Knowledge Matter Vocabulary PDF

Knowledge Matter Vocabulary in-person interview: A type of job interview in which the candidate meets with company officials, usually at the employer's headquarters job description: A document detailing what a person who takes a certain job will be required to do needs assessment: An internal com...

Knowledge Matter Vocabulary in-person interview: A type of job interview in which the candidate meets with company officials, usually at the employer's headquarters job description: A document detailing what a person who takes a certain job will be required to do needs assessment: An internal company process to determine its staffing needs offer letter: A formal letter offering an individual a job onboarding: The process of orienting and training a new employee person specification: The distillation by a company of the type of person and the skills required for performing a role successfully personality test: A formal or informal assessment of a candidate's personality, used to determine his or her suitability for the role phone screen: A telephone interview with a job candidate designed to assess whether he or she is a desirable enough candidate to go forward with an in-person interview purple squirrel: The ideal candidate for an open position recruiting: The process of finding and hiring the best candidates for any given open position résumé: A short document produced by job seekers to outline their skills, experience, and interests sourcing plan: A formal or informal plan by a company that identifies the ways in which a company will seek out qualified job candidates employee engagement: The means by which employees are made to feel that they are an integral part of the day-today workings of the organization in which their voices are heard. employee meetings: Face-to-face meetings between managers and employees in which managers solicit feedback and ideas. employee survey: A formal list of questions sent to all employees designed to accurately gauge employee opinions on one or more topics. ideation: The life cycle of an idea, from the original idea through, in some cases, its actual implementation. suggestion box: A secure box often put in an employee lunchroom or other prominent place. Employees can write their thoughts on cards and place them in the box for collection and review by managers. town hall meetings: Open forums in which employees and managers discuss topics relevant to the company, including new product ideas and other employee feedback. Typically managers field questions from employees, and any ideas or feedback are acted upon subsequent to the meeting. trust agent: In the context of soliciting ideas and feedback, a trustworthy individual (often a manager) who is seen as having integrity. active listening: The process by which two people (manager and employee) intently listen to each other and repeat back what they heard, clarifying any miscommunication employee supervision: The process in which a manager helps employees to be successful and fulfilled at work, leading to professional and personal development goals: The personal and professional objectives of an employee micromanagement: A negative form of management in which the manager is directly involved in making the multitude of small decisions that lead to a desired outcome milestones: As part of a professional development plan, the key outcomes expected for each employee within a certain time frame (e.g., mastering the company's content management system) "open door" policy: A management style that encourages employees to provide continuous input to the management team performance review: A formal process in which a manager provides feedback on an employee's performance, suggesting ways to improve and recognizing recent achievements professional development: The formal and informal methods used to help employees master their job functions and develop new skills that will lead to new professional opportunities with the company strategic planning sessions: High-level discussions about the current state of the business and how it's performing as well as next steps, such as new strategic investments and targeting new market verticals whistleblower: An employee who points out illegal activities occurring at the company arbitration: A process by which workers and management work with a third-party mediator to resolve contract disputes. collective agreement: The end result of collective bargaining, delineating worker benefits and management's responsibilities. collective bargaining: The process by which unions and management negotiate the provisions of a new contract, including benefits and pay. picket line: A line created by striking employees outside their place of employment. scab: A pejorative term used to refer to union and nonunion employees who cross the picket line and report to work. strike: An action in which unionized workers leave their jobs and refuse to return to work until certain demands are met by management. union: An organized group of workers who bargain collectively with management in an attempt to get their demands met. union dues: Money paid by union members to support the union's operations. union organizer: An individual who helps employees organize a union at their place of work. assets: Resources that either have value or can be used to produce something of value. balance sheet: A statement that highlights what a business owes (liabilities), what a business owns (assets), and how much shareholder equity (profits) exists at the time the balance sheet was generated. cost of sales: What the company needed to spend (payments to suppliers, etc.) in order to generate its net sales. expenses: The money going out of the business. An expense could include money spent on raw materials, machinery (like laptops), and especially employee salaries and benefits (such as health insurance). gross profit: Revenue minus the cost of goods sold. income statement: A summary of the money a company brought in (revenue), what it paid out (expenses), and the difference (profit). intangible asset: Something you can't touch but still provides business value to your company. liability: An obligation of the company to pay someone else for products or services rendered in the past. net profit (or net income): Revenue minus all expenses (including taxes and licensing fees); indicates how profitable a company has been during the reporting period. owner's equity (or owner's capital): What's left to the business owner once the company has paid all its debts. profit: A business's revenue minus expenses (also known as the bottom line). profit margin: The company's net income divided by net sales. revenue: The amount of money (or income) that a company gets from its customers (also known as a company's top line). tangible asset: Something you can touch, like your company's building or the products in inventory bid: A written document provided by a manufacturer in response to an Invitation to Bid. bid price: The price a manufacturer bids on a given project. capacity planning: The process of making sure a manufacturer has sufficient resources---such as raw materials, parts, and people---to be able to complete the work it has contracted to perform. contract: A legally binding agreement in which a company agrees to provide products and services, as defined in the agreement, for a certain amount of money, within a certain period of time, and according to certain quality standards. cost of goods (COG): What it costs to produce, package, and deliver a good. economies of scale: The economic concept that states that the more of something a company buys or produces, the cheaper each unit becomes. invitation to bid: Also known as a call for bids or invitation to tender (ITT), the process by which a company formally asks manufacturers to submit bids for a project. open tenders: An invitation to bid that is open to all manufacturers. This means that any manufacturer who can meet the requirements of the invitation to bid is invited to submit a bid. request for proposal (RFP): An alternative bidding process where the lowest bidder may not get the contract because the company issuing the RFP is also seeking advice on how to move forward with the project. Therefore, specific subject-matter expertise is also taken into consideration when evaluating submitted bids. restricted tender: A bidding arrangement in which companies maintain a list of preapproved manufacturers (or vendors) and solicit bids from that group when needed capacity planning: The effort to ensure that, based on product demand, there is enough production capacity to satisfy the demand. enterprise resource planning: A process concerned with the flow of information within an organization---with information defined broadly---and the processes for documenting, modeling, and improving those processes. forecasting: An attempt to predict what the contours of the business and the larger industry in which the business is situated will look like several months or several years in the future. job design: A process designed to increase the job satisfaction of employees. This is accomplished through techniques such as job rotation (e.g., where assembly line workers assemble different pieces of a product). materials requirements planning: The process of planning production by ensuring that raw materials get to the factory floor on time and finished products get to customers in a timely manner. operations management: The science of managing business processes that improve the products and services consumers use every day---and that help bring new ones to life. operations risk management: The science and art of anticipating possible risks to company forecasts and putting plans in place to adapt to possible changes in the customer demand patterns. organization design: The process of taking a broader, more macro view of the organization, seeking out ways for it to function more effectively. process design: The art and science of designing processes within an organization. process flowchart: A graphical representation of a process. project planning: A term used to describe the methods and practices required to achieve the stated goals for a given company initiative. supply chain: The people, parts, and processes involved in getting products or services from suppliers, on through to manufacturing and production, and then on to customers. work measurement: The science (and sometimes art) of determining how much time an employee needs in order to complete a given task. breakeven volume: The cumulative volume at which you begin to make a net profit. budget: A document outlining your monthly expenses. direct costs: Costs that include labor and materials. financial model: A 3--5 year forecast of your income and expenses, profits and losses, and so on. fixed costs: Costs such as equipment. gross profit: The actual dollars you put in your pocket before taxes, meaning that your net profit will be less than your gross profit. indirect costs: Costs such as utilities and rent. lean startup: A philosophy of starting a company in which you spend only money that is absolutely necessary at each point in time. net profit: The actual dollars you put in your pocket after taxes, meaning that your net profit will be less than your gross profit. one-time costs: The nonnegotiable costs involved in starting a business, including license fees. perceived value: The value attached to your product or services by your potential and actual customers. recurring costs: Ongoing monthly business costs, like rent or insurance. revenue: Income from sales of your product or service. startup costs: The total cost required to start and operate your business for a certain period of time (typically 6 months). actual cash value: An insurance claim payout of the cash value of an insured item, minus depreciation, if the item is damaged, lost, or stolen. actuarial table: A table of statistical data, derived using calculus and the laws of probability, that shows the likelihood of a risk, such as death, occurring to an individual in a certain profile (which can include age, gender, location, race, medical history, etc.). business owner's policy (BOP): An type of insurance policy for business owners that comprises several forms of insurance under one policy. copay: A small amount that an insured employee is responsible for paying when he or she visits a physician or a dentist. coverage limit: The maximum amount of money an insurance company will pay for a given injury or ailment within a given period of time. deductible: An amount (typically a few thousand dollars) that an employee must pay for medical or dental care before insurance begins paying. depreciation: The loss in monetary value of an item based on such factors as the length of time it's been owned plus normal wear and tear since its purchase. insurance: A system of risk transference in which a third party (the insurer) agrees to assume a certain degree of financial liability if a given scenario comes to pass. If the risk does become actual, the insurer will financially compensate the policyholder for a previously agreed upon amount. insurance claim: A request to be paid as agreed in the insurance contract. insurance premium: A contractually agreed amount of money that a policyholder pays each month or each quarter to the insurance company. law of large numbers: A mathematical principle underlying the reasoning that the greater the number of companies insured, the more likely that the insurer can predict the percentage and amount of losses over a given period of time. replacement cost: A dollar amount calculated by the insurance company to represent the cost of replacing your property with new items of the same type and quality. risk: A term that refers to a state of uncertainty about events in the future. In common usage, it's defined as the chance or possibility something might go wrong as well as what happens if something goes wrong. self-insurance: A concept wherein individuals save enough money to pay for health or medical expenses themselves rather than buying health or dental insurance and paying monthly premiums to an insurance company