Glossary - Agribusiness Management - page 426

fi nancial management One of the four functions of management; managing the
assets, liabilities, and owner's investment in the fi rm; generating the fi nancial
data required to make decisions, and using the tools of fi nance to make effective
decisions.
fi nancial statement A summary statement of the fi nancial status of a business such as a
balance sheet or an income statement; usually prepared by summarizing accounts from
the general ledger.
f inancing The process of raising or acquiring the funds required to operate a business.
fi nished goods Products that are ready for sale.
fi tness for use A defi nition used by some customers for quality, which can be summarized
as “meeting or exceeding customer expectations.”
fi xed assets Those items the business owns that have a relatively long productive life, such
as land, buildings, and equipment.
fi xed costs Costs that do not fl uctuate with the volume of business; considered the costs of
being in business.
fi xed position layout A production process layout used in situations where the item being
constructed is too large or bulky to move easily or where the item is to be built fi xed in
place; construction is accomplished in one place, and tools and materials are brought to
the assembly location.
fl exibility principle In organizational structure, the concept that an organization should
maintain its structural fl exibility so that it can adjust to its changing internal and external
environments.
fl uctuating demand Demand in the industrial sector which rises and falls sharply in
response to changing economic conditions and consumer spending patterns.
focus group interview In market research, a guided discussion among users or potential
users of a product or service that is designed to discover attitudes and opinions toward
those products or services.
focused factory A production concept intended to operationalize the notion of fl exibility;
holds that several smaller factories will improve individual plant performance because
the operations manager can concentrate on fewer tasks and can more easily motivate a
smaller workforce toward one goal.
food processing and manufacturing Part of the food sector; includes a broad range of
fi rms that take raw agricultural commodities and turn those commodities into ingredi-
ents for further processing, or into fi nal consumer products; examples include meat
packers, bakers, wet corn processors, and brewers.
food production and marketing system The system of fi rms and organizations that
encompass all economic activity supporting production agriculture, producing raw farm
commodities, converting raw farm products to consumable food and fi ber products, and
distributing these fi nal products to end consumers.
food retailers Firms involved in the retail distribution of food; includes supermarkets,
warehouse stores, and combo stores.
food sector The sector of the food production and marketing system in which food process-
ing, marketing, and distribution occur.
food security The state of affairs in a society where all people at all times have access to
safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.
food service Firms providing prepared food, typically ready to eat, including traditional
restaurants, fast food / quick service restaurants, and institutional food services.
forecast An estimate of some future business activity or indicator.