Gagging Clause

A clause in an employment contract which prevents an employee from disclosing certain information about the company to the press, union officers, etc.

Gainsharing

Also called profit sharing. An incentive system which enables employees to have a share in a company’s profits.

Game Theory

Sometimes called Games Theory, this is a potentially highly complex branch of mathematics increasingly found in business which uses the analysis of competing strategies (of for example market participants) and their effects opon each other to predict and optimise outcomes and results. Relates strongly to cause and effect and chaos theory. Game Theory may also arise in military strategy.

Gantt Chart

Developed by Henry Gantt in 1917. A type of bar chart which illustrates the scheduled and completed work of a project. It shows start and finish dates, compares work planned to work done and tracks specific tasks.

Gap Analysis

Enables a company to assess the gap between its actual performance and its potential performance, by comparing what skills, products, etc. are available to what is required to improve performance, output, etc.

Garden Leave

Also called Gardening Leave. Term used when an employee’s contract has been terminated but they are instructed by the company to stay away from work, on full pay, during their notice period. Often to prevent them from working for competitors during that time.

Garnish

To take part of someone’s wages, by law, to pay their debts, e.g. child support, alimony.

Gartner

Gartner, Inc. is an American information technology research and advisory firm providing technology related insight. Research provided by Gartner is targeted at CIOs and senior IT leaders in industries that include government agencies, high-tech and telecom enterprises, professional services firms, and technology investors. It was known as GartnerGroup until 2001.It was known as GartnerGroup until 2001.

Gatekeeper

A person in an organisation who controls access to the people in the organisation, and/or controls access to information or goods, or even a market. Microsoft could be described as a gatekeeper to the computer industry. Google could be described as a gatekeeper to the internet industry.

Gateway

Where computer networks meet and exchange data a point where two or more computer networks meet and can exchange data.

Gazelle

A US term for a fast growing company that creates a lot of job opportunities, and which has grown by at least 20% in the last four years.

Gazump

In selling and buying property, a term used to describe when a purchaser has an offer accepted by the vendor but is then gazumped because someone else makes the vendor a higher offer which the vendor then accepts instead of the first person’s offer.

Geek Speak

Technical language often used by computer experts which doesn’t make sense to non-technical people.

General Creditor

A person or company that lends unsecured money, so that the creditor is unlikely to recover much of the loan if the debtor goes bankrupt or does not pay it back.

General Partner

Partner in firm who has no limited liability a partner in a business whose responsibility for its debts is not limited and whose personal assets may be at risk if the company’s assets are not sufficient to discharge its debts.

Generalist

A person who has a broad general knowledge at a high level, and/or many skills.

Generation X

A term used for people born during the 1960s and 1970s, who are often described as disaffected and irresponsible.

Gerontocracy

A government or political system which is ruled by old men (elders).

Get All Your Ducks In A Row

A term for getting organised, having everything in order and making sure all the small details are accounted for before embarking on a new project.

Get Go

From the start, the earliest stage of something. Used in the phrase ‘From the get go.’

Giveback

An agreement in which employees accept a wage reduction or fewer benefits as a gesture of goodwill, usually because of an economic downturn. The employees are often offered wage rises and new benefits at a later date.

Glamour Stock

A company’s shares, which are very popular with investors, because they have performed well on the stock exchange.

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier in the workplace which prevents women and minority groups from advancing to positions of leadership in a company, although some do manage to ‘break through’ the glass ceiling.

Glass Wall

An imaginary barrier in the workplace which prevents women and minority groups from being employed in other sectors of business or industry.

Globalisation

The process of integrating nations, economically and socially, through free trade, international business activities, technology (for example the Internet), etc.

Global Marketplace

Market encompassing whole world a worldwide trading system that has grown up since the 1970s, in which goods can be produced wherever the production costs are cheapest wherever they are ultimately sold.

Global Pricing Contract

Contract for single worldwide price a contract between a customer and a supplier whereby the supplier agrees to charge the customer the same price for the delivery of parts or services anywhere in the world. As globalization increases, more customers are likely to press their suppliers for global pricing contracts. Through such contracts suppliers can benefit by gaining access to new markets and growing their business, achieving economies of scale, developing strong relationships with customers, and thereby gaining a competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to break.

There are risks involved, too, for example, being in the middle of a conflict between a customer’s head office and its local business units, or being tied to one customer when there are more attractive customers to serve.

Global Village

A term used to describe the whole world as a single community, connected by electronic communication systems, such as the Internet.

Glocalisation

Global Localisation. A term used when an international company adapts its manufacturing methods, products or services to suit local conditions.

Glue

Unifying factor a common factor such as information that unifies organizations, supply chains, and other commercial groups.

Gobbledegook

or Gobbledygook or Gobbledegoo – Incomprehensible jargon. Official language, spoken or printed or online, which is intended to explain or justify or inform or clarify or instruct, but which actually confuses people instead, because it is phrased in a stupid or unnecessarily complex way. Alternatively called ‘Officialese’, or ‘Bureaucratese’, gobbledegook is common in marketing, product instructions (especially for electronic products), contracts, training manuals, official communications, and certainly in politics, and local government.

Gofer

From ‘Go for’. An employee who runs errands, as well as doing their normal job, usually in an office or on a film set. A dogsbody.

Going Concern

Company currently trading a company that is actively trading and making a profit.

Golden Handcuffs

Financial incentives or benefits given to a valued employee to ensure that they continue working for a company, and to discourage them from wanting to leave to work for another company.

Golden Handshake

Usually offered to high-ranking executives in a large company. A clause in their contract which provides them with a large sum of money and/or other benefits in the event of them losing their job or retiring.

Golden Hello

1. Generous financial arrangement for new employee a welcome package for a new employee which may include a bonus and stock options. A golden hello is designed as an incentive to attract employees. Some of the contents of the welcome package may be contingent on the performance of the employee.

2. Support for employer hiring new employee a payment from a government to an employer who takes on new staff when jobs are hard to find in a recession.

Golden Parachute

A company’s agreement with an employee, usually a top executive, which promises a significant amount of money and/or benefits if the employee is forced to leave their job, usually because of a change of company ownership, outside of the control of the original employer company.

Gold Reserve

The amount of gold bullion or gold coins held by a country’s central bank to support its currency and provide security for its international debts.

Gone To The Wall

Describes a business which has failed.

Good Title

Unquestionable property ownership ownership of a property that cannot be legally challenged successfully.

Goodwill

The difference or premium which a purchaser pays, or which a seller asks, for a business or company compared to the book value’ of its assets, typically representing intangibles such as brand value, intellectual property, talent, market relationships, etc., and which tend to reflect the overall value and appeal with which the purchaser regards the target acquisition.

Over-estimating goodwill value, sometimes to an extraordinarily stupid degree, is a surprisingly common downfall of many big corporate takeover deals, when arrogance and blindness to market trends of the acquiring CEO and takeover team can lead to a reckless waste of shareholder funds and ruthless cost-cutting, post-acquisition, when performance, synergies and return on investment fail to reach required levels.

Googlewhack

Two proper words (found in a dictionary) which together produce just a single result from a normal Google search. A googlewhack tends not to retain its status indefinitely, and sometimes only fleetingly, because due to the strange popularity of the effect, googlewhacks are likely to be published on the web when discovered, which immediately produces a second occurrence. Aside from the study of language and statistics there is no earthly purpose for this phenomenon, which apparently was first described by Gary Stock in 2001 and who runs a website dedicated to the concept.

Governance

Management of firm the process of managing a company, especially with respect to the soundness or otherwise of its management.

Grace

A period of time given to a debtor to enable them to pay an overdue bill or loan, or extra time given in a contract for a piece of work to be finished.

Grandfather Clause

A provision in a new law which allows the person or business already engaged in the activity, which may have been made illegal, to continue to be so engaged.

Grant

Bounty, contribution, gift, or subsidy (in cash or kind) bestowed by a government or other organization (called the grantor) for specified purposes to an eligible recipient (called the grantee). Grants are usually conditional upon certain qualifications as to the use, maintenance of specified standards, or a proportional contribution by the grantee or other grantor(s).

Grapevine

Unofficial means of communication an informal communication network within an organization that conveys information through unofficial channels independent of management control. Information travels much more quickly through the grapevine than through formal channels and may become distorted. A grapevine may reinterpret official corporate messages or spread gossip and rumor in the absence of effective organization channels. It can, however, also complement official communication, provide feedback, and strengthen social relationships within the organization.

Graphology

The study of handwriting, often used as a way of analysing a person’s character.

Grass Roots

The ordinary people in a business or organisation, rather than the management or the decision-makers.

Graveyard Market

A term used on the Stock Exchange to describe a Bear Market in which share owners are reluctant to sell because they face substantial losses, and buyers are reluctant to buy because the financial outlook is poor. Those who are in it can’t get out, and those who are on the outside have no desire to get in.

Gravy Train

A business activity which makes a large profit for an individual or an organisation without much effort. To have it easy.

Great Depression

1930s global economic crisis the world economic crisis that began after the US stock market collapsed in 1929 and continued through the 1930s, resulting in mass unemployment and poverty, especially in North America.

Green Audit

Also called Environmental Audit. An official assessment which shows the effect that an organisation or a company has on the environment.

Greenback

An informal term for US paper money, i.e., the dollar, derived from the colour of the money.

Green Card

In the US, a legal document which allows an immigrant to become a permanent resident, to work legally and to become eligible for citizenship.

Green Chips

Promising small companies small companies considered to have potential for growth.

Green Taxes

Also called Ecotax. Taxes which are levied on companies, businesses, etc., to discourage activities which will harm the environment.

Grey Knight

A third person, or company, who makes an unsolicited bid in a corporate takeover, and who takes advantage of any problems which arise between the first bidder (White Knight) and the company being acquired.

Grey Market

1. Markets

Unofficial market for stock before official trading an unofficial market run by dealers, in which new issues of stock are bought and sold before they officially become available for trading on a Stock Exchange, even before the stock allocations become known.

2. Marketing

Market for imported goods a market in which goods are sold that have been manufactured abroad and imported. A gray market product is one that has been imported legally, in contrast to one on the black market, which is illegal. Such markets arise when there is a supply shortage, usually for exclusive goods, and the goods are offered for sale at lower prices than the equivalent goods manufactured in the home country.

Grey Swan/Gray Swan

A marketing/economics/probability expression inspired by Nassim Taleb in his books about random events with big consequences, a ‘grey swan’ refers to a major predicted or known event of national or more usually international significance, which has uncertain outcomes and unquantifiable effects on society, economics, etc.

Gross Negligence

Failure to act responsibly a breach of a duty to act with expected care in conducting activities.

Group

Firm with subsidiaries a commercial organization consisting of a parent company and subsidiaries under common ownership.

Group of Eight

G7 countries plus Russia the group of eight major industrial nations consisting of the G7 plus Russia.

Group of Seven

Group of seven major industrial nations the group of seven major industrial nations established in 1985 to discuss the world economy, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Group of Ten

Nations contributing to General Arrangements to Borrow fund the group of ten countries who contribute to the General Arrangements to Borrow fund: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Switzerland joined in 1984.

Groupthink

Desire for agreement that compromises judgment a phenomenon that occurs during decision making or problem solving when a team’s desire to reach an agreement overrides its ability to appraise the problem properly. It is similar to the Abilene paradox in that it is based on people’s desire to conform and please others.

Growth Curve

Line on graph showing increase over time a line plotted on a graph that shows a statistical increase over a period of time.

Guarantor

Somebody promising to repay borrower’s loan if necessary a person or organization that guarantees repayment of a loan if the borrower defaults or is unable to pay.

Guardian

Court-appointed person managing affairs of another a person appointed by law to act on behalf of somebody, especially a child, who cannot act on his or her own behalf.

Guru

An influential teacher or an expert in a particular subject who shares their knowledge, often by writing books.