AEPA Business Education flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Span of control

The number of subordinates reporting to one manager. Wide spans create flat structures with fewer layers; narrow spans create tall structures with closer supervision.

SWOT analysis

A strategic planning tool that pairs internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats so goals build on advantages and guard against risks.

Theory Y

McGregor's assumption that employees find work natural, seek responsibility, and perform best under participative, self-directed management rather than close coercive control.

Tuckman team stages

Forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Groups pass through these phases as roles, norms, conflict, and trust develop over time.

Lewin change model

A three-step process: unfreezing old behavior by creating readiness, introducing the change, then refreezing to make the new behavior permanent.

Unity of command

The principle that each employee reports to exactly one supervisor, preventing conflicting instructions and unclear accountability in the chain of command.

Contingency approach

The management view that no single best structure or leadership style exists; the effective choice depends on the situation, the task, and the people involved.

Accounting equation

Assets equal liabilities plus owners' equity. Every transaction keeps this equation in balance, forming the basis of double-entry bookkeeping.

Current ratio

Current assets divided by current liabilities. It measures short-term liquidity, and roughly 2:1 is often considered comfortable for a going concern.

Break-even point

The sales volume at which total revenue equals total cost. In units it equals fixed costs divided by the unit contribution margin.

Straight-line depreciation

A method allocating equal depreciation expense each year: cost minus salvage value, divided by the asset's estimated useful life in years.

Trial balance

A listing of all account balances at a given date. Total debits must equal total credits, or a recording or posting error exists.

Compound interest

Interest earned on both the original principal and previously accumulated interest, computed as A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt), where n is periods per year.

Quick ratio

Cash plus marketable securities plus receivables, divided by current liabilities. It is a stricter liquidity test than the current ratio because inventory is excluded.

AIDA model

AIDA describes stages a buyer moves through: gaining Attention, building Interest, creating Desire, and prompting Action. Each stage suggests different message content.

Market segmentation

Dividing a broad market into groups sharing traits such as demographics, geography, psychographics, or buying behavior, so marketing messages fit each group.

Penetration pricing

Setting a low introductory price to win market share quickly, often accepting thin margins until volume and brand recognition grow.

Gross margin percentage

Price minus unit cost, divided by selling price. It expresses profit as a share of revenue rather than as a share of cost.

Communication process

A sender encodes a message, sends it through a channel, a receiver decodes it, and feedback confirms understanding, while noise can distort any step.

Push strategy

Promoting through channel intermediaries using trade discounts, sales force incentives, and cooperative advertising so retailers stock and resell the product to consumers.

Product life cycle

Four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Pricing, promotion, distribution, and product decisions change at each stage of the cycle.

Primary key

A field that uniquely identifies each record in a database table. It cannot repeat or be blank, and other tables reference it through foreign keys.

Absolute cell reference

A spreadsheet address locked with dollar signs, such as $B$4, so copying or filling a formula does not shift that cell.

Phishing

A fraudulent email or message impersonating a trusted source to trick recipients into revealing passwords, clicking malicious links, or sending money.

SaaS

Software as a Service: the vendor hosts and maintains the application, and users reach it over the internet, usually by subscription, with no local installation.

3-2-1 backup rule

Keep three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy stored offsite, so a single failure cannot destroy everything.

B2C e-commerce

A business sells goods or services directly to individual consumers online, as with retail websites and consumer shopping apps.

Law of demand

All else equal, quantity demanded falls as price rises and rises as price falls, producing a downward-sloping demand curve.

Equilibrium price

The price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded, so no shortage or surplus exists and the market clears.

Contract consideration

Something of value exchanged between parties, such as money, goods, or a promise, which is required for a contract to be legally enforceable.

Negligence elements

A duty of care owed, a breach of that duty, causation of injury, and actual damages. All four elements must be proven by the plaintiff.

Business cycle

A recurring pattern of expansion, peak, contraction, and trough in overall economic activity, tracked through output, employment, and prices.