BSEB Inter Business Studies flashcards

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

Effectiveness

Completing a task on time and achieving the intended goal, regardless of cost. It focuses on ends, while efficiency focuses on means and resource use.

Coordination

The process of synchronising activities and efforts of different departments so that organisational goals are achieved without conflict or duplication. It is the essence of management.

Esprit de corps

Fayol's principle that management should build team spirit and unity among employees, since union is strength and harmony improves organisational performance.

Gang plank

A short direct communication route permitted between employees at the same level in different chains, avoiding slow upward and downward movement along the scalar chain.

Functional foremanship

Taylor's technique of splitting supervision into eight specialist foremen, four for planning and four for production, to combine specialised expertise with shop-floor execution.

Differential piece wage

Taylor's wage system paying a higher piece rate to workers who meet or exceed standard output and a lower rate to those who fall below it, rewarding productivity.

Business environment

The sum of external forces and institutions that surround a firm and influence its decisions, including economic, social, technological, political, legal and natural factors.

SWOT analysis

A framework that matches a firm's internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats, helping identify strategic options in a changing environment.

Planning premises

Assumptions about future internal and external conditions on which plans are based. Accurate premises reduce uncertainty; forecasting supplies many of these assumptions.

Strategy

A comprehensive long-term plan that sets the direction of the business, defines its scope, and allocates resources to achieve objectives and secure competitive advantage.

Policy

A general, standing guideline that channels managerial thinking and decision-making within defined limits, allowing discretion while keeping decisions consistent with objectives.

Delegation

The downward transfer of authority by a superior to a subordinate to perform a task, accompanied by responsibility but not by transfer of final accountability.

Accountability

The obligation of a subordinate to answer to a superior for the assigned task. It flows upward and cannot be delegated or passed to another person.

Informal organisation

The network of social relationships that arises spontaneously among employees, cutting across formal channels and influencing behaviour, communication and morale.

Recruitment

The positive process of searching for and attracting a pool of potential candidates to apply for a vacancy, before the selection process begins.

Selection

The negative process of screening applicants to reject unsuitable candidates and choose the best fit through tests, interviews, references and medical examination.

Vestibule training

An off-the-job method where a duplicate workplace with similar machines is set up so trainees learn skills without risking disruption or damage in actual production.

Maslow's hierarchy

A motivation theory arranging human needs as physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. Lower-order needs generally must be met before higher ones motivate.

Grapevine

An informal communication channel that spreads information rapidly through social networks. It is fast but often inaccurate and difficult for management to control.

Laissez-faire leadership

A leadership style in which the leader gives subordinates full freedom to make decisions and complete work, intervening only when requested or necessary.

Management by exception

A control principle under which managers attend only to significant deviations from standards and leave routine, minor variations to subordinates.

Critical point control

A control approach that concentrates attention on key result areas and critical activities where deviation would seriously damage performance, rather than on every activity.

Working capital

The funds invested in current assets such as inventory, receivables and cash, needed to finance day-to-day operations and the operating cycle.

Capital structure

The composition of a firm's long-term capital as a mix of debt and equity. It determines financial risk, cost of capital and control over the business.

Financial leverage

The use of fixed-interest debt in the capital structure to magnify the return available to equity shareholders. It increases both potential return and financial risk.

Money market

The market for short-term funds with maturities up to one year, dealing in instruments such as treasury bills, call money, commercial paper and certificates of deposit.

Primary market

The segment where new securities are issued for the first time by companies to raise capital, through public issues, rights issues or private placement.

SEBI

The statutory regulator of India's securities market, mandated to protect investors, regulate intermediaries, promote fair practices and develop the market.

Marketing mix

The set of controllable elements a firm combines to serve its target market: product, price, place and promotion, with people, process and evidence added for services.

Product life cycle

The stages a product passes through over time: introduction, growth, maturity and decline, each requiring different pricing, promotion and distribution decisions.

Consumer

A person who buys goods or hires services for consideration, including any user of such goods or services, but excluding purchases for resale or commercial purpose.

Right to redressal

A consumer's right to seek compensation or relief for loss or injury caused by unfair trade practices, defective goods or deficient services before a consumer commission.