Important English vocabulary words for management
Vocabulary |
Explanation |
Example |
A benchmark |
A level of quality that can be used as a standard when comparing different things. |
Her outstanding performances set a new benchmark for other employees in the organization. |
A blueprint |
An early plan or design that explains how something might be achieved. |
Their blueprint for economic reform was quite interesting. |
A bonus scheme |
Refers to a scheme in a company or an organization according to which employees receive a bonus if they meet specified targets. |
A good, fair and well-designed bonus scheme can be a perfect way to increase your staff’s productivity and so your bottom line / profit. |
A chairman |
President, the one who presides over meetings and the business. |
The chairman of the company has a very tight schedule. |
A loan |
Money borrowed that will be given back usually with interests. |
To keep on developing, the firm had to take a loan. |
A packing slip |
Refers to packing note or the document listing items in a parcel. |
It is highly essential for an e-commerce company to have a packing slip well detailed at the time of an order. |
A paperwork problem |
A difficulty with administrative documents. |
It’s quite common to have paperwork problems when you arrive in a new country. |
A receiving report |
A receiving report is an internal document used to record what materials and inventory were received by the company. |
The company’s most receiving reports are made on carbon copy paper with multiple sheets. |
A steady increase |
A regular rise. |
Thanks to our new strategy, we’ve noticed a steady increase in our selling. |
A value chain |
The series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each stage adding to the value of the product or service. |
The company would like to have recycled materials reenter the value chain as raw materials. |
A valued added tax (vat) |
It is a type of consumption tax that is placed on a product whenever value is added at a stage of production and at final sale. |
Value added tax has just gone back up to 17.5%. |
Av alue added / added value |
Value-added / added value refers to the enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers. |
Value-added applies to instances where a firm takes a product that may be considered as a homogeneous product. |
Budget cuts |
Reduction in the budget. |
The unsteady financial situation lead to budget cuts. |
Disappointing figures |
Numbers which don’t meet your anticipation. |
Unfortunately the new campaign lead ti disappointing figures. |
Mandatory |
Obligatory (usually by an external ruling). |
Clocking in and out is mandatory in my company. |
Outsourcing |
Asking another country to do some jobs for you. |
Outsourcing enables to have lower prices. |
Overdue expenses |
Late spendings/ fees which are spent in advance. |
There are often overdue expenses duing business trips. |
Popular |
Suited for most of the people. |
The business became popular once a famous person talked about it. |
Savings plan |
Project to put money aside. |
We started a new savings plan in order to feel more comfortable in case of crisis. |
Shareholder/ stockholder |
Stock owner. |
On the Stock Exchange, there are many traders who work for shareholders. |
Storage cost |
The cost to store commodities from one delivery month to another, one of the carrying charges associated with futures. |
Last month, the company incurred huge storage costs. |
Successful |
Who has success. |
The start-up was successful thanks to its innovating project. |
The accounting department |
The service in charge of financial books. |
It’s the accounting department that will send your pay slip at the end of the month. |
The personnel company’s stock |
The share of the business that the staff owns. |
The employees are all motivated as they own |
The turnover |
Business revenues. |
This year’s turnover is higher than the one of last year. |
To be in debt |
To have financial problems and be in the red (overdrawn). |
The enterprise was in debt as it spent far more than what it earned. |
To be in trouble |
To have difficulties. |
With the economic crisis, many businesses were in trouble. |
To cover expenses |
To pay for the spendings |
To have your expenses covered, you need to provide official invoices. |
To declare expenses |
Spendings/fees which are officially stated. |
All employees who want to be refunded need to declare their expenses. |
To dip |
To decrease, diminish, reduce. |
The resignation of two employees made the department’s productivitiy dip. |
To go bankrupt/ to go into bankruptcy |
To become insolvent. |
As the business spent more than it had, it finally went bankrupt. |
To go smoothly |
To happen in good conditions, to be fluent in its happening |
The integration process went smoothly thanks to a well-prepared process. |
To go through the roof |
To skyrocket, to suddenly increase drastically |
The new product is so appreciated that its sales went through the roof! |
To go under |
Level which is below something. |
With the crisis, our sales went under 1,000 products. |
To implement |
To put in place. |
To implement change, many steps have to be anticipated beforehand. |
To lack concentration |
To be short of focus. |
Some employees lack concentration when there is noise around them. |
To make a deal |
To conclude a business agreement. |
Thanks to the sales representative, we made a very good deal with this client. |
To pick up (figures) |
To start again, to rise. |
The sales picked up thanks to the new recruit. |
To play the bad guy |
To be strict, to pretend you’re not nice. |
With overconfident coworkers, you sometimes have to play the bad guy. |
To rewrite billings |
Invoices have to be revised. |
Because many mistakes were made, all the billings had to be rewritten. |
To thrive |
To prosper or blossom. |
Thanks to their innovation, the corporation started to thrive. |
Workforce / manpower / payroll |
Refers to the people available to work or actually employed in a particular area, industry, or company. |
Our company needs workforce to succeed in the market. |
Working hours |
The minimum amount of time a person spends at work during a day. |
In France in a traditional permanent contract, there is a minimum of 35 weekly working hours. |
Workload |
Refers to the amount of work to be done by a particular person or machine in a given period of time. |
Teachers always complain about their heavy workload. |