Business Management

Administrative Receiver
An individual appointed by the holder of a floating charge over a company's assets, with powers to sell the secured assets or manage the company's business.
Band-Aid Treatment
A Band-Aid treatment refers to addressing only the symptoms of a problem rather than focusing on the underlying cause. This approach often provides a temporary fix but not a long-term solution.
Bookkeeper
A bookkeeper is a professional responsible for recording financial transactions and maintaining accurate financial records for an organization. Bookkeepers use accounting systems to track expenses, income, and other monetary movements, aiding in the financial management of a business.
Branch Office Manager
A branch office manager is responsible for overseeing the operations of a branch of a securities brokerage firm or bank, ensuring it runs efficiently and complies with regulations.
Break-Even Point
A critical financial concept, the break-even point represents the point at which total revenues equal total costs, resulting in neither profit nor loss. It is widely used in finance, real estate, and securities to determine financial health.
Carte Blanche
Carte Blanche refers to the full freedom and authority to act at one's own discretion. It is often used in business contexts to describe a situation where an individual is given the broad authority to make decisions and take actions as they see fit, without requiring additional approval.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking executive in a company or organization, responsible for making major corporate decisions, managing overall operations and resources, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations.
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
A Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of a company. The COO directly reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and is often considered the second in command within the organization.
Commercially Domiciled
Located at the principal place from which a corporation's trade or business is managed or directed.
Company Secretary
An officer of a company with duties that encompass administrative tasks, legal compliance, and increasingly broader managerial roles.
Controlled Corporation
A controlled corporation is a company whose policies and major decisions are determined by another firm, which owns more than 50% of its voting shares.
Controlling Interest
An interest in a company that gives a person or another company control of it, usually through ownership of more than half the voting shares. Controlling interest can also be achieved with fewer shares if they are widely dispersed.
Corporate Structure
Setup of an organization in terms of departments and agencies; distribution and delegation of functional responsibilities throughout an organization. Reacting to a complex environment of business, the modern organization has become very complex, usually having many departments with a wide array of responsibilities.
Cross-Functional Teams
Cross-functional teams are employee teams consisting of individuals from two or more functional organizational areas who work together to achieve a common goal.
Current
The term 'current' is often used to denote anything that is not overdue or is occurring within the current period or time frame.
Current Ratio
The ratio of a business's current assets to its current liabilities, expressed as x:1. This metric helps gauge the liquidity of a company, indicating its ability to meet short-term obligations.
Decision Making in Accounting
The act of deciding between alternative courses of action. In the running of a business, accounting information and techniques are used to facilitate decision making, employing models like discounted cash flow, critical-path analysis, marginal costing, and breakeven analysis.
Departmentalization
Departmentalization is the process of forming employees into groups to accomplish specific organizational goals. It can be organized based on the functions performed, products offered, type of customer, or geographic divisions.
Deviation Policy
A deviation policy is an organizational procedure designed to address activities or behavior that deviate from established expectations. Actions are taken to manage such deviations effectively.
Discretionary Cost
Discretionary costs are expenses that can be easily adjusted or managed by a firm’s management, often including items such as advertising, repairs and maintenance, and research and development.
Dormant Partner
A dormant partner, also known as a silent partner, is an individual who invests capital in a partnership but does not take an active role in its management or operations.
Entrepreneurial Profit
Entrepreneurial profit refers to the compensation for the expertise and successful effort of a skilled businessperson, encompassing the portion of profit exceeding the normal profit for typically competent management.
Executive Search Firm
An executive search firm, also known as a headhunter, is a specialized recruitment service that seeks out and hires top-level management and executive talent for companies across various industries.
Friendly Takeover
A friendly takeover occurs when the management and board of directors of the target company are in agreement with the acquisition and recommend that shareholders approve the offer.
Full Cost Pricing
Full cost pricing is a method of setting the selling prices of a product or service that ensures the price is based on all the costs likely to be incurred in its supply.
Functional Authority
Functional Authority refers to the ability of staff members to initiate and veto actions in their area of expertise, allowing decisions to be directly implemented by those with specialized knowledge. Common areas include accounting, labor relations, and employment testing.
Functional Organization
A structure of an organization based on functional performance; organizational departments created to fulfill organizational functions such as marketing, finance, and personnel. This type of organization has characteristics of both line and staff functions.
Goal Setting
Goal setting involves establishing steps to meet the objectives of an individual or a firm. For instance, to achieve a 10% increase in sales, a company may increase each salesperson's quota by $10,000.
Incentive Fee
An incentive fee refers to a payment or fee given as a motivation to encourage participation, often in situations such as becoming part of a test-marketing audience group. This term is extensively used in various fields including finance, marketing, and business management.
Internal Control System
A comprehensive system of controls designed to facilitate orderly and efficient business operations, ensure adherence to management policies, safeguard assets, and maintain accurate and complete records.
Lay Off
A lay off involves removing, temporarily or permanently, an employee from a payroll due to economic conditions or production cutbacks, rather than poor performance or rule violations.
Limited Partnership
A limited partnership is a type of business entity in which at least one partner (the general partner) manages the business and is personally liable for the debts, while other partners (limited partners) contribute capital and have limited liability.
Management Buy-In (MBI)
Management Buy-In (MBI) is the acquisition of a company by an external team of managers, often financed by a venture-capital organization. It involves bringing in new management to revitalize a target company and optimize its operations.
Management by Crisis
Management by crisis is a reactive method of administration where strategies are formulated as events occur. This approach can lead to organizational confusion and often involves short-sighted policies.
Management by Objective (MBO)
Management by Objectives (MBO) is a strategic management approach wherein performance goals are jointly determined by both management and employees, fostering alignment and mutual agreement on objectives and performance standards.
Management Company
A management company provides various services to manage and oversee the operations, administration, and maintenance of businesses or investments, usually in exchange for a fee.
Management Guide
A comprehensive manual or collection of organizational policies intended for use by managers, outlining the procedures and policies for resolving particular situations within an organization.
Management Style
The leadership method a manager uses in administering an organization, which significantly influences both organizational culture and performance.
Management System
The management system encompasses various comprehensive methodologies and leadership styles aimed at streamlining organizational processes and improving efficiency.
Merchandising Director
An individual responsible for directing the merchandise sales effort for a manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, dealer, or advertising agency.
Organizational Chart
Organizational Chart illustrates the interrelationships of positions within an organization in terms of authority and responsibility. It categorizes the organization into line organization, functional organization, and line and staff organization.
Parkinson's Law
Parkinson's Law, formulated by C. Northcote Parkinson, posits that work expands to fill the time available for its completion and that organizations become inefficient over time due to internal pressures and redundant bureaucracy.
Pay for Performance
Pay for Performance is a salary scheme where employees accept a lower base pay in exchange for bonuses based on meeting production or other organizational goals.
Political Credit Risk (Sovereign Risk)
Political Credit Risk, also known as Sovereign Risk, emerges from actions by a foreign government that can influence the management of a foreign business, affect control over its assets, and impact its capacity to meet financial obligations towards its creditors.
Product Life Cycle
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a theory that postulates the development of a product through various stages, guiding marketing managers in devising effective strategies and decisions. It encompasses introduction, growth, maturity, and decline stages.
Production and Operations Management (POM)
The planning, coordination, and controlling of an organization's resources to efficiently facilitate the production process, encompassing key issues such as location, labor, transportation costs, and production forecasting.
Productivity
Productivity measures the relationship between the quantity and quality of units produced and the labor per unit of time.
Restructuring
Restructuring involves reorganizing the composition and operations of an organization, which can result in significant changes, including the elimination or replacement of departments and divisions, and potentially causing temporary or permanent layoffs.
Sales Mix
Sales mix represents the relative proportions of individual products that make up the total units sold within a company, offering insights into profitability and strategic planning.
Silent Partner
A silent partner, also known as a limited partner, is an investor who contributes capital to a business but does not involve themselves in the daily management or operations of the company. Unlike general partners, silent partners have limited liability, meaning they can only lose the amount of their investment.
SWOT Analysis
A comprehensive assessment framework to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization, which helps in understanding its current position and future potential.
Tall Organization
A traditional hierarchical organization structure characterized by many levels of supervision and a narrow span of control.
Tally
A tally is a count of specific items or occasions, often used in contexts like voting, inventory counting, and record keeping. It is a fundamental method of tracking occurrences to aid decision-making and analysis.
Target Company
A company that is the subject of a takeover bid by another company. Understanding the dynamics and implications of being a target company is crucial for shareholders, managers, and potential acquirers.
Task Group
A task group is a collaborative team operating within a larger organizational context, assigned the mission to contribute specifically to the goals of the parent organization. These groups can be either ongoing or temporary.
Theoretical Capacity
Theoretical Capacity refers to the maximum output that could be achieved by an organization or machinery without interruptions or inefficiencies.
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a management philosophy that focuses on identifying and managing the most critical limiting factor (constraint) that stands in the way of achieving a goal and then systematically improving that constraint until it is no longer the limiting factor.
Tight Ship
Indication that organizational management procedures are followed very closely. When an organization is run like a tight ship, few allowances are permitted for unorthodox procedures.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a comprehensive management approach that focuses on long-term success through customer satisfaction. This strategy involves all members of an organization participating in improving processes, products, services, and the organizational culture in which they work.
Unit-Labor Cost
An essential measure in economics and business that calculates the cost of labor required to produce one unit of a good or service.
Variable Cost
Variable cost refers to expenses that change in proportion to the production output or sales volume. They fluctuate based on the operational activity, such as material costs, labor costs, and utility expenses.
Venture Team
A management team assembled for the purpose of a new business operation. A venture team supervises and manages a start-up business, attending to all the details from raising venture capital to managing the initial operations.
Vice-President
A vice-president (VP) is a corporate officer subordinate to the president, typically responsible for a specific functional area such as marketing, production, finance, or human resources.
Vice-President (VP)
A Vice-President (VP), often simply referred to as VP, is a senior executive in an organization who is responsible for various vital operational aspects and play a pivotal role in the strategic planning and decision-making process.
Worker Buyout
The process of reducing staff by offering financial incentives to employees with seniority, known as a workforce buyout, can be expensive but it helps maintain morale and loyalty among remaining employees.

Accounting Terms Lexicon

Discover comprehensive accounting definitions and practical insights. Empowering students and professionals with clear and concise explanations for a better understanding of financial terms.