ABSENTEEISM Referred to as the habitual failure of employees to report for work when they are scheduled to work.

ACTUARIES They are employed by insurance companies and pensions providers to calculate factors such as life expectancy, accident rates and likely payouts by using complex mathematical formulas. ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE A statistical method used to determine whether a relationship exists among two or more variables by formulating concurrent comparisons of the variables. APTITUDE TESTING A standardized testing instrument used during the selection process that is intended to measure and predict an individuals abilities. AUDITORS They are accountants who must certify that the company accounts prepared and signed by the board of directors, are a 'true and fair view' of the company's financial position. BALANCE SHEET A summary of the financial value of a company, usually published at the end of its financial year. BELL-SHAPED CURVE The curve representing the normal distribution of a rating or test score. BLUE CHIP The name given to a company considered to be large, safe and prestigious. Such companies are usually well-known, have a large market capitalisation and a good track record of dividend payment. BOND It is simply an IOU. It is an agreement under which a sum is borrowed from an investor at a stipulated rate of interest and repaid after an agreed period of time. BRANDING The process of identifying and differentiating an organizations products, processes or services from another organization by giving it a name, phrase or other mark. BROKER The generic term used to describe an intermediary between two parties, generally a buyer and a seller. Generally associated with mortgage, insurance, and share trading. BUDGET The Finance Ministers annual announcement of the Union government's fiscal policy changes. BULL MARKET A situation in the share market when prices roar ahead. BUSINESS CYCLES The tendency of economies to move through periods of boom and bust, with fluctuations in economic growth occurring every four-five years or so.

CAPACITY For a process or activity, the maximum THROUGHPUT that can be sustained. CAPITAL GAIN If you purchase 1,000 shares at Rs. 10 each and eventually sell them for Rs. 100 each, you have made a ________ gain of Rs. 90,000. COLLATERAL Lenders will often ask for it against a loan. This could be any major asset, but typically a house may be used. COMMODITY It is any homogenous item which may be freely bought and sold. The term typically refers to products such as coffee, cocoa and soyabeans (soft) or gold, aluminium and platinum (hard). Typically are bought and sold in futures markets where producers combine with manufacturers and speculators to create a smoothly functioning market. CONSUMER PRICE INDEX Key measure of inflation is several countries which is used to assess the government's inflation target and which the Central Banks monetary policy committee works to achieve. It tracks changes in the prices of a basket of goods and services that a typical household might buy. CORE PRODUCT The central benefit or purpose for which a consumer buys a product or service. CORRELATION ANALYSIS A statistical technique used to measure the closeness of the linear relationship between two or more interval scaled variables. COST-PUSH INFLATION Inflation that occurs when production input costs - wages, raw materials - rise. Producers pass the cost on to consumers through price rises. CRITICAL PATH That path through a process or activity system that has the longest theoretical flow time DECENTRALIZATION The process of assigning decision-making authority to lower levels within the organizational hierarchy. DEMAND-PULL INFLATION Inflation that occurs when demand is high and suppliers, unable to meet demand, put up prices until the excess demand disappears. DEMOGRAPHICS The physical characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, marital status, family size, education, geographic location and occupation. DEPRECIATION The systematic allocation and reduction of the acquisition cost of long-lived or fixed assets to the expense accounts over particular period to functions that benefit from the use of the assets.

DIMINISHING RETURNS The economic concept that each consecutive unit of good consumed, or resource used, is less useful or productive than the preceding one. DRESS CODE An organizational policy or rule to be used by employees as a guideline as to what is considered appropriate attire for the workplace. EARNINGS BEFORE INTEREST AND TAX EBIT -- A type of operating profit. Give the full form. EARNINGS PER SHARE EPS -- A measure of how much profit a company is making for its shareholders. What is the full form? ECONOMIC ORDER QUANTITY The optimal batch size for an order that minimizes the total period cost, including cost of ordering (setup cost), inventory holding cost, and cost of materials procured. ECONOMIES OF SCALE A reduction in unit costs that arise from an increase in production.

EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAMME A recruiting strategy where current employees are rewarded for referring qualified candidates for employment. ERGONOMICS The design of the equipment, furniture, machinery or tools used in the workplace that promotes safety, efficiency and productivity and reduces discomfort and fatigue. FAMILY LIFE CYCLE A sociological concept that describes changes in families across time, emphasizing effects of marriage, divorce, births and deaths on families and changes in income. FISCAL POLICY The use of government spending and taxation to try to influence the level of economic activity.
FIXED COSTS Costs that a company incurs in making goods regardless of how much it is producing. FRINGE BENEFIT Employment benefits granted to employees in addition to their current base salary or wages (i.e., cash, merchandise, services, health insurance, pension plans, holidays, paid vacations, etc.). GRAPEVINE An informal communication channel used to transmit information or rumours from one person to another. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT The sum of all goods and services produced in the economy, including the service sector, manufacturing, construction, energy, agriculture and government. HORIZONTAL MERGER A merger of two companies at the same production stage in the same industry.

HYGIENE THEORY Studies conducted by Frederick Herzberg used to better understand employee attitudes and motivation and what factors cause job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. INDUCTION PROGRAMME Programmes designed to introduce and acclimatise newly hired employees into the organization. INTERVIEW Used during the selection process, it is a face-to-face meeting with an individual or group, which involves asking questions to elicit information from the applicant to determine whether or not an applicant is suitable for a position of employment. JOB SHOP Those operations where each order is more or less unique and where the volumes are small or only one order. KANBAN A card that signals the replenishment requirements in a production process. Associated with delivering just the amount of inventory needed at the right time. LAISEZZ-FAIRE The doctrine or system of government non-interference in the economy except as necessary to maintain economic freedom. LEAD TIME Time that is required to fill an order or meet customer demand. MARKET POSITIONING Positioning refers to the users perceptions of the place a product or brand occupies in a market segment. Or how the companys offering is differentiated from the competitions. MARKET RESEARCH The systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data with respect to a particular market, where market refers to a specific user group in a specific geographic area. MARKET SEGMENTATION The process of subdividing a market into distinct subsets of users that behave in the same way or have similar needs. These sub-divisions could be demographic, geographic, psychographic, customer size, or benefits. MARKET SHARE A proportion of the total sales/use in a market obtained by a given facility or chain. MARKETING MIX The mix of controllable variables that the firm/library uses to reach desired use/sales level in target market. NET ASSET VALUE NAV It is the total value of all the assets minus the liabilities of an investment trust company. Give the full form. POINT-OF-PURCHASE Promotional materials placed at the contact sales point designed to attract user interest or call attention to a special offer. PORTFOLIO

A set of securities held by an investor. PRIVATISATION The process of moving state-owned assets into the private sector and one of the defining characteristics of the post-1991 economic reforms.
REENGINEERING The process of redesigning processes or activities to reduce flow times, inventories, and increase throughput. SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION A psychological view that suggests that attitudes and behaviours can be changed by stimuli that are not consciously perceived. QUANTITY DISCOUNT A reduction in price for volume purchases. TOTAL QUALITY CONTROL TQC -- a process by which a firm deploys it quality programme throughout all functions of the company. Give the full form. VERTICAL MERGERS A merger between two firms in the same industry but at different production stages.

WORD OF MOUTH COMMUNICATION This communication occurs when people share information about products or promotions with friends and acquaintances. WORK IN PROGRESS Inventory consisting of products that are in a semifinished state.