- International Business: Includes all commercial transactions (such as private and governmental, sales, investments, and transportation) that take place between two or more regions, countries, and nations beyond their political boundaries
- Balance of Trade: The difference in value between a country’s imports and exports
- Balance of Payments: The difference in total value between payments into and out of a country over a period
- Global Dependency: Mutual dependence between two countries at a global level, with one country depending on another country for trading of goods and services, and creating global interdependence
- Competitive Advantage: A condition or circumstance that puts a company in a favorable or superior business position
- Absolute Advantage: The ability of an individual or group to carry out a particular economic activity more efficiently than another individual or group
- Capital: Wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization, and can be contributed for a particular purpose such as starting a company or investing
- Secondary Industry: Industry that converts the raw materials provided by primary industry into commodities and products for the consumer, manufacturing industry
- End Products: The product that is produced as the final result of an activity or process, especially the finished article in a manufacturing process
- Infrastructure: The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (such as buildings, roads, and power supply) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise
- Recession: A period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced
- Unemployment: The state of being unemployed
- Franchise: An authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities (such as providing a broadcasting service or acting as an agent for a company’s products)
- Exchange Rate: The value of one currency for the purpose of conversion to another
- World Trade Organization: A global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations
- Business: The practice of making one’s living by engaging in commerce
- Trade Surplus: The amount by which the value of a country’s exports exceeds the cost of its imports
- Comparative Advantage: The ability of an individual or group to carry out a particular economic activity (such as making a specific product) more efficiently than another activity
- Economy: The wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services
- Entrepreneurship: The process of developing a business plan, acquiring required resources, and starting a business, company, or other organization
- Human Resources: The department of a business or organization that deals with the hiring, administration, and training of workers
- Gross Domestic Product: The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year
- Subsidiary: A company controlled by a holding company
- Tariff: A tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports and exports
- NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to create a trilateral rules-based trading bloc in North America
- Exports: Send goods or services to another country for sale; a commodity or service sold abroad
- Trade Deficit: The amount by which the cost of a country’s imports exceeds the value of its exports
- Canada Trade Mission: A mission to develop long-term trade and investment opportunities in foreign markets for Canadian businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, young entrepreneurs, and new exporters
- Quota: A limited quantity or a fixed share of a particular product that under official controls can be produced, exported, or imported
- Opportunity Cost: The loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen
- Business Cycle: A cycle or series of cycles of economic expansion and contraction
- Primary Industry: An industry such as mining, agriculture, or forestry that is concerned with obtaining or providing natural raw materials for conversion into commodities and products for the consumer
- Manufacturing: To make, produce, or fabricate a product on a large scale using machinery and industries
- Natural Resources: Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain
- Softwood Lumber Dispute: One of the largest and enduring trade disputes between Canada and the United States, the conflict arose in the early 1980s and its effects are still seen today
- Turnover: The amount of money taken by a business in a particular period
- Slump: A sudden severe or prolonged fall in the price, value, or amount of something
- Licensing Agreement: A legal contract between two parties, known as the licensor and the licensee. The Licensor grants the Licensee the right to produce and sell goods, apply for a brand name or trademark, or use patented technology owned by the licensor.
- Joint Venture: A commercial enterprise undertaken jointly by two or more parties that otherwise retain their distinct identities
- Separate International Division: In a company, the international staff is isolated and functioned separately for the company. The international division of a company has its own systems for sales, marketing, customer support, and logistics; and this department handles all products going to all foreign markets.
- Currency: A system of money for general use in a particular country
- Trade Sanction: A trade penalty imposed by one nation onto one or more other nations
- Investment Canada Act: A Canadian Federal Law governing large foreign direct investment in Canada
- United Nations: An intergovernmental organization established to promote international co-operation
- Global Economy: The spread of market-based economies around the world.
- Globalization: The process of the development of a global market-driven economy.
- Environmental Management: Management of environmental considerations including climate change, and worker and consumer health and safety.
- Gold Standard: A former monetary system under which the basic unit of currency was exchangeable for a specific weight of gold.
- Purchasing Power Parity: A theory suggesting that the exchange rate between currencies is in equilibrium when they purchase the same amount of goods and services.
- Special Drawing Rights: A reserve asset used by the International Monetary Fund in addition to gold and United States dollars.
- Multinational Enterprise: A business that manages production facilities or delivers services in many nations around the world.
- Plant Transfers: The movement of jobs from high-cost areas to low-cost areas.
- Global Mindset: The change from an ethnocentric to a global perspective in business and international affairs.
- Euro: The official common currency of many European Union member countries.
- Quality Management: A management strategy aimed at setting a specific standard in all organizational processes.
- Hard Currencies: A currency that is readily converted into other currencies especially United States dollars.
- Balance of Payments: The relationship between the payments made by one country to all other countries and its receipts from all countries.
- Bretton Woods: The site of the first world economic conference in July 1944.
- Big Mac Theory: The Economist magazine’s annual examination of purchasing power parity using McDonald’s Big Mac as a global product.
- Dollarization: The adoption of the United States dollar as a currency’s official currency.
- Central Bank: A country’s principal monetary authority; it regulates the money supply, issues currency and manages the exchange rate.
- Downsizing: To reduce the number of sizes.
- CE Marketing: A mandatory conformity certification on products used in the European Union.
- Workplace: A place such as an office or factory where people are employed.
- ISO: The acronym for the International Organization for Standardization headquartered in Switzerland.
- Third World Debt: The sum of debt owed by developing countries to financial institutions and governments in the developed world.
