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| Par Value |
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| The original value of stocks and shares printed on stock and share certificates |
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| Parent Company |
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| A corporation that owns all or the majority of the shares in another company called a subsidiary |
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| Parkinson’s Law |
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| A theory which states that work expands to fill the time available |
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| Partnership |
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| An association of two or more persons who operate a business as co-owners by a voluntary agreement, one which is often verbal but ought to formalised by a legal document |
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| Patent |
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| A guarantee to inventors of exclusive rights to their inventions for a specified period, subject to acceptance by the controlling patent office |
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| Penetration Price Strategy |
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| A strategy of pricing a new product relatively low compared to similar goods on the basis that it would secure a wider market acceptance that will eventually allow the company to raise the price |
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| Pension Fund |
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| A pool of money set up by a company, union or non-profit organisation for the retirement income needs of its employees or members |
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| Performance Appraisal |
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| The process of defining acceptable performance level of employees and comparing actual and desired performance in order to make object decisions about additional training needs, compensation, promotion, transfers or terminations |
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| Perpetual Inventory |
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| A continuously updated list of inventory |
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| Personal Selling |
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| A promotional presentation made on a person-to-person basis with a potential buyer |
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| Physical Distribution |
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| The actual movement of goods from producer to user covering such activities as transportation, warehousing and materials handling. More commonly known as logistics |
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| Physiological Needs |
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| The primary needs of food, shelter and clothing that are present in all humans that must be satisfied before higher-order needs can be considered. The first stage in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. |
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| Picketing |
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| Workers who march or demonstrate at the entrance of an employer’s place of business in protest against some management practice |
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| Piece Work |
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| Employee remuneration based on the amount of output that a worker produces |
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| Planning |
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| A management function concerned with anticipating the future and determining the best courses of action to achieve organisational objectives over a future period |
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| Planning Horizons |
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| The distance into the future up to which business plans can be made with confidence in the assumptions and forecasts |
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| Point-of-Sale Advertising (POS) |
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| A type of sales promotion that displays and demonstrates an item at a time and place close to where the actual purchase decision is made |
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| Point-of-Sale Terminal (EPOS) |
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| A device at the point of sale which is linked to a central computer that when activated allows funds to be electronically transferred from the buyer’s account to that of the seller. Modern devices provide additional management functions for store management |
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| Positioning |
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| A promotional strategy that concentrates on a specific market segment rather on broad appeal; often used for products that are not leaders in their particular field |
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| Posting |
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| The process of transferring journal entries to specific ledger accounts. This is phased out in favour of online processing |
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| Power |
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| The ability of one person to influence the behaviour of another |
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| Pre-emptive Right |
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| The right of current shareholders to purchase a proportionate share of new issues |
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| Preferred Stocks and Shares |
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| Those owners who receive preference in the payment of dividends and have the first claim to the corporation’s assets after all debts have been paid but who usually do not have any voting rights in the corporation |
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| Premiums |
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| A type of sales promotion that offers small gifts to the consumer in return for buying a product |
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| Price |
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| The exchange value of a good or service |
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| Price Lining |
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| A price offering of merchandise at a limited number of prices instead of pricing each item individually |
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| Price-Earnings Ratio |
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| A financial ratio. Calculation: Current Market Price / Annual Earnings |
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| Primary Boycott |
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| A boycott in which union members are told not to patronise a specific firm |
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| Primary Data |
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| Data gathered for the first time during a research study |
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| Primary Market |
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| A market in which new issues of securities are sold for the first time to the public |
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| Prime Interest Rate |
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| The rate of interest set by the Reserve Bank, which is used as a base parameter for rates charged by commercial banks for short-term loans to major business firms with high credit standing. See also Base Rate. |
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| Private Accountant |
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| An accountant employed by government or private enterprise other than a public accounting firm, to perform the duties of an accountant for the enterprise for whom he is employed |
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| Private Brand |
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| A product that carries the retailer’s label instead of the manufacturer’s; often known as house, distributor or retailer brand |
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| Private Carrier |
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| A company that carries its own goods and property in its own vehicles |
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| Private Enterprise |
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| System An economic system in which success or failure is determined by well business organisations match and counter the offerings of competition in a market place |
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| Private Property |
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| Property that can be owned, used, bought, sold and bequeathed under the private enterprise system |
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| Probability Sample |
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| A representative group selected in a random way so that every member of the population has an equal chance for inclusion in a research study |
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| Problem Identification |
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| The ability of the organisation to identify problems and to differentiate them between symptoms and causes. |
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| Problem Solving |
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| The use of various techniques to solve problems in a business. See Decision-Making |
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| Procedural Systems |
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| The systems that are in place to manage procedures to ensure that they performed effectively and efficiently |
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| Procedures |
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| A set of instruction which guide the worker to perform a particular activity or process |
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| Process |
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| A systematic series of actions directed toward to some end to convert the input data or components to a state for another process of the finished good for the end user |
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| Process Capability |
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| The ability of the organisation to employ adequate process methods and techniques to ensure competitive production of goods or services. |
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| Process Departmentalisation |
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| Departmentalisation based on the type of activities performed |
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| Process Engineering |
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| This is about how engineering gets done in the organisation, eg. is it breakdown maintenance, is it planned preventive maintenance (if so, to what degree), is it predictive engineering (including such things as total predictive maintenance), or is it intelligent asset management where engineering focus is in products to market rather than the performance of standard machines and processes. |
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| Process Focus |
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| The part of the business process that the management concentrates upon, in terms of controlling the business, eg. does management focus on the ability for repetitive supply to the market, or does it focus on the ability of the business to adapt to shifting market positions knowing that the repetitive capability of the company is systematised. |
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| Process Layout |
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| A manufacturing facility design that accommodates a variety of non-standard products in relatively small batches |
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| Process Machines |
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| Any device electronic, mechanical used in the processing of input data or material, which facilitates an output state to a predetermined specification |
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| Procurement |
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| The act of acquiring goods, components, raw materials and consumable items which enable the business to function. A procurement strategy will be part of the overall planning strategy for the business |
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| Product |
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| A bundle of physical, service and symbolic attributes designed to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers |
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| Product Advertising |
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| The non-personal selling of a good or service |
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| Product Departmentalisation |
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| Departmentalisation based on the products that the business organisation supplies |
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| Product Layout |
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| A manufacturing facility design that accommodates only a few products in relatively large quantities |
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| Product Liability |
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| An area of tort law developed by both statutory and case law to hold businesses liable for negligence in the design, manufacture, sale and use of products |
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| Product Liability Insurance |
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| Insurance protection for businesses against claims for damages resulting from the use of the company’s products |
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| Product Life Cycle |
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| A series of stages in the life of all successful products comprising, introduction, growth, maturity and decline |
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| Product Spread |
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| A measure of product variance and product groupings, in comparison to market requirements determined by the amount of variety in existence in the market place |
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| Product Strategy |
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| An area of marketing that deals with products and services, packaging, design, trademarks, warranties, product life cycles and new product development |
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| Production |
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| The use of people and machinery to convert materials, components and other resources into finished products or services |
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| Production / Operations Management |
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| Management of the use of people and machinery in converting raw materials, components and other resources into finished products |
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| Production Control |
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| A defined set of procedures for coordinating people, material and machinery in the production of goods and services for maximum efficiency and effectiveness |
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| Production Era |
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| The early part of the twentieth century when business managers focused mainly on production. Methods pioneered by Fred Winslow Taylor |
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| Production Modelling |
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| Techniques, which are used to simulate different aspects of production to minimise the cost of failure and assess the viability of producing a particular good or service |
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| Production Planning |
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| The phase of production control that determines the amount of resources needed to produce a certain amount of goods or services |
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| Productivity |
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| A measure of the efficiency of production as it relates to the amount of goods and services that a worker can produce over a give time period |
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| Profit |
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| The difference between gross revenues and all other expenses |
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| Profit Maximisation |
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| A pricing strategy whereby management sets increasing levels of profitability as its objectives |
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| Profit Sharing |
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| A type of incentive compensation programme in which a percentage of company profits are distributed to employees involved in producing the profits |
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| Profitability Ratio |
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| A financial ratio designed to measure the overall profitability of the firm. Comprises a series of ratios including Gross profit margin (%), Net profit margin (%), Return on Assets (%) and Return on Equity (%) |
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| Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT) |
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| A project management and scheduling technique for minimizing production delays by coordinating all aspects of the production task into smaller components and managing required resources. See also GANTT |
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| Promissory Note |
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| A traditional bank loan for which the borrower signs a note stating the terms of the loan, including its date of repayment and interest rate |
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| Promotion |
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| The upward movement in an organisation to a position of greater authority, responsibility and a higher salary |
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| Promotional Contests |
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| Sales promotion activities that offer cash or merchandise as prizes and are useful in getting consumers to consider new products |
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| Promotional Mix |
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| A firm’s combination of the 3 elements of promotional strategy comprising advertising, personal selling and sales promotion |
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| Promotional Strategy |
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| A part of marketing decision-making that involves blending personal selling, advertising and sales promotional tools to produce effective communication between the form and the market place |
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| Property |
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| Something which people have the unrestricted right of possession |
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| Prospect |
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| A potential customer |
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| Prospecting |
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| The task of identifying potential customers |
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| Protective Tariffs |
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| Tariffs designed to raise the price of imported goods and services to the level of those produced domestically |
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| Proxy |
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| An authority given by a shareholder or member of a committee to someone else to vote as instructed at the formal meeting. Often give to the chairman |
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| Pubic Liability Insurance |
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| Insurance protection for businesses and individuals against claims caused by injuries to others or damage to the property of others |
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| Public Accountant |
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| An independent professional who provides accounting services for other businesses and individuals |
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| Public Insurance Company |
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| A government agency designed to provide specialised insurance protection to businesses and individuals |
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| Public Ownership |
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| The ownership and operation of an organisation by a government unit or its agency on behalf of the population served by that unit |
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| Pulling Strategy |
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| A promotional strategy utilising advertising and sales promotion appeals to generate consumer demand for a product as a means of exerting pressure on channel members to handle the product |
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| Pure Competition |
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| A situation in which the firms in an industry are so small that none of them can individually influence the price charged in the market place |
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| Pure Risk |
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| The type of risk involving only the chance of loss |
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| Pushing Strategy |
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| A sales oriented promotional strategy designed to motivate middlemen to push the product on to their customers |
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