• Home
  • Case Studies
  • Archive
  • Resources
  • Business Partners
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

A-Z Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


Glossary Definitions

  • Balance of Payments
    The Balance of Payments is a record of a country's financial transactions with the rest of the world and records the flow of money in and out of a country.
  • Diageo (9th Edition) | Enterprise Ireland (5th Edition)
  • Balance sheet
    A financial statement showing a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity on a given date. It shows what the company owns and what debts it owes.
  • CRH (13th Edition)
  • Bandwidth
    A general term referring to the information carrying capacity of communications systems such as phone lines, cable TV and wireless. Broadband means high bandwidth, while narrowband means low bandwidth.
  • Department of Education & Science (8th Edition)
  • Barter
    The exchange of goods for other goods.
  • Base rate
    The rate of interest used by banks to calculate the interest on consumer lending. Lending rates are set at a margin over the base rates, depending on the risk involved.
  • Bear market
    A market in which more people are selling than buying, causing share prices to drop.
  • Below-the-line Activity
    This expenditure on promotional items do not involve the use of traditional media and typically consistents of product sampling and in-store promotions.
  • Masterfoods (6th Edition)
  • Benchmarking
    The practice of one company identifying the leading company in its particular industry. It then sets out to measure its own performance in comparison with the market leader and undertakes to take action to narrow the gap in terms of its own performance. It allows firms to find and adopt best practice.
  • NDP (9th Edition) | InterTradeIreland (8th Edition) | AIB Bank (6th Edition) | CRH (5th Edition)
  • Benefits
    Non-cash incentives to a workforce. They may range from benefits-in-kind like subsidised meals in the company canteen to shares in the company sold to employees at a preferential rate. Benefit packages may also include paid study leave, subsidised foreign holidays, educational fees, low interest on house loans. Packages like this can compensate workers for having lower basic pay than workers doing similar work in other companies.
  • CRH (10th Edition)
  • Benefit Packages
    Non-cash incentives to a workforce. They may range from benefits-in-kind like subsidised meals in the company canteen to shares in the company sold to employees at a preferential rate. The package may also include paid study leave, subsidised foreign holidays, educational fees, low interest on house loans. Packages like this can compensate workers for having lower basic pay than workers doing similar work in other companies.
  • Benefit-in-Kind
    Additional benefits given by an employer are often called benefits-in-kind, such as traveling expenses, medical insurance and employer pension contributions.
  • The Pensions Board (6th Edition)
  • Best Practice
    This is a firm following the example of excellent work practices in other firms in an effort to improve. This is the same thing as benchmarking - measuring performance against best practice in other firms.
  • NPP (6th Edition)
  • Bonds
    A debt security (IOU) issued by a corporation, government, or government agency in exchange for the money the bondholder lends it. In most instances, the issuer agrees to pay back the loan by a specific date and make regular interest payments until that date.
  • Dept. of Finance (5th Edition)
  • Book of Estimates
    Each year in advance of the annual budget all government departments prepare a plan of proposed expenditure for the coming year and submits it to the Department of Finance. After discussion and possible pruning by the Department of Finance these projections are published as the "Book of Estimates"
  • Bocce
    A game of Italian origin similar to lawn bowling that is played with wooden balls on a long narrow court covered with fine gravel.
  • Bank of Ireland (7th Edition)
  • Brainstorming
    A method of shared problem solving in which all members of a group spontaneously contribute ideas and generate a variety of possible solutions.
  • LRC (11th Edition)
  • Brand
    A brand is one of a company's strongest assets although it does not appear on its balance sheet. Branding involves attributing a name, sign or symbol to a company's goods or services. These differentiate the products or services from competing goods and service the products. Sometimes branding can be so successful that the brand takes on a personality of its own. Growing a successful brand also allows a company to develop sub-brands and facilitates an organisation if it wishes to create line extensions of its original brand
  • Masterfoods (6th Edition) | Danone (6th Edition) | Cadbury (6th Edition) | Coca Cola (5th Edition) | Cadbury (5th Edition) | Musgrave (12th Edition)
  • Brand extensions
    A new product or service that is related to an existing brand but offers a different benefit and/or appeals to a different target audience.
  • Musgrave (11th Edition)
  • Benefit-in-Kind
    Additional benefits given by an employer are often called benefits-in-kind, such as traveling expenses, medical insurance and employer pension contributions.
  • Office of the Revenue Commissioners (9th Edition)
  • Brand Association
    A term used for the elements that a brand calls to mind. These may be related to its performance or imagery.
  • Diageo (8th Edition) | Masterfoods (6th Edition) | Danone (6th Edition) | Cadbury (6th Edition) | Coca Cola (5th Edition) | Cadbury (5th Edition)
  • Brand Core
    A term used for the elements that a brand calls to mind. These may be related to its performance or imagery.
  • Cadbury (8th Edition)
  • Brand Extension
    A new product or service that is related to an existing brand but offers a different benefit and/or appeals to a different target audience.
  • RTE (10th Edition)
  • Brand Personality
    The 'brand personality' is what people think and feel consciously and subconsciously about a company identity or product and is described the same way as you would a person.
  • Coca Cola (5th Edition)
  • Brand Equity
    The value of a brand, based on the extent to which it has high brand loyalty, awareness, perceived quality and strong associations.
  • Diageo (8th Edition) | Cadbury (8th Edition)
  • Brand Identity
    The name and visual appearance of the brand. It is how consumers will recognise a product/service and differentiate it from competitors.
  • Cadbury (8th Edition)
  • Brand Positioning
    Brand Positioning is in the mind of the consumer relative to competing brands and can be described as how a product is considered by the consumer. When researching product positioning, consumers are often asked how they would describe that product if it were a person.
  • Brand Proposition
    Or brand statement, is the central promise a brand makes to its consumers. The brand proposition must be appealing, easily understood and relevant to the target market.
  • Cadbury (8th Edition)
  • Breakeven Analysis
    A mathematical method for analyzing the relationships among a firms fixed costs, profits, and variable costs to calculate the costs of running a business.
  • AIB (10th Edition)
  • Bricks-and-mortar business
    A business with a physical retail location, e.g. a shop.
  • IP Trust / INFACT (13th Edition)
  • British Irish Agreement
    The agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland establishing Implementation Bodies including th........
  • Special EU Programmes Body (9th Edition)
  • Broad Band Internet Connection
    Broadband connections to the internet allow large amount of data to be sent very quickly. This is necessary for sending large files such as those containing graphics, sound or video. Connecting games consoles together requires a broadband connection because of the amount of video and sound involved.
  • Department of Education & Science (8th Edition)
  • Budget
    The Minister for Finance outlines his plans for tax and spending during the year in the Budget. The main set- piece of the financial year, it is of great interest to the public because it affects their take-home income.
  • Budget Surplus
    A budget surplus arises if government revenue exceeds the government expenditure. A budget surplus will have a deflationary effect on the economy. A budget deficit arises if government expenditure exceeds government current revenue. A budget deficit has an inflationary effect of the economy.
  • Build to Order
    A customer can specify the components and features they want included – the computer is specially built to their requirements.
  • Dell Ireland (10th Edition) | Dell (8th Edition)
  • Business Incubation
    Business incubation is a support process that helps develop start-up companies by providing entrepreneurs with targeted resources and services. A business incubator's main goal is to produce successful firms that become financially viable and freestanding. These incubator businesses have the potential to create jobs, revitalise neighbourhoods, commercialise new technologies and strengthen local and national economies.
  • Udaras na Gaeltachta (9th Edition)
  • Bull market
    A market where more people are buying rather than selling, thus causing the share prices to rise. Rampant bull markets have caused the record highs on stock markets in recent years.
  • Business Model
    A business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself, that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money. A company produces goods or services and sells them to customers. If all goes well, the revenues from sales exceed the cost of doing business and the company makes a profit.
  • Dept. of Finance (6th Edition)
  • Business Plan
    A business plan is a statement issued by the owners or managers of a business outlining how they expect the business to develop over the years. It should cover the following areas: management, HRM, finance, production and marketing.
  • Bus Éireann (8th Edition)
  • Business Networks
    A group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in formal or informal contact for mutual assistance or support.
  • InterTradeIreland (8th Edition)
  • Business to Business (b2b)
    The carrying out of trade between two businesses over the Internet.