GLOSSARY

Ad Valorem Tax: A type of indirect tax in which goods are taxed by their values. In the case of ad volorem tax, the tax amount is calculated as a proportion of the price of the goods. Value added tax (VAT) is an ad volorem tax.

Advanced Countries: Countries with high national and per capita income. These countries possess highly developed infrastructure and apply most updated and advanced technical know-how in their productive activities. A strong and well-organized financial structure is the characteristic of advanced countries.

Altruism: An ethical theory that states an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favourable than unfavourable to everyone except the individual performing the act.

Amoral: Beyond morality; having no moral principles.

Anthropocentrism: This approach on ethics focuses on the utility that human beings can derive by protecting the environment.

Applied Ethics: The branch of ethics that deals with controversial issues such as abortion, female infanticide, cloning, testing drugs on animals, etc.

Axiological: This approach states that it is the moral responsibility for human beings to protect animals.

Balanced Budget: When the total revenue of the government exactly equals the total expenditure incurred by the government, the budget becomes a balanced budget. It is a conservative viewpoint; as most of the times, a welfare government has to regulate a number of economic and social activities, and this increases the burden of expenditure on the government and results in deficit budget.

Balanced Business Score Card: A system of corporate performance evaluation based on identified key performance areas.

Balanced Growth: It refers to a programme of coordinated growth of all sectors of the economy. Generally speaking, developing nations plan a balanced growth of their economies.

Bank Draft: A negotiable claim drawn upon a bank. Drafts are as good as cash. The drafts cannot be returned unpaid. A draft is issued when a customer shows his unwillingness to accept cheque in payment for his services or mercantile goods. A bank draft is safer than a cheque.

Bank Rate: The rate of discount at which the central bank of the country discounts first-class bills. It is the rate of interest at which the central bank lends money to lower banking institutions. Bank rate is a direct quantitative method of credit control in the economy.

Bank: A financial institution that accepts funds on saving, current and fixed deposit accounts, and lends money. The bank pays cheques drawn by customers against their accounts. It can be termed as a trader that deals in money and credit.

Barter System: It is a primitive system of transaction involving exchange of ‘goods for goods’.

Base Year: Reference year in the past, that is, a year chosen to be the basis for comparison of the value of a particular variable with the corresponding value of that variable in another year. For example, if we are comparing the price level in 2005 with that in 2004, then 2004 is the base year. A base year should be a normal year in terms of economic performance.

Benchmarking: It is the process of identifying the best practice in relation to products and processes, both within an industry and outside it, with the object of using this as a reference point for improving the practices in one’s own organization.

Bills of Exchange: A document acknowledging the amount of money owned in consideration for goods received.

Blue Chip: Equity shares whose purchase is very safe. It is a safe investment as it does not involve any risk.

Bond: A negotiable certificate evidencing indebtedness. It is normally unsecured. A debt security is generally issued by a company, municipality or governance agency. A bond investor lends money to the issuer and in exchange the issuer promises to repay the loan amount on a specified maturity date. The issuer usually pays the bond holder periodic interest payments over the life of the loan.

Bonus Shares: Shares issued by companies to their shareholders free of cost, by capitalization of accumulated reserves from the profits earned in the earlier years.

Bonus Shares: Brand equity is the differential effect that the brand knowledge has on buyer response. The key components of brand equity are brand awareness and brand association.

Brand Loyalty: This is defined as support by consumers for a particular brand or product. It is usually the result of continued satisfaction with a product or its price and is reinforced by effective and heavy advertising.

Bribery: Offering or receiving something of value for the purpose of ensuring action in favour of the giver.

Brokerage: Brokerage is the commission charged by the broker for purchase/sale transaction done through him. The maximum brokerage chargeable as stipulated by SEBI is at present 2.5 per cent of the trade value.

Budget Deficit: It is the difference between the total expenditure on one hand, and current revenue, and net internal and external capital receipts of the government on the other. It has to be financed by net internal and external capital receipts.

Budget: A document containing a preliminary approved plan of public revenue and public expenditure. It is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenses during a given period, normally one year. In India, the union budget is presented during the last days of February every year, preceded by the railway budget and the tabling of economic survey.

Bull Market: A market where the speculators buy shares or commodities in anticipation of rising prices. This market enables speculators to resell such shares and make a profit.

Bull: A bull is the speculator who gains with the rise in prices of shares and stocks. He buys share or commodities in anticipation of rising prices and sells them later at a profit.

Business Cycle: Also known as trade cycle, it refers to an alternate expansion and contraction of overall business activity in a wave-like rhythmic cycle, in a capitalist economy. The four phases of the business cycles are recovery, prosperity, recession and depression.

Business Ethics: Business ethics studies the moral justification of economic systems, whether national or international. Within a given system, it studies the moral justification of the system’s structures and practices. Alternatively, it can be said that it is the application of general ethical principles to business behaviour. Ethical problems arise in business for a variety of reasons such as the selfishness of a few, competitive pressures on profits, the clash of personal values and business goals, and cross-cultural contradictions in global business operations. Ethical solutions to business problems may have more than one right answer, or sometimes no right answer at all. Logical and ethical reasoning are tested in a given business situation. Business ethics is based on the principle of integrity and fairness, and concentrates on the benefits to the stakeholders, both internal and external.

Call Money: It is a form of loans and advances that are payable on demand, or within the number of days specified for the purpose.

Capacity Building: Programmes to create awareness and impart skills to make persons, group or organization capable of undertaking targeted initiatives

Capital Expenditure: It consists mainly of expenditure on acquisition of assets such as land, buildings, machinery, equipment, investments in shares, etc. and loans and advances granted by the central government to the states and the union territories, government companies, corporations and other parties.

Capital Formation: It is also known as capital accumulation. It means increasing the additions to the existing supply of capital goods in a country. It represents the addition of new capital stock to existing stock after deducting depreciation, damage and other physical deterioration of the existing capital stock. Economic progress in a country depends upon its rate of capital formation. India’s capital formation is one of the highest among developing economies and higher than those of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Capital Market: It is a market for long-term debt and equity shares. In the capital market the capital funds of both equity and debt are issued and traded. This also includes private placement sources of debt and equity as well as organized markets like stock exchanges. Capital market can be further divided into primary and secondary markets.

Capital-intensive Industry: It refers to that industry which uses large amounts of capital equipment in relation to its labour force for its output.

Capitalism: It is an economic system in which all the means of production are owned by private individuals. Profit motive is the guiding feature for all economic activities under capitalism. Under pure capitalism, economic conditions are regulated solely by free market forces. This system is based on Laissez-faire, that is, no state intervention. Sovereignty of the consumer is a feature of this system. Consumer is considered the king under capitalism.

Cartel: It is a monopolistic organization established for the purpose of restricting the output of member-firms in order to keep up the price of their products. The cartels first made their appearance in Germany.

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): The portion of net demand and time liabilities every bank is required to deposit with the Reserve Bank of India.

Caveat Emptor: A Latin term that means “Let the buyer beware”. The term implies that when a buyer buys a good, it is up to him or her to examine what he or she is buying and ensure that it is of the required quality and price.

Central Bank: The apex banking and monetary institution whose main function is to control, regulate and stabilize the banking and the monetary system of the country in the national interest. The Indian central bank is the Reserve Bank of India.

Central Planning: It refers to that system of economic planning where the state determines what shall be produced, how much shall be produced and how it shall be produced. It is the state which allocates factors of production to the various industries for productive purposes. Socialism and central planning often go hand in hand. Central planning is now being increasingly followed even in non-socialist societies.

CERES: Acronym for Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. A voluntary organization that is committed to protecting the environment.

Chaebols: Family run companies in South Korea.

Chaos Theory: A set of ideas that attempt to reveal structure in periodic, unpredictable dynamic systems.

Cheque: A cheque is an order in writing issued by the drawer to a bank. If the customer has sufficient funds in his account, the cheque is paid by the bank. Cheques are used in place of cash.

Clause 49: It is a clause in the Listing Agreement (LA) of stock exchanges with companies that want to be listed with the former. Stock exchanges endeavour to bring in corporate governance standards among companies, by the introduction of Clause 49 in the LA before the latter are listed. Clause 49 requires companies to comply with SEBI’s stipulations with reference to corporate governance practices such as Board composition, inclusion of independent directors, whistle-blower policy, disclosure norms, etc.

Clearing Bank: A clearing bank is one which settles the debits and credits of commercial banks.

Clearing House: Clearing house is an institution which helps to settle the mutual indebtedness that occurs among the members of its organization.

Clearing: A clearing refers to the process by which all transactions between members are settled through multilateral netting.

Closed Economy: Closed economy refers to an economy having no foreign trade (i.e., export and import). Such economies depend exclusively on their own internal domestic resources and have no dependence on the outside world.

Code of conduct: A statement laying down guidelines regarding the ethical principles and acceptable behaviour expected of a professional organization or company. For example the Market Research Society has a professional code of conduct; utility companies have customer charters.

Code: A code is a set of rules, which are accepted as general principles. It states how people in a particular organization or country should behave.

Code of Ethics: A written system of standards for ethical conduct. A code of ethics lays down the ethical behaviour that must be followed by employees.

Collective Bargaining: It refers to negotiations between employers’ association and workers’ trade union in an industry. The workers can bargain more effectively if they combine together into a powerful trade union. Employers too prefer collective bargaining, as individual bargaining with each worker is a cumbersome process.

Collusion: Producers of an industry reduce competition among themselves to raise their profits. They fix the price themselves with a clear mutual understanding. This understanding among different firms is called collusion.

Command and Control Regime: A setup based on inflexible regulations, directions, rigorous monitoring and verification

Commercial Bank: A commercial bank is an institution of finance. It deals in banking services through its branches in the entire country. Operation of current accounts, deposits, granting of loans to individuals and companies etc. are the various functions of the commercial bank.

Commercial Paper: A short-term promise to repay a fixed amount that is placed on the market either directly or through a specialized intermediary. It is usually issued by companies with a high credit standing in the form of a promissory note redeemable at par to the holder on maturity and therefore does not require any guarantee. Commercial paper is a money market instrument issued for a tenure of 90 days.

Commercial Revenue: The revenue received by the government in the form of prices paid for government-supplied commodities and services, that is, revenues derived by the government from their public enterprises.

Competition: It refers to that market situation in which rival firms try to increase their profits at one another’s expense.

Competitive Advantage: Any factor that allows an organization to differentiate its product or service from those of its competitors and thereby enhance its market share.

Competitive Strategy: Competitive strategy is concerned with creating and maintaining a competitive advantage in each and every area of business. It can be achieved through any one function.

Complementarity: It is a relationship between the demands for two goods, which are in joint demand. The extent of this complementarity varies with commodities, and will always be demanded in the same proportion to goods where they can be varied to some extent.

Compliance: Acting within the requirements of laws and regulations.

Compliance Certificates: Certificates designed for suppliers, contractors and buying agents to show that they follow the company’s stated standards.

Compliance Codes: Directive statements, which provide guidance and prohibit certain kind of conduct of its employees.

Concealed Liabilities and Expenses: The liabilities and expenses that are not shown in the financial statements of a company, by means of clever manipulation of data.

Constant Returns to Scale: These are present when a proportionate increase in all inputs leads to the same proportionate increase in the output.

Consumer Behaviour: The manner in which consumers, as buyers of goods and services, respond to certain situations such as changes in prices, incomes, tastes and preferences. Consumer behaviour will significantly impact a market economy.

Consumer Psychology: The intrinsic qualities of a consumer.

Consumer Sovereignty: This concept means that in a capitalist society, it is the consumer who decides what goods shall be produced, and in what quantities. Every time a consumer buys a commodity, he or she is, in fact, voting for the continued production of that commodity. But in an abnormal time, consumers’ sovereignty becomes a myth.

Consumption Function: The relationship between consumption and income.

Convertible Bond: A bond that can be converted by the investor into equity at a fixed conversion price.

Coordination: Arranging and synchronizing the activities of employees so that the company can achieve its objectives efficiently, effectively and ethically.

Core Sector: An economy needs basic infrastructure for accelerating development. Development of infrastructure industries such as cement, iron and steel, petroleum, heavy machinery etc. can only ensure the development of the economy as a whole. Such industries are core sector industries.

Corporate Citizen: A corporate is likened to a resident of a country, and is presumed to have rights and obligations towards the nation. Therefore, if a corporation performs the duties and carries out its obligations to different stakeholders in a civil society like a true citizen, it is called an ideal corporate citizen.

Corporate Code: Company’s policy statements that define the ethical code.

Corporate Codes of Conduct: Corporate codes of conduct are company’s policy statements that define the ethical codes they have set for themselves._

Corporate Credos: Corporate credos are defined as broad general statements of corporate commitments, as for instance, the credo of Johnson & Johnson._

Corporate Culture: The values, beliefs norms and traditions within an organization that influence the behaviour of its management and employees.

Corporate Governance: Corporate governance is the system by which business corporations are directed and controlled. It specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (the board, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders) and spells out the rules and procedures for corporate decision making. Beginning with the composition of the board of directors to their various functions and duties, corporate governance code prescribes the appropriate procedures that make the functioning of board more effective. The objective of good corporate governance is to maximize long-term shareholder and other stakeholder values while conducting business within the framework of rules and laws. It also refers to the systems and procedures that are in place among corporates to assure shareholders long-term value. Corporate governance is typically perceived by academic literature as dealing with “problems that result from separation of ownership and control”. Corporate governance mechanisms fall into two categories: internal and external. Internal governance mechanisms include the board of directors, subcommittees of the board (that generally provide professional advice to the board), programmes designed to align the interests of managers and shareholders and other corporate control systems. External governance mechanisms include accounting rules and regulatory reporting requirements such as to SEBI, the Reserve Bank and governments, external auditors, investment bankers, credit and security analysts, local laws and shareholders themselves. Corporate governance specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation such as, the board, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders, and spells out the rules and procedures for making decisions on corporate affairs.

Corporate Identity: The unique characteristics of a company that give it a distinctive identity.

Corporate Philanthropy: Acts of charity undertaken by firms for the welfare of society.

Corporate Social Responsibility: It refers to corporates engaging in pursuits of rendering services to the welfare of the community at large, apart from enhancing long-term shareholder value. In recent times, CSR has become an important and integral part of corporate activities.

Corporate Volunteering: Permitting and facilitating employees to undertake social service for brief periods. Corporation: A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible and existing only in the contemplation of the law. Being the mere creature of the law, it possesses only those properties, which the charter of its creation confers on it, either expressly or as incidental to its very existence.

Corporation Tex: It is tax on a company’s profit. It is a direct tax which is calculated on profits after interest payments and allowance (i.e., capital allowance) have been deducted, but before dividends are allowed for.

Corporatization of Stock Exchanges: Corporatization is the process of converting the organizational structure of the stock exchange from non-corporate to a corporate structure. Traditionally, some of the stock exchanges in India were established as “Association of Persons”, for example, BSE, ASE and MPSE. Corporatization of such exchanges is the process of converting them into incorporated companies.

Cost-Benefit Analysis: It refers to that analysis with the help of which we allocate scarce resources among competing uses in an efficient manner by equating marginal social cost with marginal social benefits.

Covert Ethics: They are complex, ethical issues that have deft ethical solutions. Covert ethical situations occur in corporate acquisitions, marketing and personnel policies, capital investment etc.

Credentials: The degrees, certificates, or citations that a person has.

Credit Rationing: It takes place when the banks discriminate between the borrowers. It empowers the bank to lend to some and to refuse to lend to others. Thus, credit rationing restricts lending on the part of the bank.

Credit Squeeze: Monetary authorities restrict credit as and when required. This credit restriction is called credit squeeze. Monetary authorities adopt the policy of credit squeeze to control inflationary pressure on the economy.

Culture: The shared beliefs and practices of a group of people that identify the particular place, class or time to which they belong.

Currency Appreciation: A situation in which there is a decrease in the domestic currency price of the foreign currency.

Customization: The design and development of a product to meet the specific requirements of a single customer. Because of the high cost and time required to produce a unique product, most firms prefer to develop standardized products that can be slightly modified to meet customer needs.

Customs Duty: A duty that is imposed on the products received from the exporting nations of the world. It is also called protective duty, as it protects the home industries.

Cut-throat Competition: It refers to discriminatory and unfair price-cuts made by a large firm in order to injure the interests of smaller firms. The large firm may resort to price reductions only in those areas where rival firms are operating while maintaining the normal price elsewhere.

Dear Money: Dear money is that money which can only be borrowed at a high rate of interest. In dear money policy, bank rate and other rates of interest are high and, as a result, borrowing becomes expensive. Dear money policy is a deliberate policy adopted by monetary authorities to check inflation in the economy.

Debentures: Bonds issued by a company bearing a fixed rate of interest usually payable half-yearly on specific dates and principal amount repayable on a particular date, on redemption of the debentures. Debentures are normally secured/charged against the asset of the company in favour of the debenture holder.

Decision Making: The act of deciding between two or more alternative courses of action. In the running of a business, accounting information and techniques are used to facilitate decision making.

Deficit Financing: It is a practice resorted to by modern governments, wherein they spend more money than they receive in revenue, by deliberately budgeting for a deficit. The government incurs the deficit budget, either to deal with a depression and serious unemployment as in Western capitalist countries, or to break the vicious circle of poverty in developing countries.

Deflation: Deflation is the opposite of inflation. Deflation is that state of falling prices, which occurs at a time when the output of goods and services increases more rapidly than the volume of money in the economy. During deflation, the general price level falls and the value of money rises.

Deflationary Gap: It is the difference between the actual level of aggregate demand and the level of aggregate demand required to establish the full-employment equilibrium. It is a measure of the amount of aggregate demand deficiency.

Delisting of Securities: The term ‘delisting of securities’ means permanent removal of securities of a listed company from a stock exchange. As a consequence of delisting, the securities of that company would no longer be traded at that stock exchange.

Dematerialization: Dematerialization is the process by which shares in the physical paper form are cancelled and credit in the form of electronic balances are maintained on highly secure systems at the depository.

Dematerialization: It means returning a nationalized industry back to private enterprise as it occurred in Great Britain in the case of iron and steel industry.

Deontological Theory: An ethical theory that focuses on certain fundamental duties that people have as human beings. The theory states the rightness of an act is derived from some feature of the action itself.

Depreciation: The value of the existing capital stock that has been consumed or used up in the process of producing output.

Devaluation: It means reducing the value of a nation’s currency relative to gold or to the value of a hard currency like the US dollar, which would increase a country’s physical exports and decrease its physical imports, provided other countries do not devalue their currencies.

Developing Countries: These refer to those countries which were earlier referred to as underdeveloped or backward countries. Their production sector is dominated by the primary sector such as agriculture, fisheries, mining and quarrying, and are in the process of building up industrial capacity. By and large, these sectors cater to not only home markets, but also produce for exports. These countries, also known as Third World countries, have low per capita incomes and relatively low consumption standards. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are all developing countries.

Development (Economic): A consistent and sustained increase in the standard of living of a people over a long period of time. The index of economic development is the rise in the per capita real income of the people. Economic development includes economic growth, which generally measures the prosperity or otherwise of a country. Development is much broader, multi-dimensional and indicates growth in science and technology, institutions, etc.

Direct Tax: Those taxes that are levied on the property and income of persons and those that are paid directly by the consumers to the state. Income tax, interest tax, wealth tax and corporation tax are all examples of direct taxes.

Disgorgement: Disgorgement means literally to surrender or yield something, especially something illicitly obtained. For instance, in India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has wielded its power to disgorge ill-gotten wealth amassed by some brokers and other entities through insider trading. SEBI, in 2006, ordered several such entities to disgorge whatever money they earned in the IPO scam.

Disinvestment: Also known as negative investment, this term was coined by Lord Keynes to refer to the sale of investment. Britain sold off her overseas investments during the Second World War to secure foreign currency to pay for her imports. National output expands only when fresh investment exceeds disinvestments.

Diversity in Definition of CSR: Diverse and multiple definitions of what constitutes corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Dividend: A dividend is the amount which the company distributes to shareholders when profits of the company are calculated by the board of directors.

Dumping: It means selling goods abroad at a lower price than is charged for them in the home market; it is an example of discriminating monopoly.

Dynamic Nature of CSR Agenda: Constantly changing definition and scope of activities that may be construed as socially responsible conduct by organizations.

Economic Issues: Economic issues include, inter alia wages and benefits, labour productivity, job creation, expenditures on outsourcing, expenditures on research and development, and investment in training and other forms of human capital. Economic issues include, but are not limited to, financial information.

Economic Planning: It refers to government direction of the economic growth of a country. Modern economic planning is of two types: (i) partial economic planning and (ii) total economic planning. The former is designed to smoothen economic fluctuations in a capitalistic economy and is resorted to in private enterprise countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The latter refers to the determination by a supreme government authority (say the Planning Commission) of the quantity and quality of goods to be produced by the country. This type of planning is resorted to in socialist countries.

Economic Tasks: The tasks of an organization that are related to the creation and maintenance of wealth.

EDIFAR: ‘Electronic Date Information Filing and Retrieval System’ (EDIFAR) is a Web site launched by SEBI in association with National Informatics Center (NIC) in July 2002 to facilitate filing of certain material information/documents/statements by the listed companies on line. The EDIFAR Web site (www.sebiedifar.nic.in) would enable electronic filling of information in a standard format by the companies and expedite dissemination of information to various classes of market participants like investors, regulatory organizations, research institutions, etc.

Egoism: Ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.

Employee Satisfaction Survey: It is a survey conducted among employees to assess the leadership competencies of their reporting managers. Detailed findings are shared in colour code with the respective business unit heads and project managers. They then come up with an action plan stating developmental measures, which then gets reviewed by the senior management.

Empowerment: Employees are given the authority to make decision and take action concerning their jobs or tasks without prior approval.

Environment: The living and non-living surroundings, natural or human-made, which make life on earth possible. Environmental issues include, inter alia impacts of processes, products and services on air, water, land, biodiversity and human health.

Environmental Audit: An investigation of processes and procedures of a company or site with respect to its compliance with applicable laws, regulations and impacts on environmental conditions.

Environmental Impact assessment: An assessment of the impacts on the natural or human environment of a proposed project or development, usually performed by an environmental consultant.

Environmental Management System (EMS): It is a tool that provides an organization with a method to manage systematically its environment activities, products and services and helps it achieve its environmental obligations and performance goals. It can also refer to the combination of arrangements for assessing, monitoring and recording a company’s environmental impact.

Environmental Reporting: Internal or external reporting of environmental performance can take the form of an addition to a company’s annual report, or form part of a separate document.

Environmental Tasks: These are the environmental guidelines that a company has to follow in order to curb unethical practices.

Equity Shares: An equity share, commonly referred to as ordinary share, represents the form of fractional ownership in which a shareholder, as a fractional owner, undertakes the maximum entrepreneurial risk associated with a business venture. The holders of such shares are members of the company and have voting rights. A company may issue such shares with differential rights as to voting, payment of dividend, etc.

Espoused Values: Company statements, credos and codes of ethics that describe the organizational purpose and ethical perspective.

Ethical Audit: An audit that assesses business structures, procedures, systems and policies. It measures the extent to which the activities of a business complies with the standards it has publicly declared.

Ethical Decision: Ethical decision helps in identifying business problems and works out the best way of resolving them.

Ethical Decision Making Model: A model that helps to identify business problems and works out the best way of resolving the problems.

Ethical Intensity: It is defined as the degree of importance given to an ethical issue.

Ethics: Ethics is a system of moral principles governing the conduct of individuals and groups.

Ethics Committees: Committees whose objective is to direct educational programmes to provide forums for discussion of ethical issues; or to review and evaluate institutional experiences related to decisions with ethical implications.

Ethics and Corporate Governance Theory: A theory that states that the governance practices adopted by the organization to ensure right, fair, proper, and just decisions and actions play a major role in building an ethical organization.

Ethics and Stakeholders Theory: A theory which states that an ethical organization is one whose managers act in a responsible manner by paying attention to the ‘needs’ and ‘rights’ of all the stakeholders.

EVA: Economic Value Added, a concept coined by Stern Stewart consultants. It is a measure of a company’s financial performance. EVA measures the residual wealth of a company, when its cost of capital is deducted from its operating profits.

Excise Duty: It is a tax imposed on total cost incurred by a firm. It is a tax which is imposed on certain indigenous production (e.g., soft drinks, matches, cigarettes, etc.) of the country. Excise duty may be imposed, either to raise revenue or to check the consumption of the commodities on which they are imposed. Excise duty is progressive in nature.

Extranet: An extranet is a network that allows a company to share information with customers and other businesses. It transmits information over the Internet, but requires a user to have a password to access data on internal company servers.

Financial Intermediaries: Institutions that receive funds from savers and lend them to borrowers. These include depository institutions such as banks and non-depository institutions such as mutual funds, pension funds, etc.

Financial Tasks: Framing rules and regulations, and bringing in transparency and accountability in financial statements.

Firewalls: Firewall is a device or program that stops people accessing a computer without permission while it is connected to the Internet.

Fiscal Deficit: The difference between the total expenditure of the government and the revenue receipts plus capital receipts that are not in the nature of borrowing, but which finally accrue to the government.

Fiscal Discipline: It is realized when the government exercises control over expenditures, given the quantum of revenues.

Fiscal Policy: It is that part of a government’s economic policy which deals with taxation, expenditure, borrowing, and the management of public debt in the economy. Fiscal policy primarily concerns itself with the flow of funds in the economy. It exerts a very powerful influence on the working of economy as a whole.

Fixed Deposits: These are deposits for a fixed term varying from a few days to a few years. The rate of interest will vary, with a small rate for a minimum period to a higher rate for a longer period.

Forfeitures: Penalties imposed by courts for non-compliance with orders or nonfulfillment of contract, agreements, etc.

Fraudulent Asset Valuation: This refers to the fraudulent assessment and disclosure of asset values that are at variance with the values in the balance sheet.

GAAP: The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are the common set of accounting principles, standards and procedures. GAAP is a combination of authoritative standards set by standard-setting bodies, and form the accepted ways of doing accounting.

Globalization: It is defined as international economic integration through trade in merchandise and services, and free flow of capital and technology among the nations of the world.

Golden Parachutes: A clause in the employment contract of a senior executive in a company that provides for financial and other benefits if the executive is sent out or decides to leave as the result of a takeover or change of ownership.

Governance: It involves the monitoring and overseeing of strategic direction, the socioeconomic and cultural context, externalities, and constituencies of the institution.

Green Consumers: Consumers who prefer the goods and services of companies that go beyond the minimum legal requirements with regard to adopting environment-friendly practices.

Green Marketing: Green marketing refers to the marketing of products that benefit the environment. Better pollution controls and more energy efficient production processes and product performance also form a part of green marketing.

Green Product: A product that is claimed by its manufacturers as not causing damage to the environment, especially a new product or formulation that is being launched to replace one that is said to cause environmental damage.

Greenhouse Effect: If is an effect occurring in the atmosphere because of the presence of certain gases known as greenhouse gases that absorb infrared radiation.

Greening: When a company adopts environmental policies to protect nature, then the company is referred to as ‘greening’.

Greenmail: An anti-takeover manoeuvre in which the target firm purchases the raider’s stock at a price above the one available to other stockholders. The funds for the purchase are often borrowed; other stockholders are ordinarily excluded from the transaction.

Grey Market: Players who do not belong to the organized sector, who sell products that are locally manufactured. Gross Domestic Product (GDP): It is the money value of all final goods and services produced within the geographical boundaries of the country during a given period of time (usually a year). GDP can be calculated both at current prices and at constant prices. If we add net factor income from abroad to the GDP, we get ‘Gross National Product’ (GNP).

Hacker: An individual who circumvents computer security (via a modem or some other communication device) and breaks into a computer system. It can also be defined to mean a person who hacks into other people’s computer systems without permission in order to steal information or to carry out something illegal.

Hacktivist: A hacktivist is an individual who performs the act of hacking or breaking into a computer system for a political reason.

Health and Safety: The set of issues that are concerned with the welfare of employees, both with regard to occupational health and accidents at work. Management of health and safety and environment issues is often combined.

Hedge Funds: An investment vehicle for individuals and institutions, which restricts investment to a select few channels. They are not subject to the same regulations as that of a standard mutual fund.

Hedging: An activity that is designed to minimize risk of loss.

Holding Company: A company that controls one or more other companies, normally by holding a majority of the shares of these subsidiaries. For instance, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is a holding company.

Hostile Takeovers: These are the takeovers that elicit opposition from the boards or employees of the target company.

ICAI: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. It is a body of practising Chartered Accountants. It prepares the accounting standards for India.

Immoral: Contrary to accepted moral principles.

Independent Directors: As per Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, ‘independent directors’ means those directors who, apart from receiving a director’s remuneration, do not have any other material pecuniary relationship or transactions with the company, its promoters, its management or its subsidiaries, which in the judgement of the board may affect the independence of the judgement of the director.

Indirect taxes: These taxes are levied on goods and services. They only affect the income and property of persons indirectly, through their consumption of goods and services.

Inflation: Inflation is a persistent upward movement in the general price-level leading to a decline in the purchasing power of the monetary unit. Inflation invariably takes place when the money supply rises faster than the increase in output.

Infrastructure: It is also referred to as social overhead capital. Infrastructure implies the foundation underlying a nation’s economy and includes such things as transport and communications, power, irrigational facilities, etc. The level of economic activity in a country depends upon its infrastructure. The more developed the infrastructure in a country, the greater and more variegated is the economic activity in that country.

Insider Trading: Trading in a company’s shares by a connected person having non-public price-sensitive information such as expansion plans, financial results, take-over bids, etc., by virtue of his association with that company, is called insider trading.

Integration View: This view emphasizes that business, being an economic entity has the right to make profits, and that at the same time it should discharge its social obligations.

Intellectual Property: An intellectual property is any product of the human intellect that is unique, novel and not-too-obvious with some value in the market place. It may be an idea, invention, expression or literary creation, unique name, business method, industrial process, chemical formula, computer program, process or presentation.

Interested Parties: All parties concerned with a stake, who either impact a business or are impacted by a business.

Intermediate Goods: Intermediate goods are those goods which are used to produce other goods and therefore they always move from one stage of production to another in the manufacture of a final product.

Internal Audit: An audit that an organization carries out on its own behalf, normally to ensure that its own internal controls are operating satisfactorily.

Investor Protection: Safeguards provided under a system of governance to investors so that their money is not swindled by operators of stock markets, industry etc.

Investor: One who uses his money for making profit, such as in property, and in stocks and shares.

ISO: International Standards Organisation, which has its headquarters in Geneva and coordinates conferment standards of by standards organizations in countries, such as the Bureau of India Standards (BIS) in India. ISO 14000: Series of standards for environment management produced by the International Standards Organisation.

Job Satisfaction: The sense of fulfillment and pride felt by people who enjoy their work and do it well. This feeling is enhanced if the significance of the work done and its value are recognized by those in authority.

Joint Stock Companies: These are now known as limited companies. A limited company is a legal entity, that is, it can enter independently into contracts as an individual. Most large companies, public or private, are limited by shares the number of which is stated in the Memorandum of Association. A public limited company needs a certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies. For example, Tata Steel Ltd.

Junk Bonds: Bonds that offer a high rate of interest because they carry a higher risk than usual probability. The issuance of junk bonds to finance the take over of large companies in the United States is a practice that has developed rapidly over recent years, and has spread to other parts of the world.

Labour Union: Labour union represents that organization of workers which works for improving working conditions of labour and also for raising their wages by adopting ‘collective bargaining’ measures with the management of the industry.

Laissez Faire: It is a French word meaning ‘non-interference’. This doctrine was popularized by classical economists led by Adam Smith who gave the view that government should interfere as little as possible in the economic activities of individuals. ‘That government is the best that governs the least’ is their motto.

Law: refers to a set of rules established to govern the behaviour of individuals within the society.

Leadership Anonymous Survey: It is a manual survey conducted using questionnaires wherein employees submit their feedback based on the various questions asked within the leadership dimension of their reporting manager. Based on the anonymous leadership feedback, HR comes up with a scorecard and the same is shared with the manager who in turn, devises a plan for improvement.

Liquidity: Assets which can easily be converted into cash are said to have liquidity. Land does not possess liquidity as it takes longer time to get converted into cash.

Listing Agreement: An agreement between a stock exchange and a public limited company that wants to be listed with it, with a view to trading its stock within the former’s jurisdiction.

Lock-out: It refers to a situation when the management does not permit the workers to work unless they agree to accept the employer’s term. Lock-out is the closing of work by the management for an uncertain period of time to put pressure on the labour union. It is an action by the employer, equivalent to a strike by employees.

Management by Objectives: A participative goal-setting process that enables the manager or supervisor to identify and communicate the goals of the department to every subordinate. At the same time, the subordinate is able to formulate personal goals and influence the department’s goals.

Management Information System: A management information system is designed to provide financial and quantitative information to all the levels of management in an organization.

Management Philosophy: It is the formal vision of the company or the CEO’s vision of conducting the business.

Management System: This includes policy, strategy, objectives and targets, programmes, resources, organizational structure, reporting and control mechanisms, and audit and review mechanisms pertaining to management.

Management: Management is characterized as the conduct of supervision actions with the judicious use of means to accomplish certain ends. Management primarily focuses on specific goal attainment over a definite time frame, in a prescribed organization.

Market Lot: Market lot is the minimum number of shares of a particular security that must be transacted on the exchange. Multiples of the market lots may also be transacted. In dematscrips, the market lot is one share.

Market Positioning: Arranging for a product to occupy a clear distinctive and desirable place compared to competing products in the minds of target consumers.

Marketing Strategy: It refers to the plan designed to attain the marketing objectives of a firm.

Mature Economy: It refers to that capitalist economy, which has reached the final stage of growth.

Merger: The joining together of two or more independent firms into one single combined firm is known as merger.

Merit Goods: These goods refer to those goods that are very essential to the society as a whole, and hence the government ensures their availability to all consumers, regardless of their ability to pay a reasonable price.

Meta Ethics: It is the study of the origin and meaning of ethical concepts.

Metaphysics: It deals with the question whether the moral values exist independently of humans or whether they are simply human conventions.

Metcalfe’s Law: According to Metcalfe’s Law: “The power of the network increases exponentially by the number of computers connected to it”. Therefore, every computer added to the network both uses it as a resource while adding resources in a spiral of increasing value and choice.

Mixed Economy: It refers to an economy in which characteristics of both capitalism and socialism are found. In such an economy, some planning of production is undertaken by the state directly or through its nationalized industries, and some are left to private enterprise. India offers an example of mixed economy. However, under the policy of economic liberalization, many of the mixed economic characteristics are being diluted, and the country is moving gradually towards a market-driven economy.

Monetary policy: Monetary policy comprises all measures applied by monetary authorities, which include primarily the central bank of a country with a view to creating a deliberate impact on the nature and volume of money so as to achieve the objectives of general economic policy. It aims at regulating the flow of currency, credit and other money substitutes in an economy with a view to affecting the total stock of such assets, as well as to influence the demand of the community for such assets.

Money Laundering: It involves disguising assets so that they can be used without the detection of illegal activity that produced them.

Money market: Money market is a market for debt securities that pay off in the short term, usually less than one year; for example, the market for 90-days treasury bills. This market encompasses the trading and issuance of short-term nonequity debt instruments including treasury bills, commercial papers, banker’s acceptance, certificates of deposits, etc.

Monopoly: It refers to that market structure where there is only one producer of a commodity for which there is no substitute. This is sometimes referred to as absolute monopoly. This type of monopoly is very uncommon. It is rare to find only a single producer of a commodity for which there is no substitute. Actual conditions vary between the two extremes of near monopoly and near perfect competitions. These conditions have been termed perfect competition. The term monopoly is extensively used to mean near monopoly or very imperfect competition. Although neither absolute monopoly power nor perfect competition actually exist, economists find it useful to study each of these extremes, the reason being that the theoretical conditions for each are simple and clear and they provide a basis for the more difficult study of the many different varieties of imperfect competition.

Monopsony: It refers to the market structure with a single buyer of a commodity. Pure monopsony or buyers monopoly is characterized by the ability of the single buyer to set the buying price. It is not very common, but it may occur, as in the case of the demand for labour in a company town. In the case of monopsony, the buying price and the quantity bought are lower than they would be in a competitive situation.

Moral Standards: Moral standards deal with desired right and wrong human behaviour. They focus on what ought to be done and what ought not be done by an individual or group in a given situation.

Moral: The principles of right and wrong.

Morality: Standards of conduct that are accepted as right or proper.

National Income: It can be regarded either as the money value of the total volume of production of goods and services, or the total of all incomes derived from economic activity during a specified period, generally one year. Calculation of the national income by either method gives the same total.

Nationalization: An act by which a government takes over the ownership and operations of companies or an entire industry, which were hitherto in the hands of the private sector.

Natural Monopoly: Monopoly of goods enjoyed by a country due to the bounty of nature.

Net National Product: Gross national product minus allowance for depreciation and maintenance of capital equipment.

Non-discrimination/Equal Opportunity: No discrimination shown on account of gender, age, religion, race or creed, and providing equal opportunity to all irrespective of gender, age, religion, race or creed.

Normative Ethics: It is that branch of ethics that guides human conduct. It sets out certain moral standards that help us to determine what is right and what is wrong.

Normative Principles: These refer to that branch of ethics that guides human conduct. These principles lay down certain moral standards that help people determine what is right and what is wrong behaviour.

Norms: These refer to the standard of behaviour. They reflect society’s expectations of the way people should ideally act.

Oligopoly: It is that form of imperfect competition in which there are only a few firms in the industry (or group) producing either homogeneous products, or goods having product differentiation in a given line of production.

Open Economy: It is that economy which is left free, and the government imposes no restrictions on trade. Open Market Operations: Buying and selling of securities by the central bank of a country in the open market. This is a tool of the monetary authority for effecting monetary control.

Opportunity Cost: It is defined with respect to a particular choice. It is equal to the value of the next best alternative that is foregone.

Organization: An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people who function on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

Outsourcing: Outsourcing refers to getting certain functions that were once administered in-house to be done by outsiders. In information technology outsourcing (ITO), a third-party is contracted to manage particular applications like all related servers, networks and software upgrades. In business process outsourcing (BPO), a third party manages the entire business process, such as accounting, procurement or human resources.

Overt Ethical Problems: These refer to ethical problems that are easy to identify: bribery, theft, collusion etc.

Paid-up Capital: Capital acquired by selling shares to investors is called paid-up capital. It is distinguished from capital accumulated from earnings or from secured or unsecured loans.

Passive Philanthropy: Inert/inactive giving when asked for, without actively participating in programmes.

Patent: A type of intellectual property consisting of the sole right to make, use and sell a new invention. A patent will only be granted for a thing or process that is novel, capable of achieving the purpose intended by the inventor, and of some practical use.

Perfect Competition: It is the market situation in which there are a large number of buyers and sellers; firms sell a homogeneous product with one price prevailing. There is free entry and exit.

Performance Appraisal System: Performance appraisal system is defined as the evaluation of the performance of an employee. The results of the appraisal may be used in deciding an employee’s pay, career prospects, training or job satisfaction. It is usually carried out by means of an interview with the employee’s immediate manager, although in some cases self-appraisal is also taken into account.

Permit/Allowance Trade Regime: Negotiable permits and allowances, which may be traded to meet regulatory requirements.

Philanthropy: Philanthropy refers to the desire to help mankind through donations and forming foundations.

Poison Pills: A tactic used by a company that fears an unwanted takeover whereby a successful takeover bid triggers some event that substantially reduces the value of the company.

Polluter Pays Principle: This principle states that those who cause environmental damage should bear the costs of preventing it or compensating for it.

Price Mechanism: It signifies the working of those market forces which establish equilibrium in the economy. Laissez faire policy is the basis for the working of price mechanism.

Price Rigging: When a person, or persons acting in concert with each other colludes to artificially increase or decrease the price of a security, that process is called price rigging.

Price Ring: It is an unofficial syndicate in which the prices are controlled with prior understanding among the traders. These dealers under a price ring decide not to over-bid one another at a public auction to keep the prices low. This will discourage outsiders from coming to the auctions.

Private Sector: It is that part of the economy which is not owned by the government and is in the hands of private enterprise. In other words, the private sector is not under direct government control and includes the personal as well as the corporate sector.

Privatization: Privatization is the antithesis of nationalization. When the government-owned public industries are denationalized and the disinvestment process is initiated, it is called privatization.

Psychological Contract: It is aimed at motivating employees and giving recognition to stakeholders, and also offers some security.

Psychological Issues: These issues deal with the psychological basis of the moral action. purchase orders or letter of credits are drafted in accordance with the company policies, which are aimed at contractual obligation for suppliers.

Public Debt: It represents borrowing by the state and public authorities. All loans taken by public authorities constitute public debt.

Public Sector: It signifies those undertakings which are owned, managed and run by public authorities. Public sector includes direct government enterprises, the nationalized industries and public corporations. In this sector of the economy, the government acts as an entrepreneur.

Public Utilities: This term refers to such services as local passenger transport, gas and electricity undertakings.

Quality Control: It is defined as the activities and techniques used to achieve and maintain high standards of quality in a transformation process. Such functions may include systematic inspection of inputs and outputs, or a sample of inputs and outputs at various stages in their transformation to ensure that acceptable tolerances are not being exceeded.

Recession: It refers to a temporary falling off in business activity. It is one of the four segments of a business or trade cycle.

Regulation: It is an official rule that lays down how things should be done. They are ‘sets of rules’ or ‘principles’ or ‘standards’ that are intended to control, guide or manage behaviour or the conduct of individuals working in organization. Regulations are ‘official,’ that is, they are imposed by the State (government).

Remuneration: It is the act of rewarding employees in proportion to their contributions to maximizing longterm owner value.

Rights Issue/Rights Shares: The issue of new securities to existing shareholders at a ratio to those that are already held.

Risk: Danger, uncertainty, hazard, threat.

Rules: These are collective moral judgments made by the members of society to guide individual behaviours or actions.

Savings Account Deposits: These deposits combine the features of both current account deposits and fixed deposits. They are payable on demand and also withdrawable by cheque, but with certain restrictions on the number of cheques issued in a period of time. Interest is paid on the deposits in these accounts.

Secondary Markets: Secondary market refers to a market where securities are traded after being initially offered to the public in the primary market and/or listed on the stock exchange. Majority of the trading is done in the secondary market. Secondary market comprises of equity markets and the debt markets.

Selective Credit Controls: Measures used by the central bank of a country to channel the flow of credit to particular sectors, usually the priority sectors, such as agriculture, infrastructure, exports etc.

Separatist View: According to this view, businesses should concentrate on the goal of profit maximization.

Share Capital: It is the amount of money raised by a company by issuing shares. The authorized share capital is the amount that a company is allowed to issue as laid down in its Articles of Association. The issued share capital is the amount actually issued, that is, the number of issued shares multiplied by their par value. Fully paid share capital is the amount raised by payment of the full par value of the issued shares.

Share Repurchase: Buying back by the corporation of some fraction of its outstanding shares of common stock.

Social Accounting Matrix: It is a means of presenting the system of National Accounts in a matrix, which elaborates the linkages between a supply-and-use table and an institutional sector account. It is a powerful analysis tool for social items, particularly income generation and distribution.

Social Agreement: A degree of social acceptance that exists in defining something as good or bad.

Social Audits: Social audit is the process whereby an organization accounts for its social performance, reports on, and improves that performance. Social auditing assesses the social impact and behaviour of an organization in relation to its objectives.

Social Contract: Social contract refers to an informal agreement concerning behavioural norms that are developed from shared goals, beliefs and attitudes.

Social Impact Assessment: An assessment of the social impacts on the local communities, of a proposed project or development.

Social Issues: Social issues include, inter alia workplace health and safety, employee retention, labour rights, human rights, and wages and working conditions at outsourced operations.

Social Responsibility: This refers to the responsibility of a corporation to treat its employees customers, suppliers and community in an unbiased manner.

Social Security: Provision by the state, out of taxation, of welfare assistance to those in need as a result of illness, unemployment, or old age. National insurance is a kind of social security.

Socialism: The political doctrine that dictates that the means of production (machines, materials and output) should be owned by society or by the state. Soviet Russia, between 1917 and 1990, practised socialism.

Spot Trading: Trading by delivery of shares, and payment for the same on the date of purchase or on the next day.

Stabilization Policy: It is a government economic policy aimed at reducing the cyclical and other fluctuations that take place in a market economy.

Stakeholder Engagement: A systematic interaction with stakeholders on a continual basis, to understand their concerns and devise mechanisms to address those concerns in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

Stakeholder Theory: A theory that holds that a firm is responsible not only to its owners, but to its employees, customers, suppliers and the entire community in which it functions, as well.

Stakeholder: Stakeholders are those with interests in an organization, as for example, shareholders, employees, suppliers or customers. Stakeholders may be users of the company’s annual accounts and reports, and may be dependent to some degree on its financial position and performance. It could also refer to all parties either impacted by or having an impact on the business.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): The SLR requires banks to maintain a specified percentage of their net total demand and time liabilities in the form of designated liquid assets.

Strategic Management: Strategic management is the process of formulating and implementing strategies that will help the organization to achieve its objectives.

Strategic Plan: Strategic plans are plans that help identify agency goals, objectives, and performance measures. The plans are evaluated annually to determine their efficiency and success.

Strategic Planning: Strategic planning is defined as a general plan outlining the decisions of resource allocation, priorities and action steps necessary to reach strategic goals. It can also be defined as the process by which an organization formulates and implements important decisions across different levels and functions of the organization.

Subsidies: Payments by government to firms or households that provide or consume a commodity. For example, government may subsidize fertilizer by paying for a part of the price paid for it by marginal farmers.

Supply Chain: Supply chain refers to the distribution channel of a product from its sourcing to its delivery to the end-consumer. The supply chain typically comprises of multiple companies which coordinate activities via an extranet.

Sustainability: Ability of an organization to operate in perpetuity

Sustainable Development: Integrated holistic long-term (incorporating inter- and intra-generational concerns) development including economic, social and environment development. The concept also refers to a system of matching the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sweat Equity: It is defined as an increase in equity created by the labour of the owner.

Tariff: Tax or a duty on imports, which can be levied either on physical units, for example, per tonne (specific), or on value (ad valorem). It could be imposed for a variety of reasons, such as raising government revenue, protecting domestic industry from subsidized or low-wage imports, boosting domestic employment, or easing a deficit on the balance of payments.

Teleological Theories: These theories state that an action is considered morally correct if the consequences of that action are more favourable than unfavourable.

The Central Listing Authority (CLA): It is set up to address the issue of multiple listing of the same security and to bring about uniformity in the due diligence exercise by scrutinizing all listing applications on any stock exchange. The functions of CLA as enumerated in SEBI (Central Listing Authority) Regulations, 2003 include: (a) Processing the application made by any body corporate, mutual fund or collective investment scheme for a letter of recommendation to get listed at the stock exchange. (b) Making recommendations on the listing conditions, and (c) Any other function that may be specified by the SEBI Board from time to time.

Theory of Corporate Moral Excellence: According to this theory an ethical organization has an established culture that is based on moral values. These moral values guide the behaviour of employees in their day-to-day activities and affect the image of an organization.

Total Quality Management (TQM): Total quality management is primarily concerned with the principles and philosophies that drive an organization to produce high quality products and services.

Trade Union: It is an organization of workers who come together to promote their interests. Trade unions negotiate on behalf of their members in collective bargaining with employers, and in the event of a dispute, may put pressure on employers by withdrawing labour (i.e., strike) or by some less drastic form of action (i.e., go-slow, work to rule).

Transfer Deed: A transfer deed is a form that is used for effecting transfer of shares or debentures and is valid for a specified period. It should be sent to the company along with the share certificate for registering the transfer. The transfer deed must be duly stamped and signed by, or on behalf of, the transferor and transferee and complete in all respects.

Transfer Earnings: The amount a factor of production would receive in its next best employment, the difference between that and its current earning being regarded as rent.

Transfer Payment: Payment made by any public authority other than one made in exchange for goods or services produced. This is not a part of national income. Examples: unemployment insurance and old age pensions.

Transmission: Transmission is the lawful process by which the ownership of securities is transferred to the legal heir(s) of the deceased.

Transparency: Openness in business operation.

Treasury Bills: Short-term (up to one year) bearer discount security issued by governments as a means of financing their cash requirements.

Utilitarian Approach: The theory that says that any decision or action that brings about the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people is ethically correct.

Utilitarianism: This theory states that an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favourable than unfavourable to everyone.

Value-based management: Value-based management is operating a company ethically with the aim of creating shareholder wealth.

Values: The accepted principles or standards of an individual or a group.

Virtue: An aspect of character or personality that an individual desires in himself or others.

Virtue Ethics: It is concerned with attaining the dispositions of character or personality that an individual desires in himself/herself or others.

Welfare State: A nation that provides to all at least the minimum standards in respect of education, health, housing, pensions and other social benefits.

Welfare: A private-enterprise economy in which large scale governmental action is welfare-oriented. Welfare-state goals include, among other things, maintenance of a minimum living standard for all citizens, production of social goods and services, control of business cycles, etc.

Whistle blowing: The voluntary release of non-public information as a moral protest by a member or former member of an organization to an audience outside the normal channels of communication, regarding illegal or immoral conduct that is opposed to the public interest.