Topic 1 | Exercises and Flashcards

Topic 1, Collins Business Vocabulary in Practice Exercises and Flashcards

Wordlist for Topic 1, Collins Business Vocabulary in Practice

Word	Definition	Example
information technology	the study or use of electronic processes for storing information and making it available	But the information technology division is to be sold off.
business model	is a structure of a business, including the various relationships between the different parts of the business	The entirely new business model made possible by the Internet.
vertical integration	when a company controls all the different stages in making and selling a particular product	Critics say the company's vertical integration gives it an unfair advantage.
microelectronics	the practice or study of designing very small electrical circuits that are used in computers	The opportunities for environmental monitoring offered by developments in microelectronics.
outsource	if a company, organization etc outsources its work, it employs another company to do it	It is highly desirable to outsource a portion of our production needs.
fast track manufacturing	is a manufacturing system which aims to speed up manufacturing items, for example by the use of more efficient practices or the pre-manufacture of components.	our fast track manufacturing facility can build complete systems in a matter of weeks.
flexible	a person, plan etc that is flexible can change or be changed easily to suit any new situation	We can be flexible about your starting date.
flexible working hours	a flexible schedule allows an employee to work hours that differ from the normal company start and stop time	It is very convenient to have flexibl working hours.
multi-skilled workforce	is a workforce that has many different skills, enabling to do several different types of work within a company	The importance of a highly trained, multi-skilled workforce is crucial to the survival of the industry.
communications	the process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings	Good communications is vital in a large organization.
telecoms revolution	the recent, sudden changes in telecommunications such as the increased use of the Internet and mobile phones.	The telecoms revolution has created a new pattern of rural working.
disruptive	causing problems and preventing something from continuing in its usual way	Night work can be very disruptive to home life.
high-tech sector	business which produce or develop advanced technologies, such as computers and mobile phones	Even within the high-tech sector there is some replacement of skilled staff by lower-cost research students.
social change	change in human society, such as changes in the way people interact with each other or changes resulting from new technology or new institutions	Football is under threat from social changes, particularly from computer games, TV, video, stereo etc.
consumer behaviour	the study of where and how people buy things, why they choose one thing and not another etc	The family is still a major factor in consumer behaviour.
mobile phone	a telephone that you can carry with you and use in any place	Now most people can afford a mobile phone.
operator	someone who works on a telephone switchboard, who you can call for help	Hello, operator? Could you put me through to Room 31?
pay-as-you-go	a pay-as-you-go arrangement is one in which a customer pays for a product or service as they use it, rather than paying the whole amount before or after receiving it	Pay-as-you-go gives you the opportunity to use the Internet as much or as little as you wish.
hidden charges	Expense not normally included in the purchase price of an equipment or machine, such as for maintenance, supplies, training, and upgrades	Let us remind you that the magazine and postage are absolutely free, there are no hidden charges.
household	all the people who live together in one house	A growing number of households have at least one computer.
encourage	to give someone the courage or confidence to do something	I want to thank everyone who has encouraged and supported me.
surf the internet	to look quickly through information on the Internet for anything that interests you	We give them quizzes on Britain and allow them to surf the net.
browse	to search for information on a computer or on the Internet	You can search for them by keyword or browse topic categories.
publish	to arrange for a book, magazine etc to be written, printed, and sold	The first edition was published in 1765.
post	a message sent to an Internet discussion group so that all members of the group can read it	There was post after post criticizing the Minister.
to build a website	to create a website	Need a custom website design or need to build a website with special features?
to design a website	to create a website	One of the best investments would be to design a website for the dissemination of data in user-friendly formats.
internet service provider	a company that provides the technical services that allow people to use the Internet	Hooking up a connection through a local Internet Service Provider is easy.
online	connected to other computers through the Internet, or available through the Internet	All the city's schools will be online by the end of the year.
dot-com	a company that does business using the Internet or provides a service on the Internet	Many dot-coms tried to build a global brand before their business model even worked.
e-commerce	the activity of buying and selling goods and services and doing other business activities using a computer and the Internet	E-commerce is still a small but fast-growing part of the U.S. economy.
broadband	a way of connecting a computer to the Internet, which makes it possible to send and receive large amounts of information very quickly	Do you have a broadband connection?
globalization	the process of making something such as a business operate in a lot of different countries all around the world, or the result of this	Globalization can often lead to the destruction of local customs and cultures.
market	the activity of buying and selling goods or services, or the value of the goods or services sold	The babyfood market is worth many tens of millions of pounds a year.
global market	the activity of buying or selling goods and services in all the countries of the world, or the value of the goods and services sold	The explosive growth of the online economy is forcing businesses of all sizes to compete in a global market.
worldwide	everywhere in the world	We have offices in over 56 countries worldwide.
enterprise	a company or business	The company started as a family enterprise.
global economy	the economy of the world seen as a whole	Profits started to slide when the Gulf War threatened to paralyse the global economy.
multinational	a multinational organization has offices, factories, activities etc in many different countries	Big multinational companies can earn huge profits.
deregulation	is the removal of controls and restrictions in a particular rea of business or trade	Since deregulation banks are permitted to set their own interest rates.
liberalize	to make a system, laws, or moral attitudes less strict	Services, for example data processing, as well as goods need to be liberalized.
pattern	the regular way in which something happens, develops, or is done	They noticed patterns in the data.
flexitime	a system in which people work a particular number of hours each week or month, but can change the times at which they start and finish each day	Just about everyone in the department is working flexitime.
teleworking	working from home using a computer, fax etc connected to the office of the company you are working for	Teleworking involves managing staff at a distance.
freelance	working independently for different companies rather than being employed by one particular company	She works freelance from home.
shift	one of the set periods of time during each day and night when a group of workers in a factory etc are at work before being replaced by another group of workers	She works an eight-hour shift.
job share	an arrangement by which two people both work part-time doing the same job	We have job shared for two years now.
career break	a short period of time when you do not work in your usual job or profession, for example because you want to look after your children	I took up a position in a university library after a career break.
long hours	used to say how long someone works or does things every day, or when they work or do things	The long hours worked by hospital doctors.
part-time	someone who has a part-time job works for only part of each day or week	She wants to work part-time after she's had the baby.
short-term	continuing for only a short time, or relating only to the period that is not very far into the future	Most of the staff are on short-term contracts.