Business Vocabulary, Class 04/13/09

severance pay - money paid by an employer when an employee’s services are terminated -
Ex: Severance pay for top executives has increased significantly in recent years.

stock option - an option given to executive employees allowing them to buy shares in the company at a favorable price -
Ex: Microsoft has announced that it plans to end stock options for employees.

consortium - an association between two or more companies to work together on a specific project (usually a major construction or engineering project) -
Ex: SK Gas has formed a consortium with automakers to produce gas-powered vehicles.

revenue - money received especially from selling goods and services:
Ex: Revenues have increased by six per cent to $183m.

barrier to entry - any factor which prevents new competition from entering a market:
Ex: A strong brand can become a barrier to entry in some markets, while a simple product cannot.

brand loyalty - fidelity to a product or service:
Ex: I always buy Sony products because of brand loyalty.

marketing mix - the four different components of marketing: 1) place - the distribution and delivery of goods to market; 2) price - the amount of money for which something can be sold; 3) product - normally a manufactured item but also refers to everything that surrounds the product: the brand, the packaging, the product’s features and performance characteristics;
4) promotion- activities that help sell a product -
Ex: Coca-Cola used a combination of marketing tools to satisfy customers and company objectives in its recent marketing mix.

point of sale - (POS) - the place where a consumer can buy a product or service:
Ex: New electronic systems can approve credit for customers at the point of sale.

back office - the departments of a financial company where routine administrative tasks are done without direct contact with customers:
Ex: Efficient management of the back office can reduce costs.

downsize - to reduce the number of employees in an organization:
Ex: European companies are continuing to downsize their manufacturing operations.