Key Pre-Released Business Terms & Definitions (DP IB Business Management): Revision Note

A business that has sold shares to the general public, typically through a stock exchange

Shareholders own a portion of the business and are entitled to a share of its profits (dividends)

ABC is a publicly held company

A dedicated production facility designed to handle and process discarded electronic products (e-waste), extracting valuable materials such as precious metals for resale

ABC opened its first e-waste processing factory in 2024, processing 100 tonnes of circuit boards per week and recovering hundreds of kilograms of gold annually

Businesses that design and produce jewellery, typically using precious metals such as gold and silver as key raw material inputs

ABC sells the gold recovered from circuit boards directly to jewellery makers

Improvements in the way a business uses its resources, such as labour, machinery or materials, to produce goods or services at a lower cost or in less time, without reducing quality

ABC is considering increasing efficiencies in its concrete production as one of its key strategic priorities

The natural world, including air, water, land and ecosystems, that can be affected by a business's operations

Reducing its environmental impact is one of ABC's key strategic considerations

An approach to business in which decisions about products and services are driven by the needs and wants of customers, identified through market research

A market-orientated business adapts what it produces based on what customers actually want, rather than simply making what it is already capable of producing

Becoming more market-orientated is one of ABC's key strategic considerations

An increase in the size of a business, measured by factors such as revenue, profit, market share or number of employees

Exploring growth options is one of ABC's key strategic priorities

Raw materials, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone, limestone and clay, that are mixed together to make construction materials like concrete and cement

ABC purchases limestone and clay aggregates as key inputs for its concrete production

Where a business sells its products or services to other businesses, rather than directly to individual consumers, sometimes known as B2B

B2B generally involves longer-term contracts, larger order volumes and relationship-based selling

ABC sells recovered gold to jewellery makers

A process or industry that releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases as a result of its operations

Carbon-intensive processes typically rely heavily on burning fossil fuels or high-temperature industrial methods

The traditional method of recovering precious metals from e-waste involved burning circuit boards at extremely high temperatures – a carbon-intensive process

The internal components found inside electronic devices, such as computers, mobile phones and games consoles, that contain small amounts of precious metals (e.g. gold and silver) as well as toxic materials

ABC's scientists developed a process to recover gold and other precious metals from circuit boards at room temperature

A naturally occurring raw material (input) found in the earth, used as one of the key ingredients in the manufacture of cement and concrete

As a raw material, it is a component of a business's cost of production

ABC purchases clay, alongside limestone, as an aggregate to manufacture cement for its concrete production

A widely used construction material made by mixing cement, water and aggregates such as sand, gravel or crushed stone

It is one of the most common building materials in the world, used in the construction of buildings, bridges, roads, and other infrastructure

ABC is Country Z's largest concrete producer

Discarded electronic products, such as computers, mobile phones and games consoles, that are no longer in use

E-waste often contains both valuable materials (such as precious metals) and hazardous substances, making its disposal and recycling an important environmental issue

ABC opened an e-waste processing factory in 2024, using its scientists' discovery to recover gold and other precious metals from circuit boards

Currently, only 20% of the 50 million tonnes of e-waste produced globally each year is recycled, with 80% going to landfill

A site where waste materials are buried in the ground rather than being recycled or otherwise processed

80% of global e-waste currently goes to landfill rather than being recycled

A naturally occurring raw material extracted from the earth, used as a key ingredient in the production of cement and concrete

Limestone is ABC's primary input for concrete production

Industrial equipment used to break down plastic waste into smaller pieces, making it suitable for recycling and reuse

ABC could purchase plastic-shredding machinery to reduce its impact on the environment

The process of collecting and reprocessing waste materials so they can be used again, either as inputs in the same production process or in entirely new products

ABC recycles e-waste to recover precious metals

Devices that convert sunlight into electricity, used as a source of renewable energy

ABC may diversify into the production of solar panels to achieve growth

Harmful metallic substances that can cause damage to human health and the environment if not handled, stored, or disposed of correctly

ABC could move into recycling solar panels which contain toxic metals