Business Studies & Management Comprehensive Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering fundamental concepts, definitions, and operational frameworks across management, company structure, HR, production, supply chain, marketing, banking, accounting, and international trade.

Motivators

Higher-level job factors (such as challenging work, recognition, responsibility, and promotion) that actively encourage employees to perform well and promote intrinsic psychological growth.

Job Rotation

Swapping employees between different repetitive tasks to increase workplace variety.

Job Enlargement

Adding extra tasks of a similar level to an employee's existing job to increase variety.

Job Enrichment

Adding tasks that require higher skills, autonomy, and responsibility to increase employee commitment and personal growth.

Hierarchy

Levels of management from highest to lowest in an organization.

Chain of Command

The path through which instructions are passed down to lower levels in an organization.

Span of Control

The number of subordinates working directly under a single manager.

Line Managers

Managers with direct responsibility for subordinates positioned directly below them.

Staff Managers

Specialists providing support, information, and assistance to line managers (e.g., legal counsel).

Delegation

Giving a subordinate the authority to perform a specific task.

Decentralization

Taking decision-making authority away from the Head Office and delegating it out to regional branches or divisions.

Matrix Management

An organizational structure featuring a dual reporting system overlaying project managers across functional heads.

Wikinomics & Mass Collaboration

A trend where companies collaborate with external independent experts and crowdsource solutions via the Internet to reduce costs, while risking alerting competitors to strategic plans.

Glocalization

A blend of globalization and localization describing products or services developed globally but modified to suit local market preferences.

Power Distance Index (PDI)

A cultural dimension measuring inequality; high PDI cultures feature steep hierarchies and centralized authority, whereas low PDI cultures emphasize flat structures and consultative equality.

Job Description (JD)

A document defining the role (WHAT they do), including key tasks, duties, operational responsibilities, reporting lines, and working conditions.

Job Specification (JS)

A document defining the person (WHO they are), specifying required academic qualifications, practical experience, technical skills, and personal traits.

Induction Training

Training that introduces business culture, safety rules, policies, and workplace layout to ensure fast integration of new hires.

On-the-Job Training

Learning by watching and practicing under experienced staff while carrying out daily work tasks.

Off-the-Job Training

Attending external courses, workshops, or formal academic modules away from the workplace to gain specialized skills without work distractions.

Primary Sector

The sector of an economy involving extracting or harvesting natural resources directly from the Earth (e.g., farming, fishing, mining).

Secondary Sector

The sector of an economy focusing on manufacturing, construction, and processing raw materials into finished goods.

Tertiary Sector

The sector of an economy that provides commercial and direct services to consumers and businesses (e.g., retailing, banking, transportation).

Quaternary Sector

A specialized branch of services focusing on knowledge-based, information-driven activities such as software development, ICT infrastructure, and R&D consultancy.

Quinary Sector

A sub-category of services involving non-profit, domestic, or human service activities (e.g., healthcare, NGOs, emergency services).

Privatisation

The process of selling state-owned assets, enterprises, or corporations to private investors.

Sole Trader

A business owned by one individual who retains full control, but bears unlimited legal liability for all debts.

Partnership

A business structure owned by 2–20 people who share responsibility, expertise, capital, and unlimited liability.

Private Limited Company (Ltd)

A separate legal entity owned by private shareholders with limited liability, which cannot sell shares to the general public.

Public Limited Company (PLC / JSC)

A company owned by public shareholders that raises capital by trading shares on a stock exchange, featuring limited liability alongside the risk of hostile takeover.

Unlimited Liability

A legal condition where business owners are personally responsible for all business debts, placing personal assets at risk of seizure if the business fails.

Limited Liability

A legal protection where investors can only lose the capital they directly invested in the business, protecting personal assets from corporate debts.

Operations Management

The coordination of people, equipment, and materials to establish core corporate priorities, balancing cost, quality, and speed.

Lean Production

Manufacturing goods with the minimum waste of resources, including time, labor, and materials.

Kaizen

A Japanese management philosophy meaning continuous improvement by eliminating waste through ongoing worker suggestions rather than expensive capital investments.

Just-In-Time (JIT)

A production method that minimizes or eliminates inventories of raw materials and finished goods by pulling parts through only as end-user demand dictates.

Lead Time

The total time that lapses between placing an order for goods and receiving them.

Job Production

A method of production where one unique item is produced at a time as a custom order, resulting in high unit cost and high quality.

Batch Production

A method of production where similar items are produced in blocks or groups, balancing unit costs with product variety.

Flow Production

Continuous mass production along an assembly line characterized by high automation, low unit costs, and rigid plant operations.

Push Strategy

A forecast-driven replenishment strategy where production is scheduled from estimated sales, requiring safety stocks and safety lead times.

Pull Strategy

A demand-driven replenishment strategy triggered by actual customer orders (using tools like Kanban) that minimizes inventory buffers.

Inbound Logistics

The upstream movement, receiving, and storage of raw materials, parts, and sub-assemblies from suppliers into a manufacturing facility.

Outbound Logistics

The downstream storage, order processing, packaging, and shipping of finished goods from a factory or warehouse to buyers and retail channels.

Reverse Logistics

The backward flow of individual returns and defective products from consumers to producers (many-to-one) for refund, refurbishing, or disposal.

Design for Environment (DfE)

A cradle-to-cradle engineering approach incorporating modular architecture, mechanical fasteners, and standardized parts to simplify end-of-life recycling.

Quality Control (QC)

A reactive inspection system that checks random finished samples at the end of the production line to detect defects after they happen.

Quality Assurance (QA)

A proactive quality system that establishes standardized procedures across the entire process to prevent defects before they occur and achieve zero defects.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A company-wide operational culture where every employee across all functions is responsible for continuous quality improvement.

Six Sigma

A statistical quality management method aiming for near-perfection with fewer than 3.4 defects per million parts.

Market Leader

The company holding the largest market share in an industry (~40%), focusing on expanding total demand and defending its position.

Market Challenger

A runner-up firm (~30% share) aggressively attacking the market leader or followers using price reductions, innovations, or aggressive promotion.

Market Follower

A runner-up firm (~20% share) that maintains market share through innovative imitation at low costs without provoking price wars.

Market Nicher

A small company (~10% share) focusing on specialized, narrow market segments profitably by relying on a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

Market Segmentation

The act of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different requirements based on geography, demographics, or behavior.

Product Life Cycle (PLC)

The four sequential stages a product moves through: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline.

Advertorial

A paid advertisement designed to mimic the appearance and format of genuine, objective editorial content in print media.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

A distinct benefit or feature that differentiates a product from its direct competitors.

Viral Marketing

Promotional strategies leveraging digital networks and social sharing to encourage consumers to rapidly pass marketing messages to peers.

Loss Leader

A popular item sold at an unprofitable price or financial loss to attract customers into a retail store.

Collateral

An asset pledged by a borrower as security or guarantee to secure a bank loan.

Overdraft

A facility allowing an account holder to draw funds into a negative balance up to an agreed limit.

Interest Spread

The differential between the lending rate charged to borrowers and the lower deposit rate paid to savers, representing a bank's primary profit margin.

Financial Intermediaries

Institutions (such as commercial banks) that channel funds from depositors (lenders) to borrowers needing credit.

Balance Sheet

A financial snapshot of a firm's financial position at a single point in time, following the equation: $\text{Assets} = \text{Liabilities} + \text{Shareholders' Equity}$.

Income Statement

A financial statement summarizing revenues, costs, and expenses over a specific period to calculate gross profit, operating profit, and net profit.

Cash Flow Statement

A financial statement tracking actual cash inflows and outflows across operating, investing, and financing activities over a period.

Accruals Principle

An accounting standard requiring transactions to be recorded when incurred, regardless of the timing of actual cash receipts or payments.

Creative Accounting

The use of misleading accounting tricks and procedures ('window dressing') to disguise an organization's true financial condition.

Forensic Accounting

The formal inspection of financial records specifically to investigate suspected fraud, embezzlement, or illegal activity.

Business Cycle

The natural macroeconomic fluctuations in real GDP over time through successive phases of expansion, peak, contraction, and trough.

Creative Destruction

The process whereby continuous technological innovations destroy and replace established companies and legacy industries.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

A corporate commitment to actively improving the well-being of local communities and the environment beyond legal mandates.

Greenwashing

Making false, exaggerated, or misleading environmental claims to generate favorable publicity.

Delayering

Removing middle management tiers from an organization to flatten hierarchy, cut administrative overhead, and speed up decision-making.

Outsourcing

Contracting internal business functions or operational services out to external third-party suppliers.

Protectionism

Government policies designed to shield domestic industries from foreign competition through trade barriers like tariffs, quotas, and subsidies.

Comparative Advantage

The economic theory stating that nations gain from international trade by specializing in producing goods at a lower relative opportunity cost than trading partners.

Dumping

Exporting goods into foreign markets at prices below domestic production costs to undermine local competitors.

Incoterms

Standardized international commercial terms (e.g., EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP) that clearly establish the legal transport obligations, costs, and risks between buyers and sellers.