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IAS INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
Icarus factor Tendency of leaders to embark upon grandiose projects to stoke their own ego, only to fail; after the story of Icarus in Greek mythology.
ICE Involuntary career event, a euphemism for dismissal.
Idea hamster Person with a seemingly endless supply of new ideas.
Idea generation Systematic search for new product ideas in the marketplace.
Idea screening Systematic review of new products to determine their viability and market potential.
Identity management Creation and promotion of a corporate or brand identity so as to present a positive image to consumers and hide negative features or developments.
Identity theft Crime of stealing another person’s identity and financial information for personal gain.
Ideogram Graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Thus, ideographic.
IFRS International financial reporting standard.
Illegal contract Agreement prohibited by law, especially when it promotes an illegal or tainted activity or is drawn up for illegal purposes. It is considered void and its terms are not actionable.
Illth From 19th-century British critic John Ruskin, the opposite of wealth in terms of well-being. Today, products or things that are harmful.
Imaginization Blend of the words imagination and organization, the generation of new perspectives and ways of understanding complex situations, and the interaction between capability and reality. Also, imaginer, a person who integrates creative ideas with the practical and possible.
IMF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Immediate holding company Company with a controlling interest in another company, although it itself is controlled by a third company.
Impact In marketing, the total measurable effect of an action or product on a market, group, or person.
Imperfect competition Situation in which buyers or sellers have the right to alter prices, and where prices and supply are not subject to normal market forces.
Imperfect market Situation in which there are constraints on market freedom, such as barriers to entry or a paucity of sellers or buyers.
Impersonality Style of management that is mechanical and devoid of human interest.
Implied term Provision of a contract not spelled out explicitly but regarded as crucial by statute, and therefore implied.
Import substitution Manufacturing that produces products currently being imported. The action is designed to make a country self-sufficient.
Impression management Control of how a person makes an impression on others, especially to advance personal interests.
Improshare Productivity payment system developed by Mitchell Fein, in which employees are paid a cash bonus based on a percentage of their pay.
Improvement curve Graph showing the rate at which the quality of a product or activity improves in response to changes and innovations. Also EXPERIENCE CURVE.
Impulse buy Purchase of a product without serious forethought and as a result of the product’s emotional appeal and apparent need-fulfillment.
Imputed cost Expense not actually incurred, but introduced at the accounting stage to make pricing comparable with similar products.
In the black State of being profitable; from the black color used on the positive side of a bookkeeping ledger; opposite of IN THE RED.
In the red State of being unprofitable; from the red color used on the negative side of a bookkeeping ledger; opposite of IN THE BLACK.
In-basket training Method of training by which employees are given routine business correspondence and papers and are asked to handle them.
Incentive Inducement or reward that motivates a person to do something. Rewards may be in the form of bonuses, share options, health benefits, gym memberships, tickets to sports events, and awards or other forms of public recognition.
Incentive-compatible contract Agreement designed to ensure mutually beneficial behavior by both parties.
Incestuous In business, descriptive of transactions between related companies designed to evade regulations.
Inchoate instrument Negotiable instrument in which certain clauses and particulars are omitted.
Incidence of taxation Impact of a tax on those who ultimately share the burden, rather than on those who are nominally the taxee.
Incident process Case study in which participants collect further information at given stages and refine their responses based on the new information.
Income 1. Flow of money to an individual, group, or corporation over a course of time. 2. Sum of money earned by a person or organization as a salary or as profit, rent, or interest.
Income distribution Division of earned money across segments of a population.
Income effect Result in amount of purchasing power caused by changes in personal income.
Income redistribution Use of taxation as a means of adjusting the distribution of wealth across segments of a population. When redistribution is downward, it is generally viewed as a corrective social policy and sometimes includes a PROGRESSIVE TAX and various forms of income subsidies. When redistribution is upward, it is termed TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS and thought to yield economic growth.
Income smoothing Manipulation and creative corporate accounting involving certain items in financial statements to hide large movements in profits by spreading them over a number of years.
Income tax Direct tax on individual income. It has an exemption threshold, after which the rate often rises progressively in relation to the size of the income and the number of exemptions.
Income velocity of money Average number of times a currency, such as the dollar, is spent in purchasing goods and services.
Incomes policy State policy aimed at controlling inflation and maintaining full employment by holding down wages, prices, and income and by adjusting interest rates.
Increasing returns Situation in which greater input of resources leads directly to a proportionately larger increase in output.
Incremental cost of capital Overall cost of raising money. It reflects the combined costs of borrowing, market expectations, and related risks.
Incremental innovation Process of making continuous but small improvements to a product or service, as in the Japanese system of KAIZEN.
Incremental learning Education that takes place in orderly steps, rather than through sudden revelation; opposite of INSIGHT LEARNING.
Incremental pricing Two-tier pricing system, one tier covering the full cost of producing a product and the other including the marginal cost of further production.
Incrementalism Management approach of considering a number of alternatives and then testing them by implementing them one at a time.
Incubation Period of time for fledgling industries and start-up companies during which they test their viability and create and test new products.
Indemnity Sum to be paid by one party of a contract to make good on losses suffered by the other party as a result of actions or a failure to act or from negligence, loss, damage, or intentional deception.
Independent demand Situation in which market demand is independent of the production schedule and can be affected by variables over which the manufacturer has no control.
Index Forecasting technique that links the amount of change to the pace of change, with a certain base period as the norm, thus showing trends over time.
Index fund Passive fund management such as the S&P 500. It is a mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match a standard market index. It provides broad market exposure, low operating expenses, and low portfolio turnover.
Indexation Act of linking such economic variables as wages, taxes, annuities, and pensions to the COST OF LIVING INDEX as a means of mitigating the effects of INFLATION. In practice, indexation favors borrowers over lenders and savers.
Indicative planning Using a broad consultative process, this is planning that seeks agreement from all affected parties.
Indicator Measurable variable that has proven a reliable clue to performance or potential. Indicators are used in economics, psychology, and statistics. Macroeconomic indicators include the money supply, prices, income, exports, and imports.
Indifference curve Graphic representation linking the benefits to the risk of any venture. At any given point in the curve, the benefits are available only if the risk is taken.
Indirect costs Overhead that is not directly assignable to a product or service. In accounting, such costs are generally assigned to various centers of production.
Indirect demand Need for an unfinished product that is a component of another product.
Indirect discrimination De facto discrimination that results from meeting certain regulations and working conditions, such as frequent transfers that handicap married couples.
Indirect labor Workers not covered by an employment contract but who are employed by contractors for the duration of a project.
Indirect taxation Taxation of persons or organizations that is transferred or passed through to others, such as customers.
Individual retirement account (IRA) Pension plan for individuals that allows a set amount of nontaxable income to be set aside annually and that accumulates in a fund that pays interest when the funds are withdrawn at retirement, at which point the income taxes are also paid.
Industrial action Coordinated effort by an industrial union to force an employer to settle a labor dispute by threatening any of several means, including strike, work-to-rule, go-slow, and sit-down.
Industrial democracy Introduction of democratic principles of governance in an organizational setting. This includes worker participation in management decision making, representation on corporate boards, profit sharing, and worker councils that resolve industrial disputes and grievances.
Industrial disease Occupational-related health problem prevalent in certain professions, such as miners and construction workers.
Industrial dispute Labor disagreement regarding wages, terms of employment, or benefits.
Industrial dynamics Introduced by systems scientist JAY FORRESTER, a concept used to describe the behavior of industrial systems and to demonstrate how interrelated policies, decisions, structures, and delays influence growth and stability.
Industrial engineering 1. Applied science concerned with the planning and improvement of operational efficiency and quality. 2. Application of work-study techniques and the laws of physics, medicine, anatomy, and psychology to create ideal mechanisms, tools, and machinery on the floor of the workshop as a part of TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT.
Industrial espionage Use of spies and spying devices to gain access to trade secrets so as to gain competitive advantage.
Industrial medicine Healthcare methods provided by employers for their employees, including occupational safety and improvements in the work environment that reduce stress. Also includes routine physical checkups and encouragement of physical activity.
Industrial organization economics Branch of MICROECONOMICS that studies the strategic behavior of firms in a state of imperfect competition. It explores the different approaches of industrialists and how markets behave under conditions of MONOPOLY, OLIGOPOLY, and MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION and their competing strategies in areas such as pricing, production, marketing, and advertising. It also studies the effects of government regulations on market forces and is influenced by GAME THEORY and BEHAVIORAL FINANCE.
Industrial park Site established for selected types of factories and industrial plants with some common facilities, usually as part of a development strategy.
Industrial psychology Application of psychological principles and concepts to the study of business problems, especially recruitment and training of employees, decision making, leadership, and worker welfare and motivation. Also termed organizational psychology.
Industrial relations Linkage between labor and capital, represented by management in the conduct and evolution of productive sectors of the economy. It governs the environment in which products are manufactured or built and the climate of goodwill or ill feeling generated as a result of actions by the workforce or management.
Industrial revolution Transformation of the economy from one based largely on agricultural production and farm labor to the production of consumer goods and manufacturing by machines that began in England in the late 18th century and has spread around the world.
Industrial sabotage Actions by workers engaged in a dispute with management that deliberately delays or destroys production.
Industrial sociology Study of social relationships in the light of industrial development and the effect that industry has on society, and vice versa.
Industrial tribunal Court that decides labor disputes, employment conflicts, discrimination cases, and pay disputes; the court has mandatory jurisdiction.
Industrialization Process of transition from an agricultural economy to one based on manufacturing, which began with the industrial revolution in Great Britain.
Industry 1. Organized activity toward a goal. 2. A sector or organization in which labor and management work together to produce goods. 3. A group of companies engaged in similar production activities.
Industry structure Way in which a discrete industrial sector is organized in terms of its opportunities or barriers to entry, degree of competition, infrastructure (suppliers, importers, and exporters), types of needs the produced goods meet, and the labor force and skills needed to produce those goods.
Inertial marketing Reliance on consumer inertia to continue the sale of products, with no active canvassing for customer loyalty. For example, book clubs that send books monthly to customers unless they cancel the order.
Infant industry Fledgling group of companies that needs government tariff protection to enable it to survive foreign competition.
Inflation Economic period in which prices and interest rates rise, accompanied by lower purchasing power and fallen value of money. Varying in degree, inflation when severe often leads to a dysfunctional market or economic collapse.
Inflationary bias Tendency of a market to focus on INFLATION for political reasons, forcing policymakers to adopt ad hoc measures not sanctioned in traditional economic thinking.
Inflationary gap Difference between the amount of public and private spending in an economy and the spending required to sustain full employment.
Inflationary spiral Repeated periods of INFLATION fueled by wage and price increases, which in turn lead to further inflation.
Inflation targeting Monetary policy that sets a target rate of inflation in the medium term, as measured by an index, and then uses various means to achieve this rate.
Inflection point Stage at which important organizational changes take place in a company.
Infobahn Another name for the information superhighway, patterned on Germany’s Autobahn.
Infomediary Intermediary business whose income derives from supplying businesses with detailed profiles of consumer groups that have been developed from market studies.
Infomercial Television commercial of more than 30 minutes that simulates regular television programming but is actually promoting a product or service.
Informal communication Exchanges of information via rumor and the grapevine, as well as casual office conversation.
Informal economy Underground economy run by unlicensed businesses and conducted largely OFF THE BOOKS.
Informal organization Casual group within an organization that conducts its activities largely through informal and unrecorded communications, such as the grapevine and outside the formal hierarchy.
Information acceleration Virtual reality system that simulates a real-life buying environment to study how consumers make purchasing decisions, measuring their preferences, intentions, and perceptions.
Information age General term for the period beginning at the end of World War II and continuing into the present. The period is marked by the increasing proliferation of information resources and communication technology and the emergence of information as a commodity, albeit a nonmaterial one.
Information industry Sector of the economy in advanced societies that assembles and communicates information as a basic resource for innovation and change. Also termed knowledge industry.
Information management Executive control of the flow of accurate information to all those entitled to it, and also provision of disinformation to those who would use it for negative purposes.
Information overload Situation in which the amount of information in a pipeline is more than can be easily absorbed, controlled, or processed, thus creating bottlenecks.
Information revolution Big change in the creation, use, and transfer of information, marked by the speed and volume of information flows.
Information technology (IT) Processing and distribution of information electronically, through satellite links, telephone lines, and cellular networks. In addition to communication channels, IT enables the electronic transfer of funds, automated trading in stocks, and online sales such as Ebay. By substituting labor, IT helps reduce the cost of operations and time, while increasing efficiency. It has become so powerful that it is the principal managerial and decision-making tool, integrated throughout business activities both horizontally and vertically and linking customers, managers, and suppliers. IT helps to streamline operations in the factory as well as in distribution. It allows entire layers of management to be deleted from the hierarchy. Intercompany and international transactions are also handled by IT, virtually abolishing geographic borders and time zones, and accelerates cross-border flow of goods and services.
Infrastructure Complex of facilities, physical installations, and public works that undergird a nation’s economy, especially industry. These include roads, electric grid, railways, airports, and communications networks.
Initial public offering (IPO) Process by which a private firm sells shares of stock to the public for the first time. It is a rite of passage that marks an important phase of corporate growth, as well as providing access to public capital markets, enhancing the company’s visibility, and establishing its credit rating. The process is overseen by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has rigorous registration procedures, including audit. IPOs are usually handled by large investment banks, which sometimes share the risk.
Innovation New approach or breakthrough in design or structure, or new idea that adds value to a product or makes its production simpler and faster. Innovation is an organizational enhancement that can be used within an existing process, distinguished from invention, which represents a radical concept that has not been done before.
Innovation-intensive industry Industrial sector such as electronics or biotechnology, which depends on continuous innovation to sustain its growth.
Innovation management Stimulation of creative technology, leading to the discovery of new products with commercial potential.
Innovative efficiency Efficiency in creative and proactive marketing, which anticipates needs and offers products that best meet those needs.
Inorganic growth In business, the expansion of a business from takeovers and mergers, rather than from internal innovations.
Input-output analysis Set of marketing statistics that analyze patterns of buying and selling, so as to establish patterns and trends over time.
In-service training Training of staff during working hours by their associates or supervisors, using informal training methods.
Inside director Employee of a company who is named to the board of directors.
Insider trading Dealing in securities by using price-sensitive information not available to outsiders. It is a prosecutable offense under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules.
Insight learning Form of education that relies on sudden bursts of understanding, rather than gradually through study and analysis of data. Opposite of INCREMENTAL LEARNING.
Insolvency Inability to pay one’s debts or meet financial obligations, preliminary to BANKRUPTCY or LIQUIDATION.
Insourcing Use of in-house personnel to execute specific jobs, rather than outsourcing them to external providers or foreign suppliers.
Institutional investor Large organizations, as distinguished from private individuals, such as pension funds, endowments, or labor unions. They generally employ their own investment advisers and because of their size, are able to influence market trends and share prices.
In-store promotion Sales offer within the premises of a retail store, advertised through signs and posters.
Insurance Contract that guarantees a stipulated party against a known peril or risk, in return for a premium. Distinguished from ASSURANCE, which is a guarantee against an event that is certain to take place at some time (such as death).
Intangible asset Something of value that has no physical existence, such as goodwill, copyright, patent, or trademark.
Integration Merger of two companies or systems and a pooling of resources for the purpose of reducing competition, capturing a larger market share, cooperating on research and development, and/or combining physical facilities In HORIZONTAL (lateral) INTEGRATION, businesses that produce the same products and services combine forces to create a near MONOPOLY. In VERTICAL INTEGRATION, a company obtains control of its suppliers (BACKWARD INTEGRATION) or its buyers (FORWARD INTEGRATION).
Integrative bargaining Negotiation with a view not of gaining absolute advantage and victory at all costs but of arriving at a win-win settlement in which both sides gain something.
Integrative growth Expansion of a firm’s operation through acquisition of its suppliers, customers, or competitors.
Intellectual capital Knowledge and know-how, information systems, brand names, reputation, and related intangible assets. It is an amalgam of HUMAN CAPITAL (competencies, expert knowledge, and experience), STRUCTURAL CAPITAL (IT, communications technology, and databases) and RELATIONAL CAPITAL (customer bases, brands, trademarks, and reputation). Often, in the case of companies like Google or Microsoft, the intellectual capital may be four or five times the market capitalization or value of physical assets.
Intellectual property Intangible assets of a company, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, inventions, and computer programs, which are protected by law against piracy or misuse. Intellectual property may be licensed in return for appropriate royalties.
Intensive distribution Strategy for distributing consumer products, aimed at obtaining maximum exposure at as many retail outlets as possible.
Interactive communication Two-way computer system that allows the viewer to respond to prompts or questions and thus encourages respondent participation.
Interactive planning Forethought that envisions a desirable future and then marshals the resources to achieve it within a given time frame.
Interdependence Condition of co-dependence, mutual assistance, or reciprocal reliance, essential for growth and survival.
Interest In finance, the cost of borrowing money, usually expressed in a percentage per annum. Interest may be simple or compounded. Rates of interest are set by the lending institutions, based on the current money supply, economic regulations, the demand for money, risk of default, and period of the loan. In Islamic banking systems, interest is prohibited but the ban is usually circumvented.
Interest rate Amount charged for a loan of money, usually expressed as a percentage on an annualized basis. INTEREST-RATE FUTURES guarantee protection against adverse movement of interest rates and higher costs of borrowing.
Interest-rate future Financial derivative such as a futures contract with an interest-bearing instrument as its asset. They are used to hedge against the risk that interest rates will move high.
Interest-rate risk Potential risk associated with or resulting from volatility in interest rates, especially when bank loans are tied to fixed rates despite rising interest rates generally.
Interests In marketing or human resources, the personal or occupational likes and dislikes of a customer or candidate, as revealed through questionnaires.
Interlocking directorate Complex situation that occurs when some members of boards of directors of related companies hold multiple directorships and have controlling interests in more than one company.
Intermediary Firm in the distribution pipeline that buys and resells goods, or firm that helps manufacturers find customers.
Intermediate goods In manufacturing, goods used as input in a manufacturing process and that do not have an independent status.
Intermediation Role of a bank or other financial institution acting as a go-between in a transaction and taking on some of the associated risk for a fee.
Internal audit Review of accounting that is initiated by a company for reasons other than state regulations. The goal is to ensure that a transaction has not resulted in a breach of protocol and that there has been no theft of property or funds by employees.
Internal control Measures enforced by a company to prevent or minimize fraud and embezzlement and to ensure integrity in intramural affairs. These controls may include the use of more than one signature on documents, security checks, special passwords, and enforcement of professional standards of conduct.
Internal customer Unit, division, or employee that receives products, information, or services from another unit in the same organization, and is treated in the same manner as external customers in terms of communications and billing.
Internal growth Means by which a company tries to expand the scope of its territory and product range. Internal growth is achieved through increased market share at the expense of competitors, new product development, and new applications and markets for existing products. Internal growth is driven by innovation and sensitivity to market needs.
Internal labor market In a large company, the pool of talent that can transfer from one unit to another.
Internal marketing Application of marketing principles to sell ideas and directives to the staff of an organization.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Federal revenue collection agency in the United States, concerned primarily with income tax. It is comparable to Inland Revenue in the United Kingdom.
International Accounting Standards (IAS) Any of the accounting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which were supplanted in 2001 by the International Financial Reporting Standards, issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Successor to the International Accounting Standards Committee, an independent, privately funded body that serves as the watchdog for the accounting profession worldwide. Its stated goal is to develop a single set of transparent and comparable protocols and rubrics in financial information and reporting.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) The full name for what is popularly known as the World Bank, set up by the Breton Woods Conference of 1944 to help governments finance public projects, make loans to governments, and guarantee loans from private banks. The World Bank includes the International Finance Corporation and the International Development Association. Its funds are raised in commercial markets and it makes long-term loans on subcommercial terms. It is owned by the governments of 185 countries but the dominant partner is the United States, which makes all crucial decisions.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) International organization established in 1947 to enhance the convertibility and stability of the international monetary system. The IMF assists any member country that experiences a BALANCE OF PAYMENTS shortfall by supplying its own funds in HARD CURRENCY in return for a small fee. High levels of borrowing are conditioned on the implementation of IMF-devised monetary policies that usually dictate austerity and leaner budgets. The IMF is financed by subscription, and the level of subscription determines the extent of voting rights.
International Securities Exchange Electronic market for securities and securities options, launched in 2000 and comprising a stock exchange, options exchange, and alternative markets platform. It is owned by EUREX.
Interpolation Estimation of the value of an unknown quantity that lies between two known values, as for example the population of an intercensus unit from two broader census figures.
Interpretive research In marketing, analysis of buying consumer behavior against the backdrop of consumer lifestyle.
Interstitial Something that occurs within two cycles or work periods.
Intervention In organizational development, an action that brings about purposeful change.
Intervention price Guaranteed minimum price that triggers government action, such as purchase, usually regarding agricultural products.
Interventionism Managerial philosophy that permits top-level managers to continuously monitor the performance of subordinates and to intervene when necessary.
Interview In human resources, a structured, one-on-one meeting designed to assess a person’s suitability for a job, judged by the interviewee’s responses to appropriate questions.
Intranet Computer network within a company that can be accessed only by employees using a password.
Intrapreneur Executive or senior manager of a company allowed to launch new initiatives, sharing in both the risk and the profit. These initiatives may, if they are successful, later develop into profit centers for the company.
Intrinsic In human resources, relating to rewards, motivations, or values that originate within a person or group, marked by self-fulfillment.
Intuitive management Supervisory style that calls for flying by the seat of one’s pants rather than following methods presented in textbooks and manuals.
Inventory 1. A business’s stock or supplies, whether raw materials or finished goods, available on hand or in transit at any given time. Inventory is shown on the balance sheet as CURRENT ASSETS. 2. Total and accumulated resources or materials within an operating system, including those locked up in works in progress. Of these, there are five types of inventory: (1) anticipatory inventory, or goods in low demand produced in anticipation of a later spike in demand; (2) uncoupling inventory, or raw materials that are moving within the operating system; (3) buffer inventory, or materials held in reserve as insurance against variations in supply; (4) pipeline inventory, or materials in transit or those locked up in the system; and (5) cycle inventory, or the economic order quantity calculated on the basis of the JUST-IN-TIME principle.
Investment Purchase of capital goods or durable assets for the purpose of leveraging them into a profitable enterprise.
Investment analyst Economically savvy person employed as an adviser to study equities to help identify the most profitable stocks and bonds. The analyst uses TECHNICAL ANALYSIS to single out companies that outperform the market and FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS to predict future market movements related to the underlying state of the economy.
Investment bank Banking institution that advises customers on mergers and acquisitions and provides finances for large corporations. Called MERCHANT BANK in the United Kingdom. Distinguished from COMMERCIAL BANK.
Investment club Group of investors who pool their resources to make large-scale investments.
Investment grade Status of a bond that is given a high credit rating by one of the major credit agencies (generally above BBB), such as Standard and Poor’s, Fitch’s, or Moody’s.
Investment intensity Net value of a company’s plant and equipment, plus its working capital less current liabilities, expressed as a percentage of sales revenue or a percentage of the value added by the business. The RETURN ON INVESTMENT drops sharply as investment intensity increases.
Investment trust Company that invests funds on behalf of other investors, in a wide variety of securities, thereby spreading the risk.
Investomer Investor who is also a customer.
Invisible hand From early economist ADAM SMITH, a term to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. The pursuit of self-interest is deemed to lead, when aggregated, to achievement of social benefit and prosperity.
Invisibles Earnings from abroad that contribute to the BALANCE OF PAYMENTS resulting from services and transactions other than trade, such as insurance, shipping, and tourism.
IRA INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT
Iron law of oligarchy Principle regarding organizations and institutions, in which power tends to rest in the hands of an elite few.
Iron law of wages Principle that wages tend to remain tied to subsistence level, leaving no room for advancement, and that capitalism survives on the exploitation of workers.
Irrational exuberance Artificial escalation of asset values in a stock market without any basis in economic theory or past experience and driven by speculation and greed. Term coined by Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
Ishikawa, Kaoru (1915–1989) Father of the QUALITY CIRCLE movement and author of Guide to Quality Control (1982) and What Is Total Quality Control? (1985).
Issue Number of shares or amount of a stock offer at any given time, at an offering price.
ISO Series Internationally recognized quality standards developed initially by the International Standards Organization. The 14000 series is designed to regulate the environmental impact of industrial activities. It is a management system standard rather than a performance standard, and can be adapted to any national economic system. The 9000 series defines quality of financial services, setting out consistent procedures and policies to achieve measurable outcomes.
Iterative design Practice of making continuous improvements in the design of a product, based on testing, evaluation, and feedback.