Z

Z score Multivariate formula devised by finance professor EDWARD ALTMAN that measures the susceptibility of a business to failure by applying beta-coefficients to a number of selected ratios.

Zaibatsu Japanese conglomerate or group of companies that coordinate their activities to maximize profit. Each zaibatsu usually includes a bank, trading company, and service company, with linked equity.

Zelenik, Abraham U.S. academic who wrote the influential article “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?” in Harvard Business Review (1977).

Zero-based budgeting Record keeping that starts from scratch every year and regards all expenditures as new items, with their own rationals that need to be assessed.

Zero defect Component of TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT aimed at changing worker attitudes toward quality by stressing error-free production or SIX-SIGMA.

Zero-sum game In GAME THEORY, a situation in which one person’s loss is another’s gain because the total remains the same.

Zone of indifference Range of authority of a superior, not questioned by subordinates and accepted as a legitimate exercise of power.