Each article in this glossary is like the entry in a general dictionary, but the glossary includes some illustrative texts intended to clarify and to test the discussion

A

AAA –

- top rating awarded to qualifying corporate bonds by the bond rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s (AAA) and Moody’s (Aaa). These ratings mean:

(1) the bonds are of the highest quality,

(2) carry the least degree of investment risk,

(3) are fully expected to pay both interest and principal on time.

Other rating agencies use different designations.

Abandon –

- to leave someone or something and never come back: The manager abandoned the plan of reconstruction. – The stolen car was abandoned only five miles away.

- to stop doing something before it is finished, or before you have achieved your aims: The game had to be abandoned because of rain. – The Board of Directors finally abandoned their attempt on the mountain.

Abbreviated – shorter, because some parts have been removed.

Aberration - something that is not normal or not what you would usually expect.

Ability – the skill that you need in order to do something: she has good organizational abilities.

Phrase: to the best of your ability – as well as you can: Just try to do the job to the best of your ability.

Able to – intelligent, or good at doing something;

To be able to do something – used for saying that it is possible for someone to do something: I don’t know if I’ll be able to come.

In constructions where able is followed by to and the infinitive, the infinitive is nearly always in the active voice: People have traditionally been able to walk into museums free.

Absolute – used for emphasizing an opinion, feeling or statement: The way they have been treated is an absolute disgrace.

Absolute advantage — occurs when one nation can produce an item more efficiently than another.

Acceptable use policy (AUP) –

- corporate, organizational, or internet service provider’s rules governing use of computers, networks, and associated resources.

In general, an AUP states that employees, or users

1. should not try to access system areas for which they do not have authorization;

2. are accountable for what they do;

3. should use the system only for its designed purposes,

4. are responsible for the confidentiality of their passwords;

5. should refrain from illegal activities, and unethical or obscene online (internet) behavior;

6. should not access pornographic material on the internet.

Account –

- an arrangement with a bank allowing individuals and organizations to carry out financial operations;

- contractual relationship between a buyer and a seller under which payment is made at a later time; a regular client of a company.

Accountant - a professional person whose job it to keep and check the financial records of an organization, or to advise clients on tax.

Accounting – a system of recording the money value of business dealings, income and expenditure accounts to enable the management of a concern to see the financial position at any time.

Accounting – Creative accounting – use of unorthodox «massage parlor» techniques which, while following provisions of GAAP, paint a desired (negative or positive, as the case may be) picture of a firm’s finances. The example: selling an asset (whose market value is high but book value is low) to create non-operating profit that offsets operating loss. Unlike cooking the books, creative accounting is generally legal.

Accumulation:

- a collecting together;

- increase or growth by addition especially when continuous or repeated (accumulation of interest).

Acquisition – one company taking over controlling interest in another company.

Advertising – one of the methods of non-price completion which can occur in imperfect competition and in oligopoly. In theory it should not occur in a situation of pure monopoly may advertise to bring their product to the attention of consumers, or to try to enlarge their market, or to consolidate their market position.

Agent:

- a person or organization possessing power to act for another person or organization in making business arrangements with third parties;

- a person or organization that offers a particular service

Aggregator model – electronic commerce business model where a firm (that does no produce or warehouses any item) collects (aggregates) information on goods and/ or services from several competing sources at its website.

The firm’s strength lies in its ability to create an ‘environment’ which draws visitors to its website, and in designing system which allows easy matching of prices and specifications.

See also affiliate model.

Agreement – a spoken or written declaration by two or more persons or organizations who agree that each shall perform certain stated duties in the interests of all.

Affiliate model – electronic commerce business model that enables a firm to generate revenue streams on hundreds (even thousands) of items without carrying inventories, managing orders, processing payments, or handling packaging and shipping.

In this arrangement, a website concentrates on a relationship with a very specific group of individuals as its core competence. It develops and continuously upgrades content and services to attract and retain the patronage of this group. Once it has a sizable number of regular visitors, it can generate revenue by carrying ads or links to merchants with products that its visitors seek or are interested in.

to allocate:

- to divide and distribute for a specific purpose or among particular persons or things;

- to set aside for a particular purpose.

and Company or & Co. – words forming part of the name of a business, pointing to the ownership of the business shared with others.

Application — a letter of an employee asking for employment.

Appraisal – an interview (often annual) between a manager and an employee where they discuss the employee’s performance, training needs and future career path.

Assets:

- something such as money or property that a company owns;

- something that gives you benefits.

Asset management – a service offering advice on investments.

Assignment — task given as part of your studies or your job.

B

Back office – thedepartment of a financial institution performing management and organizational functions rather than working with clients.

Bank – a business organization that performs financial transactions – receiving and having deposits, paying sums out of them by order of the customer, lending money to individuals and organizations at interests, moving money from palce to place, etc.

Bankrupt — a person or business that is bankrupt has officially admitted that they have not money and cannot pay what they owe.

Bankruptcy — a situation in which a person or business becomes bankrupt.

Barter – a method of trading in which goods and services are exchanged without the use of money.

Behavior segmentation – a type of market segmentation based on differences in the consumption behavior of different groups of consumers, taking into account their lifestyles, patterns of buying and using, patterns of spending money and time and similar factors. One of the five common segmentation strategies, its objective is to define specific niches that require custom tailored promotion.

Black Friday – a metaphoric description of a sharp drop in financial markets, by analogy with the events of the original Black Friday of September 24, 1869.

Black Monday – on of the two Mondays – October 28, 1929 and October 19, 1987 – when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged.

Blue collar –

- refers to employees whose fob entails (largely or entirely) physical labor, such as in a factory or workshop. For a piece of work to be termed blue collar, it should be directly related to the output generated by the firm, and its end result should be identifiable or tangible.

Historically, in the West, manual workers wore blue shirt collars but clerical workers wore white.

Board of directors — a group of people chosen by stockholder to watch over a company and its executives, and to set overall corporate policy. Their job is to try to keep the company healthy and ensure stockholders get a good return on their money.

Book-keeping – the recording of all money received into and paid out of a company, including profit and loss account and balance sheet.

Boom – a period in the development of a country or industry when a rising demand for all commodities causes industrial production to expand, prices or wages to rise, and unemployment to fall.

Brand recognition — how well the public knows your company/ products.

Branch – a local office that is part of a larger organization with a main office in a different location.

Brand – a maker’s name, trademark or sign, usually officially registered and protected, put on goods to allow buyers to recognize the make or quality; a particular product.

Brand manager – a manager in a company responsible for developing and selling one particular brand of product.

Break-through innovation – important discovery/ new product.

British Institute of Management (BIM) – the main professional organization for managers in the UK, promoting management studies and education.

Budget – an account of probable future income and expenditure of a company during a stated period.

Business – a firm, company or other organization which makes or produces a product, buys and sells goods or provides some kind of service, usually for the purpose of making a profit; trading generally; the practice of commerce.