Business Definitions PDF

1.​ A need is a good or service essential for living. 2.​ A want is a good or service which people would like to have, but which is not essential for living. People’s wants are unlimited. 3.​ The economic problem – there exist unlimited wants but limited resources to produce the goods and se...

1.​ A need is a good or service essential for living. 2.​ A want is a good or service which people would like to have, but which is not essential for living. People’s wants are unlimited. 3.​ The economic problem – there exist unlimited wants but limited resources to produce the goods and services to satisfy those wants. This creates scarcity. 4.​ Factors of production are those resources needed to produce goods or services. There are four factors of production and they are in limited supply. 5.​ Scarcity is the lack of sufficient products to fulfil the total wants of the population. 6.​ Opportunity cost is the next best alternative given up by choosing another item. 7.​ Specialisation occurs when people and businesses concentrate on what they are best at. 8.​ Division of labour is when the production process is split up into different tasks and each worker performs one of these tasks. It is a form of specialisation. 9.​ Businesses combine factors of production to make products (goods and services) which satisfy people’s wants. 10.​Added value is the difference between the selling price of a product and the cost of bought-in materials and components. 11.​The primary sector of industry extracts and uses the natural resources of Earth to produce raw materials used by other businesses. 12.​The secondary sector of industry manufactures goods using the raw materials provided by the primary sector. 13.​The tertiary sector of industry provides services to consumers and the other sectors of industry. 14.​De-industrialization occurs when there is a decline in the importance of the secondary, manufacturing sector of industry in a country. 15.​A mixed economy has both a private sector and a public (state) sector. 16.​Capital is the money invested into a business by the owners. 17.​Entrepreneur is a person who organises, operates and takes the risk for a new business venture. 18.​A business plan is a document containing the business objectives and important details about the operations, finance and owners of the new business. 19.​Capital employed is the total value of capital used in the business. 20.​Internal growth occurs when a business expands its existing operations. 21.​External growth is when a business takes over or merges with another business. It is often called integration as one business is integrated into another one. 22.​A takeover or acquisition is when one business buys out the owners of another business, which then becomes part of the ‘predator’ business (the business which has taken it over). 23.​A merger is when the owners of two businesses agree to join their businesses together to make one business. 24.​Horizontal integration is when one business merges with or takes over another one in the same industry at the same stage of production. 25.​Vertical integration is when one business merges with or takes over another one in the same industry but at a different stage of production. Vertical integration can be forward or backward. 26.​Conglomerate integration is when one business merges with or takes over a business in a completely different industry. This is also known as diversification. 27.​Sole trader is a business owned by one person. 28.​Limited liability means that the liability of shareholders in a company is limited to only the amount they invested. 29.​Unlimited liability means that the owners of a business can be held responsible for the debts of the business they own. Their liability is not limited to the investment they made in the business. 30.​Partnership is a form of business in which two or more people agree to jointly own a business. 31.​A partnership agreement is the written and legal agreement between business partners. It is not essential for partners to have such an agreement but it is always recommended. 32.​An unincorporated business is one that does not have a separate legal identity. Sole traders and partnerships are unincorporated businesses. 33.​Incorporated businesses are companies that have separate legal status from their owners. 34.​Shareholders are the owners of a limited company. They buy shares which represent part-ownership of the company. 35.​Private limited companies are businesses owned by shareholders but they cannot sell shares to the public. 36.​Public limited companies are businesses owned by shareholders but they can sell shares to the public and their shares are tradable on the Stock Exchange. 37.​An Annual General Meeting is a legal requirement for all companies. Shareholders may attend and vote on who they want to be on the Board of Directors for the coming year. 38.​Dividends are payments made to shareholders from the profits (after tax) of a company. They are the return to shareholders for investing in the company. 39.​A franchise is a business based upon the use of the brand names, promotional logos and trading methods of an existing successful business. The franchisee buys the licence to operate this business from the franchisor. 40.​A joint venture is where two or more businesses start a new project together, sharing capital, risks and profits. 41.​A public corporation is a business in the public sector that is ownedand controlled by the state (government). 42.​Business objectives are the aims or targets that a business works towards. 43.​Profit is the total income of a business (revenue) less total costs. 44.​Market share is the percentage of total market sales held by one brand or business. 45.​A social enterprise has social objectives as well as an aim to make a profit to reinvest back into the business. 46.​A stakeholder is any person or group with a direct interest in the performance and activities of a business. 47.​Motivation is the reason why employees want to work hard and work effectively for the business. 48.​A wage is payment for work, usually paid weekly. 49.​Time rate is the amount paid to an employee for one hour of work. 50.​Piece rate is an amount paid for each unit of output. 51.​A salary is payment for work, usually paid monthly. 52.​A bonus is an additional amount of payment above basic pay as a reward for good work. 53.​Commission is payment relating to the number of sales made. 54.​Profit sharing is a system whereby a proportion of the company’s profits is paid out to employees. 55.​Job satisfaction is the enjoyment derived from feeling that you have done a good job. 56.​Job rotation involves workers swapping around and doing each specific task for only a limited time and then changing around again. 57.​Job enrichment involves looking at jobs and adding tasks that require more skill and/or responsibility. 58.​Team Working involves using groups of workers and allocating specific tasks and responsibilities to them. 59.​Training is the process of improving a worker’s skills. 60.​Promotion is the advancement of an employee in an organisation,for example, to a higher job/managerial level.