Selected Areas or Research

Depression – that part of the trade cycle that is marked by a large fall in output, high unemployment, low prices, low business activity, and by lack of confidence in the minds of businessmen and industrialists.

Digital economy – the management of money, goods, services and resources of an organization, a society, a country, etc. in an electronic way over the Internet.

Discount – a reduction in the cost of goods or services.

Divide –

- to separate into groups or parts, or to make people or things separate into groups or parts: The problem is divided into four parts.

- to separate something into smaller parts and share the parts between people or things: Decide how you would like to divide the money.

Dividend – a sum of money paid to shareholders as their part of the company’s profit.

Dividend discount model – mathematical formula used generally by stockbrokers to determine the selling price of a firm’s stock (shares). Based on the discounted value of the expected future dividend amounts, it is used usually to spot firms that are undervalued by the stock market but have potential for high returns.

Division – a major independent unit of a large company.

Dress code — a set of rules about what you should wear in a particular place or at a particular event.

Drive — ambition and determination.

Dumping – (in international trade) the practice of selling a product at a lower price in a foreign country than in the home market.

E

E-commerce (electronic commerce) – commercial activity that takes place over the Internet.

Economic indicators – statistics that show the strength or weakness of a country’s economy.

Economics — the study of the way that goods and services are produced and sold and the way that money is managed.

Economy:

- the system by which a country’s trade, industry, and money are organized, and all the business, industry, and trade in that system;

- the careful use of something so that very little is wasted, or an example of using something carefully.

The pragmatism and flexibility of Americans has resulted in an unusually dynamic economy. Change – whether produced by growing affluence, technological innovation, or growing trade with other nations – has been a constant in American economic history. The once agrarian country is now far more urban – and suburban – today than it was 100, or even 50, years ago. Services have become increasingly important relative to traditional manufacturing. In some industries, mass production has given way to more specialized production that emphasizes product diversity and customization. Large corporations have merged, split up, and reorganized. New industries and companies that did not exist at the midpoint of the 20^th century now play a major role in the nation’s economic life.

Economic Activity. Until the mid-1970s the proportion of economic activity controlled by the government and the share of taxes in national income tended to increase in most countries. Since then challenges to this growth in the role of government have become increasingly influential, and moves to privatization have been common. There are several types of privatization. One involves the sale to private owners of state-owned assets, and this is most correctly called privatization. Publicly owned houses may be sold to their occupants. Commodity stockpiles may be reduced or disbanded. Increasingly attention has been turned to the sale of publicly owned industries, thus reversing the move to nationalization that occurred around and after World War II.

Economic life – period over which an asset (machine, property, computer system, etc) is expected to be usable, with normal repairs and maintenance, for the purpose it was acquired, rented, or leased. Expressed usually in number of years, process cycles, or units produce, it is usually less than the asset’s physical life, and is the period over which the asset’s depreciation is charged. It is also called average life, service life, effective life, mean life, or useful life.

Economic life appears in the definitions of the following terms: capital lease, projected total life cost, legal life, economic obsolescence, and Wal-Mart effect.

Emerging markets – markets in a transitional phase between ‘developing’ and ‘developed.’

Emotional intelligence/ emotional quotient (EQ) – a set of competencies that govern, control and shape a person’s relationship with his professional environment: self-confidence, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, initiative, persuasiveness, etc.

End-users – last customers in the supply chain.

Entrepreneurship — the managerial or organizational skills needed by most businesses to produce goods and services at a profit.

The capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organization, and management of a productive venture with all attendant risks, while seeking profit as a reward. In economics, entrepreneurship is regarded as a factor of production together with land, labor, natural resources, and capital. Entrepreneurial spirit is characterized by innovation and risk-taking, and an essential component of a nation’s ability to succeed in an ever changing and more competitive global marketplace.

Enterprise –

- industrial or commercial organization;

- a business activity;

- business activities considered as a whole.

The American belief in «free enterprise» has not precluded a major role for government, however. Americans at times have looked to government to break up or regulate companies that appeared to be developing so much power that they could defy market forces. They have relied on government to address matters the private economy overlooks, from education to protecting the environment. And despite their advocacy of market principles, they have used government to nurture new industries, and even to protect American companies from competition.

Equal opportunities – where everyone has the same work opportunities and no-one is treated unfairly because of their race, gender, age etc.

European Union (EU) – the EEC or Common Market, now the European Union (EU), was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, although the UK did not join until 1972. Its main features are: the removal of tariff and quota barriers between member countries; European-wide standards for goods; the removal of border controls between members; and ultimately monetary union, which will mean a single European currency.

Exchange rate mechanism (ERM) – process by which member countries of an economic community (such as the European Union) maintain exchange rate parity among their currencies.

The currencies are allowed to fluctuate with respect to one another within a specified limit. If the exchange rate between any two currencies reaches the limit, the central banks of both countries intervene to bring it back within the limit.

Exit strategy – way to end involvement in something.

Experiment – research method for testing different assumptions (hypotheses) by trial and error under conditions constructed and controlled by the researcher. During the experiment, one or more conditions (called independent variables) are allowed to change in an organized manner and the effects of these changes on associated conditions (called dependent variables) is measured, recorded, validated, and analyzed for arriving at a conclusion.

F

Factors of production — the productive resources of land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship.

Finance — money, used by a company, provided by the shareholders or by a bank, to help run a business;

to finance — to provide money, especially a large amount of money, to pay for something.

Financial accounting standards board (FASB) – independent US body responsible for establishing and interpreting the GAAP mainly for use in the North America. Its accounting standards, generally speaking, result in greater transparency and ease of analysis of a firm’s finances than the accounting standards of several other countries.

The comparable UK body is Accounting Standards Board (ASB).

Financial accounting standards board appears in the definitions of the following terms: Accounting Standards Board, troubled debt restructuring, financial accounting standards, hierarchy of GAAP, accounting principles board.

Fixed charge – lien or mortgage on a specific fixed-asset (such as a parcel of land) to secure the repayment of a loan. In this arrangement the asset is signed over to the creditor and the borrower would need the lender’s permission to sell it.

The lender also registers a charge against the asset which remains in force until the loan is repaid. Also called fixed debenture.

Fixed income investment – money invested in bonds, certificates or deposit, preferred stock (preference shares), etc., which regularly generate a fixed amount of interest income. Such investments are preferable during periods of low inflation, but their worth is eroded during periods of high inflation. Also called fixed interest investment.

Fragmentation – when something breaks into smaller pieces.

Franchise:

– authorization given by a company for others to use its name and sell its goods or services in a certain area for a stated period of time;

- a business selling named goods or services.

Free enterprise:

– an economic system that allows people to own capital and run businesses;

- an economic system that allows businesses to compete for profit without much government control.

from scratch – from the beginning.

Fundamental analysis – method of evaluating a security (bond, note, and share) by investigating the intrinsic (fundamental) value of the business that issued the security. Fundamental analysis believe that a firm’s competitive advantage, earnings growth, sales revenue growth, market share, financial reserves, and quality of management all reflected in its financial statements and together called «fundamental information» are the true indicators of its earning potential and future value of its securities. In contrast, proponents of technical analysis focus on the past and present movements in the market price of a security to estimate its future value.

G

Gain – increase in wealth; profit; an increase in amount.

Global – affecting or involving the whole world; operating across geographical borders; worldwide.

Going concern – a company as an operating business making profit.

Going private/ go private – the transition from public ownership to private ownership of a company’s shares either by the company’s repurchase of shares or through purchases by an outside private investor.

Goods – and article or commodity that is the subject of manufacture and trade.

Go public – become a public company with shares offered for sale on the stock exchange.

Government –

- the people who control a country or area and make decision about its laws and taxes: The government has announced plans to raise the minimum wage next year.

A democratically elected government; government policy/ ministers.

In British English, government can be used with a singular or plural verb. You can say the government is unpopular or the government are unpopular.

- the process, method, or effects of governing a country or area: I’m not sure these reforms will necessarily lead to more effective government.

The Civil Service is concerned with the conduct of the whole range of governmental activities as they affect the community, ranging from policy formulation to carrying out the day-to-day duties of public administration. In the UK, civil servants are servants of the Crown. For all practical purposes the Crown in this context means and is represented by the government of the day. In most circumstances the executive powers of the Crown are exercised by and on the advice of Her Majesty’s Ministers, who are in turn answerable to the Parliament. The Civil Service as such has no constitutional personality or responsibility separate from the Government of the day. The duty of the individual civil servant is first and foremost to the minister of the Crown who is in charge of the department in which he or she is serving.

Recruitment to the Civil Service is by open competition and the system of promotion within the Service is on merit. A change of minister, for whatever reason, does not involve the change of staff. The functions of the civil servants remain the same whichever political party is in power. Ministers sometimes appoint special advisers from outside the Civil Service. This practice has a long history. Special advisers are usually paid from public funds, but they are not permanent officials and their appointments finish when the Government’s term of office ends, or when their minister moves to a different department or leaves the Government.

Gross domestic product (GDP) — key indicator of an economy’s health, annual value of goods sold and services paid for inside a country.

Economic gloom and doom aside, America remains the world’s richest large country. Its’ generally estimated to have a per capita GDP level around $45,000, while the richest European nations manage only a $40,000 or so per capita GDP (setting aside low population, oil-rich state like Norway). Wealth underlies America’s sense of itself as a special country, and it’s also cited evidence that America is better than other economies on a range of variables, from economic freedom to optimism to business savvy to work ethic.

Gross national product (GNP) — a measure of the nation’s total output of goods and services per year.

GNP is a key indicator of an economy’s health; it’s the value of all the goods and services produced by a country in a given period of time, including income from other countries.

Groupware – specialized workgroup software (such as Lotus Notes) that provides structure and means to collaborate, exchange ideas, debate, decide, and coordinate activities. In allows the members of a team to use the same pool of data, via connection to a local or wide-area network (such as Internet) spanning countries and continents.

It is also called collaborative tools.

Groupware appears in the definitions of the following terms: electronic collaboration and enabling technology.

Growth potential – opportunity or ability to get bigger.

H

Hard currency – a relatively stable currency recognized internationally and acceptable in most international transactions.

Health and safety regulations – regulations monitoring health protection and accident prevention in the workplace.

High technology – advanced technology products or services as distinct from traditional products or services.

Holding company – a company holding the whole, or more than half, the share capital of one or more other companies called subsidiaries.

Horizontal integration – the merger of companies at the same stage of production in the same or different industries. When the products of both companies are similar, it is a merger of competitors. When all producers of a good or service in a market merge, it is the creation of a monopoly. If only a few competitors remain, it is termed as oligopoly. It is also called lateral integration.

Humble – with low social status.

I

Income – money that you earn from your job or that you receive from investments.

Indemnity – undertaking given to compensate for (or to provide protection against) injury, loss, incurred penalties, or from a contingent liability.

A shipping company, for example, will ask for a bank’s indemnity for releasing a shipment to a consignee who has lost original shipping documents. The bank in turn will require the consignee to sing a counter-indemnity before issuing its indemnity to the shipping company. This way the consignee gets the release of shipment in completion of a transaction, and both the shipping company and the bank are protected in case some dispute arises out of that transaction.

Index – a figure showing the level of something in relation to earlier levels.

Industry – the production of raw materials and of goods; a particular type of industry or service.

Some industries are characterized by small firms, such as retailing and hairdressing, whereas others have large firms, such as manufacturing. The cost conditions in these different industries play a large part in determining whether or not expansion of firms will lead to larger profits.

Inflation — an economic process in which prices increase so that money becomes less valuable.

Inflation rate/ risk; cost-push inflation; demand-pull inflation.

The government of the UK has allowed one particular policy objective to dominate its actions since the 1970s: the control of inflation. On the grounds that this must be done before any other objective, such as a reduction in unemployment, can be achieved, successive governments have used fiscal and monetary policies to curb inflation.

Inflationary – likely to cause an increase in prices.

Information technology (IT)/ information system/ information services –

The use of electronic processes for storing information and making it available; the formal name for a company’s data-processing department that stores, organizes, monitors and provides access to information.

As computers grow more pervasive, information technology is beginning to have a considerable impact on many aspects of organizations. Major areas of influence include organization structure, individual jobs, and organizational risk.

An information system which is set of procedures designed to collect (or retrieve), process, store, and disseminate information, is a useful tool to support planning, decision making, coordination, and control. Information systems that make use of computers and often referred to as computer-based information systems produce information that is relevant, accurate, timely, complete, and concise, given the particular managerial need.

To serve the needs of different organizational levels, there are five major types of information systems: transaction processing, office automation, management information, decision support, and executive support. Decision support systems and related expert systems represent outgrowths of a specialized information technology field called artificial intelligence.

Infrastructure – the basic systems, structures and services that provide transportation, communication, supplies, etc. and are needed for a country, a city or an organization to function efficiently.

In-house – done or required within a business organization; employed by a business organization.

Innovation – any invention or improved method of designing, producing or distributing goods.

In-store displays – stands used in shops to promote a product.

Insurance – providing money to repair or replace damages or loss in return for the payment of a sum of money according to the degree of risk.

Interest – is the amount paid each year on a loan, usually expressed as a percentage (or rate) of the sum borrowed.

A variety of different rates of interest will exist at any one time, each relating to different types of borrowing, but they are all related and the term interest rate level can be used to describe the average level of interest rates. The Bank of England can affect the interest rate level.

Integration – the combining under one management of two or more units, organizations, concerns, etc. so that they become more effective, make more profits, reduce risk and become more competitive.

Intellectual property — something that someone has created or invented and that no one else is legally allowed to make, copy, or sell.

Inventory to cost of sales ratio – percentage of cost of sales attributable to average inventory. A decreasing number indicates higher efficiency in use of resources; an increasing number suggests potential cash flow problems due to greater sums tied up in inventory.

Investment:

- money that is used in a way that may earn you more money, for example money used for buying shares in a company;

- the process of spending money in order to improve something or make it more successful;

- something that you are willing to spend money on because it will give you benefits in the future.

Investment bank – bank that helps companies by arranging new share issues and providing advice.

Investment portfolio – pool of different investments by which an investor bets to make a profit (or income) while aiming to preserve the invested (principal) amount. These investments are chosen generally on the basis of different risk-reward combinations: from “low risk, low yield” (gilt edged) to ‘high risk, high yield” (junk bonds) ones; or different types of income streams: steady but fixed, or variable but with a potential for growth.

J

Job – a group of homogeneous tasks related by similarity of functions when performed by an employee in an exchange for pay, a job consists of duties, responsibilities, and tasks (performance elements) that are

- defined and specific;

- can be accomplished, quantified, measured, and rated.

From a wider perspective, a job is synonymous with a role and includes the physical and social aspects of a work environment. Often, individuals identify themselves with their job or role (foreman, supervisor, engineer, etc.) and derive motivation from its uniqueness or usefulness.

Job rotation – movement through a variety of roles in the organization.

Joint investment – property, shares or securities owned by more than one person.

Joint-stock company – a business formed by a group of people using money provided by them all.

Just-in-time (JIT) – delivered, produced, or bought just before they are needed, reducing the cost to the firm of keeping goods for long periods of time.

K

Keynesian economics – a school of economic thought founded by the UK economists John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) and developed by his followers. In 1936, at the height of the great depression, Keynes’ landmark book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money caused a paradigm shift for economics: it suddenly replaced their emphasis on study of the economic behavior of individuals and companies (microeconomics) to the study of the behavior of the economy as a whole (macroeconomics).

The main plank of his revolutionary theory is the assertion that the aggregate demand created by households, businesses and the government and not the dynamics of free markets is the most important driving force in a economy. This theory further asserts that free markets have no self-balancing mechanisms that lead to full employment. Keynesian economists urge and justify a government’s intervention in the economy through public policies that aim to achieve full employment and price stability. Their ideas have greatly influenced governments the world-over in accepting their responsibility to provide full or near-full employment through measures (such as deficit spending) that stimulate aggregate demand.

know-how – practical ability; knowledge; expertise and skills in a particular area.

Knowledge –based economy – economy at the turn of the century (and the millennium) which makes increasingly effective use of accumulated knowledge, volume of diverse information, intellectual property and breakthroughs in science and information technology.

L

Laissez-faire — French term meaning «let them do», allowing someone to do what they want to do, and to do it in any way that they want to.

Lame duck – a popular expression for a company in financial difficulty that continuously relies on government help.

Law of demand — all else being equal, more items will be sold at a lower price than at a higher price.

Law of supply — sellers will offer more of a product at a higher price and less at a lower price.

Leadership –

- the position of being a leader;

- the qualities and skills of a good leader;

- the people who are in charge of an organization or country.

Leadership is the activity of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this. In its essence, leadership in an organization role involves:

- establishing a clear vision;

- sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly;

- providing the information, knowledge, and methods to realize that vision;

- coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members or stakeholders.

A leader comes to the forefront in case of crisis, and is able to think and act in creative ways in difficult situation.

Unlike management, leadership flows from the core of a personality and cannot be taught, although it may e learned and may be enhanced through coaching or mentoring.

The individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively.

Leadership appears in the definitions of the following terms: dominant leadership, coach, paternalism, and criterion-related validity.

Leading a team involves motivation, support and maximizing the contribution of individuals to achieve agreed objectives. Leadership is a skill to be learned. It is also a situational matter. What is effective leadership in one situation is ineffective in another. Leading a team is more than barking orders at people. Team leading is about motivating a group of people to work supportively and effectively together. Each member of a team is an individual. Team leading is also about maximizing the contribution that each different individual can make to the team as a whole.

Leadership is usually taken to mean change. The leader is not content with what appears satisfactory today. The leader is constantly seeking better and better results. Leaders have visions of what is possible – and they achieve these visions in different ways. Some inspire followers; others invest in teaching people. Still others see and create a system that people can live within.

Leap –

- to move somewhere suddenly and quickly.

Phrase: leap at the chance/ opportunity/ offer – to accept something quickly and enthusiastically: Our manager leapt at the chance to appear in the show.

- a jump, especially one that is long or high; a sudden increase or improvement: a huge leap in the price of fuel.

Phrase: by/ in leaps and bounds used for saying the something improves quickly or increases a lot: Building work on the library is moving ahead in leaps and bounds.

Lease – a legal contract in which you agree to pay to use someone else’s building, land, or equipment for a particular period of time.

The lease - because of the greater capital required to own real property, most small business owners start out by renting or leasing business space. When an owner decides to rent, an agreement is made with the landlord specifying the amount of rent to be paid and other conditions. The conditions agreed upon, when put into written form and signed by tenant and landlord, make up the lease. A lease is a contract to rent land and/ or buildings for a specified time for a consideration. A lease is usually written and states the tenant's rights and obligations. A written lease is common business practice.

The lease usually states the term of the tenancy in months or years. However, sometimes in unwritten agreements nothing is said about the length of time the property is to be rented to the tenant. This type of tenancy is known as tenancy at will. When the landlord wants the tenant to move, 30 days written notice must be given. The tenant, on the other hand, does not have to give the landlord any notice.

to lease – to have a legal agreement in which someone pays you to use your building, land, or equipment.

Letter/ Business Letter /

Business Correspondence –

The Parts of a Business Letter