839 terms, A to Z.Each in plain words.

Sheth and Sisodia's buyer-side view of the marketing mix: acceptability, affordability, accessibility and awareness.

Includes fixed manufacturing overhead in the cost of each unit.

Chester Barnard's view (1938) that an order has authority only if those who receive it accept it.

The obligation to answer to a superior for the results of assigned work; it flows upward and cannot be delegated away.

Assets = Liabilities + Equity, the identity that every double entry preserves.

The older set of Indian accounting standards, which apply to companies not covered by Ind AS.

Revenues and expenses are recorded when earned or incurred, not when cash is received or paid.

Income earned in the period but not yet received.

McClelland's need for accomplishing challenging goals and excelling at tasks.

A psychometric test of what a person has already learned, such as mathematics or language; aptitude tests show what a person can learn.

A cooperative strategy in which one firm buys a controlling interest in another, which loses its independent identity.

Kurt Lewin's cycle of research whose findings go straight into action and whose results are then studied in turn; the classic form of the OD process.

A group of tasks tied to a cost object, such as scheduling, set-ups, purchasing or inspection.

Allocates overhead to products according to the activities that cause it.

The cost actually incurred, compared with the standard.

Finding a new use for old materials or products; one item under green products and services.

A labour court or industrial tribunal hears both sides and gives a binding decision.

Henri Fayol's framework of general management principles such as division of work and the scalar chain, focused on top-down organisational efficiency.

Any paid, non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.

McClelland's need for warm, friendly interpersonal relationships and a sense of belonging.

Debt disciplines managers through fixed payments, at the price of monitoring costs and conflicts with lenders.

Workers need not join the union, but all must pay it a fee for bargaining on their behalf.

A corporate governance theory explaining the conflict of interest between shareholders (principals) and managers (agents), resolved through audits and performance incentives.

A response model: attention, interest, desire, action; usually credited to E. St. Elmo Lewis.

A way of profiling consumer lifestyle through activities, interests and opinions.

Ability, motivation and opportunity: green behaviour needs people who are able, motivated and given the opportunity to act.

The angle at which the sales line cuts the total cost line at break-even; a wide angle means profit builds fast.

Igor Ansoff's 2 × 2 grid of growth strategies: market penetration, product development, market development and diversification, by existing or new products and markets.

A long-term outflow that uses funds, such as buying assets, repaying loans or paying dividends.

A selection test assessing a candidate's capacity to learn specific job-related skills.

Settlement of a dispute by a neutral third party whose decision the parties have agreed, or are required, to accept.

Elasticity between two points on a demand curve, measured with average price and quantity so the result is the same in either direction.

A method, not a building: candidates do simulations such as in-basket exercises, role-play and group discussion while trained assessors observe their behaviour.

Net sales divided by total assets; the sales earned from each rupee of assets.

A learned tendency to respond consistently, favourably or unfavourably, toward a person, object or situation.

A learned predisposition to respond favourably or unfavourably toward a product, brand or idea.

The product level that adds services and benefits such as delivery, warranty and after-sales service.

Fayol's principle that the power to give orders must be matched by an equal obligation to accept accountability for the outcomes.

A leadership style involving total leader control with minimal team input, best suited to emergencies.

Non-store retailing through unmanned machines that sell around the clock.

Total revenue divided by quantity sold, which equals price; the average revenue curve is the firm's demand curve.

A vertical integration strategy in which a firm acquires or controls its suppliers and sources of inputs.

A statement of what a business owns, owes and has put in by its owners on a single date.

An expatriate pay method that aims to keep the home standard of living by paying the gaps in income tax, housing, goods and services, and savings, plus incentives.

Kaplan and Norton's framework linking strategy to measures from four perspectives: financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth.

Forecasting demand from leading indicators that move before it, such as building permits ahead of cement demand.

Physical, psychological, language, cultural, perceptual, organisational or attitudinal obstacles that distort or block the transfer of a message.

A standard fixed for a base year and not revised.

A costing method for goods made in distinct lots.

An activity done once per batch, such as ordering, set-ups or inspecting a lot.

The Boston Consulting Group's portfolio tool, placing each business unit by market growth rate and relative market share into stars, cash cows, question marks and dogs.

Pays for time taken plus 75% of the value of time saved against a standard counted in B points; guarantees a time wage.

The study of how psychological biases influence financial decisions.

Smith and Kendall's 1963 scale in which each point is described by an example of observable behaviour, not a word like average.

A theory holding that personality is shaped by learning, conditioning and environment rather than internal drives.

Comparing an organisation's performance or practices with the best in its field.

A measure of how much a share’s return moves with the market.

A trait-based personality framework comprising Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism.

A market in which a single seller faces a single buyer, so price is settled by bargaining within limits.

Selling a bill to a bank before it is due, at a discount.

Kim and Mauborgne's approach of creating uncontested market space instead of competing in existing (‘red ocean’) markets.

Funds raised from outsiders, repayable with interest.

A name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination, that identifies a seller's goods and differentiates them from competitors'.

The added value a brand gives a product in customers' minds, shown in their perceptions, preferences and behaviour.

Using an established brand name to enter a new product category.

All the brands and brand lines a firm offers in a category or segment, each with a role such as flanker or prestige brand.

Keller's pyramid of brand building: salience, performance and imagery, judgements and feelings, and resonance.

Young and Rubicam's brand equity model with four pillars: energised differentiation, relevance, esteem and knowledge.

A graph of sales and costs showing the level of activity where there is no profit or loss.

The sales level at which contribution equals fixed costs, so there is no profit and no loss.

A graphical representation of all combinations of two goods a consumer can purchase given a fixed income and fixed prices.

Continually comparing actual results with budgets, finding variances and acting on them.

Preparing a quantitative financial plan for a period.

Inflation driven by a wage-price spiral, where workers and firms adjust wages and prices based on expected future inflation.

Max Weber's model of organisation based on rational-legal authority: hierarchy, written rules, impersonality, merit, careers and records.

Max Weber's approach emphasising clear hierarchy, detailed rules and impersonality to achieve efficiency and eliminate favouritism.

A syndrome from chronic workplace stress not successfully managed (WHO, ICD-11), marked by exhaustion, cynicism towards the job and reduced effectiveness.

The business is treated as separate from its owner, so the owner’s private affairs stay out of its books.

The application of moral principles to corporate conduct, balancing the profit motive with social welfare and stakeholder interests.

Evaluating and balancing a diversified firm's mix of business units with tools such as the BCG and GE–McKinsey matrices.

A radical, one-off redesign of processes, in contrast to the small steps of continuous improvement.

Hammer and Champy's (1993) radical redesign of a process, starting from what the customer needs, to gain sharply in cost, quality, service and speed.

Strategy for how one business unit will compete in its market, made by SBU heads.

Robinson, Faris and Wind's classification of business purchases into straight rebuy, modified rebuy and new task.

A fictional profile of an ideal customer, used to target marketing.

Robinson, Faris and Wind's grid crossing the three buyclasses with eight stages (buyphases) of the industrial buying process.

Everyone involved in an organisational purchase: users, influencers, buyers, deciders and gatekeepers, with initiators and approvers.

Lauterborn's customer-side restatement of the 4Ps: customer solution, cost, convenience and communication.

Estimates the cost of equity as the risk-free rate plus beta times the market risk premium.

Evaluating long-term investment projects using tools such as NPV, IRR and payback.

The long-term funds in the business: debt plus equity, or fixed assets plus working capital.

Funds carrying a fixed interest or dividend divided by equity funds.

The mix of debt and equity a firm uses to fund itself.

The series of jobs and roles a person holds over a working life; Hall: an individually perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviours linked to work experiences.

Schein's term for the self-image of talents, motives and values, formed through work experience, that a person will not give up when forced to choose.

Schein's picture of an organisation as a cone in which a career can move in three directions: vertical, circumferential and radial.

The personal improvements a person makes to carry out a career plan, helped by the organisation; in a broader sense, an ongoing move through career stages.

The organisation's work, with the individual, of designing and carrying out goals, plans and strategies so employees' needs and the organisation's needs are both met.

Movement across grades and positions, upward or downward, or a complete change of occupation, started by the employee or the employer.

The sequential pattern of jobs that forms a career (Werther and Davis); used interchangeably with career ladder.

The process by which a person selects career goals and the path to those goals (Werther and Davis); the individual's own work.

A point in the career path where the chance of promotion is low and the work becomes repetitive; it may be structural or content-based.

The yearly cost of holding stock: storage, insurance, interest and spoilage.

A formal agreement among firms to fix a joint price and share out output, such as OPEC.

A point where India chose a treatment different from the IFRS in its converged standards.

A forecast of cash receipts and payments to manage liquidity.

A BCG cell: high market share in a low-growth market, generating surplus cash for other units.

Short-term, highly liquid investments that convert readily into known amounts of cash with little risk.

A statement of cash and cash equivalents received and paid, classified into operating, investing and financing.

Cash and cash equivalents divided by current liabilities; the strictest liquidity test.

Using a brand to enter a product category different from its original one.

A rater error in which everyone is placed in the middle of the scale, playing safe, so the rating tells the firm nothing.

The systematic and consistent reservation of authority at central points in an organisation (Louis A. Allen).

An OD consultant, inside or outside the organisation, who leads a planned change effort.

A wholesaler, retailer, agent or broker that helps move a product from producer to consumer.

The rate at which customers stop doing business with a firm over a period.

In Schein's cone, a move across a functional boundary at the same level, such as from a loans desk to a treasury desk.

Pavlov's learning theory linking a neutral stimulus with a natural response through repeated association.

The employer may hire only union members; in one form, workers must be members before they are hired.

Putting two or more established brand names on one product.

Brandenburger and Nalebuff's term for firms competing and cooperating at the same time.

In force from 21 November 2025, it consolidates the older social security laws into one Code and reaches gig and platform workers.

In force from 21 November 2025, it consolidates four older laws on payment of wages, minimum wages, bonus and equal remuneration.

Discomfort after a purchase caused by doubt about the choice; ‘buyer's remorse’.

A learning theory (Tolman, Piaget) emphasising reasoning, thinking and problem-solving over conditioning.

Negotiation between employee representatives, usually a union, and the employer to settle terms and conditions of employment such as wages, benefits and job security.

The written, signed terms reached through bargaining, running for a fixed period, often a few years.

Following several strategies at once across different units, such as expanding one business while retrenching another.

Bourgeois and Brodwin's implementation approach in which top management decides the strategy and instructs others to carry it out.

A short-term unsecured promissory note issued by large firms.

An arrangement in which a group of managers decides jointly on matters referred to it.

A transport firm serving set routes on a schedule, open to all shippers at standard rates.

A statement with each item shown as a percentage of sales or total assets, to spot changes.

The pattern of channels among members of a group: chain, wheel, circle or all-channel.

A mix of knowledge, skills, attitudes and traits that shows up as good performance in a role; a demonstrable individual characteristic enabling effective job performance.

Deciding which competencies each job needs, writing them down, and using them in recruitment, training, appraisal and promotion.

A firm's ability to outperform rivals, through lower cost, differentiation or a well-defended focus.

Firms whose products add value to an industry's own; sometimes called a sixth force.

A ratio with one figure from the statement of profit and loss and the other from the balance sheet, such as debtors turnover.

Five 8-hour days become four 10-hour days: the total stays 40 hours and the team gains a free day, but days are longer and more tiring.

In Katz's model, the ability to see the organisation as a whole and connect strategy to its parts; most important for top managers.

A neutral officer helps the parties find an agreement in a dispute but cannot force one.

A superior's private report on conduct, strengths and weaknesses, common in government service; in its classic form the employee does not see it.

A decision rule in which a product must meet a minimum acceptable level on every attribute.

Provide for expected losses at once, but recognise profits only when realised.

The same accounting methods are used from year to year so results can be compared.

The point at which a consumer maximises utility subject to the budget constraint, where the indifference curve is tangent to the budget line.

An alternative plan kept ready for use if conditions change or the main plan fails.

A management theory holding that there is no single best way to organise; effectiveness depends on matching structure to the situation (structure, environment, technology, people).

A management theory holding that there is no single best way to organise; the right approach depends on the specific situation.

A costing method for large, long projects such as construction.

A perceptual error where a person is evaluated by comparison with others rather than against objective standards.

Sales less variable cost; what each sale adds towards fixed costs and profit.

Setting standards, measuring performance, comparing it with the standards and correcting deviations.

Bringing national standards into harmony with IFRS, with changes where local conditions need them, short of full adoption.

The orderly arrangement of group effort to provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose; often called the essence of management.

Prahalad and Hamel's bundle of skills and technologies that lets a firm deliver distinctive value across several businesses and is hard to imitate.

A competency everyone in the organisation needs, tied to its aims, such as teamwork or integrity. Not the same as a firm's strategic core competence.

The basic benefit or need the customer is really buying.

The system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled to balance stakeholder interests.

Top-level strategy setting the scope of the firm: which businesses to compete in and how to allocate resources among them.

Recording, classifying, analysing and controlling costs to find unit cost and support decisions.

Assets are recorded at what was paid for them, whatever they later become worth.

The factor that causes the cost of an activity, such as the number of set-ups.

The cost of an activity pool divided by the number of driver units.

Anything for which a separate measure of cost is wanted, such as a product, service, project or customer.

The minimum return a firm must earn to satisfy those who supply its funds.

Interest after tax divided by net proceeds: I(1 − T) ÷ NP.

The return equity holders expect, estimated by dividend growth, earnings yield or CAPM.

Preference dividend divided by net proceeds.

The opportunity cost of keeping profits, taken as about equal to the cost of equity.

A group of indirect costs with similar behaviour, one for each activity.

A statement that builds up cost stage by stage from prime cost to selling price.

A unit of product, service or time for which cost is stated, such as a kilowatt-hour.

Setting price by adding a standard mark-up to cost.

Studies how cost, volume and profit move together.

Augustin Cournot's 1838 duopoly model in which each firm chooses output taking its rival's as given; each produces one-third of the competitive output.

A union of workers with the same craft, skill or occupation, whatever industry they work in.

Net credit purchases divided by average payables; how quickly suppliers are paid.

Bourgeois and Brodwin's implementation approach in which strategy grows from ideas proposed by lower-level employees.

A job analysis method documenting extreme examples of good or poor performance to uncover key job behaviours.

One of the few things that must go right for a job to succeed; found when designing the competency-mapping questionnaire.

The responsiveness of demand for one good to a price change in a related good — positive for substitutes, negative for complements.

A competency many jobs in many departments need, such as computer skills or budgeting; it makes staff versatile and cuts training cost.

The integration of social, environmental and economic responsibility into business operations; mandatory in India above specified net worth, turnover or profit thresholds.

A current asset or liability, such as stock, debtors, cash or creditors.

Current assets divided by current liabilities; a liquidity test with a conventional benchmark of about 2:1.

A standard for present conditions, set for a short period and widely used for control.

The present value of the profits a customer will bring over the whole relationship.

Long-term borrowing at a fixed rate of interest; holders are creditors, not owners.

Total debt divided by total assets; the share of assets financed by debt.

Total debt divided by shareholders’ equity; a measure of financial leverage.

Net credit sales divided by average receivables; how quickly customers pay.

The system-wide distribution of decision-making power across multiple levels of an organisation — functional, geographic, product-based or market-based.

Mintzberg's entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator roles, in which a manager makes choices.

The transfer of responsibility and decision-making power from a superior to a subordinate, while the superior retains ultimate accountability.

In Mintzberg's terms, strategy realised as originally intended.

A forecasting method in which experts answer anonymously in rounds, seeing a summary of others' views, until their estimates converge.

Estimating future demand for a product, by survey methods or statistical methods, to plan production, prices and capacity.

An equation stating quantity demanded as depending on own price, related prices, income, tastes, expectations, population and advertising.

Inflation caused when aggregate demand in an economy exceeds aggregate supply capability.

A leadership style that actively involves the team in decision-making.

An ethical approach focused on adherence to moral duties and principles rather than outcomes.

Grouping related activities into departments or units, for example by function, product or region.

The spreading of an asset’s cost over its useful life; it uses no cash and sets none aside.

Demand for business goods that comes from demand for the consumer goods they help produce.

Long-term, broad career-oriented growth activities that prepare employees for future roles.

Communication between people at different levels in different departments; fast, but it bypasses the chain of command.

Taylor's wage system paying a higher rate per piece to workers who meet the standard output and a lower rate to those who fall short, linking pay to output.

Porter's generic strategy of winning by offering unique features customers value and will pay a premium for.

A cost that can be traced to a specific product or job.

One-to-one communication designed to get an immediate, measurable response.

Shows cash received from customers and cash paid out, to arrive at cash from operations.

A job analysis method of watching an employee perform routine or physical tasks in real time.

Guiding, motivating, supervising and communicating with people so they work toward the organisation's goals.

All material information, including contingent liabilities, must be disclosed fully.

A retailer selling standard goods at low prices, with low margins and high volume.

A slowdown in the rate of inflation, where prices continue rising but at a reduced pace.

A decision rule in which a product is accepted if it meets a high standard on any one key attribute.

The set of organisations, direct or through intermediaries, through which a product passes from producer to final consumer.

Win-lose negotiation over a fixed sum, where one side's gain is the other's loss.

The fairness of outcomes in the allocation of rewards and resources, based on equity, equality or need.

Growth by entering new products and markets; related (seeking synergy) or unrelated (conglomerate).

A retrenchment strategy of selling or shedding a business unit that no longer fits the corporate strategy.

The decision on how much profit to pay out and how much to retain.

A BCG cell: low market share in a low-growth market; usually harvested or divested.

Argyris and Schön's learning that questions the rules and goals themselves; single-loop learning only corrects an error within the current rules.

Communication from superiors to subordinates, such as orders, policies and instructions.

Every transaction has two effects, a debit and an equal credit, so Assets = Liabilities + Equity always holds.

John Dunlop's (1958) view of IR as a system of actors, contexts and ideology that produces a web of substantive and procedural rules.

An oligopoly with two sellers.

A cost driver based on the time an activity takes, such as set-up hours.

Net profit divided by the number of shares.

A strike because talks failed to agree terms of a contract, such as wages, benefits and other conditions of employment.

Doing the right things: the degree to which goals are actually reached.

Doing things right: reaching goals with the least waste of time, money and effort.

A measure of how responsive quantity demanded is to changes in price, income, or the price of related goods.

Buying ready expertise: it arrives at once and sets a high benchmark, but is costly and may unsettle insiders who were passed over.

A pattern of action that forms over time without, or despite, deliberate intentions.

Growing promising people: cheaper per head and builds loyalty, but slower to deliver, and trained people may leave.

The level of enthusiasm and dedication a person feels towards the job; the energy, attention and care put in beyond the minimum.

From one recommend-us question scored 0 to 10: percentage of promoters (9–10) minus percentage of detractors (0–6); it runs from −100 to +100.

Medical care and cash benefits for insured employees in sickness, maternity and employment injury.

An organisation's reputation and image as an employer, used to attract quality candidates.

The stage of the communication process where the sender transforms thoughts into transmittable symbols such as words, gestures or visuals.

The five-step process of diagnose and design, survey, analyse, act and follow up; follow-up feeds the next round.

A summary of survey answers, usually an average or a share of favourable answers; compare a team with its own past score.

Obstacles such as scale economies, capital needs, brand loyalty and regulation that deter new firms from entering an industry.

The first step of the strategic management process: gathering and analysing information on internal and external factors.

Ownership shares with voting rights and a dividend that varies with profit.

Fayol's principle of promoting team spirit and unity to strengthen organisational cohesion.

A forecast of what a cost will be, usually from past data; unlike a standard, it is not a yardstick of efficiency.

A situation requiring a choice between two or more conflicting moral values or obligations.

Key posts at head office and in subsidiaries go to PCNs, and head office takes the main decisions; subsidiaries have little autonomy.

An HR approach that utilises hard data and analytics to drive scientific decision-making.

The brands a buyer actively considers when evaluating alternatives.

Under monopolistic competition, the shortfall between a firm's long-run output and the output at which its average cost would be lowest.

In social marketing, the idea that a behaviour change must offer benefits that outweigh its perceived costs.

Distribution through one or very few dealers in each area; typical of luxury and specialty goods.

A grand strategy of growth through greater market presence, sales or scope.

An employee sent by the firm to work in a country that is not their own, on a long-term or short-term assignment.

A standard that reflects what is expected to be reached in the period ahead.

The out-of-pocket cost of raising funds, such as interest or dividends.

Entering a foreign market by selling home-produced goods there, directly or through intermediaries.

Sourcing candidates from outside the organisation to inject fresh skills and perspectives.

Reporting organisational wrongdoing outside the company, such as to media or regulators, typically when internal channels fail.

Welfare facilities outside the workplace, such as housing, recreation and sports, and education for workers and their children.

A quantitative job evaluation method that compares jobs, factor by factor, with benchmark jobs whose pay rates are agreed.

Selling receivables to a financial institution for immediate cash.

A wage above the minimum wage but below the living wage; its upper limit is the industry's capacity to pay.

Henri Fayol's foundational set of administrative principles covering organisational structure, direction, and personnel management.

Entering a foreign market by building or buying production facilities there: the highest risk and full control.

The trouble a firm faces when it cannot meet its debts, with costs such as lost customers and forced sales.

Using borrowed money to magnify returns to owners, and the risk with them.

Planning, raising, using and controlling a firm’s funds.

Activities that change the size and make-up of owners’ capital and borrowings.

A government's use of taxation and public spending to influence economic conditions such as inflation.

A teaching framework of five areas: green products and services, workforce, workplace, function or process model, and management and governance. Its author is rarely named.

Planning, attracting, developing, retaining and transitioning; the last phase passes on knowledge and readiness, feeding the next round of planning.

Net sales divided by net fixed assets; sales produced by each rupee of fixed assets.

A budget that does not change whatever the level of activity.

A cost that stays the same whatever the output, such as rent.

The difference between standard and actual fixed overhead, split into expenditure and volume.

A lower-priced ‘fighter’ brand launched to protect a flagship brand from competitors.

A budget recalculated for the actual level of activity.

A change in working capital, arising only when a current and a non-current account are both affected.

Porter's generic strategy of competing in a narrow segment, through cost focus or differentiation focus.

Lewin's picture of any present level as a balance between driving forces for change and restraining forces against it; change happens when the balance tips.

The rater must spread employees across the scale in fixed shares, assuming a bell curve; it stops all-high ratings but is unfair to a strong team.

Communication that follows official organisational channels and hierarchy, ensuring consistency and accountability.

Groups structured by the organisation with assigned tasks and specific objectives.

Tuckman's first stage of team development, marked by cautious, polite behaviour and unclear roles.

A vertical integration strategy in which a firm gains control over distribution and direct access to customers.

A contractual system of outlets run under a franchisor's brand and system, for a fee.

A technical competency needed by one job or job family, such as data analysis or software development; it gives task proficiency and specialisation.

Taylor's concept of supervision by multiple task-specialist foremen rather than a single generalist supervisor.

Sidney Fine's job analysis method, rating what a worker does in relation to data, people and things; a method, not a form.

Technical knowledge needed to run operations and solve problems, such as budgeting or spreadsheet modelling; one of three skill pillars, also called hard skills.

Departmental strategy (production, marketing, finance, HR) that supports the business strategy and maximises resource productivity.

Welfare as an investment in output: a healthy, contented worker is more productive.

A statement of the sources and applications of funds, where funds means working capital.

Profit adjusted for non-fund items such as depreciation; the main internal source of funds.

Generally accepted accounting principles: the rules and conventions a set of accounts is expected to follow.

Gallup's three groups: engaged, not engaged (time but no energy or passion) and actively disengaged (unhappy and working against colleagues' efforts).

Peace through trusteeship, non-violence and moral persuasion; a strike is allowed only as a last resort, for a just cause and without violence.

Fayol's exception to the scalar chain: two people at the same level may deal with each other directly, with their superiors' knowledge, when the chain is too slow.

A buying-centre member who controls the flow of information to the others.

A comprehensive measure of price change, calculated as the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP, multiplied by 100.

A 3 × 3 portfolio grid plotting industry attractiveness against business unit strength, with invest, hold and harvest zones.

Porter's three broad routes to competitive advantage: cost leadership, differentiation and focus.

Key posts anywhere, head office included, go to the best person whether PCN, HCN or TCN; the firm works as one global network.

Workers surround managers and stop them leaving; confining people against their will can break criminal law.

A strongly inferior staple taking a large share of a poor household's budget, whose demand rises when its price rises; named by Marshall after Sir Robert Giffen.

An international strategy of standardised products worldwide for maximum efficiency.

The business is assumed to continue, which is why assets are depreciated rather than valued for sale.

A non-quantitative job evaluation method grouping jobs into predefined salary grades.

V. A. Graicunas's (1933) count of a manager's possible relationships with n subordinates: n[2^(n−1) + n − 1].

An unofficial, informal communication network that spreads information — often rumour-based — rapidly through an organisation.

The rater scores traits such as punctuality and teamwork on a scale from poor to excellent and the scores are added; cheap, but vague.

A lump sum the employer alone pays in recognition of long service.

Carpools, public transport for business travel, cycling or walking to work, and loans for low-emission vehicles, to burn less fuel on journeys.

HR policies, practices and systems that encourage green behaviour among employees, to create an environmentally sensitive, resource-efficient and socially responsible organisation.

A measurable number showing whether people are making the firm greener, such as electricity used per employee.

Marketing environmentally sustainable products and practices.

The stated rule or aim, such as interviews online wherever possible; unlike a green practice, it need not be what people actually do.

What managers and staff actually do; the gap between policy and practice is where green claims go wrong.

A product whose making, purchase and use allow economic development without polluting or depleting natural resources.

Recognition, awards, bonuses linked to green goals, and free bicycles or transport benefits that motivate green behaviour.

Making false or exaggerated environmental claims about a product.

An employee's sense of dissatisfaction or injustice about something connected with the job; it may or may not be justified.

The market value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders, equal to Consumption + Investment + Government Expenditure + Net Exports.

Total income earned by a country's residents, both domestically and abroad, equal to GDP plus net factor income from abroad.

Gross profit as a percentage of net sales.

The psychological bond between group members; high cohesion generally improves performance but can suppress dissent if excessive.

A phenomenon where the desire for group harmony overrides critical thinking, leading to poor high-stakes decisions.

Unconventional, low-cost tactics designed to surprise audiences and create buzz.

Low-involvement buying where brands differ little, needing minimal decision-making; salt is the usual example.

A perceptual error of evaluating a person entirely based on one positive (halo) or negative (horn) trait.

Deliberately reducing investment in a business unit to maximise short-term cash flow before exit.

The tendency for productivity to rise when workers feel observed and valued, discovered in Elton Mayo's studies.

Elton Mayo's research proving that productivity is driven by social and psychological factors, not merely physical working conditions.

A motivation theory distinguishing Motivators, which cause satisfaction, from Hygiene Factors, which prevent dissatisfaction.

The variability of service quality depending on who provides it, when, where and how.

Maslow's model of five sequential need levels — Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and Self-Actualisation.

An HR approach integrating strategy with teamwork, empowerment and performance-linked rewards.

Buying an asset by instalments, with ownership passing after the last one.

An informal organisational structure built on self-managed teams rather than traditional hierarchy.

Kotler and Keller's view of marketing as one connected system: relationship, integrated, internal and performance marketing.

Investors borrowing for themselves to copy the effect of a firm’s debt.

Merging with or acquiring competitors at the same stage of the value chain.

Cooperation between unrelated firms at the same level of a channel to exploit an opportunity.

A citizen of the country where a subsidiary operates.

Becker, Huselid and Ulrich's (2001) adaptation of the balanced scorecard to the HR function, showing how HR practices support strategy.

An appraisal method that sets the cost of recruiting, training and keeping an employee against the value they generate, in money.

The systematic process of acquiring, developing, motivating and retaining employees to achieve organisational goals.

The systematic process of forecasting and managing the demand and supply of human resources.

Robert Katz's managerial skill category involving the ability to lead, motivate and resolve conflict among people.

A theory (Rogers, Maslow) focused on inherent goodness, self-growth and self-actualisation.

Herzberg's category of factors, such as base pay, that prevent job dissatisfaction but do not motivate.

An extreme, uncontrollable rise in prices exceeding 50% per month, typically leading to currency collapse.

The International Accounting Standards Board, which issues IFRS.

A standard set for the best possible conditions, with no waste or idle time.

Peppers and Rogers' one-to-one marketing steps: identify, differentiate, interact, customise.

Global accounting standards issued by the IASB to make financial statements comparable across countries.

Writing an asset down when it is carried at more than it can recover; covered by Ind AS 36 and AS 28.

The opportunity cost of using funds, such as earnings kept back.

The responsiveness of demand to a change in consumer income, distinguishing normal, inferior, necessity and luxury goods.

India’s accounting standards, converged with IFRS; they apply to companies in notified classes.

A graphical representation of all combinations of two goods that provide a consumer with the same level of satisfaction.

A cost that cannot be traced to one product and is shared among products.

Starts with profit and adjusts for non-cash items and changes in working capital.

The process by which organisations establish needs and choose among products and suppliers for production, operations or resale.

Under the 1947 Act, a dispute between employers and employers, employers and workmen, or workmen and workmen, connected with employment, terms of employment or conditions of labour.

The management of relationships among employers, employees, trade unions and government, aiming at industrial harmony and productivity.

A union of workers of one industry, whatever their craft.

The stages an industry passes through: embryonic, growth, shakeout, maturity and decline (or, simply, introduction, growth, maturity, decline).

A persistent rise in the general price level of goods and services, resulting in a decline in purchasing power.

Unstructured, spontaneous communication such as the grapevine or face-to-face interaction that builds relationships and speeds up decisions.

Naturally formed groups based on shared interests and social connections rather than organisational structure.

The network of personal and social relationships that grows on its own alongside the formal structure.

Mintzberg's monitor, disseminator and spokesperson roles, in which a manager gathers and passes on information.

The service characteristic that production and consumption happen together.

The service characteristic that it cannot be seen, touched or tried before purchase.

Coordinating all promotion tools to deliver one clear, consistent message.

Combining activities along the value chain, backward, forward or horizontally, to reduce cost and increase control.

Win-win negotiation in which both sides work on shared interests to make the gain bigger.

A cost driver that charges directly for the resources used each time an activity is done.

Placing a product in as many outlets as possible; typical of convenience goods.

The fairness of interpersonal treatment and communication during decision-making, covering both dignity and honest explanation.

The employee-customer side of the service triangle, where the service is delivered.

Earnings before interest and tax divided by interest; how many times interest is covered.

The tax saved because interest is deductible.

A system listing short projects that any employee can take on.

Hiring, training and motivating employees to serve customers well.

The discount rate at which a project’s NPV is zero.

Filling vacancies from within the organisation's existing network, chiefly through job posting, promotions and transfers, and also by rehiring former employees or reconsidering previous applicants.

Reporting wrongdoing within the company, such as to HR or an ethics committee.

The set of HR activities a firm carries out at the international level to meet its objectives and gain an advantage over competitors at home and abroad.

Expanding operations beyond the home market, typically from exporting through joint ventures to local production.

Mintzberg's category of managerial roles — figurehead, leader, liaison — focused on relationships and status.

The perceptual stage of assigning meaning to organised sensory data based on prior experience and beliefs.

Welfare facilities inside the workplace, such as drinking water, washing facilities, canteen, rest rooms, crèche and first-aid room.

The costs of holding stock: storage, capital, taxes and insurance, depreciation and obsolescence.

Cost of goods sold divided by average inventory; how many times stock is sold and replaced.

Buying and selling long-term assets and investments that are not cash equivalents.

A systematic diagnostic process of studying the tasks, methods, skills and attitudes required for a specific job.

A costing method for customised, one-off orders.

Employees reshaping parts of their own tasks or working relationships.

High demands with few resources wear people down towards burnout; resources such as support, control and feedback lead towards engagement.

A document detailing a job's title, duties and working conditions to reduce ambiguity for applicants.

Increasing the variety and number of tasks at the same responsibility level — horizontal expansion.

Adding greater autonomy and decision-making power to a job to boost intrinsic motivation — vertical expansion.

A systematic process assessing the relative value of one job compared to all others in an organisation.

The degree of psychological identification an employee has with their job as part of their self-worth.

Periodically moving employees across different tasks to reduce boredom and build cross-functional skills.

Positive or negative feelings toward one's job roles that influence performance.

Creating highly repetitive, specialised tasks to maximise efficiency, which can cause monotony.

A document defining the ideal candidate profile — education, experience and traits — required for a job.

A cooperative strategy in which two or more firms create a new, jointly owned entity, sharing investment, risk and profit.

Entering a foreign market in partnership with a local firm, sharing ownership, control and risk.

The first record of a transaction, written in date order with its debit and credit.

Bringing materials and making goods exactly when needed, on the view that inventory is waste.

William Kahn's (1990) three ways people bring themselves to work roles: physically, cognitively and emotionally.

Kahn's three conditions for engagement: meaningfulness (a return on effort), safety (showing oneself without fear) and availability (resources to invest).

The Japanese word for continuous improvement, in small steps by everyone.

Setting regular cost-reduction targets for existing products and reviewing the variances each period.

The limiting factor, often sales, that decides which budget is prepared first.

A specific, measurable figure used to track performance, such as the percentage of parts rejected.

An outcome a job is judged on; in competency mapping each one is broken down into key activities.

The few factors in an industry that most determine a firm's ability to compete successfully.

A model of oligopoly pricing where the demand curve has a kink at the prevailing price, reflecting rivals' asymmetric reactions to price changes.

A traditional Indian neighbourhood store, now modernising with self-service, credit, home delivery and digital ordering.

Capturing and sharing what people know so that it stays in the organisation when they move on; the aim of the transitioning phase.

Standard labour cost for the actual output less the actual cost; rate, efficiency and idle-time parts.

Standard rate times the difference between standard hours and hours actually worked.

Idle hours times the standard rate; always adverse.

Hours paid times the difference between standard and actual wage rate.

Services, facilities and amenities provided for workers, at or near the workplace, by employers, unions, government and others, over and above wages.

A leadership style granting high team autonomy with minimal guidance, effective for highly skilled, self-motivated professionals.

The art of motivating and guiding a group toward a shared vision by setting direction and managing conflict.

A relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge acquired through experience, observation or practice.

The balanced scorecard view of the organisation's own capability: employee skills and training, information systems and culture. Customer retention is not part of it.

An online system that recommends learning content to each person; one example of a development method, not a requirement.

Using an asset for rent without owning it.

A running account to which journal entries are posted, grouped by head such as cash or sales.

Top management sets objectives and policy, middle management turns policy into plans and coordinates, and first-line management directs day-to-day work.

Financing mix does not affect value in a perfect market, because investors can lever or unlever themselves.

Kurt Lewin's 1947 model of planned change: unfreezing, changing (moving) and refreezing.

A decision rule that compares brands on the most important attribute first.

Entering a foreign market by letting a local firm use a process, trademark or patent for a royalty.

Adding all the costs of a product or asset from its first idea to its disposal, usually discounted.

A form in which line managers hold authority to command and staff specialists advise and serve them.

A new item in an existing product category under the same brand name, such as a new flavour or size.

The simplest form of organisation, in which authority runs straight down a single chain of command.

A retrenchment strategy of shutting a business down and selling its assets when recovery is impossible.

A wage covering essentials plus frugal comfort, such as children's education and insurance against misfortunes; an aim, not a legal floor.

The employer shuts the workplace, or refuses to employ workers, until they accept its terms.

Quinn's mode of strategy-making: a clear mission, with strategy emerging through experiment and partial commitments.

The sustainable profit level a firm can earn in a given market structure — normal profit under perfect/monopolistic competition, potentially supernormal under oligopoly/monopoly.

Aaker's levels of brand loyalty: switchers, habitual buyers, satisfied buyers with switching costs, brand likers, committed buyers.

The process of getting things done through and with people, using an organisation's resources to reach its goals effectively and efficiently.

Attending only to significant deviations from the standard, leaving routine results to run.

Peter Drucker's 1954 method: manager and employee set goals jointly, then compare actual results with them and set new goals.

The integration of economic theory with business practice to help managers make decisions and plan ahead (Spencer and Siegelman); also called business economics.

Actual sales less break-even sales; how far sales can fall before a loss.

The extra cost of one more unit of output, which is its variable cost.

Sales − Variable cost = Fixed cost + Profit.

The cost of raising the next increment of capital.

Treats only variable costs as product costs; fixed costs are charged to the period.

Clark and Wicksteed: a firm hires workers until the value of the last worker's extra output equals the wage.

The change in total revenue from selling one more unit; below price whenever the firm must cut price to sell more.

In economics, the whole set of buyers and sellers of a commodity in contact with each other, not a particular place.

An Ansoff strategy of taking existing products into new markets.

Planning, implementing and controlling the physical flow of goods and information from origin to point of use, to meet customer needs at a profit; also called physical distribution.

An Ansoff strategy of selling more existing products in existing markets; the lowest-risk option.

Dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with similar needs, characteristics or behaviour.

Firms issue equity when they think it is overvalued and avoid it when undervalued.

Software that automates routine marketing tasks such as scheduling posts, nurturing leads and tracking campaigns.

The philosophy that success comes from knowing target customers' needs and satisfying them better than competitors.

The stages from awareness to loyalty, with conversion rates between them that reveal where customers drop out.

The controllable tools, product, price, place and promotion, that a firm blends to get the response it wants.

Levitt's term for defining a business by its product rather than by the need it serves.

A consolidation of all functional budgets, with a projected profit and loss account and balance sheet.

Expenses are set against the revenue they helped earn in the same period.

Standard cost of material for the actual output less the actual cost; the sum of price and usage variances.

The part of usage variance due to using materials in a different proportion from the standard.

Actual quantity times the difference between standard and actual price.

Standard price times the difference between standard and actual quantity.

The part of usage variance due to actual output differing from the output the input should give.

Only items large enough to affect users’ decisions need detailed treatment.

An organisational design with dual reporting lines, combining functional and project-based authority.

A personality framework based on four dichotomies: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving.

A motivation theory proposing that behaviour is driven by three needs — Achievement, Affiliation and Power.

A model of seven interdependent elements to be aligned: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills.

Burns and Stalker's (1961) contrast between rigid, centralised structures suited to stable conditions and flexible, decentralised ones suited to change.

A development method pairing an employee with an experienced guide to support long-term career growth.

A corporation owning several diversified retail brands and formats.

A cooperative strategy in which two firms combine into one entity.

Three piece rates: basic rate below 83% of standard output, 110% of it from 83% to 100%, and 120% above 100%; no guaranteed wage.

The lowest rung of the wage ladder: it covers the worker's family needs and efficiency, and is owed regardless of the industry's capacity to pay.

A statement of the organisation's purpose: what it does, whom it serves and what makes it distinctive.

A business buying situation in which products, prices or suppliers are re-evaluated because needs have changed.

In a perfect market with no taxes, a firm’s value does not depend on its capital structure.

The cost of equity rises with leverage: Ke = Ko + (Ko − Kd) × D/E.

Central bank actions such as adjusting interest rates or reserve ratios to control money supply and inflation.

Only events that can be expressed in money are recorded in the books.

A market structure with many sellers offering differentiated products and relatively easy entry/exit.

A market structure with a single seller, a unique product, and blocked entry, giving full control over price.

A market with a single buyer facing many sellers.

P. V. Morgan's (1986) three-dimensional model of IHRM: three HR activities (procurement, allocation, utilisation), three country categories and three types of employee.

Taylor's technique of analysing worker movements to eliminate wasteful actions and set efficiency standards.

The internal or external push that energises, sustains and directs behaviour toward goals.

Herzberg's category of factors, such as recognition, that actively cause job satisfaction.

An international strategy that tailors products and marketing to each local market.

Ratings from supervisor, peers, subordinates, customers and the person themself, put together and fed back; many firms use it for development, not pay.

Launching new brands in an existing category to capture different segments.

A firm that owns and runs operations in more than one country; the main setting for international HRM.

Facilities organised by the workers themselves, such as a credit society or a consumer store run by workers or their union.

The total money value of all final goods and services produced by a country's normal residents over a year, including net factor income from abroad, measured at factor cost (NNP at factor cost).

Paid content that blends into its surrounding medium and should be labelled as sponsored.

A monopoly arising because economies of scale let one firm supply the whole market more cheaply than several could.

A management theory (1920s-30s) emphasising human relations, motivation and teamwork over purely mechanical efficiency.

Holds that more debt lowers the overall cost of capital and raises value.

Holds that the overall cost of capital and value do not change with the debt-equity mix.

Discounted future cash inflows less the initial outlay; accept a project if positive.

Net profit as a percentage of net sales.

The process of taking a product from idea generation to commercialisation, in eight steps.

A first-time organisational purchase needing extensive research and many decision-makers.

The National Financial Reporting Authority, which advises the Government on accounting and auditing standards under the Companies Act, 2013.

Focusing on a narrow, well-defined and often underserved group.

A grid plotting performance against potential for each candidate; a high performer with limited potential is not necessarily a successor.

Any physical, psychological or semantic interference that disrupts the transmission or understanding of a message.

A transaction that uses no cash, such as buying a machine by issuing shares; left out of the statement.

A long-term account, such as share capital, reserves, long-term loans or fixed assets.

Selling to consumers outside fixed stores: direct selling, direct marketing, vending and buying services.

The minimum profit level required to keep a firm operating in an industry — the typical long-run outcome under perfect and monopolistic competition.

A standard based on the average of past results.

Tuckman's third stage of team development, where trust increases and roles are accepted.

Explanatory disclosures with the statements, covering accounting policies, contingent liabilities and the detail behind figures.

Setting the promotion budget by costing the tasks needed to reach defined objectives; the most logical method.

Specific, measurable, time-bound targets that put broader goals into operation.

Organisational Capacity Assessment Tool: a diagnostic that rates internal performance on specific dimensions to find gaps and capacity.

International corporate governance guidelines covering shareholder rights, equitable treatment, transparency and stakeholder roles.

A store selling leftover, surplus or irregular branded goods below regular prices.

Training conducted outside the normal work environment, focused on theoretical or simulated learning.

A market structure dominated by a few large sellers with interdependent pricing decisions.

Learning through hands-on experience while performing actual duties under supervision.

The process of introducing new hires to company culture and policies after a job offer.

Treating each customer as a segment of one.

The Modern/Systems Approach view of an organisation as an interdependent set of subsystems interacting with its external environment.

Skinner's learning theory in which behaviour is shaped through rewards and punishments.

The firm’s principal revenue-producing activities and other activities that are not investing or financing.

Operating profit as a percentage of sales; the operating ratio’s complement.

Cost of goods sold plus operating expenses, as a percentage of sales.

The lowest level of strategy, for a plant, territory or section to meet immediate targets, made by operating managers.

Fayol's principle that resources — materials and people — should be systematically arranged in their proper place.

The stock level at which a new order is placed, balancing the risk of stockout against the cost of overstock.

A planned, long-term, data-driven effort to improve an organisation's effectiveness, adaptability and health, using behavioural-science knowledge and the involvement of the people concerned.

Any modification in an organisation's structure, processes, culture or strategy, planned or unplanned.

A visual map showing an organisation's hierarchy, roles, and reporting relationships.

An employee's emotional loyalty to the organisation, which reduces turnover.

Employees' perceptions of fairness in the workplace, covering outcomes, the processes used to reach them, and how people are treated.

Identifying and grouping the work, assigning responsibility and authority, and setting reporting relationships so people can work together toward goals.

Introducing a newly placed employee to colleagues, rules, policies and facilities.

A cost already incurred but not yet paid, added to the year’s expenses and shown as a liability.

Recovered overhead less actual overhead; the sum of the variable and fixed overhead variances.

Indirect costs of production, administration and selling that cannot be traced to a unit.

Funds provided by the owners; permanent, with no obligation to repay.

Allan Flanders's view of IR as the study of the institutions, above all collective bargaining, that regulate jobs and make the rules.

Contribution as a percentage of sales; also called the profit-volume ratio.

Each employee is compared with every other, one pair at a time; the one with most wins ranks first. Pairs number N × (N − 1) ÷ 2.

Online applications, e-offer letters, digital appraisal forms and payslips, giving less paper and printing.

A citizen of the country where the firm's head office stands; also called a home country employee.

The principle that the authority given to a person should match the responsibility placed on them.

Someone who has a job and is not searching, but might move for a good offer.

Also called trusteeship: the employer holds the business in trust and looks after workers as a guardian looks after wards.

The time taken for a project’s cash inflows to recover its initial outlay.

Firms prefer internal funds, then debt, and new equity last.

Launching at a low price to win market share quickly.

Average income per person in an economy, calculated as national income divided by total population, used as a standard-of-living indicator.

The subjective process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning.

A market structure with an infinite number of sellers, homogeneous products and free entry/exit.

A formal, periodic evaluation of how well a person did in the period just ended; one step within performance management.

A structured, time-limited plan, for example coaching with regular checks, to bring an underperformer up to the standard.

A continuous, strategic yearly routine of agreeing goals, monitoring, giving feedback, reviewing and rewarding, aligning employees' work with organisational goals.

Marketing in which the advertiser pays only when a measurable action, such as a click, lead or sale, occurs.

The business’s continuing life is divided into periods, usually a year, for reporting.

The service characteristic that it cannot be stored; unused capacity is lost.

Seeking customers' consent before sending them marketing messages.

A written plan of the skills and experience a person will build, with dates, so progress can be tracked.

Income actually received by individuals before direct taxes, including transfer payments but excluding retained corporate profits.

Face-to-face presentation by a salesperson to make sales and build relationships.

A unique, consistent pattern of thoughts, emotions and behaviours shaped by genetics, environment and experience.

A framework for the macro-environment: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors.

Workers stand at the gate to persuade others not to work and to draw public attention; peaceful picketing is usually treated as lawful, violence is not.

Welfare as a peace offering: timely gestures to calm organised, demanding workers before they press further.

Deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it; the primary function of management.

The assumptions about the future, external and internal, on which a plan is built.

The view that the organisation holds several groups with different aims, so conflict between management and workers is normal and is managed through bargaining.

Elasticity at a single point on a demand curve; on a straight line it equals the lower segment divided by the upper segment.

Attributes or benefits customers strongly associate with a brand and believe they could not find to the same extent in competitors.

Associations, not unique to the brand, that it needs to be credible in its category or to neutralise a rival's advantages.

A quantitative job evaluation method assigning weighted points to compensable factors that convert into salary bands.

Welfare as a legal minimum: employers will not act unless forced and can exploit workers, so the state fixes a minimum standard.

Each subsidiary is run by HCNs as a distinct national unit, with more local autonomy; PCNs hold the key posts at head office.

A model of industry competition: threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitutes and rivalry.

Luther Gulick's 1937 list of executive functions: planning, organising, staffing, directing, co-ordinating, reporting and budgeting.

A standard job analysis questionnaire linking job characteristics to human characteristics; mapping borrows it, but it does not assess a person.

Designing an offering and image to occupy a distinct, valued place in the target customer's mind.

Shares with a fixed dividend and priority over equity, usually without voting rights.

A cost paid in advance for a later period, taken out of this year’s expenses and shown as an asset.

The practice of charging different prices to different consumers or markets for the same product, without a cost-based justification.

A measure of how responsive quantity demanded is to a change in a product's own price.

Tacit collusion in which firms follow the prices set by a low-cost, dominant or barometric firm.

Share price divided by earnings per share; the rupees investors pay for each rupee of earnings.

A group plan in which bonus as a percentage of wages equals the percentage increase in the group's output over the standard; no bonus below standard.

Direct material plus direct labour plus direct expenses.

A brand created and owned by a retailer or wholesaler; a store brand.

The fairness of the methods and processes used to reach a decision, regardless of outcome.

Edgar Schein's 1969 intervention: a consultant watches how a group communicates and decides, and helps members see and fix it themselves.

A costing method for continuous, uniform production such as cement.

An Ansoff strategy of offering new products to existing markets.

The stages a product's sales and profits pass through: introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

Tracing the costs and revenues of a product from research and design to withdrawal from the market.

A group of closely related products made or sold by the same firm.

All the product lines and items a firm offers, measured by width, length, depth and consistency.

Units to be made: sales plus closing stock less opening stock.

The aim of increasing profit, usually over a short period.

An agreement by which employees receive a share of profit, fixed in advance, on top of regular wages; paid as cash, company shares or deferred.

Estimating the cost of owning a physical asset from purchase to disposal; also called whole-life costing.

A temporary structure drawing specialists from several departments for one time-bound goal, disbanded when it is met.

A perceptual error of attributing one's own motives or feelings to other people.

The blend of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and direct marketing.

Shareholders’ funds divided by total assets; the share of assets paid for by owners.

Retirement savings built from contributions by both employee and employer during working life, protecting against old age.

An amount charged against profit for a known or likely loss or liability whose size is uncertain.

A preference for entering countries with a similar language, culture and legal system.

Freud's theory that personality is driven by unconscious forces — id, ego, superego — and early childhood experiences.

Pricing that works on perceptions, such as odd prices, reference prices and price as a signal of quality.

A standardised test of aptitude or achievement giving a consistent, objective measure of a sample of attributes, not the whole person.

Money accepted from the public for a fixed term at interest, often unsecured.

Promoting to final consumers so that they ask channel members for the product.

A short questionnaire repeated often; it is wasted if nobody acts on the answers.

The materials to be bought: material needed plus closing stock less opening stock.

Promoting to channel members, who then promote to final buyers.

A BCG cell: low market share in a high-growth market; needs heavy investment to build, or else is phased out.

Current assets less inventory, divided by current liabilities; benchmark about 1:1.

In Schein's cone, a move towards the centre, bringing more trust, influence and access to decisions, without any promotion.

A simple, non-quantitative job evaluation method that compares and ranks whole jobs by their overall worth.

Studying relationships between items in the financial statements to judge performance and position.

In media planning, how many people see an ad at least once, and how often the average person sees it.

Revenue is recognised when it is earned, usually on sale, not necessarily when cash arrives.

A rater error in which the latest events outweigh the whole period, so one recent mistake can cancel months of good work.

The process of searching for, identifying and attracting qualified candidates to fill job vacancies.

A selection step verifying a candidate's history and credentials before an offer is made.

Lewin's third stage: reinforcing the new behaviour, for example through targets and appraisal, until it becomes the norm. It does not mean frozen for ever.

Key posts go to managers from the same geographic region as the unit; staff move within the region but seldom to head office.

Entering new but related businesses to exploit synergies with existing operations.

Building long-term relationships with customers, employees and partners rather than focusing on single transactions.

Bringing an expatriate home at the end of an assignment and helping them settle back in; four stages: preparation, physical relocation, transition and readjustment.

A simple form of succession planning that names likely successors for each key post and shows how ready each one is.

Profit kept back in the business; unlike a provision, it is not a charge against profit.

Francis Walker's theory: output is shared among land, labour, capital and enterprise; rent, interest and profit are settled first and wages are what remains.

Dividends are paid only from profit left after all acceptable projects are funded.

Opposition to a change, open or quiet, arising from habit, fear of the unknown or fear of losing pay, status or skills.

The theory that lasting competitive advantage comes from valuable, rare, hard-to-imitate internal resources rather than industry position alone.

An HR approach viewing employees as valuable assets crucial to sustainable competitive advantage.

Independent retailers who set up a joint buying organisation and run joint promotions.

Profits kept in the business instead of being paid out as dividends.

A grand strategy of reducing the scope or size of operations to stabilise the firm, through turnaround, divestment or liquidation.

Net profit as a percentage of total assets.

Profit before interest and tax as a percentage of capital employed; also called return on investment.

Net profit as a percentage of shareholders’ equity.

The stress of coming home to a place that has changed, and of being a changed person; it belongs to the readjustment stage.

A form of international price discrimination where a firm sells a product at a higher price abroad than in its home market.

Managing returns, recalls, repairs, recycling and excess stock back through the supply chain.

Identifying financial risks and reducing them through hedging, insurance and diversification.

Advertising on many channels at the same time so the audience meets the message wherever it turns.

A framework identifying Technical, Human and Conceptual skills as the components of managerial competence.

A rapid rate of inflation, roughly 10-20%, signalling an overheating economy.

Marketing designed for rural consumers, often framed by availability, affordability, acceptability and awareness.

An estimate of sales in quantity and value; usually the first budget drawn up.

Actual quantity sold times the difference between actual and standard selling price.

Short-term incentives to encourage trial or purchase, aimed at consumers, the trade or the sales force.

Actual sales less budgeted sales; the sum of the price and volume variances.

Standard price times the difference between actual and budgeted quantity sold.

Fayol's principle establishing a clear, unbroken line of authority from top management down to the lowest levels.

A group plan: when labour cost falls below a norm share of the sales value of output, the saving is split between employees and company; committees collect suggestions.

An HR supply-analysis method anticipating multiple possible workforce futures.

The layout the Companies Act prescribes for a company’s balance sheet and statement of profit and loss.

A table of each current item over two years showing how working capital rose or fell.

F.W. Taylor's approach of applying scientific methods — time and motion study, standardisation — to maximise shop-floor efficiency.

Taylor's approach of scientifically studying and standardising work to determine the most efficient method.

The process of choosing the most suitable candidate from the recruitment pool to minimise turnover.

Distribution through more than one but fewer than all willing outlets; typical of shopping goods.

A perceptual error of focusing only on information that confirms existing opinions.

A breakdown in communication caused by words or symbols with different meanings, jargon, poor translation or unstated assumptions.

A cost with both a fixed and a variable part, such as an electricity bill.

Unstructured group sessions (a T-group) where members give and receive frank feedback on how they come across, building self-awareness and empathy.

A brand built mainly on delivering a service, which depends on consistently high service delivery.

The links between company, employees and customers: internal, external and interactive marketing.

A model measuring the gap between expected and perceived service on five dimensions: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness.

Booms and Bitner's services mix: product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence.

Over-production, inventory, waiting, defects, motion, transportation and over-processing.

A checklist for talent management: specify skills, attract, onboard, learn and develop, appraise, retain, then plan succession.

A 1949 model of communication from source to destination through a channel, with noise distorting the signal.

Influencing buyers at the point of purchase, where most purchase decisions are made.

The selection stage of filtering applicants who meet minimum criteria for further evaluation.

Intentional effort to build ability to perform, adapt and evolve: first identify skill gaps, then develop and hone the skills.

Identifying the precise difference between an organisation's existing and required skills.

Launching at a high price for buyers who value novelty, then lowering it over time.

David Berlo's 1960 model of source, message, channel and receiver, each shaped by human factors such as skills, attitudes and culture.

Bandura's theory that people learn through observing and imitating others.

Using marketing techniques to influence behaviour that benefits individuals and society.

Protection society provides through public arrangements against economic distress when earnings stop or fall because of sickness, maternity, injury, old age or unemployment.

The philosophy that a firm should serve both customers' wants and society's long-term well-being.

Behavioural skills such as emotional intelligence, negotiation, empathy and communication, which matter most in client handling, leadership and influencing others.

A long-term inflow that raises working capital, such as new shares, loans, asset sales or operating profit.

A one-off order priced below the usual price; accepted if it adds contribution and does not harm regular sales.

Entering many countries at the same time to gain first-mover advantage.

Filling the positions in the organisation structure with the right people and keeping them filled, from manpower planning to career planning.

An unusual economic condition combining high inflation with high unemployment and stagnant growth.

The predetermined cost of a unit under efficient working conditions.

Compares predetermined costs with actual costs to find variances and act on their causes.

A BCG cell: high market share in a high-growth market; earns much but needs heavy investment.

A statement showing how owners’ funds moved over the period: profit, share issues, dividends and reserves.

A statement of income, expenses and the resulting profit or loss for a period.

Facilities the employer must provide by law, such as the basic amenities in the Factories Act; which factories must provide which depends on the law's conditions.

A perceptual error of judging an individual based on the group they belong to.

A corporate governance theory viewing managers as trustworthy stewards of the company rather than self-interested agents.

Closing stock divided by working capital.

Tuckman's second stage of team development, where conflicts emerge and boundaries are tested.

Segmentation, targeting and positioning: the sequence at the heart of marketing strategy.

A routine business purchase from an established supplier with little evaluation.

Depreciation of the same amount every year: depreciable amount divided by useful life.

A cooperative agreement between firms on specific goals, in which each remains independent.

A division, product line or brand with its own mission and objectives that can be planned independently.

A long-term, high-risk decision made at the top in line with the mission, committing major resources and setting direction.

An approach integrating HR practices directly with overall corporate strategy.

An organisation's ambitious long-term aspiration to win a desired position, which focuses and stretches its resources.

The art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organisation to achieve its objectives (Fred David).

The organisation's plan for using limited resources to reach its long-term objectives: the means to its ends.

A group of workers stop work together to press their demands.

A brand formed by combining a new name with an existing brand name, as in Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk.

Associated with Ricardo: wages settle at the natural price of labour, enough to keep workers alive and numbers steady. Later called the iron law of wages.

Identifying and preparing future leaders for critical roles to ensure leadership continuity.

Managing the whole chain from procurement through manufacturing to delivery, across organisations.

Karl Marx's theory: labour power is bought at about the cost of keeping the worker going, and the employer keeps the extra value the worker adds.

A questionnaire goes to all; results return to each work group, which discusses them and plans action.

The 17 goals adopted by UN member states in 2015, to be met by 2030; green HRM bears most on goals 12, 13 and 7.

A fuller idea than green HRM that adds fair treatment, wellbeing and steady employment for staff, families and communities.

An audit of internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats, bridging analysis and strategy formulation.

One union strikes in support of another union's strike.

A management perspective viewing the organisation as an open system of interdependent subsystems interacting with the external environment.

A management view of organisations as open systems of interrelated parts striving toward a common goal.

Joined-up HR processes to attract, onboard, develop, motivate and retain high-performing employees, from forecasting need to preparing replacements.

A curated group of potential candidates built through ongoing recruitment efforts.

Selling price minus desired profit; the most a product may cost.

Setting the price from the market, taking away the desired profit, and designing the product to the cost that is left.

Evaluating segments and choosing which to serve.

In Katz's model, knowledge of methods, tools and procedures for the work itself; most important for first-line managers.

McGregor's assumption that employees are inherently lazy, avoid work and require coercion and control.

McGregor's assumption that employees are naturally motivated, creative and seek responsibility.

William Ouchi's 1981 model, drawn from Japanese management, of long-term employment, collective decision-making and concern for the whole employee.

A citizen of neither the head-office country nor the country where the unit operates.

Taylor's technique of breaking tasks into steps, analysing movements and time, and setting output standards.

Total assets divided by long-term debt; how many times assets cover the debt.

Marshall's method of judging elasticity from total spending: if spending rises when price falls, demand is elastic; if unchanged, unitary; if it falls, inelastic.

A contemporary management approach prioritising continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

Weihrich's extension of SWOT that pairs internal and external factors to generate SO, ST, WO and WT strategies.

Buying from suppliers now and paying later.

An organised group of workers formed to protect and promote their collective interests, such as wages, working hours, job security and safe conditions.

The tension between customer service level and total logistics cost: more of one usually means more of the other.

Firms balance the tax benefit of debt against the costs of financial distress.

Short-term activities that enhance an employee's practical skills for their current job.

A personality theory (Allport, Big Five) defining personality through stable, measurable characteristics.

A cost driver that counts how many times an activity is done, such as orders or inspections.

A style that relies on clear goals and on rewards and penalties for meeting them.

A style that inspires followers to change through a shared vision and the leader's own example.

A rational-consumer assumption stating that if a consumer prefers A to B and B to C, they must also prefer A to C.

An international strategy that combines high global efficiency with high local responsiveness.

Forecasting by fitting a trend to past sales, for example by least squares, and extending it into the future.

A list of ledger balances that checks total debits equal total credits before statements are drawn.

People, planet and profit, used with the sustainability goals as a common language for reporting.

A core success factor of a Value-Based Organisation, built through consistent ethical conduct and shared values.

A retrenchment strategy of restructuring an underperforming business to return it to profitability.

Examining historical employee exit patterns to predict future manpower needs.

A strike to protest illegal conduct by the employer.

Lewin's first stage: preparing people to accept the need for change by showing why the old way no longer works and lowering fear.

Using the same cost methods across several firms or units so costs can be compared.

The view that the organisation is one team with one source of authority, management; conflict is rare and comes from poor communication or troublemakers.

Fayol's principle that each employee should receive orders from only one superior, to avoid confusion.

Fayol's principle that one plan and one leader should guide all activities sharing the same objective.

Entering industries unrelated to existing ones, mainly to spread risk.

Persuading a customer to buy a higher-value version or an add-on.

Communication from subordinates to superiors, such as reports, suggestions and grievances.

An ethical decision-making approach favouring the action that provides the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

The value that makes a product able to satisfy a want: form, place, time, possession or information utility.

A method of measuring national income by summing the value created at every stage of production.

Porter's division of a firm's activities into primary and support activities, to locate the sources of cost and value.

Studying each part of a product for what it does for the customer and what it costs, to take out cost without losing value.

The full set of benefits on which a brand is positioned and that it promises to deliver.

An organisation where ethical values shape culture, leadership and strategy, prioritising societal contribution alongside profit.

Setting price by the customer's perceived value rather than by cost.

A cost that changes in proportion to output, such as raw materials.

Another name for marginal costing; only variable costs are charged to products.

The difference between standard and actual variable overhead, split into expenditure and efficiency.

The difference between standard and actual cost, favourable if actual is lower and adverse if higher.

Low-involvement buying where buyers switch among clearly different brands for variety.

A good bought partly because its high price signals status, so demand can rise with price; after Thorstein Veblen's idea of conspicuous consumption (1899).

A channel in which producer, wholesaler and retailer act as one unified system: corporate, contractual or administered.

An ethical theory emphasising the moral character of the decision-maker — such as honesty and courage — rather than rules or outcomes.

The long-term aspirational direction guiding an organisation's future growth, forming the top tier of the VBO hierarchy.

A statement of the organisation's aspired future state: where it wants to be.

Independent retailers organised by a wholesaler for group buying and common merchandising.

Barney's four tests for a resource that can give sustained advantage: valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and organised to capture value.

A motivation theory proposing Motivation = Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence, linking effort to performance and reward.

J. S. Mill's (1848) theory that employers hold a fixed fund for wages, so the average wage is the fund divided by the number of workers.

A moderate rate of inflation, roughly 3-10%, that gradually erodes purchasing power over time.

Entering foreign markets one at a time, in sequence, for controlled expansion and learning.

The aim of increasing the value of the firm over time, allowing for the timing and risk of cash flows.

A model of organisational buying in which environmental, organisational, interpersonal and individual factors influence the buying centre.

The average cost of all sources of finance, weighted by their share of total capital.

An Indian law setting up a mechanism to receive public-interest disclosures of corruption, wilful misuse of power or criminal offences by public servants, and to protect those who make them against victimisation. Enacted, but not yet brought into force.

The act of exposing organisational wrongdoing to protect ethical standards, laws and public welfare.

A measure of inflation based on bulk/producer prices, excluding services.

An intermediary that buys in bulk from producers and resells to retailers or other businesses.

A sudden strike without the union's approval, such as one that breaks out while an agreement is still running.

Arranging year-end figures, such as paying creditors early, to make ratios look better.

Schaufeli and colleagues' (2002) positive, fulfilling state of mind marked by vigour, dedication and absorption; a state of energy, not a trait.

The relationship between work and other commitments in life, and how they affect each other; both get the time and energy they need.

When work takes so much time and energy that health or the rest of life begins to suffer; often grows when the boundary is blurred.

Greenhaus and Beutell's (1985) three forms: time-based, strain-based and behaviour-based conflict between work and family roles.

Current assets less current liabilities; the money tied up in day-to-day running.

Depreciation at a fixed percentage of the asset’s reducing book value each year.

Managing demand and capacity so the right services reach the right customers at the right places, times and prices.

Every item of spending must be justified afresh, with no assumption that last year’s costs continue.

A direct channel in which the producer sells straight to the consumer.

The range between desired and adequate service within which variations in service go largely unnoticed.