Key terms Flashcards
(173 cards)
1
Q
What does Ansoff’s Matrix show?
A
Strategies that a firm can use to expand, according to how risky they are.
2
Q
Define Asset in a business context.
A
Anything that a business owns.
3
Q
What is a Balance Sheet?
A
A snapshot of a firm’s finances at a particular time.
4
Q
What is a Barrier to Entry?
A
An obstacle that makes it harder for companies to enter a market.
5
Q
What is Benchmarking?
A
Identifying how to improve your business by comparing its performance, products and processes against those of another firm.
6
Q
What does Big Data refer to?
A
The vast quantities of data that can be collected from various sources.
7
Q
What is the Blake Mouton Grid used for?
A
To define managers according to how much they care about employees and about production.
8
Q
What does the Boston Matrix compare?
A
A firm’s products based on their market growth and market share.
9
Q
What is Bowman’s Strategic Clock?
A
Shows positioning strategies based on different combinations of price and perceived added value/benefits.
10
Q
What does Break-even Analysis identify?
A
The point where a company’s total revenues equal its total costs.
11
Q
What is a Budget?
A
Forecasts future earnings and future spending.
12
Q
Define Capacity Utilisation.
A
How much of its maximum capacity a business is using.
13
Q
What is Capital in a business context?
A
A company’s wealth in the form of money or other assets.
14
Q
What is Capital Expenditure?
A
Money used to buy fixed assets (also called fixed capital).
15
Q
Describe Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR.
A
A diagram showing four elements of CSR as layers in a pyramid.
16
Q
What is Cash Flow?
A
Money that moves in and out of a business over a set period of time.
17
Q
What is Centralisation?
A
A way to structure a business where all decisions come from a few key people.
18
Q
What is a Channel of Distribution?
A
The route a product takes from the producer to the consumer.
19
Q
Define Competitive Advantage.
A
The way that a company offers customers better value than competitors do.
20
Q
What is a Confidence Interval?
A
A range in which you can say, with a certain level of confidence, that a value lies.
21
Q
What does Confidence Level represent?
A
A percentage showing how confident you are that a value falls within a confidence interval.
22
Q
What is the Consumer Price Index?
A
Measures changes in prices of a sample of consumer goods and services, indicating inflation.
23
Q
What is a Contingency Plan?
A
A plan preparing for an event that’s unlikely to happen, just in case it does.
24
Q
Define Contribution in business.
A
The difference between the selling price and the variable costs of a product.
25
What is Core Competence?
A unique feature of a business that gives it a competitive advantage.
26
What is a Corporate Objective?
A goal of a business as a whole.
27
Define Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
A company’s contribution to society.
28
What does Correlation measure?
The relationship between two variables.
29
What is Cost-Push Inflation?
When rising costs push up prices.
30
Who is a Creditor?
Someone who a business owes money to.
31
What is a Critical Path in network analysis?
The series of activities that is critical in the timing of the overall project.
32
Define Current Ratio.
A liquidity ratio that compares current assets to current liabilities.
33
What is Debt Capital?
The capital raised by borrowing.
34
Who is a Debtor?
Someone who owes money to a business.
35
What is Decentralisation?
A way to structure a business where decisions are shared across the organisation.
36
What is a Decision Tree?
A method of analysing the expected pay-offs of different business decisions.
37
What does Delayering involve?
Reducing the number of levels in the hierarchy of an organisation.
38
What is Demand-Pull Inflation?
When a rise in disposable income leads to too much demand for too few goods.
39
Define Demographic Change.
A change in the structure of a population.
40
What is Depreciation?
Loss of value over time for fixed assets.
41
What defines a Developed Country?
A relatively rich country with a high GDP.
42
What defines a Developing Country?
A relatively poor country with a low GDP.
43
What are the Dimensions of National Culture?
A model used to compare the differences in cultural values between different countries.
44
What is the role of a Director?
A person responsible for running a company.
45
Define Discrimination.
When one group of people is unfairly treated differently to others.
46
What does Diversification involve?
Selling new products to new markets.
47
What does Divorce between ownership and control mean?
When the owners of a company no longer have total control.
48
What is Earliest Start Time (EST) in network analysis?
The earliest time that an activity can possibly start.
49
Define Economic Growth.
The rate of increase in GDP.
50
What are Economies of Scale?
When the cost of producing each item decreases as the scale of production increases.
51
What are Economies of Scope?
When a single company can make two or more products more cheaply than separate companies.
52
What does Elasticity of Demand show?
The relationship between changes in demand for a product and the change in another variable.
53
What is Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line Model?
A model that assesses performance by considering profit, people, and planet.
54
What is an Embargo?
A ban on trade with particular countries.
55
Define Emergent Strategy.
A form of strategy that develops over time based on experience and changes in the environment.
56
What is an Emerging Economy?
A developing country with a fast-growing economy.
57
What is an Employment Tribunal?
A type of court that hears disputes between employers and employees.
58
What is Equity Capital?
The capital raised by selling shares.
59
Define Ethical in a business context.
Morally and professionally acceptable.
60
What is an Exchange Rate?
The value of one currency in terms of another.
61
What is Fiscal Policy?
The government's method of adjusting tax rates and spending to control the economy.
62
What is a Fixed Asset?
An asset that a business keeps long-term or uses repeatedly.
63
Define Fixed Cost.
A cost that stays the same regardless of production levels.
64
What is a Flat Structure?
An organisational structure that has few layers of management.
65
What is Float Time?
The amount of time a non-critical activity can be delayed without delaying the project.
66
What is Force Field Analysis?
A technique used to analyse forces for and against change.
67
What is Forecasting?
Trying to predict what will happen in the future.
68
What is Franchising?
An agreement allowing one business to use the name and processes of another business.
69
What is a Functional Objective?
An objective of an individual department or business function.
70
What does Gearing measure?
The proportion of a business financed through debt rather than equity.
71
Define Globalisation.
The increase in how interconnected the world is.
72
What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
The total market value of goods and services produced within a nation over a period of time.
73
What is a Historical Budget?
A budget based on previous budgets.
74
What is Human Resource Management (HRM)?
Looks after all the people-related aspects of a business.
75
What does an Income Statement show?
How much money has gone into and out of a company over a period.
76
What is Inflation?
An increase in the price of goods and services.
77
Define Infrastructure.
The basic facilities that allow society to function.
78
What is Innovation?
Coming up with new ideas, products, and processes.
79
What does Insolvent mean?
Unable to pay debts.
80
What is an Interest Rate?
The fee paid for borrowing.
81
Define Inventory.
A business’s entire stock.
82
What is the Inventory Turnover Ratio?
How many times a year a business sells and replaces all its stock.
83
What is Just-in-Time (JIT) Production?
A manufacturing process that operates with very small amounts of stock.
84
What is Kaizen?
A lean production method that encourages constant improvement in quality.
85
What does Kanban refer to?
The system used in JIT production that triggers repeat orders.
86
What is Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard Model?
A model assessing performance using four perspectives: financial, internal business process, learning and growth, and customers.
87
Define Labour Retention.
The proportion of staff that stay at a company for a given period.
88
What is Labour Turnover?
The proportion of staff that leave a company during a given period.
89
What is Latest Finishing Time (LFT) in network analysis?
The latest time that an activity can finish without delaying the project.
90
What does Lean Production aim to achieve?
To reduce waste and increase productivity.
91
What is a Liability?
A debt a business owes.
92
Define Liquidity Ratio.
A ratio showing whether a business has enough liquid assets to pay its short-term liabilities.
93
What is a Living Wage?
The amount of money thought to be enough for an acceptable standard of living.
94
What is Margin of Safety?
The difference between break-even output and actual output.
95
What does Market Development involve?
Selling existing products to new markets.
96
What is the Marketing Mix?
The seven Ps used to market products: price, product, promotion, place, people, physical environment, process.
97
What does Market Mapping compare?
Two aspects of different products or brands in a market.
98
What is Market Penetration?
Trying to increase market share in your existing market.
99
What is Market Share?
The percentage of sales in a market made by one firm or brand.
100
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
A way of considering employees’ needs in a job.
101
What is Mass Customisation?
Combining aspects of bespoke production with the low costs of mass production.
102
What is a Matrix Structure?
A way of organising staff by two different criteria.
103
What is a Merger?
Where two companies agree to join together into one business.
104
What is Migration?
The movement of people from one place to another.
105
Define Minimum Wage.
The lowest amount that someone can legally be paid.
106
What is a Mission Statement?
A written description of a company’s corporate aims.
107
What is Monetary Policy?
The government’s method of controlling inflation and the economy by adjusting interest rates.
108
What is a Monopoly?
When one business has complete control over the market.
109
What does Multinational refer to?
A business with its headquarters in one country and bases in other countries.
110
Define Net Realisable Value.
The amount a company could get by selling its stock in its current state.
111
What is Network Analysis?
A method of calculating project length and scheduling using a set of activities.
112
What is New Product Development?
Selling new products to existing markets.
113
What is a Node in network analysis?
A feature showing where activities start or finish.
114
Define Objective in business.
A medium- to long-term target.
115
What is Offshoring?
When a firm has activities carried out abroad.
116
What is Opportunity Cost?
The idea that money or time spent doing one thing means missing out on doing something else.
117
What is Organic Growth?
When a business grows from within.
118
Define Organisational Culture.
The way things are done within a business.
119
What is Organisational Design?
The structure or hierarchy of a company.
120
What is Outsourcing?
When a firm has activities carried out by another specialist company.
121
What is Payable?
Money that a business owes.
122
What is Payables Days Ratio?
The number of days it takes a firm to pay for goods bought on credit.
123
What does Planned Strategy involve?
All strategic planning being done before it is implemented.
124
What is Porter’s Five Forces Model?
A framework for analysing competition within an industry.
125
What does Porter’s Strategic Matrix identify?
A competitive strategy based on competitive advantage and market scope.
126
What are Porter’s Three Generic Strategies?
Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.
127
What does Privatisation mean?
When state-owned firms are sold to private companies.
128
What is a Product?
A good or a service.
129
Define Productivity.
The output per worker in a given time period.
130
What is Profit?
The difference between total revenue and total costs.
131
What is a Protected Characteristic?
A characteristic that cannot be discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010.
132
What is a Protectionist Policy?
A policy designed to protect domestic suppliers by restricting imports.
133
What is Quality Assurance?
Measures introduced to ensure quality products.
134
What is a Quality Circle?
A meeting of employees to discuss quality.
135
What is Quality Control?
Checking goods as they are made for quality.
136
What is a Quota?
A limit on the quantity of a product that can be imported or produced.
137
What does Re-shoring involve?
Bringing activities back to the country it is based in.
138
What is a Receivable?
Money owed to a business.
139
What is Receivables Days Ratio?
The number of days a business has to wait to be paid for goods supplied on credit.
140
What is a Recession?
A temporary decline in a country’s economic activity.
141
What is a Regional Structure?
A way of organising a business based on geographical location.
142
What does Regulation refer to?
Government rules that apply to all firms in a particular industry.
143
What is Retrenchment?
When a business decreases in size.
144
What does Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) show?
How much money is made compared to how much has been put into the business.
145
What does Return on Investment (ROI) calculate?
How efficient an investment is.
146
What is Revenue?
The value of sales.
147
What is a Sanction?
A restriction on trade with a particular country.
148
What is Scientific Management?
A method ensuring every worker is doing the right job efficiently.
149
What is a Shareholder?
A person that owns a share of a company.
150
What is a Single Market?
Countries with few trade barriers allowing goods and labour to move freely.
151
What is a Sole Trader?
A self-employed individual trading under their own name.
152
What is a Stakeholder?
Anyone with an interest in a business.
153
What is Strategic Drift?
When a business’s strategy doesn’t adapt to changes in the environment.
154
What is a Strategy?
A medium- to long-term plan for achieving a business’s objectives.
155
What is SWOT Analysis?
A method of assessing a business’s current situation by looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
156
What are Tactics?
Short-term plans for implementing strategy.
157
What is a Takeover?
When one firm buys over 50% of the shares of another.
158
What is a Tall Structure?
An organisational structure with many layers of management.
159
What is the Tannenbaum Schmidt Continuum?
A scale used to define managers based on their decision-making style.
160
What is a Tariff?
A tax on imports or exports to restrict trade.
161
What is Time Series Analysis (TSA)?
Recording data over time to identify trends.
162
What is Total Equity?
The total money put into a business by shareholders.
163
What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?
A system involving the whole workforce in quality improvements.
164
What is a Trade Bloc?
A group of countries with few trade barriers between them.
165
What is a Trade Union?
A group acting on behalf of employees in negotiations with employers.
166
What is Urbanisation?
An increase in the proportion of a population that lives in towns and cities.
167
What is a Variable Cost?
A cost that varies depending on how much business a firm does.
168
What is Variance?
The difference between a budgeted figure and an actual figure.
169
What is Venture Capital?
High-risk investment in a business, in the form of share or loan capital.
170
What is a Wage-Price Spiral?
A cycle where wage increases cause price increases, leading to further wage increases.
171
What is Working Capital?
Money available for day-to-day spending.
172
What is the World Trade Organisation (WTO)?
An international organisation that encourages trade between member countries.
173
What is a Zero-Based Budget?
A budget based on specific spending plans for the year ahead.
