List of business terms
Appearance
The following terms are in everyday use in financial regions, such as commercial business and the management of large organisations such as corporations.
Abbreviations
Abbreviation | Definition |
---|---|
24/7 | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
BPO | Business process outsourcing |
CAO | Chief Accounting Officer |
CDO | Chief Data Officer |
CEO | Chief Executive Officer |
CFO | Chief Financial Officer |
CIO | Chief Information Officer, Chief Investment Officer, or Chief Innovation Officer |
CISO | Chief Information Security Officer |
CLO | Chief Legal Officer |
CMO | Chief Marketing Officer |
COB | Close of business[1] |
COO | Chief Operating Officer |
CPO | Chief People Officer also Chief procurement officer |
CSA | Customer Service Advisor |
CTA | Call to action[1] |
CRO | Chief Revenue Officer |
CTO | Chief Technical Officer |
CSW | Completed Staff Work |
CxO | Any chief officer(s), x being a placeholder. Chief [Placeholder] Officer. |
EBITDA | Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization |
EOB | End of the business day; for example, by 6:00 p.m. in the U.S. (same as Close of Business) |
EOD | End of day |
FTE | full-time equivalent |
FY | fiscal year |
HIBBIS | Heads in Beds, Butts in Seats (hotel industry) |
HR | human resources |
ITT | Invitation to tender |
KPI | Key performance indicators[1] |
MILE | Maximum impact, little effort[1] |
NDA | Non-disclosure agreement |
PCP | Previous corresponding period (Used when comparing sales over corresponding periods) |
RFI | Request for Information (about goods/services to be supplied)[1] |
RFP | Request for Proposal |
RFQ | Request for Quote |
RFX | Request for information, proposal, or quotation (x is a placeholder) |
POS | Point of Sale |
R&D | Research and Development |
RIF | Reduction in Force |
ROI | Return on Investment |
SBU | Strategic Business Unit |
SME | Subject Matter Expert or Small to Medium Enterprise |
TCO | Total Cost of Ownership |
USP | Unique Selling Proposition/Point |
VP | Vice president |
WC | Week Commencing |
WE | Week Ending |
YoY | Year on Year (current vs prior) |
YTD | Year to date |
Noun phrases
Noun phrase | Definition |
---|---|
30,000 foot view | Program management view |
50,000 foot view | Highest management overview |
Bandwidth | Availability[1] |
Benchmark | Measuring against |
Best practice | Tried and tested methodology/process |
Blue sky thinking | Idealistic or visionary ideas, not always with practical application (source: BBC) |
Bottleneck | Where a process is held up |
Cascade | Array of possible actions to take in response to a problem: protocol |
Check in the box | Complete the task |
Cross-functional | Works in multiple directions simultaneously |
Customer-centric | The customer is the main focus |
Cutting edge practices | Up to date or new methods |
Dashboard | Collection of key indicators |
Deliverable(s) | Finished product or outcome |
Downsize | Reduce the number of employees through a lay-off |
End-user perspective | Point of view of a customer about a product or service |
Evergreen | Content that is always relevant[1] |
Flavour of the month | The current popular or trending activity |
Golden handshake | Contract clause which richly rewards a key employee in the case of termination |
Golden parachute | Contract clause richly (perhaps excessively) rewarding a key executive if termination is due to corporate takeover or merger |
Hard stop | Deadline[1] |
Hub | A central idea to which other ideas are linked |
In the loop | Knowing what's going on and being kept informed |
In the weeds | Immersed or entangled in details or complexities |
Joined-up thinking | Discussing the viewpoints of each organization and coming to an agreement or compromise |
Low-hanging fruit | Tasks that have the greatest positive effect for the least effort, used when promoting new projects to show the advantages.[1] |
Lay-off | Redundancies on a large scale |
Nesting | Processes within processes |
Off the shelf | Buying in a product or service that is already completed |
One button to push/Push of a button | Reduced number of suppliers |
Operational excellence | Sustainable improvement of key performance metrics |
Python | Challenging problem[1] |
Raft of measures | A collection of proposals or schemes |
Rattler | Obvious problem[1] |
Run it up the flagpole | Moving a project along to the next appropriate person[1] |
Scalability | A small component's ability to grow within a larger system[1] |
Silo (Vertical and Horizontal) | A system, process, department, etc. that operates in isolation from others. |
Silver bullet | One solution for everything, especially vampires[dubious – discuss] |
Six Sigma | A system for process improvement by error reduction |
Stakeholders | Group or individual affected by the outcome of a decision |
Talent | Employees |
Tent pole | The task or item most likely to delay a project or consume the most resources |
Under-pinning | The foundations of an idea, which helps another related scheme or proposal |
Unique selling proposition (USP) | Any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects |
Win-win solution | Providing a product or service which makes everyone happy, particularly both buyer and seller |
Verb phrases
Verb phrase | Definition |
---|---|
Action that | Put something into practice[1] |
Baked in | Something which has been "baked in" is implied to be impossible to remove. |
Boil the ocean | Undertake an impossible or impractical task [1] |
Buck the trend | To follow an action against market tendencies |
Build capacity | Take actions which increase the amount of work that can be done in the future. |
Circle back | Discuss later[1] |
Circle the wagons | Defensive strategy to provide time to plan or produce a better solution |
Cover all directions of the compass | Ensure the product specification covers everything |
Create the storyboard | Outline what the solution will look like |
Deep dive | Get into the detail |
Drill down | Investigate in depth [1] |
Have the vendor in our pocket | Keep a vendor/contractors paid |
Ideate | Come up with ideas[1] |
Land and expand | To sell a small solution and then grow it within the client's environment |
Make hay | Productive or successful in a short time[1] |
Moving forward | Making progress on an idea or scheme |
Move the goal posts | Change the criteria for success[1] |
Pick the low-hanging fruit | Go (initially) for the easiest options [1] |
Power to the elbow | Get additional backup information to make your case stronger |
Pull the plug | Close a venture that is losing money or has no prospects of success |
Punt | Relinquish responsibility[1] |
Pushing the envelope | Going outside normal boundaries to achieve a target or goal (such as exceeding specifications) |
Put this on your radar | Consider this[1] |
Scrub the numbers | Find errors[1] |
Sing from the same hymn sheet | Show a united front, or everyone understanding and saying the same thing to clientele. |
Table the conversation | Reconvene at a later time[1] |
Test the water | 'Put your toe' into a market to determine its temperature. |
Touch base | To meet up with a colleague to discuss progress (from baseball) |
Touch base offline | Meet and talk[1] |
Tranch up the workload | Divide responsibilities[1] |
Trim the fat | Cut excess budgets, remove avoidable costs [1] |
Unscramble that egg | Take care of that mess[1] |
See also
References
- "A glossary of business terms", Business English, 2004, ISBN 9780764124440