Business AOS 1 Unit 1

Flashcards for vocabulary review based on lecture notes.

Balance of Payments

A record of a country’s trade and financial transactions with the rest of the world.

Business

Any activity conducted by an individual or individuals to produce and sell goods and services that satisfy the needs of society, as well as making profit.

Business Opportunity

A set of circumstances that presents itself as an avenue to success.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Managing a business in such a way that the broader social welfare of the community, including its employees, customers, suppliers and the environment, is taken into consideration when making business decisions.

Decision-Making

The ability to identify the options available and then choose a specific course of action from the alternatives.

Economic Growth

An increase in the real value of goods and services over a set period of time.

Economy

A system set up to determine what to produce, how to produce and to whom production will be distributed.

Effectiveness

A measure of whether the business is doing the right things — those that are most important to the success of the business.

Efficiency

A measure of how well we do things; for example, if we are able to produce more outputs from the same inputs, we have become more efficient at using these inputs.

Entrepreneur

A person who is willing to seize opportunities to start and operate a business, and is prepared to take risks in the hope of making a profit.

Entrepreneurship

The act of starting and operating a new business in response to opportunities, assuming all the risk in the hope of making a profit.

Exports

Goods or services sold by one country to individuals, businesses or governments in another country with the aim of extending sales and market penetration.

Feasibility Study

An assessment of the practicality and potential for success of a proposed business idea.

Financial Independence

The capacity to support a lifestyle without having to be employed or be dependent on others.

Goal

What a business expects to achieve over a set period of time.

Industry

The classification of groups of businesses related to the particular good or service they produce.

Innovation

Either creating a new good, service or process, or significantly improving an existing one.

Manager

A person who has responsibility for overseeing the operations of the business to ensure that it successfully achieves its goals.

Market Conditions

The features of a market into which a new good or service is to be introduced, including factors such as the number of potential customers, level of competition and potential for growth.

Market Need

The goods or services that customers require that are not readily available.

Market Research

A process of systematically collecting, recording and analysing information concerning a specific market.

Mission Statement

Describes what the business does and how it will achieve its vision.

Personal Independence

The capacity to be in control of decisions that affect one’s everyday actions or activities.

Productivity

A measure of business efficiency comparing output produced with the quantity of inputs. It is calculated using the formula: Productivity = outputs/inputs

Profit

What is left after business expenses have been deducted from money earned from revenue.

Research and Development (R&D)

A set of activities undertaken to improve existing products, create new products and improve production processes.

Return on Investment

A positive or negative percentage that relates the money gained or lost on an investment to the cost of that investment. It is usually taken to mean that the return on the investment occurs over a 12-month period.

Social Need

The production and/or selling of goods and services for the purpose of making the world (or the community) a better place.

Vision Statement

Describes where the business wants to be in the future (e.g. five years from now).