Case 1 Study - IB Business Management

Manufacturers

combines and transforms raw materials and/or components into final goods ready for sale.

Management

encompasses several roles which include planning, commanding, controlling, coordinating, and organizing human and capital resources to achieve organizational objectives.

Job vacancies

exists when a job position becomes available, often due to resignations.

Activists

external stakeholders that exist to influence and persuade organizations and governments to act in a socially responsible or publicly desirable way.

Opportunity

in a SWOT analysis, refers to changes in the external business environment that create optimistic prospect for a business.

Trustees

individuals who are elected and given the authority to make decisions as members of the governing body of a not-for-profit organization.

Services

intangible products provided by organizations.

Testing

involves launching a product in small geographic area or small part of the target market for a new product in order to gauge the commercial viability of fully launching the good or service.

Employment contracts

legally binding agreements between an employer and employees which set out specific terms and conditions established for work-related matters.

Least developed countries

low-income countries with lower levels of economic growth and socio-economic development.

Staff turnover

measures the rate of change of human resources within an organization, per period of time.

Over-pricing

method is the act of setting a price over the actual value of the product.

Renewable energy sources

natural resources that are replenishable through natural reproduction processes.

Resigned (resignation)

occurs when a person leaves (quits) their job.

Dismissed (dismissal)

occurs when a worker's contract of employment is terminated ('fired').

Redundant (retrenchment)

occurs when workers are legally terminated from the organization because their job no longer exists, often due to financial problems faced by the employer.

Founder

of a business: the person who started the business in the first place. The one who came up with the business idea and got it set up.

Operations

operations A business function is concerned with processing resources to provide the output of goods and/or services.

Fees

payments made to a professional body in exchange for advice or services.

Part-time employment

people work fewer hours per week than those with full-time jobs.

Mission statement

refers to a declaration of an organization's overall goal and its purpose.

Community

refers to a group of people with something in common, such as those who share a particular characteristic or live in the same geographical area.

High profile

refers to a person, product, brand, or business having a position that attracts positive attention or encouraging publicity.

Not-for-profit Business

refers to a private sector organization that reuses any financial surplus to achieve its organizational goals, rather than distributing the surplus (profit) as dividends to its owners.

Social media

refers to any form of online platform (such as websites and digital applications) that enable users to create and share interactive content or to participate in online social networking.

Financial support

refers to any source of external finance for an organization where an investor or donor gives the financial backing to the business, often in return for a share of the organization's future profits.

Morale

refers to drive and self-determination to achieve something.

New ways of working

refers to flexible working practices such as flexitime, part-time, teleworking, and working from home.

Equality policies

refers to formal rules and guidelines against the discrimination of people in the workplace, irrespective of their gender, race, religion, and marital status for example.

Aggressive marketing strategies

refers to offensive (rather than defensive or passive) marketing strategies intended to capture the attention of customers by actively pursuing their engagement.

Underused (under-utilization)

refers to spare capacity in an organization, so represents idle resources.

Economically disadvantaged students

refers to students from low-income households, irrespective of whether they are local (domestic) students or overseas students who come from least developed countries (LDCs).

Ecological sustainability

refers to the ability of an economy to maintain the use of its renewable and non-renewable resources for future generations.

Compensation

refers to the act of providing a person with financial payments for the costs of damages or inconvenience incurred.

Consults (consultation)

refers to the business function of seeking the opinions, feedback, and/or advice from others in order to make more informed business decisions.

Investment

refers to the capital expenditure of a business.

Government

refers to the central ruling authority of a country or state. It sets and administers policies to protect and uphold the interests of the general public and society as a whole.

Operating cost

refers to the day-to-day running costs of a business, such as payments for employees (wages and salaries), rent, insurance, and utility bills.

Growth

refers to the expansion of a business due to an increase in the size of the organization and/or growth in the industry.

External Environment

refers to the factors beyond the control of an organization yet have a direct impact on its operations and performance.

Resources

refers to the factors of production used to produce goods or supply services, namely land, labour, and capital resources.

Inclusivity

refers to the human resource practice or policy of providing equal opportunities for all employees, irrespective of gender, race, religion, physical or mental disabilities, or other demographic segmentation.

Marketing strategies

refers to the management process of formulating an organization's marketing goals and activities to increase sales and to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Promotion

refers to the methods of communicating marketing messages to customers, usually with the intention of selling a firm's products.

Change

refers to the modification or transformation in the way business is conducted as a response to internal factors or external influences.

Expenses

refers to the money spent on, or the costs incurred in, producing a good or providing a service.

Ethical issues

refers to the moral principles and values that form the basis of how business activity is conducted.

Outflows

refers to the movement of cash out of an organization, such as the payment of wages and salaries, repayment of bank loans including interest charges, and/or taxes.

Land

refers to the natural resources used in production.

Appointment

refers to the process of hiring (recruiting) suitable workers.

Compete (Competition)

refers to the rivalry within an industry.

Marketing expenditure

refers to the spending off the marketing department in order to meet its marketing objectives.

Pay Structure

refers to the use of a graded range or continuum of wages or salaries paid by an employer.

Sustainability

using the planet's resources in such a way that future generations are not deprived of access to what the current and previous generations have enjoyed.

Grants

a source of external finance often provided by the government or a charitable foundation to an individual or business entity for a specific purpose linked to social benefits.

Employees

a type of internal stakeholder, the people who work for a business. They are hired by a business to carry out specific tasks or roles within the organization. They can have significant influence on the organization, such as their level of motivation and productivity.

Business Plan

a written document detailing how an organization sets out to achieve its objectives and the strategies to achieve these goals.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

an aspect of computer science focusing on the ability of smart machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as voice commands on a smartphone.

European Union

an economic and political union between 27 member states in Europe.

University

an institution that provides higher education services, awarding successful students with academic and research degrees.

Multinational company

an organization owned by shareholders and operates in two or more countries.

Carbon footprint

a measure of the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by business activity.

Trustee

a member of the governing body of an organization, such as a university.

Economic Recession

a period of negative economic growth in a country.

Commercial production

a product has been launched onto the market for sale after having been researched, developed, and tested beforehand.

Director

a senior executive responsible for an aspect of the operations and the performance of the company.

Companies

a business owned by shareholder who have limited liability.

Business

a decision-making entity involved in the production of goods and/or services to satisfy the needs or wants of customers.

Survey

a form of primary market research that involves the collection of data by asking research participants questions about a certain product, topic, or issue - such as the level of satisfaction with the service provided by a business.

Faculties

a group of departments in an educational establishment, such as a university, specializing in academic disciplines or areas of knowledge.

Cash-flow Problem

a liquidity issue occurs when the amount of cash moving into a business is less than the amount going out.

Social responsibility / Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

the conscience of a business with consideration of the organization's actions on its various stakeholder groups and the natural environment.

Human resource management

the development of people and overall workforce planning. Includes: recruitment, selection, dismissal, training, and development of employees.

Articles of government of universities

the documented guidelines and principles that govern how universities operate.

Expand (expansion)

the enlargement of a business due to an increase in the size of its operations.

Accounts

the financial statements of a company.

Board of Trustees

the governing body of a non-profit organization. The board consists of individual members who are appointed or elected to hold overall responsibility for the management of the organization.

Revenue

the income of a business derived from its daily operations.

Sustainability policies

the internal rules and guidelines about using a firm's resources in such a way that it conserves scarce resources and/or finding more efficient methods to produce goods and services.

Marketing

the management process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying consumers' requirements in a profitable way.

Day to day issues

the operations or activities that a business and its workforce engage in on a daily basis in order to meet organizational goals.

Managers

the people responsible for the day-to-day running of the business or a department within the organization.

Contamination

the presence of an undesirable component or an impurity within an environment.

Specializing (Specialization)

the process of a business entity focusing on the production of a limited scope of goods or services. This approach to production enables the business to benefit from a greater degree of operational efficiency.

Training

the process of developing the knowledge and skills of workers in order to enhance their confidence, competence, and commitment in the workplace.

Refurbish

the process of repairing, cleaning, and making good property or other assets to restore them to conditions as new.

Long-term plans

the strategic plans of an organization that set out the goals that are likely to take several years to accomplish.