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.