The Times 100 - Glossary

Business Studies for Students and Teachers.

The Times 100 offers a range of free information for students and teachers of business studies.

The Times 100 Glossary

Glossary Terms Used Throughout The Times 100 Website

360 degree feedback	Feedback comes from subordinates, peers and managers in the organisational hierarchy as well as from self assessment. In some cases also from external sources such as customers, suppliers or other stakeholders.
3G	Third generation of digital wireless communications services. Analogue mobile phones were the first generation. Digital marked the second
3rd Generation (3G) phones	Phones enabling access to richer content including video calling, games, music track downloads and TV.
45 nanometres (45nm)	The size of transistors used to make the chips. A nanometre is one billionth of a metre. The 45nm transistors are the smallest production transistors used for making microprocessors.
A.R.P.U.	Average Revenue per User. This is a measure of how much money each customer spends using their mobile phone.
ABC1	Wealthy consumers (categories according to occupation).
Above the line	Direct expenditure on advertising, such as for a TV advertisement.
Above-the-line promotion	Direct expenditure on advertising, such as for a TV commercial.
Absenteeism	People not being in the place they are expected to be, especially school or work.
Account Managers	Sales managers responsible for handling particular customers accounts e.g. working with specific supermarket chains.
Accountability	Taking responsibility for decisions and justifying actions that have been taken.
Accountable	Requirement to provide an explanation for their actions.
Acquisition	Where one business takes over another e.g. by purchasing a majority of shares.
Act of Parliament	A law created by the government
Adam Smith	A great Scottish economist and philosopher best known for The Wealth of Nations. His pioneering book on free trade and market economics.
Add more value	Increase the worth and usefulness of a product for the final consumer.
Add value	Make products and services more desirable by creating additional benefits from owning or using them.
Added value	Providing additional features/benefits to make a product more desirable, i.e. giving the customer something extra.
Adds value	Enables the product to attract a higher selling price.
Administration	A rescue procedure for companies where an insolvency practitioner is appointed as administrator to control a companys affairs and attempt for it to be rescued.
ADSL broadband	A high speed Internet link using the existing copper wire network.
Advertising campaign	A range of targeted advertisements to create awareness within the chosen sectors.
Advertorial	An advertisement in a newspaper or magazine that is designed to look like an article by the writers of the magazine.
Advocate	Speaking in favour of an issue.
Aesthetic	A principal of taste and style adopted by a person, group or culture.
Aesthetics	Principles of taste and style adopted by a particular group, person, organisation or culture.
Affiliate	Become part of or form a close relationship with another, usually larger, group or organisation.
Affiliates	Part of a close relationship with another, usually larger, group or organisation.
AG	The German equivalent to plc.
Agenda 21	As a result of these issues, The Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The summit adopted what has been termed Agenda 21, which is a comprehensive action plan for the pursuit of sustainable development into the 21st Century. Agenda 21 called
Aggregates	The mineral materials, such as sand or stone, used in making concrete.
Agroforests	Trees grown among or around crops, as a means of preserving or enhancing the productivity of the land.
Aim/aims	Broad statement of intent providing a direction for an organisation, from which more specific objectives could be set.
Alternative Investment Market (AIM)	The junior market established in 1995 by the London Stock Exchange providing trading facilities for shares of smaller companies.
Ambience	Surroundings or atmosphere.
Ambient	A term used to describe platforms which do not fall into traditional promotional media, e.g. adverts on takeaway lids, cinema tickets, shopping receipts, etc.
Ambient foods	Foods stored at room temperature.
Amway Business Owners	Independent business owners operating direct selling organisations.
Annual General Meeting	A yearly meeting at which a company's Board of Directors reports to shareholders and at which the shareholders can ask questions and vote on some key issues.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)	The percentage amount of interest paid on borrowing; used by consumers to compare the costs of different cards, mortgages etc.
Annual performance review	The process of identifying how successful a person has been in achieving targets, in order to make ongoing improvements.
Annuity	Product sold by financial services company providing the holder with payments at specific intervals after retirement.
Ansoff's matrix	A model developed by business write Igor Ansoff for deciding the risk of possible courses of action. H. I. Ansoff was born in Vladivostock in December 1918 with an American father and a Russian mother. He went on to become a leading US industrialist.
Anthropologist	Someone who studies humans looking at their origins, religious beliefs, social relationships
Anti-trust legislation	Laws making certain agreements/activities illegal because they restrict competition.
Appraisal	An assessment of an individual's progress. A manager meets with a subordinate to review their work and agree on future objectives.
Appraisal grading	An ongoing process where employees meet with their line manager to discuss and evaluate their ongoing progress in meeting existing performance targets and to consider what they aim for next.
Apprentices	Individuals taken on by a business, who agree to train them for a particular trade or role, to gain a recognised qualification within that industry.
Apprenticeship	Individuals taken on by a business which agrees to train them for a particular trade or role and gain a recognised qualification within that industry.
Articles of association	Sets out main arrangements for control and the internal running of the company.
ASA	The Advertising Standards Authority ? the regulator of the UK advertising industry.
Aspirational identification	The tendency for younger consumers (eg 12-14 year olds) to look up to and want to be like older teenagers; they therefore identify with images favoured by older teenagers.
Assessment centre	A place where the final evaluation and testing of candidates is carried out either by the recruiting company or by an external agent on behalf of the recruiting company.
Asset marketing	Discovering what customers want you to be able to do with your assets. In this way you can improve your assets in line with clients wishes.
Asset/assets	Something that is of worth to an organisation e.g. people, cash, financial claims on others, machinery, buildings. These include current assets which are assets (including cash) that can be turned into cash within 1 year and fixed assets which are items that generate wealth for the business over time e.g. machinery, buildings.
Assumptions	Accepting without proof that something will happen.
Asylum and Immigration Act 1996	This sets out the requirements people must meet to be able to obtain employment in the UK.
ATM	Automatic Telling Machines - holes in walls where money can be obtained using a cash card and PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Attitude surveys	A detailed questionnaire to discover people?s perceptions and views.
Attitudes	Beliefs and views of consumers that affect the way they behave/purchase.
Audit	Examination of accounts as well as quality and efficiency.
Auditing	Researching, verifying, checking and then measuring.
Auditor	Person who examines the accounts of an organisation.
Auditors	Professional accountants who provide independent scrutiny and report on an organisations financial position.
Autism	Complex life long disability, characterised by lack of response to people and limited ability to communicate.
Autocatalysts	Car engine components that are designed to convert potentially harmful waste substances into non-harmful ones. Formerly known as catalytic converters.
Autocratic	Taking decisions without consultation or discussion.
Autocratic style	Where a leader makes a decision alone and then conveys that decision to staff.
Automated	to make a manufacturing process run without the intervention of people
Automated machinery	Programmed machinery that makes products and checks their quality without the need for human intervention.
Automation	The use of robots, computers and machines to complete jobs instead of people.
Autonomy	Independence to make decisions within a decentralised working environment, where decision-making is passed down from the top of the organisation to those at lower levels.
Availability losses	Times when a plant is unable to generate energy.
Average rate of return	Measures the net return per year as a percentage of the initial expenditure.
Aviation	The activity of flying aircraft or of designing, producing and maintaining them.
Away days	Training or other opportunities offered away from the workplace e.g. at a hotel or conference centre.
B2B	Sales by one business to another, rather than B2C which involves selling directly to the final consumer. Used to describe transactions between companies
B2B markets	Business to business markets, also known as industrial or organisational markets. In these markets, firms supply not the general public but other firms e.g. with raw materials, manufactured components.
B2C	Used to describe transactions between a business and consumers.
Backward vertical integration	Vertical integration that combines a core business with its suppliers.
Balance sheet	A financial document that shows what a business owns (assets) and what it owes (liabilities) at a particular moment in time.
Balanced business scorecard	A framework for tracking key performance measures in harmony.
Bankrupt	An individual judged insolvent by a court.
Bankruptcy	Judged insolvent by a court.
Bargaining agenda	Series of issues that are itemised when trade union representatives talk with employers.
Barriers to entry	Those features that prevent businesses entering a particular market. Examples include strong brands and limited supply of raw materials.
Base year	The starting date against which changes in an index are compared. Typically, a base year is given a figure of 100 or 1000.
Basis points	A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point (0.01%). They are often used to measure changes in performance.
Batch production	The work to be completed is separated in a number of operations and each product goes through these stages.
Below the line	Use of indirect promotional methods such as public relations and advertorials; promotional activity other than advertising.
Below-the-line promotion	Indirect expenditure on promotion, such as through free gifts, PR or competitions.
Benchmark	An index, standard or point of reference in measuring or judging a quality or value.
Benchmarked	Using an index, standard or point of reference to measure or judge a quality or value.
Benchmarking	Using an index, standard or point of reference to measure or judge a quality or value.
Benchmarks	Indexes, standards or points of reference in measuring or judging a quality or value.
Benefit	The advantages gained by consumers from the goods or services they buy.
Benefits	What the customer gets from buying a product, the range of advantages e.g. value for money, good quality, etc.
Best practice	The development of performance standards based upon the most efficient practices within an organisation.
Best-in-class	The most successful businesses in a particular group e.g. the best magazine publisher, travel operator, supermarket chain etc.
Biased	A preference towards a particular subject or thing.
Bids	A written submission in which a firm offers to provide a specified product or service in return for a stated fee.
Biodiversity	The variety of living things eg plants and animals in the world or in a particular habitat.
Biofuel	Fuels produced from biomass, which means recently living organisms, usually plants.
Biofuels	Made from plants. Two most common types are bioethanol (usually made from sugar cane or corn, which replaces petrol) or biodiesel.
Blue Chip companies	A common stock of nationally known companies whose value and dividends are reliable; typically have high price and low yield; blue chips are sually safe investments.
Blue-sky research	Technical research undertaken with no immediate commercial application in view.
Bluejacking	When someone sends an anonymous text by creating a message in their phone book and then sending it to another Bluetooth activated mobile. sually used to send unwanted or nuisance texts.
Board of directors	A group appointed to steer the long-term decision making of a company and to represent shareholders interests
Body corporate	A body that has a status in law ? the body is responsible for its actions.
Bonds	Savings accounts that receive interest and mature on a set date.
Bonus	An extra amount of money given as reward.
Boston matrix	Also known as Boston Box. A matrix illustrating how stages in a products life cycle relate to the cash flows the product contributes to business growth.
Bottom-up	Employees at lower levels express their views and contribute to a planning process.
Brainstorming	Group activity designed to generate ideas.
Branch	The local outlet of a trade union ? based on a geographical area.
Branch secretary	Local officer elected to represent a union branch by his or her colleagues.
Brand	A name, symbol or design used to identify a specific product and to differentiate it from its competitors.
Brand affinity	How well customers identify with the brand.
Brand awareness	Consumers familiarity with and fondness for,a product that leads to repeat purchases.
Brand equity	The value of a brand, based upon consumer confidence and loyalty, awareness of the name and a range of perceived benefits and qualities.
Brand franchising	The allowing of other organisations to use successful and well known branded products/services.
Brand heritage	Those factors associated with the history and development of a brand.
Brand identity	Image and values associated with a brand.
Brand image	How a particular brand name is perceived within the market by potential buyers.
Brand leader	The brand with the largest market share.
Brand loyalty	High level of equity, credibility and trust by consumers that leads to repeat purchases and confidence in the range of products represented by the brand.
Brand migration	Taking a brand into new territory.
Brand Positioning	The act of designing the companys offerings and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customers minds.
Brand promise	What a brand promises to deliver to customers. This may be through advertising, sales literature or some other means.
Brand proposition	A compelling and differentiated reason for the target user to choose the brand.
Brand truth	A short statement setting out what makes a brand distinct, based on real factors.
Brand values	Series of perceptions, thoughts and images created by a brand that influence customers and encourage them to choose it in preference to other brands.
Brand vision	A company's perception of the desirable qualities that its brand represents.
Branded goods	Goods which are distinguished from rival products by a name, image, or other visual form.
Branding	The process of using a name, sign, symbol or other creative element to identify a product and emphasise its position in the market.
Brands	Names, symbols or designs used to identify specific products and to differentiate them from competitors
Break even	The out-put level at which total revenue equals total cost i.e. no profit or loss is made.
British nationals	People who are legally recognised as citizens of the United Kingdom.
British, European and International Standards	British Standards (BS) are those that are created for the UK, European standards (EN) are for use through the European Union. International standards (ISO) are international. Many international standards are extensions of standards originally created by BSI.
Broadband	Derived originally from broad bandwidth this is a form of communication that involves multiple channels of data.
Brokers	Intermediaries between a client and an underwriter. Brokers represent the interests of their client (the insured).
Brown goods	Electrical goods such as TVs, DVD players etc.
Brownfield	A site that has been reclaimed from its previous industrial or commercial use. In contrast to a greenfield site, where the land is taken out of agricultural use and allocated another use.
Brownfield site	Development sites that have been built on previously. These contrast with greenfield sites, which have only been used for agriculture and never been built on.
Budget	Planning for the future using numbers. These numbers relate to such totals as expected costs. The budgeted figures are related to specific time periods.
Budgeting	Corporate aims and objectives, translating them into plans that are expressed in money and quantities.
Budgets	Financial plans for the future that show where costs and revenues will come from
Building envelope	The external shell of a building. The external shell can be made with different materials e.g. pre-finished steel, aluminium, brick, etc.
Bulk products	Items produced in large volumes eg mass produced cans.
Bureaucracy	Paperwork and procedures that may get in the way of carrying out a job or task effectively.
Business continuity	How the business will run in the event of disaster or unknown events.
Business cycle	Fluctuations in demand for goods and services from boom to decline to recession to depression to recovery over a period of time.
Business environment	The complex range of factors outside an organisation's control that influence its ability to compete
Business ethics	recognised rules of conduct or principles which an organisation may follow
Business in the Community	An organisation dedicated to enabling businesses to play an active part in the life of the wider community.
Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index	The leading UK benchmark of responsible business practice.
Business in the Community PerCent Club	A group of companies committed to contributing to the communities in which they operate. To qualify for the club, companies must contribute at least 0.5% of UK pre-tax profits to the community.
Business models	Processes in which an organisation engages in order to meet client needs.
Business objectives	The ends which an organisation seeks to achieve
Business philosophy	Belief about how business should be conducted.
Business plan	describes the future activities of the business, across financial, production, and resourcing issues
Business principles	Standards set by companies that guide how they behave.
Business processes	Bringing together, using and integrating a range of operations in order to transfer operational inputs into business outputs, which are important to the customer.
Business ratios	Ratios are standard calculations used to analyse a companys accounts in order to judge business performance.
Business strategy	The overall plan a company has for itself.
Business values	Principles that underlie the ways in which an organisation operates.
Business-to-business (B2B)	Transactions between companies rather than between companies and consumers.
Business-to-consumer (B2C)	Transactions between a business and consumers.
Buy-one-get-one-free	Often called by its initials (BOGOF). A promotion is sold, effectively, at half price.
Cable broadband	A high speed Internet link accessing the cable television network via a cable modem.
Cadence	A regular rise and fall - here used to show the rhythm of production
Call centre	Office handling telephone operations for a business. Call centre operators use telephone links and computer terminals to talk to and answer customers and process orders.
Can banks	Large containers for collecting used steel cans, usually provided in convenient locations such as supermarket car parks.
Capacity building	Efforts to develop human skills or infrastructures within a community or organisation.
Capital	Money, buildings, machinery, equipment etc. Also describes the funds ploughed into the business.
Capital employed	The total amount of capital (expressed in money terms) used by the business from all sources.
Capital expenditure	Spending on items that will provide a long-term benefit for a business e.g. new factory premises, a new warehouse.
Capital intensive	Using a high proportion of buildings, machinery, equipment, tools to produce a good or service.
Capital investment	Spending money on new buildings, new machinery, new equipment or on modernising and revitalising existing buildings, machinery and equipment.
Capital market	The market which provides long-term investment capital for businesses and other organisations.
Carbon capture	Technology that filters out carbon emissions from power station gases before release into the environment.
Carbon credits	Allowance to a business to generate a specific level of emissions.
Carbon footprint	The quantity of carbon created by individuals, businesses or countries as a result of their activities e.g. using heating and lighting, using a car or mobile phone charger.
Cartel	An arrangement between businesses whereby they agree to limit the ways in which they compete e.g. by setting uniform prices or by carving up territories in which to sell exclusively.
Cascade	Start, develop and implement at a higher level and then pass down to lower levels.
Cash and carry	Wholesale warehouse where retailers pay by cash to take products away.
Cash flow	The movements of cash into and out of a business in a given period of time.
Cash flow forecasts	Prediction of likely future flows of costs and revenues
Cash Flow Statement	A financial statement showing incomings, outgoings and cash balances. The cash flow statement refers to flows that took place in a previous period of time e.g. the last year. Do not confuse this with a cash flow forecast which is a future forecast of incomings and outgoings of cash into a business.
Casual factors	Events or activities which have an effect or impact, e.g. hot weather on sales of ice cream.
Catalyst	An event or person that causes change.
Category	A group of products that fulfil the same need state.
Category team	Team of employees consisting of members from Finance, Customer Marketing, Consumer Marketing and Supply Chain.
Cause marketing	A commercial activity by which businesses and the wider community derive direct societal and commercial benefits through marketing led activity.
Cement clinker	The hardened lumps which are formed in the kiln, where intense heat transforms the raw materials of chalk and clay. Clinker is then ground to the powder we know as cement
Centralised	A central figure controls.
Centres of excellence	Pioneering centres and groups of employees incorporating all of the latest quality initiatives, to model them for others and to encourage change within the organisation.
Certification	Recognition of meeting specific standards.
Chain network	A vertical communication channel.
Chain of command	The order in which authority and power in an organisation is wielded and delegated from top management to every employee at every level of the organisation.
Champions	People who enthusiastically support or defend a person, belief, right, cause or principle.
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Head of the UK Treasury and the minister responsible for financial aspects of government policy. The post of Chancellor is considered to be second only to the Prime Minister.
Change process	The way that an organisation manages change from one system to another.
Channel of distribution	Stages of ownership as products move from a manufacturer to a consumer. The ways by which the product is delivered to customers.
Chartered engineer	An engineer with a Masters degree who is registerd with the Engineering Council.
Chat rooms	A virtual environment where people can communicate with others, including people they dont know, by exchanging written words or images.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)	The leading decision maker in the organisation.
Child mortality	The number of child deaths in a certain age category.
Child Tax Credits	Support for people who are responsible for at least one child or qualifying young person but on a low income.
Child Trust Fund	Money given by the Government to each child born after September 2002, to encourage saving for the future.
Chilled foods	Foods stored at temperatures of between 3 and 5?C (Chill).
Circle network	A decentralised communication channel where messages pass across and between all members.
Citizens Advice Bureaux	A network of centres that help people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free information and advice.
Civil law	Law governing relationships between members of society, but not including criminal offences.
Civil legal problems	Disputes between individuals or organisations where no criminal offence is committed. They are usually settled by agreement or compensation.
Civil servant	An individual who works for a government department carrying out government policy.
Claims	The part of an insurance company that is responsible for dealing with claims for compensation by people/institutions who have taken out insurance.
Client relationship management	Process of building services that provide the basis for developing longer-term business relationships with clients.
Clients	Individuals or organisations that are provided with a service.
Climate change	Long term changes in general weather conditions.
Closed-ended funds	A fund with a fixed number of shares in issue. These shares can be traded (bought and sold) by the shareholders.
Club together reward	Cardholders within a learning centre club their points together to win a reward for their learning centre.
Co-operatives	Groups who join together to engage in an economic activity that benefits them all.
Coaching	Providing feedback and support for staff to help them improve their performance in their role. The coach is often a line manager but the skills can also be used among colleagues.
Code of conduct	Guidelines that dictate how a person eg, supplier, should act.
Code of ethics	A set of principles that are accepted and used by society or a particular group of people.
Code of practice	Written guidelines governing business behaviour. This could take the form of a voluntary code or a legally enforced set of regulations
Collective bargaining	Where, in dealing with employers, unions represent employees across a number of job roles or industries.
Command economy	See Planned economy
Commercial content	Content provided by commercial content providers to their mobile customers - including pictures, video clips, mobile games, music, gambling.
Commercial implications	The effects on the business.
Commodity	An undifferentiated product.
Comodities	Undifferentiated products, such as tea, sugar.
Companies Act 1985	Series of laws enacted by Parliament stipulating the legal requirements with which public and private limited companies have to comply.
Companies House	The place where records of every UK company are kept. These accounts are then made available to the general public.
Company	An organisation owned by shareholders recognised in law as being separate from its owners. It may be a private company or a public company.
Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)	An alternative rescue procedure for companies.
Competencies	Areas of activity in which a business or individual is particularly strong eg communication, or research and development, product innovation. Also the level of knowledge and skill required to enable a person to achieve a standard in a job or task.
Competency	Area of activity in which a firm or individual is particularly strong.
Competency-based training	Training that enables employees to perform to prescribed standards.
Competition Act 1998	A piece of UK legislation which prohibits anti-competitive agreements (including cartels) and prohibits the abuse of a dominant position.
Competition analysis	Analysis of competitors and their products to find out how well the products and activities of competitors meet customer needs.
Competitive	Involves organisations competing against one another to sell goods and services.
Competitive advantage	A strategic element that enables an organisation to compete more effectively than its rivals.
Competitive edge	Providing a more attractive offer than rival products, often through lower prices, and/or better value for money.
Competitive environment	The extent to which a firm faces competition from rival firms.
Competitive market place	A market place in which there are several producers supplying similar goods or services.
Competitive strategies	The plans and resulting actions that a company takes to keep ahead of rivals.
Competitors	Other producers supplying similar goods or services.
Complementary products	Products that support other products eg producing control systems for marine engines.
Comply	Act according to an order, set of rules or request.
Compounds	Chemicals that combine two or more elements.
Compressed working	Working more hours per day to reduce the days worked.
Computer modelling	Using a computer to develop a model of a process or product. Mathematical modelling can also be used for testing a new product or process.
Concept	A principle or idea.
Concession	A shop within a shop - a commercial operation set up within the premises of a larger concern, i.e. a newsagents outlet at a railway or bus station.
Congestion charge	A fee that drivers have to pay when entering an area of high traffic congestion
Conglomerate	A group of businesses joined in a single entity. Each of the businesses focuses on a different product or service area.
Connectivity	Linking people and organisations together.
Consensus	A general level of agreement between participants.
Conservation	The process of protecting finite natural resources.
Consolidated	The process of mergers and acquisitions in an industry, so that businesses become larger or more effective
Consulate	Smaller offices in non-capital cities which offer assistance to British nationals.
Consultancy	Specialists who provide expert advice within their fields of expertise
Consultation	The act or procedure of consulting, i.e. finding out peoples views on issues and taking these into account in deciding what to do.
consultative	Participatory.
Consumer expectations	What consumers want or expect to receive from a product or organisation.
Consumer marketing	A marketing process designed to influence final consumers into making a purchasing decision eg through literature prepared with the general public in mind as the readership.
Consumer penetration	How many consumers are aware of a particular brand/organisation.
Consumer-led	Responding to the needs of consumers in the market.
Consumer/consumers	The user of a product, who may or may not be the buyer of it.
Consumerism	Situation in which consumers of products exert power and develop consumer rights.
Contact centre	Office where staff contact each other and customers using telephones.
Content control	Methods of preventing unrestricted access to content, including barring.
Contingency planning	Measures put in place to cope with an unlikely but significant event e.g. a computer breakdown, a factory fire.
Continual improvement	Involves continually making changes to a business system or process to make sure that it keeps up-to-date, relevant and appropriate to changing Industrial and market requirements.
Continuous flow	Where production moves from one process to another in an ongoing sequence.
Continuous improvement	An ongoing process of seeking to make improvements to company practice.
Continuous Professional Development	Where workers maintain or increase their knowledge and skills throughout their professional lives.
Contract	An agreement between two parties that is binding in law.
Contract of employment	A verbal or written agreement between the employer and the employee that lays down the conditions of work and rights of the worker at work.
Contract out	To give work, in the form of contracts, to other firms to carry out non-core activities.
Contractor/contractors	Persons employed on a contract for a specific job or period of time to supply a good or service to a business or individual e.g. building contractor, painting contractor.
Contracts	Agreements between two parties that are binding in law.
Control	Power to direct or decide how operations are carried out.
Copyright	Legal protection for authors, composers and artists from having their work copied or reproduced without their permission.
Core brands	Brands central to any business strategy - known as Power Brands at Kraft.
Core business	Main business activities and functions of an organisation.
Core competence	Strengths and abilities of an organisation to provide goods or services better than its close competitors
Core competencies	Strengths and abilities of an organisation to provide goods or services better than its close competitors
Core competency	The central business purpose, when all other activities are stripped away.
Core range	A companys most important products, and which underpin its profitability.
Core strengths	The things that a company does particularly well, eg manufacturing to high levels of accuracy.
Corporate banking	Banking services for businesses.
Corporate brand	A company-wide brand.
Corporate citizen	A body, such as a business or other organisation and the role it plays in society.
Corporate culture	Describes the values, attitudes and beliefs of an organisations employees.
Corporate goal	Overall purpose of an organisation that sets a direction for all of its activities.
Corporate governance	The process for ensuring accountability to stakeholders so their aims take precedence over the needs of others.
Corporate objectives	What the organisation seeks to achieve, set out in a number of clear statements.
Corporate planning	The long-term process that starts with the mission statement and finishes with the preparation of budgets. The organisation sets aims and objectives and develops priorities for achieving those objectives.
Corporate responsibility	The wider responsibility of a business or organisation to a range of stakeholders including the community and society at large.
Corporate Responsibility (CR)	Way in which a business organisation is sensitive to all of the needs of individuals and organisations that it deals with.
Corporate responsibility programme	Ativities which show a business organisation is sensitive to the needs of all individuals and organisations that it deals with
Corporate responsibility report	Report setting out how a company has performed in relation to relevant issues, e.g. environmental performance, social performance, within a given period. The report should also look forward to identify new targets and goals for the future.
Corporate social responsibility	The responsibility of an organisation to wider society, to a range of stakeholders including the community and society at large.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)	A commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.
Corporate strategy	Long-term plans for the whole organisation. Aligning an organisation to pursue a common direction in order to achieve a goal or vision.
Corporate values	Company behaviour, procedures, business decisions and relationships.
Cost	The price of carrying out an activity (can be in money, time or people).
Cost centre	A discrete part of an organisation whose performance can be measured separately from that of other components of the business.
Costs	The price of carrying out an activity (can be in money, time or people).
Countline	A chocolate based bar.
Credit	Money loaned that is to be repaid over a specified time period.
Credit reference agency	Lenders share credit related information through credit reference agencies to help them lend profitably and responsibly.
Credit scoring	The system (usually computerised) that lenders use to rate the information on a credit application to help them decide whether to give credit.
Creditor	someone who has lent money and to whom money is owed
Creditworthiness	A lenders judgement on your capability to pay back your debts and the likelihood of you doing so.
Criminal charges	Where a law has been broken and a fine or jail sentence could be imposed.
Criminal law	Law relating to crimes and their punishment.
Criteria	Standards by which something can be judged.
Critical Path Analysis	A method of analysing the stages and sequence of activities in a project. The Critical Path involves activities that must be completed on time to allow other activities to take place.
Critical success factors	Specific aims such as reaching target sales and consumers to make the product successful.
Crop yields	The amount of crops per acre of farmland used
Cross-functional teams	Mixed teams of workers with different specialists e.g. market researchers, production specialists, financial managers.
Crown court	A court higher than a Magistrates Court, and at which more complex and serious cases are heard, that involve defence and prosecution solicitors.
Cultural change	Moving away from an established pattern of working.
Cultural icons	Objects of particular admiration.
Culture	The typical pattern of doing things in an organisation
Culture change	Changing the way in which an organisation goes about its work and regards its stakeholders.
Current assets	Stock (inventories), debtors and cash ? all of which will bring cash into the business in the short period.
Current liabilities	Payments that a business must pay in the short-term.
Current ratio	The arithmetic ratio of current assets to liabilities.
Curriculum vitae (CV)	A document setting out a job applicant?s background, qualifications, experience and interests.
Customer	An individual or organisation that buys a product.
Customer base	The main basis of customers for a business
Customer charter	A documented list of a business?s commitments to the client.
Customer companies	The shops, dealers and distributors that buy Philips products to resell.
Customer expectations	What customers expect to receive when they consume a product or enjoy a service.
Customer experience	What happens to a customer when they contact a company by any channel.
Customer Relationship Management	Methods used by a business to manage relationships with customers.
Customer satisfaction survey	A questionnaire for customers, to discover how satisfied they are with particular products/services.
Customer segmentation	Dividing up customers according to their individual or grouped characteristics rather than treating all customers alike.
Customer service	A range of activities provided by a retailer designed to meet the needs of customers.
Customer service levels	Standards for the achievement of customer satisfaction such as delivering all orders on time.
Customer service strategy	Competitive strategy designed to improve the performance of an organisation within the workplace by providing a service designed to exceed customer expectations.
Customer-led	Producing goods or services based on discovering what customers want.
Customer-led Innovation	Developing and producing new or updated goods or services based on what customers want.
Customer-orientated	Operating the business according to the needs of customers
Customers	Individuals or organisations that buy a product.
Customs	Relating to goods and services that are either produced for export or are imported.
CV	See Curriculum vitae
DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting)	A digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used particularly in the UK and Europe.
Debtors	People who owe money
Decentralisation	Empowering individuals or units within an organisation to make some or all decisions for themselves away from the centre
Decentralised	Authority delegated by dividing the organisation into several units, each responsible for its own performance/decisions.
Decommissioning	To take out of use or service.
Dehydrated	Products that have had the water content removed for longer and easier storage.
Delayering	Producing a flatter organisational structure by reducing layers of authority.
Delegation	Authorising someone to do something is your place.
Demand	The willingness and ability of consumers to buy a certain amount of a product at a given price in a given period of time.
Democratic	Where everyone has equal rights and can help to make decisions. Gaining the opinions of others before taking a decision.
Demographic	A characteristic such as age, gender, marital status, etc., which is used by marketers to segment the market as a whole.
Demographic profile	A statistical representation of characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, etc., which are used by marketers to segment the market as a whole.
Demographics	Characteristics of people such as age, gender, marital status, etc., which are used by marketers to segment the market as a whole.
Demutualise	To convert from a mutual organisation into a public limited company (plc).
Deposit protection	The amount at which savings are protected if a bank or building society were to go out of business.
Deregulated	The removal of government rules and regulations.
Deregulation	The freedom to operate bus services/networks on a commercial basis - not to a specification set by local or central government.
Design	The appearance of a product
Developed countries	Countries in which modern industrial practices allow citizens to enjoy a relatively high standard of living.
Development	Activities designed to further the personal needs of individuals.
Development centre	Method of training that assesses a trainee?s abilities and provide them with feedback.
Deviation	Something different from the usual way.
Deviations	The difference between the actual closing stock and that calculated by the system.
Differentiate	To distinguish a business from its competitors.
Differentiating	To distinguish a business from its competitors
Differentiation	Making a product or service better than rival offerings usually by adding value to it (so that it meets customer requirements better than the competition).
Direct competition	Organisations that produce similar products that appeal to the same groups of consumers, e.g. watching ice-hockey or tennis instead of cricket, watching Flam rather than Charlton Athletic.
Direct competitors	Direct competitors are organisations producing similar products that appeal to the same group of consumers. B617
Direct mail	Targeted leaflets and publicity
Direct sales	The selling of goods directly to customers, using Independent Business Owners as the channel of distribution.
Direct selling	Method of selling directly to customers rather than through a shop or similar retail outlet.
Direct taxation	Taxes levied on income and the resources of individuals and organisations.
Direct taxes	Taxes which are made direct to the Inland Revenue such as Income Tax or Corporation Tax.
Directors	A person or persons with responsibility for the affairs of the company.
Disability	A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effet on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Discount	A percentage reduction in a price or charge.
Discount partner	A business offering price discounts to cardholders.
Discriminate	To treat an individual or group less favourably than others.
Discrimination	Unfair treatment of worker based on factors unrelated to work requirements e.g. race, religion, gender, age.
Disposable income	Money that is not allocated, for example, to tax or mortgage and is available to spend freely.
Dissatisfiers	Activities within the workplace outside the control of employees that cause them dissatisfaction.
Distribution	Getting the products from the factory into the hands of the end-user with the help of various transport modes and the co-operation of wholesalers and retailers.
Distribution channels	Routes through which a product travels from the manufacturer to purchase by the final consumer.
Distribution strategies	The methods by which products reach consumers
Diversification	Spreading interests over a variety of products/activities.
Diversified company	Wide range of activities across different markets and sectors.
Diversify	Undertake activities in different and unrelated markets and products from those activities undertaken in the past.
Diversifying	A process of spreading risks by undertaking different forms of activity.
Diversity	A workforce that contains people of different backgrounds, races and sexes.
Diversity programme	Activities by an organisation designed to include and develop people from different backgrounds
Divestment	The process of selling off parts of a company?s diversified business.
Dividend	A share of the companys profit paid to shareholders.
Dividends	A share of the company's profit paid to shareholders.
Division of labour	Breaking a job down into specific roles or parts.
Domain name	Internet address that identifies a website.
Dot.com revolution	Development of the new economy based upon e-businesses.
Dot.coms	Organisations that are solely or heavily dependent upon buying and selling through the internet.
Dow-Jones Sustainability Index	An Index which measures the sustainability of leading companies for investors.
Dredging	To remove material from the bottom of a river, lake, the sea
Dual branding	Creating a double brand which is recognised worldwide.
E-business	Using the internet and associated technologies for trading purposes.
E-commerce	Electronic commerce ? buying and selling using the Internet as the medium for making transactions.
E-Technology	Electronic communications in the form of e-commerce/web-site selling and support.
Earnings per Share	The profit made divided by the number of shares in a company.
Eco-efficiency	Producing more with less energy and materials.
Ecological principles	Principles that govern the relationships between living things and their environment.
Economic activity	Tasks involved in providing goods and services for customers. The greater the level of economic activity, the greater number of customers that will be satisfied.
Economic development	Investing in processes, products and infrastructure that create a better quality of life for a country?s inhabitants.
Economic downturn	A reduction in the amount or success of a country's economic activity.
Economic factors	Changes in the wider economy e.g. changes in spending patterns and incomes.
Economic growth	The value of goods and services produced by an economy increases over a period of time.
Economic influences	These are economic factors that can affect a firms demand and costs such as interest rates, national income and taxation rates.
Economic objectives	Objectives relating to financial performance e.g. returns on investment, profits from sales made etc.
Economic strategy	Long-term plans for development of industry.
Economically responsible	Actions that make good and careful use of economic resources.
Economies of scale	Reductions in average costs that stem from operating on a large scale.
Economy	the system of trade and industry by which the wealth of a country is made and used
Education action zones	Areas of educational and social deprivation in which businesses are playing a part to provide greater resourcing and support for education, as well as the offer of employment for students.
Efficiency	Doing things well at a lower cost. This means using resources carefully.
Efficiency ratios	Also known as activity ratios measure how efficiently a business is using its resources. Liquidity ratios are a subset of these. They measure how easily the business can pay its debts
Embassy	Located in non-Commonwealth countries in the capital city.
Emerging markets	A nation's social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialisation.
Emerging technologies	New technologies that are currently being developed.
Employability	The ease with which someone would be offered alternative employment.
Employee relations	The relationship between the employer and employees.
Employees	The people who work for an organisation.
Employer liability insurance	Insurance provided by the employer for the employee against injury at work.
Employment legislation	The set of laws which cover the relationship between firms and their employees, for example, on discrimination, recruitment and dismissal.
Empower	To delegate power and authority to make decisions.
Empowered	Authorised and enabled to take decisions
Empowering	Providing employees with more responsibility to make their own decisions in the work environment.
Empowerment	Giving responsibility for making decisions to lower levels within the organisation.
Endorsement	Make a public statement of approval or support for something or someone.
Engagement	People being committed and involved with ideas or activities
Enterprise	The organisational and risk-taking skills necessary for a business to continue to exist.
Enterprise activity	The organisational and risk-taking actions necessary for a business to continue to exist.
Enterprises	Companies organised for commercial purposes.
Entrepreneur	A person who has an idea for a business or enterprise and is prepared to take a risk without the certainty that a profit will result.
Entrepreneurial	Self-motivated and willing to use initiative in pursuit of profits.
Entrepreneurial manager	A manager who seizes opportunities and is willing to take risks.
Entrepreneurs	People who use their ideas and energies to invest in a business in return for profits.
Entrepreneurship	A set of behaviours, skills and attributes which are conducive to the development of innovation and creativity and which help people deal with uncertainty and complexity.
Entry levels	Different points in a company's structure at which people may join.
Environment	The context in which a business operates, including all the factors outside its control e.g. new laws introduced.
Environmental footprint	The effect a business or operation has on the environment. Responsible businesses will try to leave as small an environmental footprint as possible e.g. by recycling or other good environmental practice.
Environmental impact assessment	A phased investigation into the effects of one or more projects and their impact upon the environment.
Environmental impacts	the effect of the impact of individuals and organisations upon the environment
Environmental Management System (EMS)	A set of rules and guidelines to help everybody understand how best to ensure high standards of environmental care.
Environmental protection	Measures that deal with problems posed by pollution, congestion and depletion of resources.
Environmental restoration	Cleaning up the environment, improving the environment, returning it back to its natural state.
Environmental scanning	The research and assessment of proposed changes in PESTEL issues.
Environmental taxes	Taxes designed to help protect the environment through their impact on economic activity.
Environmentally responsible	Actions relating to the impact of business and consumer activity on the environment.
Equal opportunities	The principle of treating all people the same and not discriminating against someone on the basis of their sex, race, religion, age etc.
Equal pay	Providing equal pay for men and women where they undertake the same or similar job within the same organisation.
Equity	a) Risk capital such as shares. B) Fairness for people
Ergonomics	Physical design of the workplace to meet business requirements and the needs of employees.
ESQi - Enterprise Service Quality Index	Enterprise Rent-A-Car measure for the quality of service received.
Esteem needs	A persons need to have his/her value and worth recognised and rewarded in some way.
Ethical	Guided by moral principles or rules of conduct and behaviour that are accepted by members of society.
Ethical and governance standards	A high level of general moral behaviour expected of management when taking corporate decisions that have implications for stakeholders and for society as a whole.
Ethical behaviour	Moral principles or rules of conduct and behaviour accepted by members of society.
Ethical decision	Decision involving a moral dimension - the line between right and wrong.
Ethical direction	Principles of what is right or wrong which underlie the strategy of an organisation.
Ethical responsibility	Moral principles or rules of conduct and behaviour accepted by members of society.
Ethics	Moral principles or rules of conduct and behaviour accepted by members of society.
Ethnic backgrounds	belonging to a national, racial or cultural group of people
Ethnic minorities	National or racial groups living in a country or area which contains a larger group of people of a different race or nationality.
Ethnicity	Belonging to a national or racial group of people.
Ethos	A philosophy or way of working.
EU	European Union.
European Union	Countries joined together by a Treaty allowing the free movement of goods, people and services in a single area and involving political and economic co-operation.
European Union Directives	Laws created by the EU which are binding on member states but where implementation is decided on by national legislation.
Euros	European common currency unit, introduced as part of the process of European Monetary Union.
Evaluate	Weigh up. Assess the worth.
Evaluation	A systematic process that seeks to determine the worth, value or meaning of something.
Evolution	A gradual process of ongoing change.
Exchange rates	The rate at which the money of one country can be changed for the money of another country
Excise	Relating to goods and services produced within a country.
Executive agency	An organisation that operates to deliver an important aspect of government policy. Executive agencies report to central government departments whoset their budgets and policy priorities.
Exit strategy	A plan to recoup capital invested in a company
Expected Monetary Value (EMV)	The value of a project allowing for the risked cost of failure.
Export credit guarantees	A form of insurance used by exporters to guarantee that they will be paid for the goods and services even if the customer defaults on their duty to pay.
Export crops	Crops grown to export to other countries.
Exported	Goods or services sold abroad.
Extension strategy	A way of extending the life of a product, for example by changing it, re-branding it or re-pricing it.
External audit	An examination of company records and reports by a firm of registered auditors.
External business environment	The business environment that lies outside the company and over which it has little control eg government legislation, the economy, environmental pressure, industry consolidation.
External communication	Communications to bodies or people outside the organisation.
External customers	Customers from outside the organisation.
External environment	Factors outside the business over which it has little control
External growth	Expansion outside the existing boundaries of the business, for example, developing the business by taking over another business.
External influences	Activities beyond the control of the business that affect its performance and shape its market. These are a combination of social, legal, political, environmental, technical and economic.
External matched funding	A situation in which the government and other bodies matches funding contributed by companies and individuals e.g. for every 1,000 that businesses provide, the government will contribute a further 1,000.
External stakeholders	Stakeholders outside an organisation.
Extraction	The process of removing raw materials from the earth
Facilitate	Make possible or easier
Facilitators	People who enable other people to do something in a better or easier way.
Facilities manager	Member of staff in charge of long-term maintenance, efficiency and security of sites and buildings.
Factors of production	Factors needed for production to take place - land, labour, capital and enterprise.
Fair price	The price sellers and buyers recognise as being a reasonable return for the risk and effort involved, and for the value added to the product at that stage.
Fairtrade	A set of standards about how companies should source raw materials and products from small growers usually in the developing world. The aim is to pay a fair price that enables growers to pay workers a living wage and enable them to invest in their businesses, a more sustainable practice.
Fairtrade Foundation	A not-for-profit organisation that licenses the use of the Fairtrade label on products in the UK.
Farmer co-operatives	A form of business in which groups of farmers work together to share resources and rewards.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)	Goods such as packets of biscuits, toothpaste, tins of beans that consumers buy frequently and re-purchase often.
Feedstock	material supplied into the start of the process, e.g. steel slab prepared for subsequent rolling to steel plate
Final assembly	Putting together the final product, eg the VW Beetle.
Finance function	The general carrying out of all financially related operations in an organisation.
Financial goals	Goals that a business is aiming for which are set out in money quantities and which can be gleaned from the financial statements.
Financial instruments	Stocks, bonds, foreign exchange and commodities.
Financial services	Services provided for people and businesses involving money/finance e.g. loans, car/personal/business insurance.
Financial Services Authority (FSA)	An individual body that regulates the financial services industry in the UK. It has a wide range of rule making, investigatory and enforcement powers.
Financial services market	Where services are provided for people and businesses involving money/finance e.g. loans, car/personal/business insurance.
Financial services organisations	Businesses like banks, credit card companies, insurance companies and building societies.
Financial statement	A table setting out particular financial aspects of the business e.g. cash flows, balances relating to assets and liabilities etc.
Financial Times Stock Exchange	See FTSE 100
Finished products	Completed items ready for sale.
Finite resources	Resources which are limited.
Firewall	Hardware or software solution that helps to enforce safety policies within a company.
First mover advantage	This is a theory which says that the first company to introduce a new product to market, has the opportunity to extract the greatest long term benefit from the product introduction compared to that which following companies would be able to gain.
Fiscal	Relating to the treasury or government finances and expenditure.
Fiscal policies	Policies that influence and match changes in taxation with government spending.
Fiscal policy	Action by a government to spend money or collect money in taxes, in order to influence the condition of the economy.
Fiscal stimulus	Increasing public expenditure to boost demand in an attempt to shorten the length of a recession.
Fitness for purpose	A product or service does what it is expected to do.
Fixed costs	Costs that remain unchanged e.g. interest charges on loans, cost of leases, salary of staff on permanent contracts, pension of retired employees, insurance premiums.
Fixed price tendering	Putting in a bid to undertake a defined task at a price that will not change.
Flat structure	An organisational structure that provides a wide span of control within only a few layers of organisational hierarchy.
Flexibility	Empowerment of employees to carry out a range of processes and activities rather than having a narrow focus.
Float time	The amount of time an activity can overrun without delaying the whole project.
Floated	The launch of a business on a stock exchange with the sale of shares and other securities raising capital.
Floating	The launch of a business on a stock exchange selling shares to raise capital
Flotation	The means by which a public company first offers its shares for sale to outside shareholders; it is often used for a company whose shares are being traded on a stock exchange for the first time.
Flowchart	A diagram setting out the relationship between items such as processes using arrows, numbers and joining lines.
FMCG	See Fast Moving Consumer Goods
Focal point	A centre of knowledge, interest and purpose to which people can turn.
Focus group	Small group, usually of 6 to 8 people, used as part of a process of research to elicit feedback.
Focus groups	Small groups of people used as part of a process of research to elicit feedback
Focus strategy	Concentrating planning on a few narrow market segments in order to meet the needs of the selected segment.
Food crops	Crops grown for consumption by the farmer and for sale in the local market.
Footfall	A measure of the number of people who enter a store
Forbes	An American business and financial magazine. It produces lists of the biggest and most important companies in Britain, America and elsewhere.
Forecast	A projection for the future based on an analysis of likely sales.
Forecasting	Projection for the future based on an analysis of likely need.
Foreign aid	Where one country helps another through some form of donation or loan.
Foreign exchange	The system by which one currency (e.g. ?s) is exchanged for another (e.g. $s)
Formal communications	Communications through recognised channels.
Forward vertical integration	vertical integration through combining a core business with it buyers
Four Ps	The traditional marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion.
Fragmented market	A market containing many sellers and many products.
Franchise	Business that takes the name of another and is authorised to sell its products for a fee or percentage of turnover.
Franchised	Business that works under the name of another and is authorised to sell its products for a fee or percentage of turnover
Franchisee	The person or company that buys the local rights to use the name, brand and image of another business.
Franchisees	Persons licensed to trade using a particular well known name in a particular area in return for a fee or share of revenues made.
Franchises	Businesses that are based upon the name, logos and trading methods of an existing organisation.
Fraud	An act of deception.
Free enterprise economy	See Market economy
Freight	The transport of goods.
Fringe benefits	Financial and non-financial rewards which form part of the remuneration package. Examples include company cars, medical insurance.
FTSE 100	This is an index that measures changes in the share prices of the largest 100 companies in the UK.
Fuel poverty	Those needing to spend over 10% of their income on fuel to have an acceptable living standard.
Fulfilment system	Having the automated and integrated infrastructure to manage sales, distribution, ordering and delivery behind the scenes.
Full employment	A situation when everybody in a country has a job.
Functional	Performing a particular task.
Functional flexibility	A situation in which employees develop a wider range of skills so that they can adapt to new and changing types of work.
Functional structure	A business organised into different departments or functions such as Human Resources, finance, operations and marketing.
Functions	The purposes that something is designed to meet.
Fund managers	Individuals appointed by the Directors of an Investment Trust company to manage the fund.
Fungicides	Chemicals which are used to kill fungus or prevent it from growing
G8	A forum for decision-making and information-sharing, comprised of the worlds eight major economies.
G8 countries	A group of influential developed countries, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the USA.
Gate	Region at the top of a transistor whose electrical state determines whether the transistor is on or off.
GDP	Gross Domestic Product, the total value of the output of a country in a given period. A nations wealth.
Gearing	A measure of how dependent a company is on long-term finance
gender	The physical and/or social condition of being male or female.
Gender reassignment	A process, undertaken under medical supervision for the purpose of reassigning a persons sex by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex.
General merchandise retailer	A business selling a range of different types of consumer goods to individuals and households.
Generic	Not specific to any particular thing.
Global brand	A product with a unique, consistent and well-recognised character that is known worldwide.
Global branding	Creating a single brand which is recognised worldwide.
Global brands	A name or logo that represents an organisation and which is used and recognised worldwide.
Global citizens	Global community of people who share resources of the earth whose actions are increasingly interdependent with people from other countries, cultures and backgrounds.
Global consumer research programme	Market research to identify the requirements of potential and actual customers worldwide.
Global marketplace	The worldwide market place for goods and services.
Global markets	Markets for goods and services covering the whole world.
Global strategy	A total business plan designed to achieve global growth of product sales.
Global turnover	Value of annual worldwide sales.
Globally integrated distribution systems	Linked distribution system bringing together various parts of the supply chain across the world.
Gluten	A protein contained in certain cereals (e.g. wheat) which can induce coeliac disease in susceptible individuals, who then require a gluten free diet.
Goal	An aim or purpose
Goals	Aims or purposes.
Good practice	Actions that are understood to be the right ways of tackling an issue. Faced with a situation there are many actions a manager can take - best practice assumes there is only one suitable alternative, good practice allows for a number of alternatives.
Governance	The process of making decisions and governing.
Government department	A department under the direction of a government minister.
Government regulations	Rules/laws established by government
Grapevine	An unofficial mans of relaying information from person to person.
Greenfield	A previously undeveloped piece of land often in a rural area.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	The total value of a countrys output over the course of a year. Different from Gross National Product which includes net income from abroad.
Gross national product (GNP)	The total value of a country's output over the course of a year, including net income from abroad.
Grouping	A form of segmentation where a market is divided by the purchasing power of individuals.
Grown organically	Grow a business by ploughing back profits
Growth	Means of achieving a proposal for expansion
Growth poles	Growth poles are an important part of regional regeneration strategies. One or more growth poles are selected within a depressed region and new investment is concentrated on them. The intention is that growth will become self generating (migrants, entrepreneurs and capital will move in). This is thought to be more effective than spreading investment thinly across a depressed area.
Growth strategy	Means of achieving a proposal for expansion.
Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA)	Guidelines for healthy adults and children on the average amount of nutrients that they should consume over an average day.
Hard shoulder	A surfaced verge running along the edge of motorway for emergency stops.
Hectare	Metric unit of measurement of land, 10,000 square metres or 2.47 acres.
Hedging	The anticipation of potential losses in the finance markets by buying and selling in advance.
Herbicides	Chemicals which are used to destroy unwanted plants such as weeds
Heritage	Name and reputation associated with the past.
Hierarchical structure	Structure that has a number of levels and a chain of command by which decisions are made.
Hierarchy	A organisational structure that has a number of levels and a chain of command by which decisions are made at the organisations top levels and passed downwards.
Hierarchy ladder	A number of steps rising in an ordered sequence.
Hierarchy of needs	a set of layers, where each one is more important than the one beneath it. Maslow said that human needs were arranged like this.
High Commission	Based in Commonwealth countries and located in the capital city.
High performance culture	A way of working and a set of values which encourage people so that they are engaged to achieve high results.
High quality	Goods and services that delight customers by meeting their needs and requirements.
High volume turnover	Large amount of sales.
High yielding shares	The Dividend Yield on a share is a useful indicator of returns to shareholders. High yielding shares offer a high dividend yield.
High-tech	Products or businesses that employ a higher than average number of new technologies in their products and systems.
Hire purchase	A system built for purchasing items, in which the buyer takes possession on payment of a deposit and completes the purchase by paying a series of regular instalments.
Historic product mix data	Data detailing how the items are sold to the customer as full menu items (i.e. a Big Mac as part of an Extra Value Meal or a Big Mac given free in exchange for a voucher).
HM Treasury	Government department that produces and carries out government financial and economic policy.
Holistic	Having regard to the whole of an issue, rather than just parts of it.
Homeworking	Working from home rather than from a workplace location such as an office.
Horizontal integration	Joining another business at the same stage of production.
Hostile takeover	Occurs when one firm buys a controlling interest in another against the wishes of the directors of the target company.
House magazine	Magazine for employees distributed within an organisation.
Household penetration	Number (absolute or proportion) of households using the brand.
Human Resource Management	The management and development of an organisation and its people. Managing people at work in such a way as to take account of their individual needs and aspirations as well as the needs of the organisation.
Human resource principles	Aspects such as dedication to its products and services, respect for staff members, support for individual growth and development and commitment to a culture of responsibility.
Human resource strategy	A broad plan setting out the part that people will play in an organisation?s development.
Human resources	The function within business responsible for an organisation's people. This function deals with workforce planning, recruitment, training and pay issues
Human rights	The basic rights that all people should have, as set out in various Acts of Parliament.
Human welfare	The general wellbeing of people, as measured by life expectancy, freedom from illness etc.
Hydroelectric power	Electricity generated through the power of the gravitational force of falling water.
Hypertext	The linking together of different electronic documents through the use of text.
Hypertext links	Hypertext mark up language (HTML) is the hidden code that is used to create web pages and that allows the reader to move quickly about the document. Hypertext links enable the reader to jump from one document to another.
Icon	Someone or something regarded as embodying the essential characteristics of, for example, an era or group.
Icon products	Products that have helped to develop, lead and reflect changes within a market sector. Products which consumers indelibly associate with one particular brand.
Icons	Established images that are widely recognised by the public.
Identity fraud	Use of a stolen identity in criminal activity, usually to obtain goods or services by deception.
Impact evaluations	Measuring and weighing up the success of particular initiatives.
Import	A good or service purchased from other countries.
Imported	Goods or services purchased from other country.
Improve margins	Widen the difference between the sales the business generates and the cost to the business of generating those sales.
Incentive	A financial or non-financial (eg bonus payment) benefit to employees to achieve greater productivity.
Inclusive	Embracing and taking into account the needs of employees which might otherwise have been ignored.
Income Statement	A statement setting out sources of income for a business e.g. sales revenue, interest earned etc as well as deductions for costs, interest paid etc. he term income statement has replaced profit and loss account under IFRS.
Income tax	A tax paid by individuals based on the amount of income they earn or receive within a given tax year. Note: Income Tax is paid not just on earnings but also on other forms of income such as pensions, savings and investments.
Incremental change	Improving the way in which an organisation meets the external forces within its business environment little by little.
Independent	A business that is not a division, sub-division, or part of a larger group.
Independent retailer	A shop or other selling outlet that is not owned by a particular manufacturer.
Index values	A value indicating the relative change in a variable, with reference to a previous base year.
Indigenous	Naturally existing in a place or country rather than arriving from another place
Indirect competition	Different ways of meeting the same need e.g. for entertainment, which might involve going to the cinema instead of watching cricket.
Indirect competitors	Businesses, products and services that meet the same consumer need in a slightly different way.
Indirect taxation	A form of taxation that provides an opportunity for the burden of the tax to be passed on to others by the person or organisation from whom the tax authorities collect the payment.
Indirect taxes	Taxes on goods or services collected by Customs & Excise from the seller who passes the burden on to the consumer by including the duty in the selling price. (Indirect taxes include not only VAT but also excise duties on e.g. oils, tobacco, alcohol etc.)
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)	A rescue procedure for individuals.
Inducted	The process whereby new employees are introduced to a firms, procedures, practices, and personnel.
Induction	The initial process of learning to fit into an organisation.
Induction training	For people first joining an organisation. It introduces them to their job and the business.
Industrial action	Various forms of disruption to the activities of a business intended to highlight and terminate a grievance or disagreement between the workforce and the employers.
Industrial espionage	Attempting to obtain trade secrets by dishonest means e.g. by computer tapping or telephone tapping.
Industrialisation	The development of industry on an extensive scale.
Industry	A group of businesses involved in a set of similar activities.
Industry innovator	An industry mover-and-shaker who is normally the first to do something new, different and worthwhile.
Industry leader	An industry mover-and-shaker who is normally the first to do something new, different and worthwhile
Inflation	Increases in the general level of prices.
Informal communications	Communications not based upon any set procedures.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)	Techniques for transmitting, storing, manipulating and retrieving all kinds of data, including speech, text, movie, graphics and reports of events such as equipment malfunction.
Information Management Systems	Systems for managing the total flow of information in an organisation in a co-ordinated and systematic way.
Infrastructure	The basic systems and services, such as transport and power supplies, that a country or organisation uses in order to work effectively
Ingredient brand	A brand representing components or parts that go inside or into making other products.
Initial public offerings	Stocks and shares being offered for sale to the public by a company for the first time.
Innovation	Breakthroughs in design, use of materials, manufacturing processes that open the way for new products and new ways of using them. Adding new ideas that improve on existing ones.
Innovative	Adding new ideas that improve on existing ones, such as in the development of products or processes.
Innovator	Someone who develops and/or improves goods or services.
Inorganic growth.	Growth that expands the business from outside.
Insecticides	Chemicals which are used to kill insects, which eat plants
Insights	Clear and deep understanding of the consumer.
Insolvency	The formal process of insolvency for individuals is bankruptcy and for companies is liquidation, but there are other formal processes of reaching agreement with the creditors (the people who are owed money).
Inspection	A process of interviewing staff and reviewing documents in order to provide a judgement on the quality and effectiveness of a service.
Institutional shareholders	Companies that own shares within other companies.
Insurance brokers	An insurance intermediary between the end customer (the client) and the insurance company that provides policies and cover.
Insured	The policyholder - the person(s) protected in case of a loss or claim on the insurance policy.
Insurer	The person/organisation offering insurance in return for a premium.
Intangible qualities	Qualities that cannot be physically touched, tasted or seen.
Integrated school transport system	A system that brings together the transport of students from home to educational institution in a systematic, co-ordinated way so that the various parts of the journey fit with each other.
Integrating	Joining together with another part of the production process, thereby working better together to get synergy and leverage off the cost base.
Intellectual capital	The ideas, abilities and strengths of a person or business.
Intellectual property	The rights of the owner to protect their ideas
Intelligent organisation	A dynamic and flexible organisation, based on highly knowledgeable and skilled people.
Interest	The cost of borrowing money or the reward for lending money, depending on whether one is the borrower or the lender.
Interest groups	An organised collection of people who seek to influence political decisions.
Interest payments	The costs of borrowing.
Interest rates	The rate charged by a bank or other financial organisation for borrowing money.
Interim	Temporary or provisional
Intermediaries	Someone who works between people of groups to help them communicate, agree, or carry out something.
Intermediary	Someone who acts as a middlemna between two groups or individuals.
Internal communication	Communications within a business organisation.
Internal customers	Employees, operations, teams, management etc within an organisation.
Internal growth	Growing within a business ? for example, by ploughing back profits into expansion.
Internal memo	Written messages to people within the same organisation.
Internal rate of return	The rate of return at which the net present value is zero
Internal recruitment	Filling a vacancy from within the existing pool of employees.
Internal stakeholders	Stakeholders within an organisation.
International aid	The financial assistance developed countries give to developing countries.
International environmental certification	The recognition by one or more organisations such as the International Standards Organisation that a companys environmental policies and procedures are of a high standard.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)	New international standards for setting out financial statements.
International standards	International standards bodies create standards for the ways in which organisations and processes are run and products and services provided.
Interns	University students obtaining practical work experience
Interview guide	An outline for interviewers setting out a sequence of appropriate questions to ask and advice on how to conduct an interview.
Intranet	An internal computer network that can only be accessed by people within an organisation.
Intrinsic drives	Factors that drive from within.
Inventiveness	Ability to come up with new ideas.
Inventory	A stockpile of goods
Inventory control	A method of determining how much stock a business should hold, how much needs to be reordered and when to reorder it.
Investment	Putting funds to use in the hope of securing returns later.
Investment appraisal	Methodologies used to decide whether a particular investment is or is not worthwhile by looking at the likely returns over a particular period
Investment return	The return on funds invested in the business.
Investment trust	A public company which invests a pool of capital in the shares of other companies.
Investment trusts	Public companies which invest a pool of capital in the shares of other companies.
Investors in People	An award given to organisations that have met touch checks to demonstrate that they look after the needs of employees.
Invoices	Documents outlining all of the details and terms of transactions including the value of transaction.
IP	Internet Protocol, the rules which define how computers and other devices communicate with each other over the Internet.
ISDN	Integrated services digital network: high speed digital telephone lines.
ISO 140001	The international standard for good environmental business practice.
ISO 9001	An international standard setting out minimum standards of good practice for the creation of quality management systems.
Jargon	Words or phrases used by particular groups of people that are difficult for others to understand.
Job advertisements	Advertising and promoting vacancies at targeted audiences.
Job description	A document setting out the key responsibilities and tasks involved in performing a particular job.
Job enlargement	Increasing the scope of a job role by giving workers extra duties or responsibilities.
Job enrichment	Making work more interesting by improving the content and variety of tasks undertaken by an employee.
Job production	One job is completed before the next is started so each product can be made unique.
Job role	The tasks and responsibilities of a working in an organisation.
Job rotation	Where employees have the opportunity to move into different departments for a short time and acquire new skills in each. This broadens their skills across different business activities
Job satisfaction	The degree of contentment and pleasure that an individual gains from their work
Job sharing	One job role done by two members of staff.
Job specialisation	A narrow area of work.
Joint venture	Business run jointly with a partner company.
Just-in-time	Production that produces goods to order. The business does not hold any significant level of stock, either of finished products or required supplies e.g. raw materials, components.
Kaizen	A Japanese word meaning continuous improvement. The improvement is gained by slow and steady change and once achieved is maintained at that level until such time as the next improvement step takes place.
Kerbside collection	Using a lorry to collect recyclable waste in special bags or bins.
Key Influencers	People that have a large influence on the choice of purchase of a product or service
Key performance indicator	Financial and non-financial measures to monitor performance across a range of activities within a function, department or role.
Killer application	An application a product has that gives it a competitive edge over rivals. This helps a company to beat off (kill) the competition.
Knowledge economy	The use of knowledge technologies and knowledge management to produce economic benefits.
Kyoto Protocol	An agreement between major industrialised countries to limit the creation of greenhouse gases. The UK is prominent in the efforts it is making to honour this agreement.
Labour	Physical and mental contributions to production made by employees.
Labour market	The available pool of workers within a country or region.
Labour relations	The degree of understanding and harmony between employers and employees.
Laminate	Bond together e.g. thin sheets or layers of metal and/or plastics and/or paper, like The Times 100 case Studies printed sheets.
Latest Finish Time	The latest time that an activity must finish by if it is not to delay the next stage in the project. To find the LFT, work back from right to left across your diagram. Subtract the time required to carry out an activity from the finishing time in the node to the immediate right of the activity.
Launch promotion	Sales promotion designed to influence customers with the launch of new products or processes.
Lead time	The time taken from receipt of order details from the customer to receipt of the ordered goods at the customer
Leadership	The ability to inspire others to achieve an organisation's goals
Leading edge improvements	Improvements that are in a key area of an industry?s activity, and which represent important breakthroughs.
Lean manufacturing	Concentrating on activities that create value for customers.
Lean production	An approach to production that seeks to minimise waste and inefficiency.
Lean stock control	Managing stock to keep just enough to meet demand.
Learning centre	School, FE college or work based training organisation offering learning opportunities to 16 ? 19 year olds.
Learning organisation	An organisation that continually develops new skills and knowledge so it becomes more efficient. Individuals are encouraged to communicate their ideas and take actions that improve the organisation and its capabilities.
Learning supply chain	A regular supply of competent and skilled employees with a readily available supply of learning or training opportunities.
Lease	The right to use a property or land for a limited period of time.
Leases	The right to use a property or land for a limited period of time.
Leasing	Hiring an item by paying a regular charge, but never becoming the owner of the item e.g. a small airline leasing the aircraft it uses.
Least-developed countries	Countries that are classified by the United Nations as poor, based on criteria including level of income per capita and access to healthcare and education provision.
Legacy	Something that is part of history or which stays from an earlier time.
Legal aid	Subsidised support covering all or part of legal and advice fees, available to those on limited incomes.
Legal compliance	The process or procedure to ensure that an organisation follows relevant laws, regulations and business rules.
Legal entity	an incorporated organisation, or company, exists in its own right
Legal factors	Changes in the law, for example tougher food safety laws.
Legal influences	This refers to legislation that affects the success of a business e.g. laws that prevent/insist on building in certain areas.
Legislation	Processes that create laws.
Legislative requirements	Laws, regulations and rules that a business is obliged by law to observe.
Leverage	Using existing advantages and strengths and translating them to new products and services.
Liabilities	What a business owes to others.
Liability	A responsibility to meet a debt of an organisation
Licence	The right to carry out a particular activity.
License	The right to carry out a particular activity
Licensing	An agreement that allows others to manufacture or supply products or carry out trading for a business
Life cycle	the key stages in the growth and eventual decline of a product
Life cycle or Product life cycle	The key stages in the growth and eventual decline of a product
Life skills	social, communication, decision making, goal achievement and problem solving skills
Light rail systems	Railway for transporting people around a city
Limited company	A company whose owners enjoy limited liability for the company's debts and losses
Limited liability	Protection provided to the owners of a company limiting their liability for the company's debts to the amount of their investment
Line extension	The addition of a new, complementary format to an existing product line.
Line manager	The person to whom an employee directly reports.
Line-side	Physically next to the production line.
Liquid	Markets that can absorb volume buying or selling, without dramatic fluctuation in price.
Liquidation	A formal process involving the sale of a companys assets to pay its debts.
Liquidity	Describes the state of having assets in the form of cash or other assets that are readily convertible to cash.
Listed	Companies whose shares feature on Share Listings such as Nasdaq or FTSE 100.
Lobby	Influence opinions.
Lobbying	Attempting to win over the support of politicians and the government in favour of a change in the law/policy.
Local level	A regionalised and/or more direct response to particular needs either by communities, individuals, groups or areas.
Logistics	The orderly movement and storage of goods throughout the supply chain i.e. from raw materials to finished goods.
Logo	A trademark or company emblem.
Logos	Trade marks or company emblems.
Lone workers	Employees who work on their own.
Long-term capital	Finance obtained by a business to support long-term growth and to buy buildings, machinery, etc.
Loss leaders	An item sold at a give-away price in order to attract customers into a store.
Low profitability	Achieving a low level of profit, when measured as a percentage of the value of business done or as a return on capital employed in the industry.
Macroeconomic factors	External factors that influence the level of demand in the whole economy. These include the impact of interest rates, government taxes and expenditure changes.
Macroeconomics	The study of the economy as a whole and the way in which it interacts.
Magnetic extraction	A magnet is used to separate steel cans from the other rubbish after it has been collected from households.
Management	Organising human and physical resources to achieve business aims and objectives.
Management and marketing economies of scale	Efficiencies in marketing and management that result from operating on an increased scale and which enable a products unit costs to be reduced.
Management buy-out	Where managers buy up the ownership of a company.
Management by Objectives (MbO)	Establishing clear objectives to guide the actions of managers. Establishing clear objectives as part of an organisational plan.
Management of risk	Working to avoid possible loss to the organisation.
Management styles	Patterns of behaviour adopted when carrying out a leadership role. The various ways in which managers typically manage people in their charge eg autocratic, consultative, participatory, democratic through consensus, laissez-faire (non-interfering).
Management systems	Systems designed to establish policies and objectives and to achieve those objectives within organizations.
Mandatory	Something which must be done or which is demanded by law
Manufacturers	Maker of goods.
Manufacturing	The making of goods.
Manufacturing strategy	Medium and long-term manufacturing plans.
Margin	The profit on items sold
Market	The range of means by which consumers can buy a particular product or alternative to it.
Market capitalisation	This gives a measure of a company's value, it is calculated by multiplying the total number of shares issued by the company by the current share price
Market economy	Where prices of goods and services are determined by the rate of supply and demand. Also known as Free enterprise economy.
Market fluctuations	Conditions within an entire market (eg confectionery) that cause general changes in levels of supply and demand.
Market focus	Concentrating on the wants and requirements of customers.
Market focused	Being driven by the needs and wishes of consumers.
Market information system	A means of communicating prices etc. to buyers and sellers.
Market leader	The firm that has the largest share of the market, measured by sales (value or volume).
Market leadership	The business with the largest share of a market.
Market orientated	When a company bases its activities on customer needs.
Market orientation	The degree to which the consumer becomes the driving force behind everything an organisation does.
Market place	Medium through which buyers and sellers come into contact.
Market position	The place a product, brand or business enjoys relative to other products, brands and businesses in the same market. Consumer perception of where a brand or company name exists relative to other brands and names.
Market positioning	Developing a brand relative to other products and brands in a way that provides a distinct perception in the minds of consumers.
Market research	A process of obtaining essential information to solve marketing problems and help with marketing decisions.
Market research panels	A group of people who collect and examine information about things/products that people may buy.
Market saturation	When there is no room for any more competitor products; the market is 'full'.
Market segment	A recognisable consumer group consisting of people with similar needs and requirements
Market segmentation	Dividing the customers within a market into groups, each of which has distinctive needs and expectations.
Market segments	Recognisable consumer groups consisting of people with similar needs and requirements.
Market share	The percentage of sales within a market that is held by one brand or company.
Market strategy	Plan designed to meet the needs of clients.
Market-focused	Describes an organisation that analyses customer needs and attempts to identify, anticipate and satisfy them profitably.
Market-led	A company that sets out to identify and then meet customer requirements.
Market-orientated	When a business tries to find out what the market wants and then provide it
Marketing	Identifying consumers needs and then supplying them with the right products, in the right place at the right time.
Marketing budgets	Financial targets related to the marketing function such as sales targets or the amount of money that can be spent on marketing.
Marketing environment	Organisations and forces outside the business that affect the ability of managers to develop and maintain relationships with targeted customers.
Marketing focus	Concentration on finding out and then meeting the needs of customers.
Marketing mix	A series of variable factors (the four Ps - product/price/place/promotion) used by an organisation to identify appropriate strategies to meet customer needs.
Marketing objectives	The targets that the organisation seeks to meet through its marketing activities.
Marketing orientation	Focusing an organisation upon the needs of its customers.
Marketing plan	A plan to identify and then meet consumers? requirements e.g. setting out advertising and promotional plans.
Marketing strategies	Long-term plans designed to enable an organisation to identify and meet the wants and needs of its customers.
Marketing strategy	A plan to meet customer requirements thorugh use of price, product, promotions and place.
Marketing techniques	Tools such as promotion and advertising used to generate consumer interest.
Markets	The range of means by which consumers can buy a particular product or alternative to it
Mass communication channels	Channels that promote largescale communication within and between countries e.g. Internet, television and radio broadcasting, national and international press.
Mass market consumer products	Items that sell in large quantities to a range of different types of consumers.
Mass production	Production of goods on a large scale to gain from lower unit costs of production.
Masterbrand	A leading brand name or logo which drives the success of sub-brands.
Matrix management	Performance structure in which an individuals manager may not be the person that they are working for.
Matrix structure	An organisational structure involving more than one line of communication, often operated with employees working in teams.
Mature market	A market in which the prospects of future growth are diminishing.
Maturing market	A market in which the prospects of future growth are diminishing.
Maturity	The stage in the product life cycle when there is little room for expansion because most or all of the target market is saturated.
McClellands Three Social Motives	Achievement (testing oneself against a standard of excellence and performing better). Affiliation (establishing or maintaining close friendly relations). Power (feeling or being perceived as strong, impacting and influencing others).
Mean	Average of all values.
Mechantronic systems	A range of disciplines in computer simulations, imaging, mechanisms, electronics, real time computing and control, all working together as an integrated whole.
Media	For example, newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the internet
Media value	The extent to which something attracts media attention, and hence publicity through the TV, the press, etc.
Memorandum of association	Sets out the main details of a company including its name, purpose and the number of shares it can issue.
Mentee	An employee who is being coached or mentored by another employee.
Mentor	An experienced and trusted advisor, designed to support a new recruit.
Mentoring	Providing guidance and training for a new recruit. Often the mentor is a colleague, a fellow employee.
Merchandising	Products connected with for example, a popular film, singer or event, or the selling of such products.
Merged	Two or more companies joined
Merged horizontally	Where organisations at the same stage of production come together in order to increase their market share.
Merger	The joining of two or more companies through mutual agreement.
Merit	The quality of being good and deserving reward.
Metrics	Measurements.
Micro	Within an organisation.
Microprocessor	An integrated circuit that contains the entire central processing unit of a computer on a single chip.
Middle management	Managers who operate at a level below senior management but above supervisors and workers.
Milestone	Measured step in the progress towards achieving a goal.
Millennium Development Goals	Targets set by the United Nations for the development of poorer nations.
Mindset	A way of thinking.
Minimum wage	Lowest permitted wage set by Parliament and designed to provide employees with an acceptable standard of living.
MINTEL	Market research company
Mis-selling	Selling inappropriate products to customers.
Mission	Overall purpose, providing a direction for an organisation.
Mission statement	A short phrase that outlines the key ways in which a business works, and shows the way in which it hopes to conduct business.
Mission, purpose and values	Statements that show what the role of the organisation is, where the organisation intends to go and how it is going to get there.
Mixed economy	An economy in which some means of production are privately owned and controlled and others publicly owned and controlled.
Mnemonic	Something such as a special word or phrase to help a person remember something
Moderators	Someone who ensures that users abide by the chat rooms rules/codes of conduct.
Modern apprentices	Young persons aged over 16 to whom an organisation offers a wage combined with the opportunity to train for jobs at craft, technician and management level.
Modular buildings	Buildings that are comprised of one or more modules that are constructed in a factory controlled environment away from the building site. Modules are then linked together to form multi-purpose buildings.
Monetary policy	The regulation of the money supply, interest rates and exchange rates in order to control economic problems.
Monoculture	Growing only one type of crop in a given area.
Monopolies and Mergers Commission	UK government body set up to investigate and report where there is a risk of creating a monopoly by a company merger or takeover.
Monopoly	A pure monopoly exists when there is only one firm in the market. However, firms don?t need a pure monopoly in order to influence a market. When large firms have a significant share of a market (e.g. 25% or more) they may use their monopoly power? to restrict competition in some way.
Moores Law	Observation by Gordon Moore the co-founder of Intel that the number of transistors per square inch on an integrated circuit has and will double every year since the transistor?s invention.
Moral	Based on judgements about what is the right behaviour.
Moral principles	Principles based on judgements about what is right behaviour.
MORI	The largest independently-owned market research company in the UK, providing a full range of quantitative and qualitative research services.
Mortgage	A long term loan secured against a property.
Mortgage endowments	Mortgage loans for a property in which interest only is paid, with the capital paid off at the end of the period of loan.
Motivation	Attracting a person to do something because he or she wants to do it.
Motivation factors	Factors that encourage people to do something.
MRI scanner	Magnetic Resonance Imaging equipment used for medical investigations.
MSG	A food additive commonly marketed as a flavour enhancer.
Multi-channel	Using a variety of means of selling goods to consumers e.g. through shops, the Internet etc.
Multi-channel communication	Communication through many channels.
Multi-channel communications	Communications taking place in all directions.
Multi-channel selling	Selling through a range of channels to market eg shop
Multi-functional devices	Things that can do a range of different tasks.
Multinational	A company or corporation operating in more than two countries.
Multiple sector	Retail outlets with many individual units e.g. a supermarket chain.
Multiplier effect	Measures the changes in income with successive rounds of spending.
Mutual benefit societies	Organisations set up for the mutual benefit of their owners.
Mutual interdependence	Organisations that rely upon each other for an outcome.
Mutual organisation	Organisations with no shareowners traditionally established by groups of people to provide a range of services that serve the interests of their members.
Mutual organisations	Organisations with no shareowners traditionally established by groups of people to provide a range of services that serve the interests of their members
Mutuality	Groups of people clubbing together for their common interest.
Nasdaq Composite Index	This index measures all Nasdaq domestic and non-US based common stocks listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Each company's security affects the index in proportion to its market value. An index is based on a start date at which the index is set at 100.
NATFA region	The countries that are signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement, namely the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Nation state	A national, usually geographical, area that has self-government.
National grid	The system for delivering electricity across the UK.
National insurance	Contributions made by self employed people, employers and their employees to cover such eventualities as sickness, and accidents at work, and to cover state pension entitlements.
National Minimum Wage	The lowest rate on which any worker can legally be paid, as determined by government.
Nationalised	Firms and industries owned, controlled and financed by the state.
Natural resources	Resources given freely by nature e.g. fish in the seas, oil and coal deposits, etc.
Net assets	The total of all assets after deducting all liabilities.
Net present value (NPV)	The present value of future income from an investment, less the costs
Net profit	The gross profit less all fixed overheads and other expenses. Also known as operating profit.
Network provider	Companies that provide the digital and other forms of electronic links between phones and other devices e.g. O2, Vodafone, 3.
Networking	The establishment of business contacts and links, with a view to benefiting from them.
New Deal	Arrangements whereby different groups of unemployed people can benefit from work creation schemes and training.
New economy	Fast-changing economy based upon applications related to technological developments.
New Issue	When a company raises additional capital by issuing new securities, either to new or existing shareholders.
New media	Non traditional media such as internet social networking sites.
New product development	The bringing of new products or services into a consumer or industrial workplace.
New technology	New steps forward in the application of science and invention to the creation of products and processes.
NGOs	Non-governmental organisations.
Niche	An area of a market that has a particular group of customers with specific requirements.
Niche market/s	A specialist section of a larger market e.g. hand made chocolates.
Noise	Barrier to communication that may weaken or destroy a message that is trying to be relayed.
Non-executive director	Director who is a member of the board of directors of a company but not is involved in the day to day running of the business and does not form part of the executive management team.
Non-governmental organisations	Legally constituted, non-profit making groups organised on a local, national or international level, created by persons with no participation in or representation of any government.
Non-price competition	Competitive action other than by using prices, such as community involvement.
Non-renewable resources	Resources that are fixed in supply and which cannot be renewed.
Non-verbal communications	Include body language, visual aids
Not-for-dividend	Not for profit.
Not-for-profit	Organisations which do not seek to make profits for shareholders.
Notified body	Organisation licensed to certify and award a standard or standards.
Nuclear legacy	The nuclear sites and facilities which were developed during the 1940s and 1960s, including the waste materials and spent fuels they produced. The Magnox fleet of nuclear power stations were designed and built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Numerical flexibility	A process in which more or fewer staff can deal with changing workloads at short notice.
Nutritionists	Scientists or health professionals trained to understand how food and diet affects health.
Objective/s	The end purposes that an organisation or individual seeks to achieve.
OFCOM	The new regulator for the communications sector which is seeking to create a competitive market for broadband and access to the Internet for everyone who wants it.
Off-shore operators	Organisations which set up not on the mainland of a country, but in an off-shore tax haven.
Off-the-job training	Training undertaken away from the workplace, e.g. block release at college.
Offer	The complete set of features, functions and services that customers receive when they purchase a product or use a service.
Official Receiver	A person appointed by a court to manage the property/assets of an individual who has been declared bankrupt or a company that has entered compulsory liquidation.
On-the-job training	Training undertaken within the organisation whilst in the course of doing the job.
Online operation	Activities conducted over the Internet.
Online service	Means of finding out details of goods (and services) and of buying them, using the Internet.
Open culture	Organisational beliefs and values that encourage everyone to contribute.
Open door policy	Providing an opportunity for everybody within an organisation to be in direct contact with senior managers.
Open ended questions	Questions without a fixed answer that may develop in several ways.
Open learning	Form of learning in which individuals take control of the learning and move at their own pace.
Opening and closing stocks	The quantities of stock held at the start and finish of each period.
Operating budget	The financial resources required to meet operating costs and plans.
Operating companies	Distinct companies that create goods and services and are managed as separate units.
Operating costs	The overall cost of running the business.
Operating margin	Profitability after all costs have been paid, expressed as a percentage of revenue earned.
Operating profit	Profit calculated by deducting the costs of running a business from its sales turnover.
Operational decisions	Affecting the day-to-day running of the business
Operations	The integration of processes from around a business, undertaken by an organisation, in order to deliver and satisfy customer needs.
Opinion formers	Those individuals in the market who are the first to try out new products and so influence others to follow their lead - the trendsetters.
Opinion survey	A form of communication within the organisation, allowing employees to be involved in the culture change.
Opportunity cost	The cost of the next best alternative use that a resource or capital could be used for.
Ore	A type of rock that contains minerals such as gemstones and metals that can be extracted through mining and refined for use.
Organic growth	Increasing sales and new customers for the existing services and products
Organisation	Entity that gets inputs of data, materials as well as human and other assets from its business environment. It turns these into outputs in the form of goods and/or services.
Organisational culture	The way in which things are done within an organisation.
Organisational structure	Rhe way a business is organised into different functions or operational units, with lines of managerial responsibility.
Output	What a factory produces in a period.
Outside-in	A way of working that encourages feedback from those outside the organisation. This might include customers or a panel of leading specialists to give Philips a picture of how the organisation is seen by outsiders and how outsiders see Philips? products and processes.
Outsource	A commercial arrangement where one company provides services for another company.
Outsourced	Buying in of goods and/or services from other organisations.
Overdraft	Withdrawing more money out of a bank account than it contains. Money that a customer with a bank account is temporarily allowed to owe to the bank.
Overheads	Costs arising from the general running of a business e.g. rent, rates.
Overtrading	Expansion that damages cash flow.
Own-label brands	Brands owned and controlled by retailers and bearing their trading name.
Ownership	Taking responsibility for actions or decisions.
Pan-European	Treating Europe as a single market.Reaching across Europe.
Pan-Nordic player	Company operating within Northern Europe, countries including Norway, Finland, etc.
Pareto Analysis	Classic example of the 8020 rule by which 80% of the level of profit is determined by 20% of customers.
Particulate traps	An emission control device in the exhaust system of a diesel engine that captures particulates before they can enter the atmosphere.
Partnership	A business organisation usually owned by between 2 and 20 people.
Passenger rail francises	Legal agreements based on a bidding process that grant an operator the opportunity to provide a package of transport services on the rail network.
Patent	The legal right to the sole making and selling of an invention for a particular number of years.
Paternalistic	An autocratic approach to management where decisions are intended to be in the best interests of the workforce.
Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE)	A system for deducting income tax from wages and salaries on a regular basis.
Payback	Investment appraisal that evaluates the worth of a capital investment project according to how long it takes before its cost is fully recovered.
PAYE	See Pay-As-You-Earn
Pdf	Portable document format that uses Adobe Acrobat software to create or read an electronic document.
Pension Funds	Organisations which invest contributions made by their members. The members of a pension fund are people saving up for their future pension.
People Excellence	A human resource development strategy which focuses on engaging all employees in the workplace.
Perception measures	Ways of measuring views and opinions about different initiatives.
Perfomance reviews	Regular meetings that take place between a job holder and their line manager to discuss how well the job holder is performing in relation to expected targets.
Performance pay scheme	Pay increases dependent on the performance of individuals and the organisation as a whole.
Performance related pay	Pay increases are dependent on the performance of individuals and the organisation as a whole.
Peripheral	Additional items used with a main/core product, eg. compact discs with a CD-player.
Person specification	Details of the personal qualities an individual will need to perform a particular job.
Personal development	Acquiring skills to improve work performance through training and education.
Personal Development Plan	A plan setting out ways in which individual employees will have their training and development needs met.
Personal Development Programme	A training programme focused on the needs of each individual.
Personal selling	A salesperson liaising with a company to sell and provide products and services.
PEST	The acronym used for the most common external factors: Political, Economic, Social and Technological.
Phone site campaign	Alerting consumers to a new product by means of advertising on the outside/glass of public telephone boxes.
Physical capital	Long term fixed assets such as land and buildings, fixtures and fittings and machinery.
Physical distribution management	The distribution of goods to customers at the right place, the right time and in the right condition.
Physical resources	Machinery and other capital goods used to meet a business organisations objectives.
Piece rate	An amount received for every item produced.
Pilot	Trial to assess the market reaction before a test is viable.
Pixels	Dots on the computer screen that forms part of the whole display or image.
Place	Means or channel for getting goods or services to customers.
Place-of-work flexibility	Allowing employees to work off-site through homeworking.
Planned economy	Where the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods. Also known as Command economy.
Planning	Series of procedures designed to meet the needs of a business aim and a range of objectives.
Planning cycle	The time span of a plan and its review process.
Planning regulations	Any new buildings or alterations to buildings must meet the clearly defined regulations before the planning authority will give approval.
Plant	Buildings or machines used in industry.
Plates	Large area flat steel. A typical ordered size is 10m long x 2.5m wide. Thicknesses range from 6mm to 80mm
Platform	Integrated set of chips and software that are designed to make new technological developments easy to operate.
Point-of-sale	The branch or outlet where customers can purchase goods or services. This is an important contact point to ensure good customer service.
Point-of-sale materials	information that is used where the sale actually takes place, such as displays in stores and by tills.
Policy	A written contract of insurance providing cover against specific events and risks.
Political affiliation	Belonging to a political party or sharing the views of a political party.
Political factors	Changes arising from government initiatives or public opinion.
Polycentric	Having many focuses.
Portal	Website architecture enabling inernet users to have easier access, greater functionality, advanced search facilities and ability to personalise.
Portfolio	A collection of shares in different companies.
Portfolio of products	See Product portfolio
Position	Place in a market that provides it with a distinctive identity in relation to other brands.
Positional map	Diagram illustrating the position of a product or brand in a particular market (e.g. up market, down market etc).
Positioned	Place in a market that an organisation occupies in relation to its competitors and within the minds of consumers of its products.
Positioning	Placing a product within the overall market.
Positive free cash flow	Where the business creates more value than it consumes over the long-term.
Power brands	The key brands of large companies through which they seek to dominate large markets.
PPG3	Government housing regulations setting out a framework within which there is more emphasis on development taking place on brownfield and other urban sites.
PR	See Public relations
Pre-finished steel	Where a number of paint layers and treatments are applied in an automated and controlled manufacturing process.
Premium	Able to command a higher price because of its superior quality.
Premium brand	A high quality, up-market, reputable brand.
Premium brands	High quality, higher price brands.
Premium price	Higher price, usually associated with branded products, to reflect the values represented by the organisation and brand.
Premium prices	Prices that are higher than the average for a particular product or market and which (usually) reflect the superior quality of a firms product.
Premium pricing policy	The practice of setting prices at the top end of the market range, on the basis of the high quality offered.
presence marketing	Alerting the market to the existence and strengths of brands by having a presence at important locations and events eg having an outlet selling a range of Cadbury products at a major sporting event, or Cadbury World ? a themed experience outlining the his
Present value	The current value of a sum of money to be received in the future.
Press releases	Written communication of news stories to the news media.
Pressure group/s	An organisation formed by people with a common interest who get together to further that interest. For example, Greenpeace who are concerned with environmental issues.
Prestige brand	A high quality, upmarket reputable brand.
Price competition	Competition based upon the prices of goods and services.
Price leader	The business which sets the market price.
Price sensitive	Describes a product whose sales are influenced by price rather than quality.
Primary (or field) research	Collected data that has not been collected before.
Primary data	Research that is carried out for the first time to meet a specific objective.
Primary information	Information an organisation compiles by its own efforts perhaps commissioning a specialist market research agency.
Primary market research	Research that is carried out for the first time to meet a specific objective.
Primary production	The first stage of production involving extraction of raw materials
Primary research	Research that is carried out for the first time to meet a specific objective.
Primary sector	The first stage in producing goods concerned with growing or extracting raw materialse.g. oil drilling, mining, agriculture, fishing and forestry.
Printdynamics	Polestars interactive training programme aimed at teaching employees, customers and schools about the different print processes that can be used.
Private companies	Companies whose shares are not available for purchase by the general public.
Private company	A company whose shares are not available for purchase by the general public.
Private Finance Initiative (PFI)	A government policy designed to increase private sector involvement in the provision of public services.
Private labels	Own brand labels e.g. Sainsburys peas, ASDA baked beans.
Private limited companies	The owner(s) and the company are viewed as separate by the law. The owners are only liable - only have to payback - for the level of money they invested. Shares are normally held by a small number of owners or shareholders.
Private limited company	A limited liability company where shares are only available privately.
Private sector	The part of the economy that is owned and controlled by private individuals and business organizations such as private and public limited companies.
Privatisation	The transfer of ownership from the state to private ownership.
Privatise	The process of selling state-owned business to the private sector.
Privatised	The process of selling state-owned business to the private sector.
Probability	The likelihood of an event occurring, measured as a percentage.
Procurement	The process of acquiring supplies of raw materials, parts or products.
Producers co-operative	Group of producers who link together their activities to develop a business from which they all have a financial interest in its success and an influence upon how it is run.
Product category	Products grouped together based on shared features e.g. stationery, cleaning materials, lubricants.
Product development	The design process of developing a product
Product distribution	Achieving placement of products in as many stores as possible.
Product divisions	The separate organisational and administrative units into which a large company may divide itself, with each unit looking after a particular range of products.
Product extensions	Products related to the core product, i.e. additional variants. For example, baked beans, baked beans with pork sausages, curried baked beans, cheesy beans.
Product life cycle	Key stages in the life of a product e.g. launch, introduction, growth, maturity, decline.
Product mix	The combination of products manufactured or sold by a business.
Product orientated	A business strategy that focuses on the product rather than the customer.
Product placement	When products are 'placed' in films or TV shows or with famous faces, in order to give them good exposure.
Product portfolio	The range of products developed by an organisation.
Product positioning	The way in which a product is perceived in relation to other competitive products.
Product range	The variety of products with a similar brand identity developed to cover as many segments of the market as possible.
Product-led	Producing goods or services for the market based on what the producer does well.
Production capacity	The maximum possible output level.
Production lines	Where a product is made stage by stage, moving from one worker or process to the next.
Production processes	The various stages of production that transform raw materials through various phases to produce finished goods.
Productivity	The amount of goods or services produced by a fixed level of equipment and people. A measure of outputs compared to inputs.
Professional accounting qualifications	Qualifications from professional accounting bodies, such as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Professional association	An organisation that represents members of a profession.
Professional bodies	Organisations related to a profession and which provide support, validity and status for their members.
Profit	Money which is earned in trade or business, especially after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services.
Profit and loss account	Shows business income and costs over a given period of time (usually a year)
Profit and loss forecast	A plan set out in numbers showing likely future profits/losses.
Profit centre	A part of a business that produces its own accounts and ratios.
Profit margin	The percentage of sales value that is profit.
Profit-sharing	The system of sharing the profits that a company makes between all the people who work for it.
Profitability	Money which is earned in trade or business, especially after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services.
Profitability or performance ratios	Measures of the amount of profit being made compared to the inputs (products, time) being used.
Profits	Money that is earned in trade or business, after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services.
Programme	An initiative designed to achieve a particular purpose, usually within a given time frame.
Promotion	Making products and services better known to customers through a range of activities.
Promotional activities	Actions that serve to communicate with customers e.g. advertising.
Promotional campaign	A mix of activities to tell customers what a product is and what it stands for and persuade them to buy.
Promotional mix	The range of measures in place to support the promotion of a particular product e.g. at its initial launch or re-launch.
Proposition	A combination of products and/or services offered to customers
Prototype	A working model of a process or product;specimen products capable of being tested.
Proven	Something that has been tried and tested and works.
Psychographic segmentation	Segmentation according to social class, lifestyle, activities, opinions, behaviour or traits.
Psychological contract	The unwritten understanding between employer and employee that each knows what the other wants and needs.
Psychometric test	A set of short questions which, when analysed, give an outline of a particular applicants personality.
Public companies	Companies that have issued shares via a stock exchange to raise capital.
Public Corporations Enterprises	Created and owned by the Government (usually by Act of Parliament) which must meet government targets and objectives.
Public limited companies	Companies with shares quoted (priced, bought and sold) on a stock exchange.
Public Limited Company (plc)	A business whose shares can be bought from share dealers and resold on the stock exchange
Public money	Income raised from taxes and other sources to provide public services.
Public Private Partnerships	The skills of a private (i.e. plc or Ltd company, e.g. Capita) and public (i.e. government agency e.g. DfES) sector work together to deliver a project.
Public relations	Activities involved in communicating with different stakeholders such as customers, the government, the general public and the media.
Public sector	That part of the economy that is owned by the Government or its agents.
Public sector organisations	Organisations owned by the government rather than by shareholders.
Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets	Targets agreed with and set by central government.
Public service remit	To work or produce something for the benefit of the public.
Public/product liability insurance	Public liability insurance provides cover for the insureds legal liabilities arising from bodily injury or property damage suffered by third parties. Product liability insurance provides specific cover for such liabilities arising from goods or products (including food and drink) that are manufactured, constructed, altered, repaired, serviced, treated, sold, supplied or distributed by the insured.
Purchase penetration	The percentage of people buying into a category.
Push and pull promotion	Promotional strategies. A push strategy persuades the intermediary to buy the product to then sell to the customer. A pull strategy persuades the customer to require the intermediary to specify the product.
Qualitative	Associated with consumer responses, feelings, attitudes and descriptions.
Qualitative data	Research drawn from consumer responses, feelings, attitudes and descriptions usually from a specified number of respondents (people).
Qualitative feedback	People's views and feelings about a product, service or a topic.
Qualitative market research	Research drawn from consumer responses, feelings, attitudes and descriptions usually from a specified number of respondents (people).
Qualitative objectives	Objectives that relate to achieving changes in attitudes towards and perceptions of a product.
Qualitative research	Research drawn from consumer responses, feelings, attitudes and descriptions usually from a specified number of respondents (people).
Quality	Standards of value and performance that meet or exceed both internal and external customer needs and requirements.
Quality assurance	The process of ensuring that the quality of the product is appropriate for its purpose.
Quality Management Systems	A system created to manage the delivery of quality products and services by an organisation and designed to make sure it consistently gives customers what they want.
Quality standards	A document setting out rules and guidelines to create order and consistency (to give customers what they want).
Quantified attitude measurements	Measurements to enable comparison of what people feel or think about something.
Quantitative	Research associated with figures or numbers that help to make the research more objective - usually taken from a large number of consumers.
Quantitative data	Research associated with figures or numbers that help to make the research more objective - usually taken from a large number of consumers.
Quantitative objectives	Objectives that are set out in numbers eg a 10% increase in sales, a 5% decrease in wastage.
Quantitative research	Research that seeks structured responses that can be summarised numerically, for example as averages, percentages or other types of statistics.
Quantitative techniques	Analysing business performance using numerical data.
Quota sampling	The survey population is segmented into mutually exclusive sub-groups. A proportion of each segment is selected for analysis.
RAJAR	The method of measuring audience listening figures to all radio stations across the country. Data is gathered weekly from a cross-section of all audience groups.
Random quota	A limited amount or number that is chosen by chance.
Rate of stockturn	The number of times that stock is replaced in a given time period e.g. a week, month or year.
Rating system	A system of setting and defining standards through which an individual?s ability to perform a specific task can be rated e.g. as excellent, very good, good, adequate, poor.
Raw materials	Basic material inputs e.g. ores (metal production), grain (bakery products), cocoa (chocolate).
Re-invent	Renew by changing the nature or form of a product or organisation.
Re-launch	Introducing a modified product to an audience of consumers.
Re-position	To target (a product or a brand) at a new market by changing its image. Alter a product and its marketing so that people see it in a new way.
Real-time	Information that is accurate and available as transactions take place.
Recession	A time near the bottom of the business cycle when demand is falling and businesses sell less than they had planned to.
Recruitment	The process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job, attracting candidates and selecting those best suited for the job.
Recyclable	Able to be processed again to form new products.
Recycled	The recovery of materials from an old product which are used to make a new product.
Recycling	Salvaging and reprocessing an item to re-use the materials and reduce waste.
Redemption rates	The percentage of vouchers cashed in and used.
Redress mechanisms	Means by which consumers can be compensated or have their rights re-instated.
Redundancy	When a person loses his or her job because the job is no longer needed, often due to a downturn in the economy.
Regeneration	Revitalising areas that have seen a downturn in economic fortune and employment opportunities.
Regional affiliates	Parts of the organisation linked to the Head Office but trading independently.
Regulate	Supervise the way in which activities, resources or businesses operate.
Regulating	The process of providing a framework of requirements and rules that set out how a business should be run.
Regulations	Laws and codes of practice within which businesses operate.
Regulator	The person whose job it is to determine what a particular industry can/cannot or must/must not do.
Regulators	Independent organisations that seek to control or change what companies do on behalf of consumers or government.
Regulatory environment	The rules, regulations, laws and codes of practice within which businesses operate.
Reinsurance	Insurers reduce their exposure to risk by insuring themselves against claims from insureds. This practice of insuring liabilities arising from an already insured risk is known as reinsurance.
Relationship marketing	Building and developing relationships with customers in a way that takes a long-term view of their needs.
Remuneration package	The collection of rewards available to employees e.g. salary, bonuses, share options.
Renewable	Can be replaced or replenished.
Repeat purchases	Consumers return to buy the goods on more than one occasion.
Repeat rates	The proportion (%) of consumers who make further, subsequent purchases.
Representation	To speak, act or present officially for another person or group.
Representative samples	Carefully selected small groups that contain a typical range of the people who comprise the total targeted group.
Research and development	Processes that involve investigating new ideas for products and taking them forward to be test marketed.
Resolution	A measurement of the number of component dots per inch or millimetre that comprise an image.
Resources	Inputs into a business e.g. materials, people, time.
Respondent/s	Someone who has taken part in market research.
Retail bank	A bank situated on the high street that provides services for consumers.
Retail chain	Stores that are spread across all or part of the country belonging to the same organisation.
Retail strategy	Long term plan for selling products to customers.
Retailer/s	Organisation selling in relatively small units to the final consumer.
Retailing	Providing activities related to selling goods or providing services for the final consumer.
Retention	To continue to hold present customers.
Return	The profit from an activity.
Return on capital	The level of profits arising from the resources invested in the business.
Return On Capital Employed (R.O.C.E)	The return on all the funds invested in the business expressed as a % of that capital.
Return on investment (ROI)	The return on the funds invested in the business.
Revenue	The total value of sales.
Revenues	The total value of sales. Sales revenue is calculated by mulitplying the number of items sold in a given time period by the average price per item.
Reverse engineering	The process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system thorugh analysis of its structure, function and operation.
Review	The process of identifying current practice and performance, in order to identify ways of making ongoing improvements.
Reward	An incentive given in exchange for good behaviour or good work.
Reward partner	A business offering some form of rewards to cardholders.
Risk	The possibility of something bad happening. In insurance, the term is used to define causes of loss covered by a policy.
Risk assessment	Procedures and documents to identify and record risks related to certain activities and processes.
Risks	A financial term that describes variability associated with investment returns
Robots	Automatic machines or control devices that oversee and carry out production processes.
Rods	Long lengths of generally round (typically 5-15mm diameter) cross-section steel supplied in coils.
Role models	Persons who someone admires and whose behaviour they may copy.
Rollovers	Unwon top prize carried forward to the next gameplay, causing the jackpot to grow in size.
Sale and leaseback	Raising capital for a business by selling the business property and then renting it from the new owner for an agreed period.
Sales	The company process that persuades customers that the company has a product to meet their needs.
Sales promotions	Incentives to encourage the sales of products and services.
Sales revenue	The total value of the sales of a company or product in a given time period.
Sales turnover	The total value of sales over a period of time.
Samples	A small amount of something given free that shows you what the rest is or should be like
Satisfiers	Motivating factors that enrich a person's job and may contribute to enhanced performance.
Saturated market	A period in which there are too many units of a product or of similar products on the market, so sales stop increasing or the rate of sales slows down.
Saturation	A period in which there are too many units of a product, or of similar products, on the market so sales stop increasing or the rate of increase slows down.
Scale	The relative size of an organisation.
Scarce resources	Those whose supply is limited, meaning a choice has to be made between how they are used - an opportunity cost.
Scheduling	planning activities showing the times or dates when they are intended to happen
Scientific management	The theory that all jobs could be timed and measured and payments based on this.
Screen	Initial checks to see that applicants meet the basic requirements for employment.
Screening	Initial checks to see that applicants meet the basic requirements for employment
Search costs	The time and money spent in shopping around for the products that are needed.
Secondary (or desk) research	Uses data that has already been collected and often that has been published e.g. in newspapers, books or reports.
Secondary information	Published data collected by another organisation and not specific to the project in hand.
Secondary production	The second stage of production, involving manufacturing and processing.
Secondary research	Desk research involving the collection of information that is already published.
Secondary sector	Manufacturing, assembly and construction.
Secondment	Employee goes to another workplace for a temporary period.
Secretary of State	The relevant Government Minister, i.e. Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is Rt. Hon Patricia Hewlitt.
Sections	H or I cross-section steel beams and columns in various lengths and thicknesses
Secured	If a borrower doesn not repay as agreed the lender can take the security (in the case of a mortgage loan, the house) and sell it in order to repay the loan.
Secured loan	A sum of money that is borrowed against some form of security for example, property or some other asset.
Securities	Shares/equities/stocks.
Segment	Part of an overall market comprising a group of consumers with common characteristics.
Segmentation	Dividing up a marketplace into parts, each representing similar needs of groups of consumers.
Segmentation base	The criteria used to divide up a market into a number of segments.
Segments	Sections of a total market that are made up of similar groups of consumers.
Selection	the process of choosing which person to appoint from those that apply for a job vacancy.
Selection process	The way in which a firm decides who to employ.
Self-assessment	The opportunity for individuals to reflectively assess their own progress within the workplace.
Self-regulation	The process by which a company or more often industry implements rules from within rather than having them imposed by others e.g. government.
Self-regulatory	An organisation that is responsible for regulating its members through the adoption and enforcement of rules and regulations governing the business conduct of its members.
Service	Any way of providing benefits to a customer that doesnt involve the exchange of a tangible good.
Service ethic	A code or way of behaviour centred on serving customers.
Service industries	Industries that provide services rather than tangible goods for their customers.
Service level agreements	Part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined
Service organisation	Providing services rather than tangible goods for customers.
Service sector	Those that provide services operate in the service or tertiary sector and those that extract raw materials operate in the primary sector.
Service standards	Performance targets that identify desired levels of service.
Service teams	A tightly knit group of employees who provide a particular service eg catering, cleaning.
Service-orientated	When the organisation's behaviour is centred on meeting customers' needs.
Services	Providing intangible benefits rather than physical goods e.g. insurance, banking, retailing, transport, etc.
Shadowing	involves the employee working alongside a colleague or manager, watching them to learn what to do
Share	Part ownership of a business.
Shareholder capital	Money invested in a company by the owners of that company -the shareholders.
Shareholder value	Returns to shareholders through dividends and rises in share values.
Shareholders	Persons owning or holding a share or shares of stock; a stockholder.
Shareholders capital	The total value of the net assets owned by shareholders of a business.
Shareowners	Individuals and organisations who invest in an organisation, providing it with capital in return for shares.
Shares	Part ownership of a company.
Short-term capital	Money used in a business to finance its short-term operations, such as to buy stock or pay bills.
Single-brand strategy	Focussing on a single brand/brand name for all of an organisation?s products and marketing and selling activities, eg the Rexam brand name/logo.
Site of Special Scientific Interest	A legal appointment to protect sites that are of particular conservation interest because of the wildlife they support, or because of the geological features that are found there.
Six Sigma	A process that involves systematically identifying defects and deficiencies within any product, system or process with a view to eliminating them.
Skills	Specific abilities and capabilities.
Skimming	A pricing strategy where a relatively high price is set for a product or service at first, then lowered over time.
SKU	Stock Keeping Unit - an individual product with its own barcode. A single pen and a multipack would have different barcodes.
SLEPT	A method of interpreting the changing factors within an organisations external environment by categorising them into social, legal, economic, political and technological influences.
SM	This is a US intellectual property protection device - similar to a trademark, but for a service, hence service mark.
Small step improvement	Little ongoing developments to products and processes.
SMART	A way of ensuring that objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time related
Smart cards	Plastic cards that contain a small computer and can be used to pay for things or to store personal information.
SMART objectives	Framework for constructing objectives in a way that meet a business aim.
SMEs	Small and medium sized enterprises - organisations with fewer than 250 staff (Micro 0-9, Small 10-49, Medium 50-249).
Social costs and benefits	Sources of cost or value that do not appear in business accounts but are experienced by society.
Social exclusion	Being prevented from enjoying the same rights of citizenship that others enjoy because of education, income and other social factors.
Social factors	Trends in society including demographic and cultural changes.
Social inclusion	Being enabled to enjoy the same citizenship rights that others enjoy with no barriers resulting from lack of education, low income or other social factors.
Social justice	Ensuring no one is at a disadvantage because of their place in society.
Social responsibility	Recognising duties and obligations towards other members and sectors of society.
Social trends	Patterns of change in social behaviour, for example in fashions and tastes.
Socially inclusive communities	Communities in which everyone is looked after and is also expected to play a part in creating a better society.
Socially inclusive workforce	Ensuring through recruitment that a company does not exclude any particular group in society from its staff.
Socially responsible	Actions that show care and concern for society as a whole.
Socio-economic	A categorisation system based on the occupation of the workers in a household where A is from the wealthiest.
Socio-economic effects	Factors related to society and the livelihood of people e.g. job security, well being, life chances.
Socio-economic grouping	Classification of consumers based upon their income and social class.
Socio-economic groups	Consumer groups classified according to job and income.
Socio-economic pyramid	Classification of economies, countries or individuals according to income.
Soft launch	Rolling launch to selected groups of customers in turn.
Softswitch	A central device in a telephone network which connects calls from one phone line to another, entirely by means of software running on a computer system. This work was formerly carried out by hardware, with physical switchboards to route the calls.
Solar technology devices	Devices that change energy from the sun into electricity.
Sole trader/s	The business and its owner are one and the same. The individual is liable for the business and debts.
Solution	The answer (in the form of benefits) to a customers problem (buying requirement).
SPAM	Acronym meaning Sending Persistent Annoying Mail referring to un-requested emails sent without permission to widespread email accounts.
Span of control	The number of people/subordinates that can be effectively managed by one person or the number of subordinates which are directly under their supervision.
Spatial	Of or relating to space.
Specifications	The characteristics or qualities that producers build into a product.
Sponsee	The recipient of sponsorship.
Sponsor	A business organisation or another body involved in the co-ordination of activities, promotions and branding for another company or organisation.
Sponsorship	Long term association where a business provides funding to another body, involving the co-ordination of promotion, branding, activites to mutual benefit.
Spreadsheets	A table of numbers organised and presented on a computer program such as Windows Excel.
Stakeholder	Individual or group with an interest in the decisions made by an organisation.
Stakeholder conflict	Situations in which different stakeholders have different priorities.
Stakeholder grouping	Groups who have an interest in an organisations decision-making processes.
Stakeholder value	Returns to all the stakeholders of an organisation.
Stakeholders	Individuals and groups with an interest in an organisation and the decisions it makes
Standard	A document setting out rules and guidelines to create order.
Standard deviation	Measure of dispersion. The higher the standard deviation, the greater the dispersion away from the mean. Commonly used to measure confidence in statistical conclusions.
Standard of living	The goods and services that individuals and communities are able to enjoy by spending their income and/or wealth.
Standardisation	The use of products that are identical and so are interchangeable.
Standards	Codes setting out how processes should be carried out, products made or services provided to ensure the same response every time
Start-up costs	Costs that have to be paid once to establish a business or brand - also called sunk costs.
Statement of values	A short statement setting out the core beliefs and attitudes that guide the way in which an organisation conducts its business.
Statutory	The obligations laid down by Statute - the law - as contained within an Act of Parliament.
Statutory obligations	Duties which businesses and individuals must legally carry out.
Step change	A sudden change in the value of some variable.
Stewardship	Looking after something.
Stock	Materials or finished products for sale.
Stock control	Maintaining information on the quantity, location and condition of materials.
Stock control system	A management system designed to provide a steady flow of stocks that will be available for sale.
Stock Exchange	Marketplace in which stocks are bought and sold.
Stock exchange listing	Company shares are quoted and traded on a stock exchange.
Stock Exchange or stockmarket	A market on which stocks and shares are sold. It is sometimes referred to as the secondary market or trading market.
Stock management	The process of controlling stock; may be through automated systems.
Stock rotation	Moving goods in, out and around in order.
Stockturns	The number of times stock is sold and replaced in the course of the year. This can be worked out on the cost or selling price of goods, as long as cost price is related to the total cost of the goods sold and the selling price is related to net turnover.
Strapline	Short catchy phrase encapsulating the strengths of a product.
Strategic	Of long-term importance and fundamental to a company meeting its goals.
Strategic Business Unit (SBU)	Parts of a total organisation with the responsibility for delivering the organisations overall strategy but also with powers to shape their own local strategies.
Strategic capabilities	The competencies within an organisation that enable it to counter threats and make the most of its opportunities.
Strategic change	A major change introduced to achieve company objectives.
Strategic decisions	Decisions made to provide advantages for an organisation, and affecting them long-term.
Strategic development	Development that affects the whole of an organisation for the long-term.
Strategic drift	Situations in which an organisations strategy does less and less to face the changes within the business environment.
Strategic fit	Matching the resources of a business to the changing business environment.
Strategic function	Organisation-wide function influencing everybody within the organisation.
Strategic objectives	long term important issues fundamental to a company meeting its goals - compared with tactical, which refer to shorter term actions.
Strategic partners	The suppliers and customers of an organisation without which it could not perform to the levels of efficiency to which it aspires.
Strategic plans	Major long term plans for the whole organisation.
Strategic vision	Long term vision for an organisation that outlines a target to be worked towards.
Strategically	Decisions that affect the long-term future of the whole organisation.
Strategy	Long-term business plan of an organisation.
Structural unemployment	Job losses that result from the permanent decline or restructuring of particular industries.
Styles of managing	See Management styles.
Sub-assembly	Putting together parts of the final product ? eg completed sections that will go into the VW Beetle.
Subsidiaries	Businesses that are owned by another business.
Subsidiary	An organisation that is part of a larger company.
Subsidies	Monetary grants used to reduce prices for consumers.
Subsidy	Cash benefit given to a supplier as an incentive.
Succession management	Training and developing individuals to carry out the roles of others when they either retire or change jobs.
Super-complaint	A complaint that relates to the operation of a market and is brought on behalf of a group of customers by a recognised consumer body.
Superbrands	Leading brand names recognised worldwide e.g. Nike, Adidas, Timberland, Marks and Spencer, Louis Vuitton.
Supply	The quantity of a product that suppliers (e.g. growers) are prepared to bring to market at a prevailing market price.
Supply chain	The chain of processes linking the manufacture of products with physical distribution management so that goods are moved quickly and efficiently through various processes to meet consumer needs.
Supply chain management	Creation of effective systems for the organisation of the distribution of items (components, end-products, etc)
Supply planners	Effectively plan restaurant stock requirements and stock levels, maintaining regular communication and assured supply to stores.
Surface transportation	Moving goods or people by rail, road or water
Surveys	Examination of opinions, behaviour, etc by asking questions of a representative number of people.
Sustainability	Practices which do not affect adversely the future use of resources.
Sustainable	Able to continue over a period of time without reducing the resources available for the next generation to use.
Sustainable agriculture	Agriculture causing no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue long term.
Sustainable business	A business that is committed to helping meet the needs of society today, while respecting the needs of future generations.
Sustainable business development	Business growth that can be kept going in the long term because it draws on renewable resources that it helps to replenish.
Sustainable business practice	Ways of operating a business that not only make economic sense in the short and long periods, but which also safeguard the long-term future of the environment.
Sustainable contribution	A contribution that can be maintained and usually improved on over a period of time.
Sustainable development	Development which meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve their own needs and aspirations.
Sustainable locations	Locating a business in a way that meets the needs of a business, society and the environment.
Sustainable tourism	Tourism which meets the needs of present tourists and host regions, whilst protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future.
Sustainable transport service	Transport services that give a high priority to operating in an environmentally friendly way - for example by using clean fuel.
Sweeper	In football, the player with the job of giving cover to his/her teams other defenders.
SWOT analysis	Identification and evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses inside a firm and the opportunities and threats in its external environment.
Syndicates	The individual business units that sell insurance in the Lloyds market.
Synergies	Shared benefits, whose value is greater than individual contributions, sometimes referred to as a 2 + 2 = 5 effect.
Synergy	The way in which the act of bringing together two or more elements adds power and performance to each element. For example, whenever two or more NIVEA brands are sold through the same media channels or retail outlets, the individual products support each other.
Synonymous	Meaning the same thing.
Tactical	A decision taken or a move made with a short-term objective in mind.
Tactical decisions	Decisions based upon strategic policy decisions, affecting shorter-term issues within the organisation.
Tactics	Activities made with a short-term objective in mind.
Takeover	Where one company acquires another by buying up a majority shareholding (at least 51%) of the shares in another company.
Takt time	The maximum time allowed to produce a product to meet demand. Taken from German 'taktzeit' - 'clock cycle'.
Tangible assets	An asset that has a physical form such as machinery, buildings and land.
Tangible goods	Goods that have clear uses but no services attached to them.
Tangible qualities	Features of a product that can be touched and seen.
Target audience	The part of the market on which an organisation focuses specific marketing
Target market	The specific part of the population to whom a product offering is aimed and all marketing communication is tailored.
Targeted	Aimed at a specific segment.
Targeted audience	Group/s that communication and messages are aimed at.
Targeted consumers	Consumers at whom a campaign is aimed.
Targeted initiatives	Programmes and initiatives set up with a clear focus and a specific purpose.
Targeted segment	A segment to which marketing activities are designed to appeal.
Targeting	Developing strategies for particular segments.
Targets	Goals which the organisation seeks to achieve. Often these are time related.
Tariffs	Prices, pricing structures.
Tarmac Porous Pavement	This reduces the risk and costs of flash flooding through its environmentally friendly drainage system.
Tax credit	Payments made to people earning a low income and families bringing up children.
Taxpayer	Person who pays tax to the government.
Team	A group of people with shared targets, responsibilities and accountabilities.
Teamwork	People working together.
Technological factors	Changes in the way in which products are made and processes are carried out.
Technology	The application of science and ideas to the development of new products and services.
Technology transfer	The process of transferring research into the commercial environment.
Tele-working	Working remotely from the office, anywhere, using electronic means of communication.
Telephony	The general use of equipment to provide voice communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other.
Temps	Temporary workers.
Term time working	Working hours arranged to suit school terms.
Tertiary production	The third stage of production, involving the provision of services.
Tertiary sector	Service industries e.g. transport, banking, insurance or hairdressing.
The Information Commissioners Office	Independent public body that enforces the Data Protection Act.
Theorists	People who develop ideas for explanation.
Third generation	The next generation of mobile technology which will bring a new range of services and capabilities, turning mobile devices into a multi-media tool.
Tidal turbines	Used to harness the power of tides and turn it into a useful form of energy, eg electricity.
Time series analysis	A tool to track and analyse data over time in order to provide forecasts based on past trends.
Top-down decisions	Made by a few people in authority and passed down to the people who are affected by or who carry out the decisions.
Top-up shoppers	Consumers who make additional purchases (e.g. at a service station) in addition to their main weekly shop.
Total assets	What a business owns and is owed. The total assets of Northern Rock have been growing because mortgage lending has expanded. Mortgage repayments are owed to Northern Rock.
Total business concept	Business strategy that influences and develops all parts ofan organisation.
Total Quality Management	A management system designed to eliminate defects and meet customer requirements first time every time.
Total quality systems	Systems operating within an organisation to ensure that quality concerns are built into every stage of production.
Trade association	Independent body that works with suppliers within an industry.
Trade journals	Magazines directly targeted to businesses in a particular sector.
Trade Mark	Text, logos and symbols relating to a company and its products.
Trade marketing	Business-to-business partnerships with trade organisations, who use the services provided to enter new markets and take advantage of new opportunities eg an airline co-operating with a hotel chain to offer special deals. The ATC can act as an intermediary
Trade union	An organisation that represents the mutual interests of employees across a range of issues
Trades Descriptions Act	One of the laws designed to protect the consumer. It states that goods must be as described and satisfy their supposed role.
Trades Union Congress	The organisation that represents British trade unions at national level.
Traffic congestion	Build up of traffic leading to slow moving or stationary vehicles.
Training	Activities designed to improve the competence and ability of individuals in order to enable an organisation better to meet its objectives.
Training needs analysis	Research carried out to find out the training needs of individuals.
Transferable skills	Using acquired knowledge and abilities from one job in another
Treasury funds	Government funds built up through taxation.
Trends	A general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving
Turnover	The total value of all sales made in a given period of time. Sometimes referred to as sales revenue.
Turnover growth	Rise in the value of sales made by a business comparing one time period with another.
Under-achieving	Doing less well than it ought to be doing. Failing to meet the targets set eg time deadlines, safety standards, fewer wasted materials, less pollution.
Underwriter	Acceptor of a business risk in return for a fee e.g. guaranteeing the success of a share issue by agreeing to purchase any shares not bought by others.
Underwriters	Underwriters are the professionals on the syndicates upon whose experience and judgement the market depends for its expertise and reputation. It is the underwriters responsibility to assess the merits of each risk and decide a suitable premium for accepting all or part of it.
Underwriting	The process for accepting applicants for insurance and classifying them according to their degrees of insurability so that appropriate premium rates may be charged. The process includes rejection of unacceptable risks.
Unemployment	The number of workers who do not have a job that provides money.
Unethical behaviour	Behaviour that is wrong and immoral.
UNICEF	A department of the United Nations whose aim is improving children's health and education, particularly in poor countries.
Unique selling point (USP)	A specific benefit of a product or service that competitors do not or cannot offer.
Unique selling proposition (USP)	Specific benefits of a product or service that competitors do not or cannot offer.
Unit costs	The cost of producing one more item.
United Nations	An organisation comprising most of the countries of the world founded in 1945 to promote world peace, security and economic development.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights	A declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 outlining human rights that should apply to all people
Unparalleled	Something that is unmatched or unequalled, i.e. unique.
Unregulated market	A market open to competition between suppliers
Urban drift	Occurs when rural dwellers move to cities.
Urban renewal	Improving the living conditions and environment in large towns and city areas.
Usage penetration	The percentage of users of a product. This differs from purchasers as the person buying a product may be buying for multiple users; e.g. a parent buying for the family.
Utilities	Essential services such as gas, water and electricity
Utility companies	Providing essential services such as gas, water and electricity supplied to properties
Value	Benefits that are added to the product or service during the process for the end user.
Value added packaging	Sophisticated packaging which makes a product more desirable and able to bear a higher price. eg attractive packaging for cosmetics.
Value Added Tax	A tax on consumer expenditure collected on business transactions, imports and purchases.
Value chain	The series of links that starts with raw materials (e.g. cocoa for chocolate) and ends with the consumer.
Value-added	Add to or change a product to increase the difference between the value of the product and the value of its inputs.
Value-added technology	Making products more desirable by applying technological innovation.
Values	What a company stands for.
Values-driven culture	The link between the vision and mission of the organisation and its everyday culture by creating a series of values that influence the actions of people working within the business.
Variable costs	The outlays of a business that vary with the level of output
Variable hours	Arranging different start and finish times to suit individual needs.
Variance/s	The difference between what was forecast to happen (say, in a budget) and what actually happened
Variants	Alternatives to the core brand product introduced by the maker of the brand.
Venture capital	Funds made available to small and medium sized enterprises to provide investment opportunities e.g. in ideas for new products.
Venture capitalists	Investors who make funds available to small and medium sized enterprises to provide investment opportunities.
Verbal communications	Direct word-of-mouth contact - face-to-face or using some form of media.
Vertical integration	Where a company buys another company that supplies it with goods or that buys goods from it in order to control all the processes of production.
Virtuous circle	A form of renewal in which sustainable activities in agriculture create sustainable businesses within the agricultural sector.
Visibility	Increasing the number of occasions on which potential consumers are exposed to a particular brand.
Vision	A summary in words, setting out what an organisation is striving to achieve.
Visionary target	A target for the future; something to work towards.
VMS (Variable Message Signs)	Electronic notices on the highways network to communicate information and advice to drivers, aimed at improving safety and minimise congestion.
Voice of the customer	Customers requirements expressed in quantifiable terms e.g. targeted level of performance and ?acceptable variation.
Voice of the process	The predictable range of output from the process expressed in terms of mean and range.
Voluntary sector	Work undertaken brought about by free choice and often without payment
WAP	Wireless Application Protocol. An agreement reached by the wireless industry itself on the guaranteed minimum standards of product and service that it will offer its customers.
Warehousing	Temporary store house for goods during the process of distribution. which a fee is drawn.
Waste	An unnecessary or wrong use of money, substances, time, energy, abilities.
Wealth generation	Processes through which members of society become better off.
Web browsers	The software used to navigate through the World Wide Web.
Welfare	The range of benefits and support available from the government, such as housing, unemployment and child support benefits.
Welfare to Work	Government programme to enable people to move away from a dependency on the welfare state to working for the community.
Wheel network	A centralised communication channel where messages pass between the 'hub' and the 'spokes' but not necessarily between each 'spoke'.
Whistle-blower	A person who informs on someone engaged in an illegal activity.
White goods	Domestic electrical goods such as freezers and washing machines.
Wholesale money markets	Banks borrowing and lending between themselves.
Wholesalers	Selling goods in large amounts to shops and businesses, rather than selling goods in shops to customers.
Wi-Fi	The protocol that allows nearby computers and other devices to communicate wirelessly.
Win-win situation	A policy or transaction that benefits all parties involved.
Windfall	The payout received by members when an organisation demutualises. This can take the form of a cash sum, shares in the newly created plc, or a mixture of both
Work ethic	An employee's attitude towards the work they do.
Work-in-progress	Partly finished items that are currently being worked on but have not been completed.
Work-life balance	Creating conditions for staff that allow work and home commitments to be balanced.
Workforce	The group of people who work in a company, industry, country etc.
Workforce planning	Involves estimating future human resource requirements and ensuring the firm has right number of people, in the right place, with the right skills at the right time.
Working and Child Tax Credits	A range of benefits paid both to people who work but whose income is low and to help people with their commitments in bringing up children.
Working capital	The finance required to keep the wheels of business turning.
Working practices	Anything that relates to the way in which employees achieve their tasks, e.g. shifts, number of machines operated per employee.
Working Tax Credits	Entitlements to money benefits for people in low paid occupations.
Working time directive	A European Union law that defines the maximum number of hours a person should work without regular genuine breaks.
Working to rule	Carrying out only the bare minimum of duties.
Workstation	A computer unit or terminal where an employee sits and works.
Y network	A centralised communication channel wehre messages can be direcred vertically and laterally as required.
Zero tolerance	Complete intolerance of certain behaviours.

The Times 100 invites you to link to its study material from your website.