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

Deadbeat
A person or company who tries to avoid paying their debts

Dear Money
Also known as Tight Money. When money is difficult to borrow, and if a loan is secured then it would be paid back at a very high rate of interest

Debenture
Unsecured certified loan over a long period of time with a fixed rate, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future

Debriefing
A meeting or interview in which a person or group of people report about a task or mission just completed or attempted

Debt
Money owed to another person or organisation, such as a loan, mortgage, etc., which is required to be paid back, usually with interest

Debt Exposure
Money that a lender risks losing if the borrower fails to pay it back

Debt-Equity Swap
An arrangement between a lender and a debtor, usually a company, in which the lender agrees to reduce the debt in exchange for newly issued shares from the borrower

Decertification
In employment this refers specifically to action taken by workers to disassociate themselves from a trade union which previously represented them. Aside from this the general meaning refers to withdrawal of certification of one sort or another.

Decision Tree
A diagram which starts with an initial decision, and possible strategies and actions are represented by branches which lead to the final outcome decided upon

Deed Of Partnership
A legal document which sets out how a partnership is to be run, and also the rights of the partners. A Deed Of Partnership is not compulsory but it helps to avoid any misunderstandings or disputes in the future

Deep Throat
In business, an anonymous source of top secret information. First used in this sense in the reporting of the US Watergate scandal

Deep Web
Also known as the Invisible Web, said to contain about 500 times more information than the generally accessible world-wide web, the Deep Web comprises data held by secure organizations, for example military and government

Defence Document
A document that a company's shareholders receive which explains why an offer to buy the company should be rejected

Deficit Financing
When a government borrows money because of a shortage of funds from taxes. This usually results in pushing up interest rates

Deflation
Economic decline typified by falling costs of goods and services; falling levels of employment; limited money supply or credit; reduced imports; lower wage increases, often caused by lower personal spending or investment, and/or a reduction in government spending. Deflation is broadly the opposite of inflation

Delegation
An assignment of responsibility or task, usually by a manager to a subordinate. See delegation. Separately a delegation refers to a deputation, being a group of people appointed or responsible for representing a nation or corporation or other organization to attend talsk or negotiations, etc.

Demerit Goods
Products or services such as as alcohol, gambling, drugs, prostitution, etc., which are considered unhealthy or undesirable, and are often subject to extra taxes in order to reduce consumption and potentially to fund remedial actions in response to consumption. See Sin Tax.

Demographic Profile
Used in marketing to describe a particular segment of the population, for example social class, age, gender, income, etc

Demographic Segmentation
The process of identifying and dividing consumers into groups according to their race, age, gender, religion, etc

Demonetize
To officially decide that a particular coin or banknote can no longer be used as currency

Deposition
A sworn statement of evidence by a witness taken outside of the court proceedings before a trial

Depression
A prolonged and very deep economic recession, in a country or wider region. Definitions of an economic depression vary greatly, from two to ten years or more, characterized by extremely deep levels of negative indicators such as unemployment, credit and money supply, living standards, and reduced GDP, etc. Historians and economic commentators commonly disagree about the duration of depressions due to the confused methods of defining precisely what a depression is

Deregulate
The reduction or removal of government regulations from an industry or business

Derived Demand
Demand for a service or goods which is created by the demand for another service or goods, such as the demand for steel to make cars.

Desktop Publishing
Producing printed documents, magazines, books, etc., using a small computer and printer

Didactic
Describes works of literature or art which are intended to be be informative or instructional, especially morally, rather than entertaining. From the ancient Greek word didaskein, which means to teach

Digerati
People who consider themselves to be experts of the Internet and computer industry

Digital Wallet
Computer software used to store a persons bank account details, name, address, etc., to enable them to make automatic payments when they are making purchases on the Internet

Direct Marketing
The marketing of products, services, etc., directly to individual potential customers by sending them catalogues, leaflets, brochures, etc., by mail (including e-mail), calling them on the telephone or calling door-to-door

Direct Overhead
A portion of the overheads, e.g. lighting, rent, etc., directly associated with the production of goods and services

Directives
At an official level, directives are instructions, guidelines or orders issued by a governing or regulatory body. They may amount to law. In a less formal way a directive equates to an instruction issued by an executive or manager or organizational department

Director
A person appointed to oversee and run a company or organisation along with other directors, In the entertainment industry, the person who directs the making of a film, TV program, etc

Dirty Money
Money made from illegal activities which needs 'laundering' so that it appears to be legitimate.

Disburse
To pay out money from a large fund, e.g. a treasury or public fund.

Discount Window
In the US, when banks can borrow money from the Federal Reserve at low interest rates

Discretionary Income
The amount of income a person is left with after taxes and living essentials, such as food, housing, etc., have been deducted

Discretionary Order
Permits a broker to buy or sell shares on behalf of an investor in order to get the best price

Discriminating Duty
A variable tax levied on goods depending from which country they were imported

Dispatch Note
Also called Dispatch Advice. A document giving details of goods which have been dispatched or are ready to be dispatched to a customer

Distributable Profit
A company's profits which are available for distribution among shareholders at the end of an accounting period

Distributer
An individual or company who buys products, usually from manufacturers, and resells them to retail outlets or direct to customers. A wholesaler

Diversification
The act or strategy of growing a business/brand by developing its range of products, services, investments, etc., into new market sectors, horizontally or vertically. The term diversification is not generally used in referring to the development of new greographical markets. The vastly diversified Virgin business and brand is a good example of diversification, from from its music mail-order origins in the 1970s, into recording, aviation, rail, holidays/hotels, health clubs, internet/broadband, communications/telephony, TV, radio, books/publishing, events/festivals, banking, insurance, charity, cola, bridal services, condoms, etc. Diversification may make use of an existing brandname (Virgin is a good example of this), or new brandnames, and may entail various business structures, including acquistion. Partnering and joint-ventures are common structural approaches to diversification (so as to work with people/businesses who have existing market presence/expertise). Much simpler examples of diversification are: a butcher's shop which starts a hog-roast service; a bakers shop which opens a cafe; a builder who starts a property development business. Diversification strategies, especially of large scale, typically involve considerable risk and investment because by implication the organization is seeking to become successful in a new unfamiliar field. Risk affects the existing business as well as the new one, in terms of finances, resources, time-management, and brand/reputation, particularly where branding is similar between existing and new activities, all of which are often overlooked. Failures are often characterized by under-funding, poor-planning, inadequate resourcing, and over-optimism/arrogance of leaders, believing ...

Diversion/Product Diversion
In marketing and business 'diversion' refers to the unofficial distribution/availability of branded consumer products. In other words this is the supply of branded products through unautorized stockists or retailers or other suppliers, notably via the web. Diversion does not refer to pirated or counterfeit or 'fake' goods. Diversion refers to official goods being sold through unofficial channels. Also called a 'grey market'

Divest/Divestment
In business, divest/divestment refers to a corporation selling subsidiary interests, especially a subsidiary company. (The term derives originally from a more literal meaning of taking power of rights from someone or a body - from the original French desvestir, meaining literally removal of a person's vest or garment.)

Document Sharing
Used in video-conferencing. A system which allows people in different places to view and edit the same document at the same time on their computers

Dog
An informal slang term for an investment which has shown a poor performance. The slang term dog may also refer to other poor-performing elements within a business, for example a product or service within a company range, as in the widely used 'Boston Matrix'.

Dolly
In the entertainment industry, a piece of equipment on wheels which allows the camera to move smoothly for long walking shots

Dotcom
an internet business, or the internet business sector

Double
In the film and TV industry, a person who stands in, or is substituted, for a principal actor

Double-Blind
A method of testing a new product, usually medicine, in which neither the people trying the product nor those administering the treatment know who is testing the real product and who has been given a placebo containing none of the product

Double-dip Recession
A recession during which there is a brief period of economic growth, followed by a slide back into recession, before final recovery. Also called a W-shaped recession. See recession shapes

Double-dipping
The practice, usually regarded as unethical, of receiving two incomes or benefits from the same source, for example receiving a pension and consultancy income from the same employer

Double-Entry Bookkeeping
An accounting method which results in balanced ledgers, i.e., for every transaction a credit is recorded in one account and a debit is recorded in another.

Doula
A birthing or labour coach, from the greek word doule, meaning female slave

Drayage
The fee charged for, or the process of, transporting goods by lorry or truck

Drip Advertising
An advertising campaign in small amounts over a long period of time to ensure that the public is continually aware of a product or service

Drum-Buffer-Rope
A method, usually in manufacturing, which ensures an efficient flow of work in a production process by taking into consideration any possible delays or problems which may occur

Duopoly
Two companies, or a situation, in which both companies control a particular industry

Dutch Auction
A type of auction which opens with a high asking price which is then lowered until someone accepts the auctioneers price, or until the sellers reserve price has been reached

Dysphemism
The substitution of a neutral or positive word/phrase with a replacement word/phrase that has a more negative/pesimistic effect. The opposite or inverse of a dysphemism is euphemism. Both are widely used in press and public relations communications. Extreme examples are unethical at best, and criminally dishonest at worst

Dystopia
The opposite of Utopia, a society in which conditions are characterised by human misery, depirvation, squalor, disease, etc. The term is said to have been coined by by John Stuart Mill in 1868 in a UK House of Commons speech criticizing the government's Irish land policy.

E-Business
Electronic Business. Using the internet to conduct business or enable businesses to link together

E-Commerce
Electronic Commerce. The buying and selling of products and services over the Internet

E-Currency
Electronic currency. Used on the Internet for making and receiving payments. Companies which provide this service include Paypal and E-Gold

E-Enabled
Being able to communicate and/or conduct business using the internet

E-Lance
Freelance working using the Internet to sell services or goods anywhere in the world

E-Tailer
An retailer who uses the internet to sell goods and/or services to the public

E-Zine
An electronic magazine which is published on the internet, or delivered by e-mail.

Earn-Out
An arrangement in which an extra future conditional payment is made to the seller of a business in addition to the original price, based upon certain criteria being met

Easterlin Paradox
A theory that beyond satisfaction of basic needs, increasing wealth of a country does not produce increasing happiness, suggested by US professor of economics Richard Easterlin based on his research published in 1974.

Econometrics
Using mathematics and statistics to study the economy

Economic Growth
An increase in a region's or nation's production of goods and services

Economic Life
The period of time during which an asset, e.g. property, vehicle, machinery, etc., is expected to be usable, including repairs and maintenance, before a replacement is required

Economic Union
Also known as a Common Market. An agreement between a group of countries which allows the free flow of goods, services, labour, etc., between the member countries and usually has a common currency.

Economy
The management of money, currency and trade of a nation. The efficient management of resources

Ecotourism
Nature based travel to unspoilt places in the world with a view to conservation and to bring economic benefit to the local people. Also known as Ecological Tourism

Edutainment
Products or media which both educate and entertain at the same time, such as TV, books, computer software

Egalitarian
Believing that everyone is equal and should all have the same rights and opportunities in life

Elasticity Of Demand
The measure of whether people require more or less of a product or service after a price change

Electronic Cottage
A home which has the necessary electronic equipment, such as telephone, computer, etc., from which to run a business

Electronic Data Exchange
A means of exchanging documents between businesses using electronic equipment such as computers

Electronic Purse
A type of microchipped smartcard which stores small amounts of money to enable payment for purchases, especially on the Internet, instead of having to use cash

Embezzlement
Dishonestly appropriate goods or money from one's employer for personal gain; steal from one's employer, typically by electronic administrative methods, thus abusing a position of trust or responsibility

Emolument
Total wages, benefits or compensation paid to someone for the job they do or the office they hold

Emoticon
Used in e-mails, internet chat rooms and text messages, symbols which represent facial expressions, e.g. :-) = smile

Emotional Capital
Emotional experiences, values and beliefs of a company's employees that make good working relationships and a successful business. Low emotional capital can result in conflict between employees, low morale and poor customer relations

Emotional Intelligence
The ability or skill of a person to understand and control their emotions, and to understand and assess and respond appropriately to the feelings and situations of others. Commonly abbreviated to EQ (Emotional Quotient, alluding to the concept of IQ - Intelligence Quotient), Emotional Intelligence theory seeks to enable a sophisticated practical appreciation and application of the concept of intelligence, especially in work, management, leadership and human relationships

Empirical
Information derived from experience, observation or experiment rather than from theory or subjective opinion. From Greek - empeiros, meaning skilled - in turn from peira, meaning trial or experiment

Employee
An individual who is hired and paid by another person, company, organisation, etc., to perform a job or service

Employee Buyout
A transaction in which employees purchase all or most of a company's shares, thereby gaining control of the company

Employee Ownership
A business model and constitutional framework in which staff hold significant or majority shares of a company, thereby ensuring higher levels of loyalty and commitment, and fairness in the way that business performance relates to employee reward. The John Lewis Partnership is one of the prime and most successful examples of the concept

Employee Self Service
An Internet based system which enables an employee to access their personal records and payroll details, so they can change their own bank account details, contact details, etc

Employee Stock Option
Allows specified employees the right to purchase shares in the company at a fixed price

Employer
A person, business, organisation, etc., that pays for the services of workers

Employment Equity
Promotes equal employment opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender, race, ability, etc

Employment Law
Also known as Labour Law. The branch of the law that deals with the legal rights of employees, e.g. workplace safety, discrimination, compensation, etc

Encrypt
Convert data into code which cannot be easily understood by people who have no authorisation to view it

End Consumer
An individual who buys and/or uses a product or service

End Marker
Used at the end of a take in a film, TV program or audition to cover a mistake or to remind people who the person auditioning was during auditions

Enterprise
A company or business. A business project, often one which is sometimes difficult and/or risky