Business+Studies+Glossary


 * GLOSSARY **
 * accountability: ** when a business acts in the best and highest interests of its owners. Full and complete ‘disclosure’, which means to be open and not hide the truth, ensures that the books of account are kept accurately and that the information reflected in them, and which is summarised in reports, is based on the true and actual transactions. Another term for accountability is stewardship.
 * accounting: ** a managerial and administrative tool for recording financial transactions, so that a summary of what has happened to business money can be traced
 * acquisition: ** (takeover) when one business takes control of another business by purchasing a controlling interest in it
 * assets: ** items of value to the business that can be given a monetary value
 * audit: ** an independent check of the accuracy of financial records and accounting procedures
 * Australian Business Number (ABN): ** a single identifying number that a business uses when dealing with government departments and agencies
 * autocratic leadership style: ** the manager tends to make all the decisions, dictates work methods, limits worker knowledge about what needs to be done to the next step to be performed, frequently checks employee performance and sometimes gives feedback that is punitive.
 * award: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an employee's minimum pay and conditions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">balance of payments (BOP): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a record of a country's trade and financial transactions with the rest of the world over time, usually one year
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">balance sheet: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a statement of the business's assets and liabilities (financial position) at a particular time using the heading ‘as at’ to pinpoint when it was created
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">bank overdraft: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the bank allows a business to overdraw their account up to an agreed limit for a specified time, to overcome a temporary cash shortfall.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">bankruptcy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a declaration that a business or person is unable to pay his or her debts
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">behavioural approach: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (to management) stresses that people (employees) should be the main focus of the way in which the business is organised
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">benchmark: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a standard by which something can be measured or judged
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">best practice: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> business practices that are regarded as the best or of the highest standard in the industry
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">body language: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the use of gestures, facial expressions and posture to communicate
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">brand: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a name, term, symbol or design that identifies a specific product and distinguishes it from its competitors
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">brand logo: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a graphic representation that identifies a business or product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">break-even analysis: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> used to determine the level of sales that needs to be generated to cover the total cost of production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">budget: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the business's financial plan for the future
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">bureaucracy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the set of rules and regulations that control a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> can be defined as the organised effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, the products that satisfy individuals' needs and wants
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business activity statement (BAS): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> records a business's claim for input tax credits and accounts for GST payable
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business (corporate) culture: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the values, ideas, expectations and beliefs shared by members of the organisation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business environment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the surrounding conditions in which the business operates. It can be divided into two broad categories: internal and external.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business ethics: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the application of moral standards to business behaviour
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business information system (BIS): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (also referred to as a **management information system (MIS)**) gathers data, organises and summarises them, and then converts them into practical information
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business life cycle: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the stages of growth and development a business can experience
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business opportunity: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> can be described as something an entrepreneur can see as an avenue to success. It is often identified when a person believes they can provide a good or service in a better or different way from those already on the market.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">business plan: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ‘road map’ for future growth and development within a business. It sets out the desired goals and direction of the business.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">cash flow: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the money coming into the business in the form of cash receipts, and the money leaving the business as cash payments
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">cash flow projection: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the changes to the cash position brought about by the operating, investing and financial activities of the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">cash flow statement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> shows the movement of cash receipts (inflows, such as money from sales) and cash payments
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">chain of command: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a system that determines responsibility, supervision and accountability of members of the organisation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">change: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> any alteration in the business and work environment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">change agent: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a person or group of people who act as catalysts, assuming responsibility for managing the change process
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">change management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a methodical approach to dealing with change, both from the perspective of a business and on the individual level
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">channels of distribution: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> ways of getting the product to the customer
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">choice: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the act of selecting among alternatives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">classical approach: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (to management) stresses how best to manage and organise workers so as to improve productivity (output)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">closing stock: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the value of stock on hand at the end of the financial year
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">common law (employment) contract: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when employers and employees have the right to sue for compensation if either party does not fulfil their part of the contract
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">communication: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the exchange of information between people; the sending and receiving of messages
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">compensation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the payment or benefits (or both) an employee receives in exchange for their labour
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">competition: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> rivalry among businesses that seek to satisfy a market
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">competitive advantage: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the strategies used by a business to gain an ‘edge’ over its competitors
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">complementary business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a business that sells a similar range of goods and services
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">computer aided design (CAD): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a computerised design tool that allows the business to create product possibilities from a series of input data
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">computer aided manufacture (CAM): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> software that controls the manufacturing process
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">conflict of interest: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a person takes advantage of a situation or piece of information for his or her own gain rather than for the employer's interest
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">consumer buying behaviour: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the decisions and actions of consumers when they purchase goods and services for personal household use
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">contingencies: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> unanticipated events that can lead to financial difficulty. For a business to be well managed, it needs to have saved money for such events.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">contingency approach: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the need for flexibility and adaptation of management practices and ideas to suit changing circumstances
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">continuous improvement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an ongoing commitment to achieving perfection
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">control process: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> establishing standards in line with the goals of the business, measuring the performance of the business against those standards or benchmarks, and making changes where necessary to ensure that the goals of the business have been met
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">controlling: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> compares what was intended to happen with what has actually occurred
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">Corporate Code of Conduct: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a set of ethical standards for managers and employees to abide by
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">cost of goods sold (COGS): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the value of stock that a business has sold to its customers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">creditors: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> those people or businesses who are owed money
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">curriculum vitae **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> or **résumé:** a summary of a person's previous employment experience
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">data: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> unprocessed facts and figures such as sales figures and customer complaints
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">debt finance: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> money obtained through loans
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">decision making: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of identifying the options available and then choosing a specific course of action to solve a specific problem
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">delegation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the handing over of certain tasks or responsibilities to an employee who is suitably capable and qualified to carry them out
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">deregulation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the removal of government regulation from industry, with the aim of increasing efficiency and improving competition
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">development: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> activities that prepare staff to take greater responsibility in the future
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">dismissal: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the behaviour of an employee is unacceptable and it then becomes necessary for a business to terminate the employee's employment contract
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">diversification: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (or conglomerate integration) when a business acquires or merges with a business in a completely unrelated industry
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">dividend: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> part of a business's profit that is divided among shareholders
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">division: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the separation of key business functions into specialised units or departments. The business is divided into functional areas.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">driving forces: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> forces that support the change
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">e-business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (electronic business) using the Internet to conduct business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">ecological sustainability: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when economic growth meets the needs of the present population without endangering the ability of future generations to meet their needs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">e-commerce: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the buying and selling of goods and services via the internet
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">economic cycles: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (or business cycles) periods of growth (‘boom’) and recession (‘bust’) that occur as a result of fluctuations in the general level of economic activity
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">economic growth: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a nation increases the real value of goods and services over a period of time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">economy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a system used to determine what to produce, how to produce and to whom production will be distributed
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">effectiveness: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> measures the degree to which a goal has been achieved
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">efficiency: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> compares the resources needed to achieve a goal (the costs) against what was actually achieved (the benefits)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">elaborately transformed manufactures (ETMs): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> manufactured goods that are highly processed and valued. They are complex because of the amount of processing they have undergone.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">employee selection: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> gathering information about each applicant for a position, then using that information to choose the most appropriate applicant
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">employee training: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of teaching staff how to perform their job more efficiently and effectively by boosting their knowledge and skills
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">employment contract: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a legally binding, formal agreement between an employer and an employee
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">enterprise agreement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a negotiated arrangement between an employer and a union or a group of employees
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">entrepreneur: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> someone who starts, operates and assumes the risk of a business venture in the hope of making a profit
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">equity finance: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the funds contributed by the business owner(s) to start and then expand the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">establishment costs: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> costs involved in setting up the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">e-tailer: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an electronic retailer
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">evaluation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of assessing whether the business has achieved stated objectives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">expenses: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> costs. Specifically, expenses are the costs incurred in the process of acquiring or manufacturing a good or service to sell and the costs (direct and indirect) associated with managing all aspects of the sales of that good or service.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">external environment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> factors over which the business has very little control
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">external recruitment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> filling job vacancies with people from outside the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">Fairtrade: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a trading partnership that seeks greater equity (fairness) in international trade. It promotes the rights of marginalised workers, especially in low-income countries.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">finance: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> how a business funds its activities — for instance, where it gets the money to trade, why it chooses to use certain lenders — as well as the costs, risks and benefits of different types of borrowings
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">financial resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> funds the business uses to meet its obligations to various creditors
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">financial statements: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> reports that summarise transactions over a period of time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">finished product: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> product that is ready for customers to buy and use
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">fixed costs (FC): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> costs that do not vary regardless of how many units of a good or service are produced
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">flatter organisational structures: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> evolved due to a ‘de-layering’ of management structures resulting in the elimination of one or more management levels
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">flexible manufacturing: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> production by computer controlled machines that can adapt to various versions of the same operation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">float: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the raising of capital in a company through the sale of shares to the public
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">forecasts (or projections): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the business's predictions about the future
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">franchise: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> buying the rights from another business to distribute its product under its name
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">franchisee: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an individual or business that purchases a franchise
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">franchisor: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an individual or business that grants a franchise
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">geographical spread: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the presence of a business and the range of its products across a suburb, city, state or country or the globe
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">global business **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">, or **transnational corporation (TNC):** a large business with a home base in one country that operates partially owned or wholly owned businesses in other countries
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">globalisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process that sees people, goods, money and ideas moving around the world faster and more cheaply than before
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">goal: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a desired outcome (target) that an individual or business intends to achieve within a certain time frame
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">goods: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> items that can be seen or touched
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">goods and services tax (GST): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a broad-based tax of 10 per cent on the supply of most goods and services consumed in Australia
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">goodwill: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the monetary value attached to the reputation of a particular business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">government enterprises: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> government-owned and operated businesses
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">grant: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> any monetary or financial assistance that does not generally have to be repaid
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">gross domestic product (GDP): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the total money value of all goods and services produced in Australia over a one-year period
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">gross profit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the term given to the sales less cost of goods sold (COGS)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">high technology (hi-tech): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a broad term used to describe new and innovative types of businesses that depend on advanced scientific and engineering knowledge
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">holistic: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an approach that looks at the whole picture
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">horizontal integration: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a business acquires or merges with another firm that makes and sells similar products
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">human resource/employment cycle: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> covers all stages in the process of employing staff, from initial planning through to recruitment, selection, induction, training and development, performance management, and eventual separation of employment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">human resource management (HRM): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> in its simplest terms, defined as the effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and the employees
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">human resource planning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the development of strategies to meet the business's future staffing needs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">human resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the employees of the business and are generally its most important asset
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">income: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> money received by a person for providing his or her labour, or a business from a return on its investments
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">income statement **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">, or **statement of financial performance:** a summary of the income earned and the expenses incurred over a period of trading. It helps users of information see exactly how much money has come into the business as revenue, how much has gone out as expenditure and how much has been derived as profit.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">incorporated: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process companies go through to become a separate legal entity from the owner/s
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">incorporation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process that companies go through to become incorporated, i.e. to become a registered company and a separate legal entity
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">incremental change: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> results in minor changes, usually involving only a few employees
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> businesses that are involved in similar types of production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">inertia: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an unenthusiastic response to proposed change
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">information: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> processed data that have been deliberately selected and organised to be useful to an individual manager
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">information resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the knowledge and data required by the business, such as market research, sales reports, economic forecasts, technical material and legal advice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">innovation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an improvement on something already established
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">input tax credit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an allowable tax deduction that a business can claim for any GST included in the price of business inputs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">inputs: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> resources used in the process of production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">insolvent: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a company is not able to pay its debts as and when they fall due
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">intangibles: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> services that cannot be touched
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">interdependence: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the mutual dependence that the key functions have on one another. The key business functions work best when they overlap, and employees work towards common goals. For each function area to perform at capacity, it depends on the support of the others.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">interest: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the cost of borrowing money
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">internal environment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> factors over which the business has some degree of control
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">internal recruitment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> filling job vacancies with present employees, rather than looking outside the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">interpersonal (people) skills: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> those skills needed to work and communicate with other people and to understand their needs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">intrapreneur: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an individual who takes on the entrepreneurial roles within a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">invention: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the development of something new
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">involuntary cessation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the owner is forced to cease trading by the creditors of the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">involuntary separation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an employee is asked to leave the business against their will
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">job analysis: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a systematic study of each employee's duties, tasks and work environment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">job description: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a written statement describing the employee's duties, tasks and responsibilities associated with the job
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">job specification: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a list of the key qualifications needed to perform a particular job in terms of education, skills and experience
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">labour productivity: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> how much an employee can produce in a set period of time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">leadership: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ability to influence people to set and achieve specific goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">leadership style: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a manager's way of doing things — their behaviour and attitude
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">lean manufacturing/production: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an operational strategy aimed at achieving the shortest possible production time by eliminating waste
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">learning organisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> monitors and interprets its environment, seeking to improve its understanding of the relationship between its actions and its environment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">leasing: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a long-term source of borrowing for businesses. It involves the payment of money for the use of equipment that is owned by another party.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">liabilities: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> items of debt owed to other organisations (e.g. suppliers, banks) and include loans, accounts to be paid by the business, mortgages, credit card debt and accumulated expenses
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">limited liability: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a feature of corporate ownership that limits each owner's financial liability to the amount of money he or she has paid for the business's shares
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">liquidation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an independent and suitably qualified person — the liquidator — is appointed to take control of the business with the intention of selling all the company's assets in an orderly and fair way in order to pay the creditors
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">liquidity: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the amount of cash a business has access to and how readily it can convert its assets into cash so that debt can be paid
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">local business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> has a very restricted geographical spread; it serves the surrounding area
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">logistics: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the management of business operations, such as the purchasing, storage, transportation and delivery of goods along the supply chain
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">long-term growth: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ability of a business to continually expand
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">maintenance: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the provision of working conditions to encourage employees to remain with the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (contemporary definition) the process of working with and through other people to achieve business goals in a changing environment. Crucial to this process is the effective and efficient use of limited resources.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">management consultant: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> someone who has specialised knowledge and skills within an area of business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">management hierarchy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the arrangement that provides increasing authority at higher levels of the hierarchy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">manager: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> someone who coordinates the business's limited resources in order to achieve specific goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">manipulation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the skilful or devious exertion of influence over someone to get them to do what you want
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">market analysis: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> collecting, summarising and analysing information about the state of the market, customers, the threats and opportunities that the market presents, and any advantages or disadvantages that the business is likely to have over its competitors
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">market concentration: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the number of competitors in a particular market. There are four main types of market concentration.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">market segmentation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the total market is subdivided into groups of people who share one or more common characteristic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">market share: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the business's share of the total industry sales for a particular product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">marketing: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives (American Marketing Association). A more simplified definition is that marketing is a total system of interacting activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute products to present and potential customers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">marketing concept: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a business philosophy that states that all sections of the business are involved in satisfying a customer's needs and wants while achieving the business's objectives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">marketing mix: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the combination of the four elements of marketing, the four Ps — product, price, promotion and place — that make up the marketing strategy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">marketing strategies: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> actions undertaken to achieve the business's marketing goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">mass marketing: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> seeks a large range of customers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">mass production: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of manufacturing standardised goods on a huge scale by automation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">mentor: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> someone — usually a more experienced employee — who helps develop a less experienced employee (the protégé)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">mentoring: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of developing another individual by offering tutoring, coaching and modelling acceptable behaviour
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">merger: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the owners of two separate businesses agree to combine their resources and form a new organisation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">micro business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> employs fewer than five people (including the owner)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">modifying: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of changing existing plans, using updated information to shape future plans
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">monitoring: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of measuring actual performance against planned performance
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">monopolistic competition: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> where there is a large number of buyers and sellers in a particular market, e.g. local retailing shops
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">monopoly: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> complete concentration by one firm in the industry, e.g. Australia Post
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">mortgage: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a loan secured on some type of asset
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">motivation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the individual, internal process that directs, energises and sustains a person's behaviour
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">multiskilling: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> allows employees to develop skills in a wide range of tasks through ongoing training
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">national business: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> business that operates within just one country
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">net profit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the difference between the gross profit and operating and non-operating expenses
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">niche market: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a narrowly selected target market segment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">nonverbal communication: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> any message that is not written or spoken
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">objective: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a specific statement detailing what a business (or individual) needs to achieve in order to accomplish its vision
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">occupational health and safety (OH&S): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the responsibility the employer has to ensure the workplace is safe for employees and that steps are taken to minimise harm
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">oligopoly: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> where a small number of larger firms have a greater control over a market, e.g. car manufacturers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">on-costs: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> payments for non-wage benefits
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">opening stock: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the value of stock (or inventory) that the business has at the start of the financial year
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operating costs: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> costs involved in the ordinary day-to-day running of the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operating expenses: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> all the costs of running the business except the cost of goods sold
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operational objectives: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> short-term issues and describe the course of action necessary to achieve the tactical objective and strategic goal
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operational planning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> specific details about the way in which the business will operate in the short term
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operations: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the business processes that involve transformation or, more generally, ‘production’
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">operations management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> all the activities in which managers engage to produce a good or service
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">organisation process: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the range of activities that translate the goals of a business into reality
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">organisational structure: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the framework in which the business defines how tasks are divided, resources are used, and departments are coordinated
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">organising: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the structuring of the organisation to translate plans and goals into action
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">outputs: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the end result of a business's efforts — the service or product that is delivered or provided to the consumer
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">outsourcing: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the use of external sources or businesses to undertake business functions or activities for the business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">owner's equity: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the funds contributed by the owner(s) to establish and build the business. It is also called ‘capital’.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">packaging: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the development of a container and the graphic design for a product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">participative **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> or **democratic leadership style:** a style in which the manager consults with employees to ask their suggestions and then seriously considers those suggestions when making decisions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">partnership: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a legal business structure that is owned and operated by between two and 20 people with the aim of making a profit
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">percentage mark-ups: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> increase the cost price by a fixed percentage to give the selling price
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">perfect competition: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> where there is a large number of small firms that sell similar products. They are unable to differentiate products from each other and so can only use price as a way of achieving market share, e.g. fruit and vegetable growers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">performance standard: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a forecast level of performance against which actual performance can be compared
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">physical resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> resources including equipment, machinery, buildings and raw materials
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">planning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the preparation of a predetermined course of action for a business; the process of setting targets and deciding how to achieve them
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">primary industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> those businesses in which production is directly associated with natural resources
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">primary target market: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the market segment at which most of the marketing resources are directed
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">privatisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of transferring the ownership of a government business to the private sector
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">proactive: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a management style that incorporates dynamic action and forward planning to achieve particular objectives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">problem solving: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a broad set of activities involved in searching for, identifying and then implementing a course of action to correct an unworkable situation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">product: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a good or service that can be bought or sold
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">product life cycle: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the life of a product over four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">product positioning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the development of a product image compared with the image of competing products
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">production: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> activities undertaken by the business that combine the resources to create products that satisfy customers' needs and wants
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">profit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> what remains after all business expenses have been deducted from sales revenue
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">profit maximisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when there is a maximum difference between the total revenue (that is, the number of sales made multiplied by the price) coming into the business and total costs being paid out
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">promotion: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the methods used by a business to inform, persuade and remind a market about its products
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">proprietary (private) company: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an incorporated business and usually has between two and 50 private shareholders
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">prospectus: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a document giving details of a company and inviting the public to buy shares in it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the degree of excellence of a good or service and its fitness for a stated purpose
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality assurance: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the use of a system so that a business achieves set standards in production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality circles: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> groups of workers who meet to solve problems relating to quality
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality control: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the use of inspections at various points in the production process to check for problems and defects
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the strategy which a business uses to make sure that its products meet customer expectations
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quality of life: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the overall wellbeing of an individual, and is a combination of both material and non-material benefits
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quaternary industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> industry involved in services that involve the transfer and processing of information and knowledge
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">quinary industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> industry involved in all services that have traditionally been performed in the home
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">realisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of converting the assets of a business into cash
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">receivership: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> where a business has a receiver take charge of the affairs of the business. Unlike liquidation, the business may not necessarily be wound up.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">recruitment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of attracting qualified job applicants from which to select the most appropriate person for a specific job
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">redundancy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a particular job a person is doing is no longer required to be performed, usually due to technological changes, a merger or takeover
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">regulations: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> rules, laws or orders that businesses must follow
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">remuneration package: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the combination of monetary and non-monetary benefits
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">research and development (R&D): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a set of activities undertaken to improve existing products, create new products and improve production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">resignation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> or ‘quitting’, a voluntary ending of the employment relationship
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">resource allocation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the efficient distribution of resources so as to successfully meet the goals that have been established
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">restraining forces: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> forces that work against the change
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">retirement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an employee decides to give up fulltime or part-time work
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">retrenchment: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a business dismisses an employee because there is not enough work to justify paying him or her
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">return: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> any profit that investors make from their investment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">revenue: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> money a business receives as payment for its products
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">risk: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the possibility of loss
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">salary: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a fixed amount of money paid on a regular basis, usually fortnightly or monthly, to a permanent employee of a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">scientific management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an approach that studies a job in great detail to discover the best way to perform it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">secondary industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> industry involved in taking a raw material and making it into a finished or semi-finished product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">secondary target market: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> usually a smaller and less important market segment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">separation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ending of the employment relationship
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">services: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> things done for you by others
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">share: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a part ownership of a public company
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">shareholders: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> people who are part owners of a company because they own a number of shares
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">sigma-six: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a process in which 99.99 per cent of all manufactured products are defect free
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">simply transformed manufactures (STMs): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> characterised by their ability to be further processed in a wide range of processes. STMs are manufactured goods that are intermediate by nature. Due to the limited amount of transformation they have undergone, STMs have only a small amount of value added.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">skill: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ability that comes from the knowledge, practice and talent to do something well
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">skills audit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a process that establishes the current skills levels of employees and future skills requirements
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">skills inventory: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a database containing information on the skills, abilities and qualifications of existing staff
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">social justice: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> adopting a set of policies to ensure that employees or other community members are treated equally and fairly
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">social responsibility: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a business's management of the social, environmental, political and human consequences of its actions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">socialisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process a new employee undergoes in the first few weeks of employment through which he or she learns how to cope and succeed
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">sole trader: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a business that is owned and operated by only one person
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">specialisation of labour: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the degree to which tasks are divided into separate jobs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">staff involvement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> involving employees in the decision-making process and giving them the necessary skills and rewards
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">stakeholder: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> any group or individual who has an interest in or is affected by the activities of a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">stakeholder engagement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> businesses sharing information with and seeking input from stakeholders, and involving them in decision making
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">strategic goals: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> long-term, broad aims and apply to the business as a whole
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">strategic planning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> planning for the following three to five years. This level of planning will assist in determining where in the market the business wants to be, and what the business wants to achieve in relation to its competitors.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">strategic thinking: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> allows a manager to see the business as a whole and to take the broad, long-term view
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">strategies: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the actions that a business takes to achieve specific goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">structural change: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> changes in the business's structure — that is, the organisation chart
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">superannuation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a scheme set up by the federal government. It requires all employers to make a financial contribution to a fund that employees can access when they leave or retire from a job.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">support services: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the activities needed to assist the core operations or prime function of a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">sustainability report/social audit: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a report that details what a business has done, and is doing, concerning social issues that affect it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">sustainable competitive advantage: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the ability of a business to develop strategies that will ensure it has an ‘edge’ over its competitors for a long period of time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">sustainable development: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the needs of the present population are met without endangering the ability of future generation to meet their own needs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">(SWOT) analysis: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the identification and analysis of the internal strengths and weaknesses of the business, and the opportunities in, and threats from, the external environment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">tactical objectives: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> mid-term, departmental issues and describe the course of action necessary to achieve the business's strategic goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">tactical planning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> flexible, adaptable planning, usually over one to two years, that assists in implementing the strategic plan
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">tangibles: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> goods that can be touched
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">target market: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a group of customers with similar characteristics who presently, or who may in the future, purchase the product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">taxation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the compulsory payment of a proportion of earnings to the government
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">teamwork: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> people who interact regularly and coordinate their work towards a common goal
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">tertiary industry: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> industry involved in performing a service for other people
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">time and motion study: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a process of examining each of the steps in a production procedure and the time taken to perform them
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">total cost (TC): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> cost of producing a certain number of goods or services; the sum of the fixed and variable costs for those units
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">total quality management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> an ongoing, business-wide commitment to excellence that is applied to every aspect of the business's operation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">total revenue (TR): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the total amount received from the sales of a good or service
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">Trade Practices Act 1974: //**<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a law that protects both consumers and businesses. It protects consumers from deceptive or misleading practices, and it regulates the trade practices of businesses.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">traditional definition of management: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of coordinating a business's resources to achieve its goals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">training: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the process of teaching staff how to perform their job more efficiently and effectively by boosting their knowledge and skills
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">transformation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the conversion of inputs (resources) into outputs (goods or services)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">transformational change: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> often results in a complete restructure throughout the whole organisation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">transnational (multinational) corporation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a company that has branches in many different countries
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">triple bottom line: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the economic, environmental and social performance of a business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">undercapitalisation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when there is a lack of sufficient funds to operate a business normally
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">unfair dismissal: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an employer dismisses an employee for discriminatory reasons, such as firing someone because they are pregnant
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">unlimited liability: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the business owner is personally responsible for all the debts of his or her business
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">value added: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the creation of extra or added value as raw materials are transformed into intermediate or finished products through the various stages of production
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">variable costs (VC): **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> costs that depend on the number of goods or services produced
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">venture capital: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> money that is invested in small and sometimes struggling businesses that have the potential to become very successful
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">vertical integration: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when a business expands at different but related levels in the production and marketing of a product
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">vision: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> the clear, shared sense of direction that allows people to attain a common goal
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">vision statement: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> states the purpose of the business; states what the business aspires to become; its purpose and its function
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">voluntary administration: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an independent administrator is appointed to operate the business in the hope of trading out of the present financial problems
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">voluntary cessation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when the owner ceases to operate the business of their own accord
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">voluntary separation: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> when an employee chooses to leave the business of their own free will
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">wage: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> money received by workers, usually on a weekly basis, for services they provide to an employer
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">workplace democracy: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> (or empowerment) the move towards increasing the influence of employees in decisions affecting their organisation and their jobs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;">zoning: **<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif;"> a means by which local councils allocate land for different uses, such as residential, commercial, recreational and industrial