Copy of `businessballs - business and management terms`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

businessballs - business and management terms Category: Management > business and management Date & country: 13/09/2014, USA Words: 1681

Project Sponsor
A person in an organization who instigates or proposes a project, and creates/establishes/agrees the necessary executive approval, funding, resourcing, etc., typically extending to the appointment of the project manager. A project sponsor is usually and crucially responsible for developing and presenting the financial justification for the project, which generally entails outcomes and timescales, and assuming personal accountability for the success of the project.

Promo
A promotional broadcast on television, radio, etc., advertising a product, TV show, film, etc

Promotion
The use of marketing and/or advertising to bring attention to a product, brand, service, company, etc., usually in order to increase sales. The raising of an employee to a higher rank in an organisation

Prompt Note
A document sent to someone to remind them when a payment is due on a purchase

Proof Copy
The printed pages of a book, magazine, etc., which is read and corrected (e.g. spelling mistakes) by a Proof Reader before the final printing of all the copies

Propaganda
Politically motivated publication or writing designed to influence thinking or action, usually in a misleading way. When carried out by a government or other authority this may also be referred to in more modern terms as 'spin'. The word derives from the Latin name of a Roman Catholic committee responsible for 'propagation of the faith' in the 1600s

Proprietary Trading
The buying and selling of shares, bonds, etc., by a securities firm with its own money for its own profit, rather than for its customers

Prosecute
To bring a criminal charge against someone in a court of law

Prospectus
A document published by a company which is offering its shares for sale, disclosing information such as the company's activities, objectives, finances, etc. A book published by a university or school containing information about courses, etc

Prosumer
Profession/Producer Consumer. A consumer who is involved in the specification of products, or has professional tools and is involved in the the design and manufacture of products

Protectionism
The policy of a country protecting its own industries against foreign competition by imposing taxes, etc., on imported goods

Protocol
In computing, a set of rules which determine the way data is transmitted between computers. The code of conduct in an organisation, etc

Prototype
An original design or working model of something, often used in demonstrations

Provenance
The origins and history/development/movement of a created work (originally referring to art work, but now extending to any created work, such as writings, computer programs, etc) such as to provide record and evidence of the creator, reliability, ownership, adaptation, etc., of the work, thereby demonstrating or supporting the work's authenticity and quality. The term is from Latin pro, forth, and venire, come.

Proviso
A clause in a contract which makes a condition or stipulation

Proxy
A person who has been given the authority to act for another person, e.g., a proxy can vote on behalf of a shareholder

Prudence
Aside from its usual general meaning of carefulness in judgment and decision-making, prudence particularly refers to caution in commercial/financial/economic risk-taking, and to the typically great caution exercised by financial folk (accountants and bankers notably) in planning, budgeting, forecasting, granting loans, extending credit, defining standards and policies, and accounting practice as a whole, etc

Prune Juice
A term attributed to 'showbusinessman' Alan Sugar, which refers to revenues which come into a business and are lost very quickly and unavoidably as costs, and so do very little if anything to actually improve trading profits. Sugar used this term referring to the vast TV revenues paid to top soccer clubs, which flushes through their businesses as similarly vast payments to players. A business which benefits (or suffers) from the prune juice effect tends to give the impression of being much bigger and more solvent and profitable than it actually is. Prune juice revenues also tend to dictate business expediture models which dilute real strategic and management control of the business owners, so that the providers of revenues exert a very high level of influence

Pseudo
Pronounced 'sudo', this is a prefix which can be put before many different words to represent a fake or false quality which often attempts to imitate or behave as the real thing. From Greek pseudos, meaning falsehood

Pseudonym
a false name, commonly adopted by a writer seeking to hide their true identity

Psychographic Segmentation
The process of identifying and dividing consumers into groups according to their interests, attitudes, social class, values, personality, etc.

Psychographics
Used in marketing, the analysis of peoples characters, lifestyles, attitudes, purchasing habits, etc

Psychological Contract
usually expressed as 'the Psychological Contract', this is the understanding between employee(s) and employer as to their mutual expectations arising from the employment relationship. The expectations involve a complex balance of inputs and rewards, including contractually clear elements such as hours and pay, and extend to implications and assumptions about security, loyalty, and other highly subjective factors. The Psychological Contract is a two-way notional agreement between employee and employer, typically analysed from the employee perspective. Psychological Contract theory potentially extends to relationships between suppliers and customers, and between the state and its people. More detailed explanation is in the Psychological Contract section of this website

Public Debt
Also known as National Debt. The total amount of money owed by a country's national and local governments

Public Domain
Something that is not protected by copyright and is openly available for anyone to use, look at, etc

Public Employee
A person employed by the government

Public Enterprise
A business or economic activity owned and controlled by the government

Public Issue
When a company offers shares for sale to the public for the first time

Public Liability
When the owner of a business, etc., is responsible for any injury or harm inflicted on a member of the public because of negligence or unsafe products, etc., against which an insurance policy can be obtained by the business

Public Relations
PR. The promotion of an organisation or person with the aim of creating a favourable relationship with the public

Public Works
Buildings and structures constructed by the government for public use, such as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc

Publicist
A publicity or press agent who publicises organisations, people, etc

Puff
In advertising, to exaggerate the qualities of a product, etc., without actually breaking the law

Pull Strategy
Used in marketing to create a demand for a product by means of advertising and promoting to the end consumer, rather than through the marketing channel. To 'pull' the product through from distributor to final consumer

Pump And Dump
The illegal practice of artificially boosting share prices by false and misleading statements in order to sell the originally cheap shares at much higher prices

Punitive
Inflicting or concerned with punishment, for example punitive taxes, punitive justice

Punitive Damages
Damages awarded, over and above general damages, by a court of law against a defendant who has committed a malicious act which has resulted in injury to a person or damage to property, in order to deter the defendant from committing similar acts in future

Purchase Ledger
A record of a company's accounts which shows amounts owed to suppliers for items purchased on credit

Purchasing Officer
A company employee who is responsible for the purchasing of equipment, materials and services from suppliers and contractors

Purchasing Power
Also called spending power, the amount of goods or services which can be purchased with a particular currency, or more generally, the amount of money a person or group has available to spend on goods and services. The term may also emphasise a group or organization's ability to achieve heavily discounted prices or rates due to the high buying volumes

Pure Play
Term that relates to a company which deals in one specific line of business, rather than a range of products, services, etc

Purveyor
A company or person who supplies provisions, especially food

Push System
In production, a system in which the demand for goods is predicted by the company, so more goods are made to keep up with pre-set levels rather than customer demand

Put Option
An option in a contract giving the holder the right to sell shares, materials, etc., at a specified price at, or up to, a fixed date

Pyramid Scheme
Illegal in several countries, a scheme in which people are paid for recruiting others who pay a fee, part of which goes to the person who recruited them as a commission. In order to get their payment the recruits then have to find new recruits to pay a fee. This goes on until there is no one left to recruit and the people who come into the scheme last end up losing their money. The difference between Pyramid Selling and a Pyramid Scheme is that is that the latter has no product. (See Ponzi Scheme)

Pyramid Selling
A system in which people buy the rights (often a franchise) to sell a company's products to other distributors who have been recruited, who then sell the products on to other recruits. This type of selling often ends up with no final buyer for the products. The few people at the top of the pyramid commonly make a lot more money than the many people at the bottom

Qualifying Period
The length of time an employee must serve in a job before being entitled to various benefits, or being able to make a claim against unfair dismissal

Qualitative
Associated with a thing's quality which cannot be measured, such as feel, image, taste, etc. Describes peoples qualities which cannot be measured, such as knowledge, behaviour, attitude, etc

Quality
An attribute or level of excellence. The standard of a product, service, etc., as measured against similar products, services, etc. A distinctive characteristic or attribute possessed by someone or something.

Quality Circle
Originating in Japan, a group of workers in a company who meet regularly to discuss ways in which to improve working conditions for employees and productivity for the company

Quantitive/Quantitative
Related to or measured in numbers. Comparison based on quantity rather than quality

Quantity Surveyor
In the UK, a professional who works in the construction industry, whose job is to calculate the cost of materials, labour, etc., needed to complete a project

Quarter Day
In the UK, a fixed day of each quarter of the year on which certain payments, such as rents, are due

Questionnaire
A form containing a list of research or survey questions for people to answer, so that information can be gathered for analysis

Quoted Company
A company whose shares are listed on the Stock Exchange.

R&D
Research and Development. Investigative work carried out by a business to improve and develop products and processes

Race Relations Act
A British government Act, introduced in 1976, making it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin

Race To The Bottom
A phrase said to be coined by US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. A situation in which competition between nations could result in lower standards, cheaper wages, poorer working conditions, etc

Rack Rate
The full price of something before discounts have been offered, especially hotel rooms

Racketeer
A person who makes money through illegal business or crime, such as extortion, bribery, fraud, etc

Raid
On the Stock Exchange, a situation where an individual or company makes a hostile bid to take over another company by buying a controlling interest in the company's shares

RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks. On a computer, a way of storing data by spreading it across multiple disks, therefore providing greater security, faster access, etc

Rainmaker
An employee, often an executive, who brings a lot of business and income to a company

RAM
Random Access Memory. In computing, the place where current data is stored while a computer is being used. The data is removed when the computer is switched off

Random Sample
Often used in research, a method of sampling members of a large group, such as a population, in which everyone has an equal chance of being selected

Rank And File
The ordinary members of a group, such as enlisted troops in an army, or members of a union, who have no power

Rat
Slang term for an informer, or to inform, typically for personal gain. Rat is also a verb, meaning to inform or betray

Rat Race
The exhausting, competitive struggle and routine of working and living in a large town or city

Rate Card
A printed list of charges and details regarding advertising costs on television, radio, websites, newspapers, etc

Rate of Return
The amount of profit or loss generated by an investment, expressed as a percentage of the total sum invested

Ratify
To sanction formally. Validate an agreement with a vote or signature

Rating Agency
A company which assesses and rates businesses on their credit-worthiness and/or their ability to repay debts

Ratings Point
The measure of a size of an audience, i.e., one point equals one per cent of all households watching a television program or listening to a radio station at a particular time

Ratio Analysis
A study of a company's financial statements which show the relationships between items listed on a balance sheet and gives an indication as to whether the company can meet its current obligations

Reactive Marketing
Describes when companies or businesses wait for customers to contact them in order to buy their products or services

Real Estate
Also called Realty. Property consisting of land with permanent structures on it, such as buildings, walls, fences, etc

Real Time
In computing, systems which receive information and update it at the same time

Ream
500 sheets of paper. A large quantity of written material

Rebadge
To change the name , brand or logo of an existing product or business, especially cars

Reboot
To switch a computer off and restart it again immediately

Rebrand
Change the name, packaging, etc., of an existing product or business and advertise it as new and improved

Recall
To ask customers to return a product which they have bought because it has been found to be faulty or dangerous

Recapitalise
To put more money into a business, often one which is facing bankruptcy. To reorganise a company's capital structure by exchanging preferred stock for bonds, usually to reduce taxes

Receivables
Shown as assets on a balance sheet, money which is owed to a company by customers who have purchased goods or services on credit

Receiver
An independent person appointed by a court to manage and control the finances, property, etc., of a bankrupt company, who usually sells the company's assets in order to pay the creditors

Recession Shape
A common way to describe a recession, in terms of how the recession appears in a graph of GDP movement over time. 'Shapes' are mostly letter-shapes (V, W, U, etc). Here are the most common recession shapes:

Reciprocal Trade/Trading
Exchange of product or services. A simple example might be an accountant providing book-keeping services to a telemarketing company which in return performs telemarketing services on behalf of the accountant

Reciprocity
Based on the notion of mutuality or return in the term 'reciprocal', reciprocity means give-and-take, such as to achieve a mutually agreeable balance

Recognition Test
Also known as Readership Test. A test carried out after people have read a newspaper, magazine, etc., to see if they have remembered or read a particular advertisement

Record Date
A date set by a company by which an investor must be recorded as owning shares in order to qualify to receive dividends and be able to vote at a shareholders meeting

Recorded Delivery
A postal system for which an extra fee is charged in addition to postage. The sender is given a receipt at the time of posting and the recipient signs a form to confirm delivery

Recruit
To seek employees for a business or organisation. To enlist military personnel

Red Bag
A UK legal profession tradition in which a red fabric bag, to contain a barister's robes, is presented to a junior lawyer by a Queen's Counsel (QC) for recognition of good work in an important case

Red Ink
Term used when referring to a company's financial loss

Red-Circling
The practice of protecting the salary of employees whose jobs have been downgraded because of the restructuring, etc., of the company

Redundancy
A situation in which an employer intends to cease business, so therefore the workforce lose their jobs, or an employee is made redundant because their job no longer exists in the company they work for. Employees in these situations often qualify for redundancy pay

Refer To Drawer
In the UK, a phrase used by banks when someone's account does not have sufficient funds to clear a cheque which they have written, or the cheque has been written incorrectly

Reference
A letter/statement written about a person by someone who knows them, detailing their abilities, character, qualifications, etc., which is sent to a prospective employer

Registered Capital
Also called Authorised Capital. The maximum value of shares which a company can legally issue

Registered Company
In the US, a company which has filed an SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registration, and may issue new shares. In the UK, a company which is listed on the Companies Register as a limited private company, a public limited company, or an unlimited company