs so that they can enter or leave the
country
Cargo: goods carried by a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle
Logistician: a specialist in logistics
Provider: someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity
Pull strategies: designed to attract customers and increase demand for the product
Push strategies: focuses on producing and distributing goods based on forecasted demand
Quality: to produce a good or a service which meets customer expectations
Quality control: the checking for qualtiy standards throughout the production process, whether it is the
production of a product or service
Quality assurance: the checking for quality standards throughout the production process, whether it is
the production of a product or service
Total Quality Management (TQM): the continuous improvement of products and processes by focusing
on quality at each stage of production
Cycle time: how long various activities take to complete
Design-for manufacture: looking at how easy it is to make a new proudct, not just the features
Supplier capability surveys: asking questions to find out if your suppliers are able to meet quality
standards
Scrap: materials or small parts that are no longer useful
Product recalls: the return of products, for example because they're faulty or dangerous
Benchmarking: is measuring your performance against other companies that are best in class and then
using the information to improve
Tolerance: is the amount by which a parameter (eg. size) can vary from the norm before the piece
becomes a defect
ISO 9000: is a set of international standards of quality. Companies can be audited for compliance with
one of the standards, and then publicly state that they're 'ISO-certified'
Nonconformance: is when a requirement has not been met. It does not need to be a serious defect, it
could be a simple mark on the surface that spoils the appearance
Six sigma: is the name of a well-known quality methodology. It takes a highly disciplined approach to
eliminating defects in manufacturing. This term orginally comes from statistics
KPI (Key Performance Indicator): are statistical measures of how well an organization is doing in
particular areas. The term is particularly common in production and operations, but is used throughout
business
Leading indicators: are those that a future outcome. For example, predict levels of staff satisfaction are
often a leading indicator of quality. A more motivated workforce will make fewer mistakes.
Lagging indicators: are those that show a result. For example, warranty claims are a lagging indicator of
quality. Fewer claims mean that earlier actions to improve quality are now working. (A 'lag' is a delay
between two events).
Market: the set of all actual and potential buyers of a good or service; the place where people buy and
sell; the people who trade in a particular good; to make goods available to buyers and to encourage
them to buy them
Market leader: the company with the largest market share
Market nicher: a small company that concentrates on one or more particular niches or small market
segments
Market research: the collection, analysis and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation
(e.g. a proposed new product)
Market segment: part of a market; a group of customers with specific needs, defined in terms of
geography, age, sex, income, occupation, life-style, etc.
Market segmentation: the act of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have different
requirements or buying habits
Market share: the sales of a company (or brand or product) expressed as a percentage of total sales in
marketing - the process of identifying and satisfying consumers' needs and desires
Marketing channel: the set of intermediaries a company uses to get its goods to their end users
Marketing mix: the set of all the various elements in a marketing programme, and the way a company
integrates them
Marketing strategy: a plan or principle designed to achieve marketing objectives
Product life cycle: the standard pattern of sales of a product over the period that it is marketed
Marketing: means identifying customers, defining and developing the products or services they want,
and making and distributing them
Advertorial: a paid-for advertisement which includes editorial content; normally identified in a print
magazine with the word "Advertisement" printed as a head across the top of the page to distinguish it
from genuine (in theory unbiased) editorial content
Advertising agency: the organization that takes care of advertising for clients
Advertising campaign: a time-limited set of ads - campaigns may run across different media, and for one
month or ten years, but can be categorized together as they are the execution of a central idea
Demographics: describe an audience by age, gender, ethnicity, or location - i.e the facts about them
Focus Groups: small, select groups representing a target audience who are paid to answer questions at
the behest of a market research organization
Product Placement: the practice of paying for a branded product to be used by a character in a movie -
e.g James Bond driving a BMW Z3
Product Positioning: establishing the market niche of a product - which may not be as the brand leader -
and advertising to the appropriate segment of the audience
USP - Unique Selling Proposition/Point: a highlighted benefit of a product which makes it stand out from
all rival brands
Deposit: to place money in a bank; or money placed in a bank
Liquidity: available cash, and how easily other assets can be turned into cash
Collateral: anything that acts as security or guarantee for a loan
A mortgage: a type of loan used to purchase or maintain a home, land, or other types of real estate. The
borrower agrees to pay the lender over time, typically in a series of regular payments that are divided
into principal and interest. The property then serves as collateral to secure the loan.
Overdraft: something that occurs when you make a purchase with your debit card or write a check for
an amount that exceeds your checking account's available balance. Many bank accounts offer overdraft
protection to help avoid overdraft fees. Some banks don't charge overdraft fees at all.
A current account: an account at a bank against which checks can be drawn by the account depositor; a
checking account.
A savings account: a deposit account that generally earns higher interest than an interest-bearing
checking account. Savings accounts limit the number of certain types of transfers or withdrawals you
can make from the account each monthly statement cycle.
A deposit account: a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit
and withdraw money.
Solvency: when banks have enough money to cover potential losses. Banks are expected to maintain a
sufficient level of capital to remain solvent and avoid failure. The FDIC and other federal regulators work
with banks to maintain standards for solvency.
Maturity date: this is the date of expiration for the contractual obligation of a financial instrument. For
example, certificates of deposit have a maturity date that depends on the length of the CD term. When
the CD matures, you have the option to withdraw the money. Some banks and credit unions also allow
you to roll it into a new CD or enable the CD to renew automatically.
Cost accounting: calculating all the expenses involved in producing something, including materials,
labour, and all other expenses
Tax accounting: calculating how much an individual or a company will have to pay to the local and
national governments (and trying to reduce this to a minimum)
Auditing: inspecting and reporting on accounts and financial records
Accounting: preparing financial statements showing income and expenditure, assets and liabilities
Managerial / Management accounting: providing information that will allow a business to make
decisions, plan future operations and develop business strategies
Creative accounting: using all available accounting procedures and tricks to disguise the true financial
position of a company
Bookkeeping: writing down the details of transactions (debits and credits)
Cash flow statement: a statement giving details of money coming into and leaving the business, divided
into day-to-day operations, investing and financing
Income statement / Statement of income, / Profit and loss statement / Profit and loss account: a
statement showing the difference between the revenues and expenses of a period
Balance sheet / Statement of financial position: a statement showing the value of a business's assets, its
liabilities, and its capital or shareholders' equity (money the business has that belongs to its owners)
Business cycle model: a model showing the increases and decreases in a nation's real GDP over time;
this model typically demonstrates an increase in real GDP over the long run, combined with short-run
fluctuations in output.
Expansion: the phase of the business cycle during which output is increasing
Recession: the phase of the business cycle during which output is falling contracion
Depression: a deep and prolonged recession
Peak: the turning point in the business cycle between an expansion and a contraction; during a peak in
the business cycle, output has stopped increasing and begins to decrease.
Trough: the turning point in the business cycle between a recession and an expansion; during a trough in
the business cycle, output that had been falling during the recession stage of the business cycle bottoms
out and begins to increase again.
Recovery: when GDP begins to increase following a contraction and a trough in the business cycle; an
economy is considered in recovery until real GDP returns to its long-run potential level.
Potential output: the level of output an economy can achieve when it is producing at full employment;
when an economy is producing at its potential output, it experiences only its natural rate of
unemployment, no more and no less.
Positive output gap: the difference between actual output and potential output when an economy is
producing more than full employment output; when there is a positive output gap, the rate of
unemployment is less than the natural rate of unemployment and an economy is operating outside of its
PPC (The production possibilities curve).
Growth trend: the straight line in the business cycle model, which is usually upward-sloping and shows
the long-run pattern of change in real GDP over time
Negative output gap: the difference between actual output and potential output when an economy is
producing less than full employment output; when there is a negative output gap, the rate of
unemployment is greater than the natural rate of unemployment and an economy is operating inside its
PPC.
Ethical standard: a rule for moral behaviour in a particular area
Ethical behaviour: doing things that are morally right
Ethical lapse: temporary failure to act in the correct way
Ethical dilemma: a choice between two actions that might both be morally wrong
Ethical stance: a stated opinion about the right thing to do in a particular situation
Ethical issue: an area where moral behaviour is important Business Ethics: Standards of business
behaviour that promote human welfare and "the good."
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A company's commitment to improving or enhancing community
well-being through discretionary contributions of corporate resources. There are five dimensions of CSR:
Environment, Social, Economic, Stakeholder, and Volunteerism.
Job insecurity: the fear that you might lose your job
Employability: the extent to which a person has skills that employers want
Downsizing: decreasing the number of permanent employees
Core: the central part of something (e.g. a company's workforce)
Efficiency: a situation in which a person, company, factory, etc. uses resources such as time, materials,
or labour well, without wasting any
Rationalization: to make a company, way of working, etc. more effective, usually by combining or
stopping particular activities, or by employing fewer people
Redundancy package: all the payments and advantages that a company gives to workers who have lost
their jobs because they are no longer needed
Restructuring: to organize a company, business, or system in a new way to make it operate more
effectively (noun) delocalization: to move the location of an enterprise (noun)
International trade: Purchase, sale, or exchange of goods and services across national borders.
Free trade: a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free
market idea applied to international trade.
Protectionism: the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as
tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other restrictive government regulations
designed to discourage imports, and prevent foreign take-over of local markets and companies.
Trade barriers: government laws, regulations, policies or practices that either protect domestic products
from foreign competition or artificially stimulate exports of particular domestic products.
Tariff: a duty (or tax levied upon goods transported from one Customs area to another, for either
protective or revenue purposes. Tariffs raise the prices of imported goods, thus making them generally
less competitive within the market of the importing country, unless that country does not produce the
items so tariffed
Quota: restriction on the amount (measured in units or weight) of a good that can enter or leave a
country during a certain period of time.
Absolute advantage: ability of a nation to produce a good more efficiently than any other nation.
Comparative advantage: inability of a nation to produce a good more efficiently than other nations, but
an ability to produce that good more efficiently than it does any other good.
An infant industry: a new industry, which in its early stages experiences relative difficulty or is absolutely
incapable of competing with established competitors abroad.
A strategic industry: an industry which is essential for the promotion or stabilization of the growth of the
locality in which that industry is situated.