Above the Line Promotion

The use of common types of media, such as TV and magazines, for promotion.

Absenteeism

A measure of staff absence.

A.C.A.S.

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. An independent organisation set up in 1974 to help to settle industrial disputes between unions and employers.

Accounting Rate of Return

Method of investment appraisal that compares the expected annual profit to the initial cost of the investment.

Accounts

A record of all the financial transactions of a firm, usually for a year. It includes the profit and loss account and balance sheet.

Added Value

The way in which a business makes their inputs worth more by the time they are sold.

Advertising

Promotional communication using media such as TV and magazines.

Advertising Agency

A firm which produces advertisements for other businesses.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

The organisation that regulates non-broadcasted advertising in the UK.

After-Sales Service

The meeting of customer needs after they have purchased a good or a service.

Aggregate Demand

The total level of demand in an economy

AIDA

Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action.  A technique that can be used in developing the marketing of a product.

Aims

The long-term intentions of  a business

Annual General Meeting (A.G.M.)

A meeting held once a year where the shareholders of a Public Limited Company (PLC) receive a report stating how well the company has done. They may also elect new directors to the company.

Annual Percentage Rate (A.P.R.)

This is the true rate of interest which has to be paid on borrowing. This must, by law, be stated by the lender when money is borrowed.

Ansoff's Matrix

A method of analysing the strategy of a business. Often used in marketing it looks at whether firms should enter new markets, or develop new products.

Appraisal

A method of measuring the performance of an employee.  These are often carried out once a year.

Appropriation Account

The final section of a profit and loss account that shows where the profits in a business have been used.

Aptitude Test

A test often used in the recruitment process to test a specific skill of an applicant.

Arbitration

Where both unions and employers agree to present their dispute to an independent person, whose decision will be accepted.

Assets

Possessions which are owned by a business.  They can be fixed e.g. buildings or current e.g. stock.

Assembly Line

Often involving a conveyor belt, this is where products will be put together.  Usually associated with flow production.

Assisted Areas

Parts of the U.K. with high levels of unemployment where firms are given grants and other aid from the Government to set up new factories.

Authority

The right of people higher up the hierarchy of a business to give orders to people at a lower level of the hierarchy in the business.

Autocratic Leader

A boss who likes to make all of the decisions.

Automation

Where labour is replaced by machinery.

Average Cost

How much it costs, on average, to produce one unit.  Calculated by dividing total costs by the number of units produced.

Average Rate of Return (ARR)

A method of comparing investment projects, by comparing the expected annual profit with the initial cost of the investment.