Collins Dictionary of Business [antikvár]

Preface This dictionary, now updated, contains material especially suitable for students reading speciálist business studies courses at schools, universities and polytechnics and for students undertaking a business studies course as part of a broader-based economics and commerce degree or professional qualification. It will alsó be useful to people working in industry, commerce and public service who may need to familiarize themselves with a particular concept or practice. Entries have been selected and structured to reflect the following considerations: (1) the various strategies and policies which firms and other organizations can pursue in order to achieve their objectives; (2) the 'nuts and bolts' of business practice, that is, the various concepts, techniques and methods used in the functional areas of business: marketing, fináncé, production, personnel, etc.; (3) the industrial and economic environment of business, that is, the various factors which impinge directly on the operations of businesses (for example, markét structure and competitive influences) and those which have a more generál and indirect impact (for example, government economic policy and international trade influences). It is, of course, difficult to draw a precise dividing line between business-orientated material and other subject matter. Accordingly, readers are recommended to consult other volumes in this series (in particular, the Collins Dictionary of Economics, Collins Dictionary of Computing and Collins Dictionary of Statistics) should they fail to find a particular entry in this dictionary. To cater for a wide-ranging readership with varying degrees of knowledge requirements, the entries have been structured, where appropriate, to provide a basic definition followed by an explanation of a particular concept, which leads through cross-references to related terms. Cross-references are denoted both in the text and at the end of entries by small capital letters.