NBE Arts key terms

The core activities of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling that a manager performs to reach organizational goals efficiently and effectively.

Assigning a task and the authority needed to complete it to a subordinate, while the manager keeps accountability for the result.

The formal line of authority running from the top of an organization down through each level, clarifying who reports to whom and who may give orders.

An agreement made before death to provide and often fund specified funeral goods and services, which may be revocable or irrevocable depending on state law and funding method.

The conference held after a death has occurred, in which survivors select goods and services, supply information, and sign the necessary authorizations.

The planning and presentation of goods for sale, including selection room layout, lighting, display, and price grouping that help families compare and choose.

The area where caskets, urns, and other merchandise are displayed so families can examine, compare, and select items in a controlled setting.

A Federal Trade Commission regulation requiring funeral providers to give itemized price information to inquirers, offer only goods and services the consumer selects, and make other required disclosures.

The dated, itemized written list of funeral goods and services a provider offers with their individual prices, which must be given to consumers who inquire in person about arrangements.

The statutory authority to decide the final disposition of a dead human body, granted to a priority list of persons such as a spouse, adult children, or parents.

The obligation to act in another person's best interest and to place that interest above one's own, especially when handling client funds or property.

Agreeing to a service after the provider has explained the available options, costs, and likely consequences, so the decision is knowledgeable and voluntary.

A circumstance in which a professional's personal or financial stake could improperly influence judgment, such as owning an interest in a casket supplier or cemetery.

The duty to protect client information from unnecessary disclosure, sharing it only with those who need it and as the law requires.

The capacity to perceive and understand another person's feelings accurately and to communicate that understanding without being overwhelmed by those feelings.

The client's unconscious shifting onto the counselor of feelings and expectations originally attached to another person, such as a parent or spouse.

The counselor's own emotional reactions toward a client, which must be recognized so they do not distort judgment or damage the professional relationship.

The range of services a professional is trained and legally permitted to provide; for funeral directors it excludes psychotherapy and clinical diagnosis.

The lifelong process by which individuals learn the norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors of their culture and acquire the social roles they will occupy.

The set of behaviors others expect of a person occupying a particular social position, such as widow, widower, clergy, or funeral director.

Strongly held cultural norms of right and wrong whose violation provokes serious social condemnation, such as desecrating a grave.

Customary norms of everyday etiquette and habit that guide routine behavior; breaking them draws mild disapproval rather than serious sanction.

A practice or subject a culture forbids so strongly that even discussing it causes deep discomfort or offense within the group.

A group within a larger society that shares distinctive customs, values, or language, such as an ethnic or religious community with its own funeral practices.

The state or period of having suffered a loss through death; the objective condition of loss, of which grief and mourning are components.

The internal, personal reaction to loss, involving emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual responses that vary widely in intensity and duration among people.

The outward expression of grief according to cultural and religious custom, such as funeral rituals, dress, and set periods of observance.

Grief experienced before an expected death, during a lengthy illness, which may allow gradual adjustment but does not prevent grief after the death.

Grief that is unusually intense, prolonged, or delayed and interferes with daily functioning well beyond the time expected in the person's culture.

Grief that society does not openly recognize or support, such as the loss of a secret partner or a pet, leaving the mourner without social validation.

A structured way of attending to a speaker that involves concentrating fully, reflecting back content and feeling, and checking that the message was understood correctly.

A question phrased so it cannot be answered with yes or no, inviting the person to describe, explain, or elaborate in their own words.

Messages conveyed through posture, facial expression, eye contact, tone of voice, and spacing rather than words; it often carries emotional meaning more strongly than speech.

The study of how people use physical space and distance to communicate, including intimate, personal, social, and public zones.

Resources a business owns or controls that have measurable value, such as cash, inventory, receivables, equipment, vehicles, and buildings.

A financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and owner's equity at a specific date, revealing the financial position of the business.

The level of sales at which total revenue equals total costs, so the business makes neither a profit nor a loss.

The amount added to an item's cost to arrive at its selling price, often expressed as a percentage of cost or of the selling price.

The allocation of the cost of a long-lived asset, such as a hearse or building, over its useful life as an expense in the periods that benefit from it.