Definitions and ExplanationsInflation is an economic term which, when put simplistically, means an increase in the price that people pay for goods. Another way to put it, inflation is the decreased purchasing power of a currency. Inflation is typically categorized in two: price inflation and monetary inflation. Price inflation is the increase in the selling price of [...]
Not many people understand how credit scores are calculated, what qualifies one for a good credit score or a bad one. Mostly we simply accept what the report says without really understanding the reason for the rating awarded to us. The credit bureaus have a well defined guideline that is used to award credit scores. [...]
What is Marketing? Marketing is the discipline employed by individuals or businesses (mostly businesses) with the aim of attracting customers to itself. Marketing can pertain to a product or a service. In some settings as in a competitive industry that deals with employing people (Human resources, outsourcing companies) a specialized recruitment marketing exists. Marketing is [...]
What is ISO? The International Organization for Standards commonly known as ISO was formed in 1947 as a non governmental body that was given the mandate to formulate international industrial and commercial standards. With its headquarters in Geneva Switzerland the organization has a membership of more that 160 nations from around the world. Member countries [...]
What is a Short Sale? Due to many borrowers falling behind on mortgage payments following the recession, a short sale has become a popular option that saves financial institution the unpleasant work of forcing people out of their homes through foreclosures and also offering borrowers an option to avoid bankruptcy. In times of economic decline [...]
What is ERP? – An Introduction ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning and it is an integrated computer-based application that helps integrate information between all business functions. It is usually used by organization to process information systematically between departments. The idea of ERP started out from the MRP, a system used by organizations in manufacturing [...]
What is Capitalism? – The History Capitalism has been dominant since the 19th and 20th century. It has long been in existence and it is all about business for profit. Capitalism is defined as an economic system where business or firms are owned privately by individuals rather than the government. Capitalists exist to earn money [...]
What is OEM? – Few Facts on OEM Products People often hear the word OEM. What does OEM stand for? OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. Oftentimes, OEM is mistaken for a company that has exclusive affinity with computer producers. In fact, OEM sells its product to another company for resale. The reseller company will [...]
What is PayPal? – PayPal 101 If you are a person, who always go online it is possible you know or hear about PayPal. PayPal is known worldwide for it is the world’s most popular online payment system. It is a widely used intermediary service for online purchasing. Millions of internet users are using PayPal [...]
What is OSHA? OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a branch of the United States Department of Labor. This agency was created in 1970 under US President Richard Nixon, when the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed. OSHA is headed by an appointed deputy assistant secretary of labor. OSHA’s aim is to [...]
What is Escrow? Escrow is a form of transaction where a middleman or third party is involved in handling the transactions between two or more parties. The word “Escrow” comes from the French word “escroue” which literally means a piece of paper, which signifies a deed which the third party “holds on to” until a [...]
What is Jueteng? Jueteng is a numbers game played in the Philippines that is surrounded by controversy because despite its illegal status, it is widely played in the country. Jueteng comes from the Chinese words “hue” meaning flower and “teng” meaning bet. It is played by Filipinos of all classes, and operated through an elaborate [...]
When listening to conversations on financial matters, the term equity is more than likely to come up. Most of us will be very familiar with the term but there is a very good chance that many among us cannot comfortably define it or explain what exactly equity is all about. The most basic definition of [...]
Minimum wage is the lowest possible salary that businesses can pay its employees whether per hour, per day, or per month, as mandated by law. In the same breath, it is also by law the lowest rate that a citizen can charge in exchange for his labor. Minimum wage is enforced to enable citizens to [...]
What is Dollar Diplomacy? Dollar diplomacy is a term that pertains to the United States of America’s efforts to gain significant control over a foreign country’s economy during times of distress. This term was made popular during the time of President William Howard Taft, particularly because of its use in Latin American countries and in [...]
What is Debentures? A debenture is a term which refers to long term debts or loans made by a borrower / borrowers which are unsecure and which are not backed by collaterals as common practice in other types of loans. Debentures are usually issued based on the credit worthiness of the institution seeking the loan, [...]
In a lot of situations, it is common for company officials to also hold shares of the company they work for or are directors of. By virtue of their offices, these people will often be the first share holders to have information about any strategic moves that the company is planning to make. They will [...]
What is Business Casual? Strict business attire with blazers and ties may not make too many people happy in the workplace. For some people, thinking what to wear at work just adds a lot of stress to an already busy life. And so the business casual attire was born. In this way, one can wear [...]
What is Net Income? When a business or individual have been involved in commercial undertakings, they will at the end of the day have some earnings. These earnings will however have several obligations that attach to them and will not wholly belong to the business or individual. In financial terms, these earnings are known as [...]
What Is APR? Annual Percentage Rate or APR is the annual interest rate charged by lenders for money borrowed. Borrowed money may be in the form of loans or from credit card purchases. To make it easier for borrowers to understand various interest rate computations from different lending companies, the US Government passed the Truth [...]
What is Market Extension? Market extension is a marketing term which means the production of more variety of products for a particular brand. While often confused with another term, market expansion, the two are different in the sense that market expansion is about widening a product’s reach geographically i.e. going international, going multi-state etc. Market [...]
What is Inventory Turnover? Inventory Turnover simply means the number of times inventory is used and then replaced for a given period. Some companies may opt for computing this ration on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis depending on their needs. This ratio is one measure of business health as it gives reference to the [...]
What is CPM rate? CPM rate or “Cost per Mile” rate refers to advertising costs per one thousand views to a particular ad. Ads may be online, on TV, or on the radio and it doesn’t matter if the customer only “viewed” the ad or made a purchase afterwards. A CPM rate of 10 means [...]
What is IMC? IMC means Integrated Marketing Communication. It involves “integration” of all available marketing and communication tools to achieve a common goal. Tools used in areas like public relations, sales promotion, direct and digital marketing, events organization, and other support techniques are all harmonized to increase efficiency. IMC takes into account the use of [...]
What is Aggressively Managed Fund? An aggressively managed fund is a type of investment that involves the fund being aggressively traded. For investors who want to see quick growth fast, this is usually an attractive investment option. However, this type of investment can also be risky, especially in the hands of an investor that do [...]
What is MQ Series? MQ Series is a middleware from IBM, which is made up of three products: MQ Series Messaging, MQ Series Integrator and MQ Series Workflow. The purpose of MQ Series is to integrate other applications to work together. Middleware is also known as business integration software. The three products composing the business [...]
What is Business Casual Attire? Business casual attire is the name given for a popular business dress code. It is also known as international standard business attire. At first this type of apparel was used only by managers. But now it is used by professionals also. However business casual attire must not be confused with [...]
What is J Crew Factory? J Crew came into existence on 1983. It almost took another six years for the company to open a store. The first store was opened at New York.The company has everything including kids wear, women’s wear, men’s wear and accessories. But today they are one of the leading stores spread [...]
What is IBM? IBM is one of the pioneer technology companies that greatly contributed to the development of the computer as we know it today. This technology company was founded in 1911 and has its headquarters in New York City in the United States. Though rarely used, the company is officially registered as International Business [...]
What is JIT? Success in business requires high levels of efficiency. With the ever increasing competition that is now at a global level, businesses need to utilize resources very well with a minimum amount of waste. Only those who are able to deliver the best quality products while using the least amount of resources can [...]
What is DKNY? DKNY is a globally popular clothing company formed by Donna Karan and her husband Stephan Weiss. DKNY was incorporated in the year 1984 and has its headquarters in New York’s 7th Avenue. Donna Karan is a designer and entrepreneur who originally started working for fashion legend Anne Klein when she was still [...]
What is DCF? DCF stands for Discounted Cash Flow and it is a measurement or valuation of money to reflect if an investment is good or attractive. It is the amount of money a person is willing to invest at present to get a pre-computed cash flow at some time in the future. In literal [...]
What is BPEL? BPEL or Business Process Execution Language is a language based on XML and is an open standard for making several business systems work together. Through “Web Services”, BPEL allows various systems to connect or communicate on a network. Like integrating different functions to a common process, BPEL helps in the conduction of [...]
What is Branding? When it comes to business, people will definitely notice that each venture has its own distinct trading name. Even the smallest businesses have their own trading names. On the other hand, only a few managed to have their own brand or brand name. To marketers, advertisers and serious business owners, branding is [...]
What is FDI? FDI or Foreign Direct Investment is a long-term investment participation of a specific country to another country. FDI involves the two countries in participating with joint venture, management, expertise and technology transfer. FDI is categorized into two, which are “inward FDI” and “outward FDI.” Categorization results into net FDI inflow, which may [...]
What is Inventory? Inventory is an important process in a business. It is defined as the full amount of goods or materials housed in a factory, store or warehouse at any particular time. Inventory plays a vital role in helping a business monitor their stock levels. It helps business owners to determine if there is [...]
What is Tax Deduction? A tax deduction is a decrease offered by the government to reduce taxpayer’s total income on which he pays the tax due. The reduction of the taxes is based on the income bracket of the taxpayer. Ultimately, a tax deduction lowers the tax liability as a whole. For instance, when a [...]
What is Federal Income Tax? Federal income tax refers to the tax system by the US IRS or Internal Revenue Service. Taxes are computed based on a person’s earnings for a particular year or fiscal period. Most people that have some form of income must pay the government his/her income tax through the IRS. The [...]
What is ETF? Exchange Traded Fund or ETF is a form of an investment originating from the stock market. A number of stock exchanges around the globe permit the trading of ETF as shares. ETF is actually an investment plan similar to stocks. The Standard and Poor 500 index in the stock market is a [...]
What is Investment Banking? Helping companies to acquire more funds is often called as investment banking. Moreover, it not only deals with extending monetary aid, but also recommends guidance on an extensive range of operations a business might take on. Typically, banks take on either investment banking or commercial banking. Commercial banking is characterized by [...]
What is cost of capital? Cost of capital is the expected return to project investors after providing funds for a particular business venture. In a business setup, the end goal always is to earn some profit from any activity or investment. If a business wants to spend on a new project using capital, it expects [...]
What does CEO stand for? CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. It is the highest position anyone can get up the corporate ladder. Being a CEO, means you are the boss of all bosses. But CEO functions may vary from one organization to another. Even the job title CEO may not be the same for [...]
What is Capital Stock? Capital stock is the highest number of shares a particular company can issue. It is indicated in the company’s charter with the stock value listed as part of the balance sheet. Capital stocks include both the common stocks and preferred stocks of a particular company. Common stocks are those that benefit [...]
What is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? When a person is unable to manage his finances and fails to pay off debts, filing bankruptcy is often the last resort. There are several forms of bankruptcy in the United States. However, this article will mainly focus on Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. What exactly is this Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? Why [...]
What does CEO mean? CEO means Chief Executive Officer. It is the highest position in a particular organization. For many companies, their CEOs represent the face of the entire organization. Over the years, the position of CEO is associated with leadership, power, prestige, and big financial payoffs. Many of today’s companies take advantage of the [...]
What is ERP? ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning and is a system or method of integrating various business management practices and applications from different aspects and departments of a particular company. It usually involves a software system with a centralized base, wherein all business units are connected to it for the purpose of increasing [...]
What is Investing? Investing is a way of using your money to earn more money. It differs from basic “saving” in the sense that investing requires an active part in making the money grow, whereas saving is just passively waiting for the money to earn interest. Investing is like “pooling” money into something for other [...]
What is Aruba? Aruba or Aruba Networks is a company that provides wireless networking and business software products and services. Its main clients include those from government offices, schools, and various businesses. Though much of its business is in the US, Aruba also caters to many clients around the world. It has its corporate headquarters [...]
What is Data Mining? Data mining is a process wherein data is analyzed and summarized to make it useful for a particular business. Commonly, data from customers are gathered and reviewed for purposes of knowing their behavior and spending habits among others. These data is then used for different purposes like improving customer service or [...]
What is BPM? BPM or Business Process Management is a process or technique on improving the efficiency of running a particular business. It involves plans and techniques to study which part of the business needs improvement and which technique needs to be implemented. The overall goal is to streamline a particular business process to improve [...]
What is Executive Summary? Often a long, detailed document is used in and for business. Executive summaries tidily sum up the information that can be found in the longer documents, proposals, or projects produced by businesses. Executive summaries are written in plain language for the decision makers that do not have the time to read [...]
What is Issuing Debt? When companies want to raise their money to their finance operations, they issue debt. Instead of borrowing money from banks or selling shares, they issue bonds. This bond is a coupon that contains the specific information about how much money the company borrowed and how much money the company has to [...]
KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) – Basic Things You Need to Know KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) is the colloquial term used for Karachi Stock Exchange (Guarantee) Limited. This is the largest and most established stock exchange in Pakistan. The location of KSE is in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan and on the Stock Exchange Road in the core [...]
What is Job Costing? There are a lot of people who want to do business with success. On the contrary, not all businesses go with flying colors. One secret of successful business management is to be able to learn the ropes of doing business and the positive attitude with perseverance. Learning the basic skills of [...]
What is a Supply Chain? A supply chain is a coordinated network of people, organizations, resources, activities, and information with the goal of product delivery to customers from suppliers. It involves the various activities that happen before a particular product reaches the end-user or customer, from the production of goods down to their distribution and [...]
What is JCPenney? JCPenney is a large retail and department store offering various products at mid-range prices. Products range from clothes to shoes, home accessories to hardware items, among various others. The company is based in Plano, Texas, USA but has over 1000 stores across the 50 states of the US, and Puerto Rico. Today, [...]
What is MVR? MVR stands for Market Value Reduction. It is a process or a way for certain insurance companies to make sure that investors who wish to take out their funds do not get more than what is considered fair for them. Being “fair” in this instance is based on the current value of [...]
What is “Net Sales”? Net sales refer to the total sales or revenue of a company after deducting its gross sales with discounts offered, allowances given, product returned, and products lost. Usually companies indicate their net sales figures, as “net sales” or just “sales”, when they prepare their income statements. This is so because net [...]
What is SOHO? SOHO is short for “small office – home office” or “single office – home office”. This refers to a business category that involves a small business operating in a small or home-type of office. Typically this business segment employs no more than 10 employees. It may be small in size in terms [...]
What is Lulu? If you live in the Gulf region, by now you must already have an idea about Lulu. If there are mall chains present in every country, there is a mall chain that stands out in the Gulf Region. This is Lulu Supermarkets and Hypermarkets. Throughout the years, Lulu has been servicing different [...]
What is QWL? QWL stands for Quality of Work Life, which is known as the alternative, or process, which is tackled by an organization or company as response to the needs of their employees. As the name implies, it is basically the method and strategies used to develop and uplift the quality of work relationships [...]
What is Working Capital? Working capital or WC is the amount of money, which the new businesses borrowed and used from the bank or other, certified lenders. The borrowed monetary amount is for keeping the business operations going. It is also allocated for the payment requirements or business bills for a particular startup period. This [...]
What is Debt Consolidation? At some point in life it is possible to find yourself caught up under a debt burden that is way beyond what you can manage. The options available in dealing with this situation range from filing for bankruptcy, selling off assets to pay back some or all the debt, debt consolidation [...]
What is GDP? GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which refers to the calculation of all the gross services and goods produced by a specific country over a year. Typically, GDP is used to gauge the rate of economic growth of a particular nation. Moreover, it is also referred to as the measure of the [...]
What is Equifax? Equifax is a credit card reporting agency providing comprehensive facts and reports to clients regarding credit reporting. It used to be called “Retail Credit Company” back in 1899 when it was founded. It has its headquarters in the city of Atlanta in Georgia, USA. As with the other two credit reporting agencies [...]
What is Annual Income? Annual income is the total amount an employee earns for a given year. This income may be classified into “gross” annual income and “net” annual income. Gross annual income is the total earnings of an employee for an entire year without taking into considerations the various taxes and other deductions. Net [...]
What is Inheritance Tax? The main source of revenue for the government is through taxation. There are many different kinds of taxes that have to be paid and which enable governments provide services. Inheritance tax is one of the many taxes levied by the government. It is also known as estate tax and happens to [...]
What are Public Relations? Public relation or PR is an area which is aimed at improving the relation with the public by means of effective communication. Media serves as a platform for communication. Public relations departments function for companies and business intended for the welfare of the public. The department of public relations plays a [...]
What is Coinsurance? Coinsurance is another type of insurance specifically designed to make sure that the risk is split or spread among multiple parties. The principle of coinsurance is that the insurance company is ensured that it will be able to pay all claims. This way it secures all people insured in the same company. [...]
What is Job Security? In the past most people went through their education, found a job of their liking and worked at it for most if not all their career years. Changes were minimal and most people only took on new roles within an organization or affiliated companies. Today however, most people are lucky to [...]
