The AMA Dictionary of Business and Management

George Kurian

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9780814420294
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This helpful resource is your one-stop reference guide to learning an array of terminology so you can impress your bosses and intimidate your peers.

What in the world is an acid test ratio, and what does chemistry have to do with anything? How can you talk about your chase demand strategy, per request of the board, if you have no idea what they’re talking about? The business world today consists of a constantly growing range of terminology that not even the brightest and most confident MBA graduates can improvise their way through without a thorough understanding of what they’re talking about.

The AMA Dictionary of Business and Management explains accounting rules, legal terminology, slang and buzzwords, acronyms, management theories, historical figures, economic concepts, performance metrics, and more--all the crucial ideas that have transformed business practices and management science in the past 25 years. This book covers a vast range of terminology from all areas of business including:

• management,
• strategy,
• finance,
• human resources,
• economics,
• marketing,
• sales,
• insurance,
• and international business. 

With the clear, authoritative explanations of more than 6,000 key business terms as well as longer entries for ideas needing more elaborate explanations, The AMA Dictionary of Business and Management supplies the depth and clarity needed to better understand the expansive and complex business world of the twenty-first century.

I

IAS INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

Icarus factor Tendency of leaders to embark upon grandiose projects to stoke their own ego, only to fail; after the story of Icarus in Greek mythology.

ICE Involuntary career event, a euphemism for dismissal.

Idea hamster Person with a seemingly endless supply of new ideas.

Idea generation Systematic search for new product ideas in the marketplace.

Idea screening Systematic review of new products to determine their viability and market potential.

Identity management Creation and promotion of a corporate or brand identity so as to present a positive image to consumers and hide negative features or developments.

Identity theft Crime of stealing another person’s identity and financial information for personal gain.

Ideogram Graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Thus, ideographic.

IFRS International financial reporting standard.

Illegal contract Agreement prohibited by law, especially when it promotes an illegal or tainted activity or is drawn up for illegal purposes. It is considered void and its terms are not actionable.

Illth From 19th-century British critic John Ruskin, the opposite of wealth in terms of well-being. Today, products or things that are harmful.

Imaginization Blend of the words imagination and organization, the generation of new perspectives and ways of understanding complex situations, and the interaction between capability and reality. Also, imaginer, a person who integrates creative ideas with the practical and possible.

IMF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Immediate holding company Company with a controlling interest in another company, although it itself is controlled by a third company.

Impact In marketing, the total measurable effect of an action or product on a market, group, or person.

Imperfect competition Situation in which buyers or sellers have the right to alter prices, and where prices and supply are not subject to normal market forces.

Imperfect market Situation in which there are constraints on market freedom, such as barriers to entry or a paucity of sellers or buyers.

Impersonality Style of management that is mechanical and devoid of human interest.

Implied term Provision of a contract not spelled out explicitly but regarded as crucial by statute, and therefore implied.

Import substitution Manufacturing that produces products currently being imported. The action is designed to make a country self-sufficient.

Impression management Control of how a person makes an impression on others, especially to advance personal interests.

Improshare Productivity payment system developed by Mitchell Fein, in which employees are paid a cash bonus based on a percentage of their pay.

Improvement curve Graph showing the rate at which the quality of a product or activity improves in response to changes and innovations. Also EXPERIENCE CURVE.

Impulse buy Purchase of a product without serious forethought and as a result of the product’s emotional appeal and apparent need-fulfillment.

Imputed cost Expense not actually incurred, but introduced at the accounting stage to make pricing comparable with similar products.

In the black State of being profitable; from the black color used on the positive side of a bookkeeping ledger; opposite of IN THE RED.

In the red State of being unprofitable; from the red color used on the negative side of a bookkeeping ledger; opposite of IN THE BLACK.

In-basket training Method of training by which employees are given routine business correspondence and papers and are asked to handle them.

Incentive Inducement or reward that motivates a person to do something. Rewards may be in the form of bonuses, share options, health benefits, gym memberships, tickets to sports events, and awards or other forms of public recognition.

Incentive-compatible contract Agreement designed to ensure mutually beneficial behavior by both parties.

Incestuous In business, descriptive of transactions between related companies designed to evade regulations.

Inchoate instrument Negotiable instrument in which certain clauses and particulars are omitted.

Incidence of taxation Impact of a tax on those who ultimately share the burden, rather than on those who are nominally the taxee.

Incident process Case study in which participants collect further information at given stages and refine their responses based on the new information.

Income 1. Flow of money to an individual, group, or corporation over a course of time. 2. Sum of money earned by a person or organization as a salary or as profit, rent, or interest.

Income distribution Division of earned money across segments of a population.

Income effect Result in amount of purchasing power caused by changes in personal income.

Income redistribution Use of taxation as a means of adjusting the distribution of wealth across segments of a population. When redistribution is downward, it is generally viewed as a corrective social policy and sometimes includes a PROGRESSIVE TAX and various forms of income subsidies. When redistribution is upward, it is termed TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS and thought to yield economic growth.

Income smoothing Manipulation and creative corporate accounting involving certain items in financial statements to hide large movements in profits by spreading them over a number of years.

Income tax Direct tax on individual income. It has an exemption threshold, after which the rate often rises progressively in relation to the size of the income and the number of exemptions.

Income velocity of money Average number of times a currency, such as the dollar, is spent in purchasing goods and services.

Incomes policy State policy aimed at controlling inflation and maintaining full employment by holding down wages, prices, and income and by adjusting interest rates.

Increasing returns Situation in which greater input of resources leads directly to a proportionately larger increase in output.

Incremental cost of capital Overall cost of raising money. It reflects the combined costs of borrowing, market expectations, and related risks.

Incremental innovation Process of making continuous but small improvements to a product or service, as in the Japanese system of KAIZEN.

Incremental learning Education that takes place in orderly steps, rather than through sudden revelation; opposite of INSIGHT LEARNING.

Incremental pricing Two-tier pricing system, one tier covering the full cost of producing a product and the other including the marginal cost of further production.

Incrementalism Management approach of considering a number of alternatives and then testing them by implementing them one at a time.

Incubation Period of time for fledgling industries and start-up companies during which they test their viability and create and test new products.

Indemnity Sum to be paid by one party of a contract to make good on losses suffered by the other party as a result of actions or a failure to act or from negligence, loss, damage, or intentional deception.

Independent demand Situation in which market demand is independent of the production schedule and can be affected by variables over which the manufacturer has no control.

Index Forecasting technique that links the amount of change to the pace of change, with a certain base period as the norm, thus showing trends over time.

Index fund Passive fund management such as the S&P 500. It is a mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match a standard market index. It provides broad market exposure, low operating expenses, and low portfolio turnover.

Indexation Act of linking such economic variables as wages, taxes, annuities, and pensions to the COST OF LIVING INDEX as a means of mitigating the effects of INFLATION. In practice, indexation favors borrowers over lenders and savers.

Indicative planning Using a broad consultative process, this is planning that seeks agreement from all affected parties.

Indicator Measurable variable that has proven a reliable clue to performance or potential. Indicators are used in economics, psychology, and statistics. Macroeconomic indicators include the money supply, prices, income, exports, and imports.

Indifference curve Graphic representation linking the benefits to the risk of any ve...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Chapter A
• Chapter B
• Chapter C
• Chapter D
• Chapter E
• Chapter F
• Chapter G
• Chapter H
• Chapter I
• Chapter J
• Chapter K
• Chapter L
• Chapter M
• Chapter N
• Chapter O
• Chapter P
• Chapter Q
• Chapter R
• Chapter S
• Chapter T
• Chapter U
• Chapter V
• Chapter W
• Chapter X
• Chapter Y
• Chapter Z
• About the Author