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Economywatch - BIZFINANCE LEXICON

May 21, 2024, 12:34 PM

Learning curve: The process of gaining experience and knowledge over time, invariably partly due to learning from one’s mistakes. Individuals and firms that have been operating in an industry for many years will have gained much insight and learned from others about how the industry operates.

Make-to-order: A type of response to demand that is triggered only when the customer requests the product or service. The planning and control necessary for this type of operation will only begin on receipt of the request - this is also known as resource-to-order planning and control.

New economy: The label given to the development of generally benign economic conditions in much of the developed world (especially the US) in the second half of the 1990s, typically attributed to the permeation of information and communications technology.

One-to-one marketing: A form of marketing that emphasizes the relationship between an organization and each customer, one by one. The aim is to build ‘share of wallet’, rather than the traditional goal of mass marketing - the building of market share. This can be seen as an extreme form of microsegmentation.

Paid-up capital: That part of the issued capital of a company that has been paid-in by the shareholders. Partly paid shares are those on which only a proportion of the issue price of the shares was paid on subscription.

Permission marketing: The idea that marketers must obtain the trust of customers as a prelude to developing a close relationship. Trust is gained when the organization promises to safeguard personal information about a customer  as well as meeting basic product and service requirements. Having earned trust, the organization is in a better position to gain permission from the customer for personalized mail, e-mail, phone calls and relationship-building initiatives.

Real time: A computer and communications system in which the generation of data and the inputting and processing of that data occur virtually simultaneously, so that the output of the system (e.g. a share index) will reflect real changes (in prices) as they occur.

Secondary market: A market in which securities or other assets are resold and repurchased, as distinct from a primary market in which assets are sold for the first time (new issue market). The stock exchange is a secondary market, though it is also a primary market. The term is sometimes wrongly used to refer to second tier or unlisted securities markets.

Slip: The document setting out details of the insurance risk to be covered, used by brokers, particularly at Lloyd’s. Signatures by insurers on the slip are evidence of acceptance of the risk.

Tax evasion: Adoption of illegal measures to reduce or eliminate tax liabilities.

Source: Penguin Int’l Dictionary of Business & Finance

Compiled by Osman Kargbo: ousafrik@yahoo.com, +220 5221982/7345313