Key Business Terms & Academic Task Structures

Essential Business Terminology

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

That which separates your product from the competition.

ROI (Return on Investment)

How much money you make versus your initial investment.

Overhead

The indirect costs associated with running a business, often related to administration, marketing, and maintenance. These costs are not associated with product manufacturing or service delivery.

Profit

Total revenue minus total cost.

Revenue

Income generated before deducting expenses.

Liability

A financial debt, risk, or obligation. Liabilities include mortgages, outstanding loans, and accrued expenses.

Research and Development (R&D)

Activities related to investigating and creating new products.

Logistics

The processes involved in managing and executing a complex task or project involving many people, materials, timelines, and more.

Outsourcing

To obtain goods or services from an outside or foreign supplier, especially in place of an internal source.

Assets

Things you own which are worth money. The opposite of debt.

Proprietary

Something owned exclusively by a company which is often kept secret.

Profitability

A company's ability to generate an adequate return on invested capital.

Board of Directors

A group of people who make the decisions and policies for a company.

CEO (Chief Executive Officer)

The main boss of the company.

Shareholders

Investors who purchase shares of stock in a corporation.

Guarantee

A promise by the manufacturer or dealer, usually in writing.

Academic Task Formats

Opinion Question

• State your opinion.
• Provide reasons for your opinion.
• Offer examples to support your opinion.

Campus Announcement Summary

• Read the announcement.
• Listen to the conversation.
• Summarize the announcement and its reasons.
• Summarize the opinion and reasons for the opinion from the conversation.

Academic Task: Reading, Listening, Speaking

• Read on an academic topic.
• Listen to a lecture which gives one or two examples of the topic.
• Define the topic.
• State how the examples illustrate the topic.

Academic Task: Listening, Speaking

• Listen to an academic lecture.
• Summarize the concept briefly.
• Talk about specific examples from the lecture.