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Hyperlink In world wide web pages, hyperlinks are highlighted text or
images which, when selected (usually by clicking the mouse button), follow
a link to another page. Hyperlinks can also be used to automatically down-
load other files as well as sounds and video clips. Hyperlinks often speed
online research.

I

Indirect cost (overhead) Costs of running the business which are
apportioned, more or less fairly, to all or most commercial activities.

Inertia selling The practice of sending unsolicited goods through the
mail in the expectation that the recipient will pay for them rather than
take the trouble to send them back. It seems to work for charities and book
clubs.

Inventory Stocks that are usually a mixture of current and useful, sur-
plus and doubtful and obsolete and useless which is why finance managers
have a healthy disrespect for any stock figure in the books unless it has
been physically counted and the rubbish has been written off.

J

Jargon All specialized subjects have their own jargon; a somewhat cryp-
tic language describing technical details. Jargon serves three purposes: it
provides a shared language that brings people together; it delivers com-
munication short-cuts to those in the know; and it identifies and excludes
“outsiders”. Some jargon is explained in this glossary to help reduce the
third effect and help you to encourage those who would blind you with
jargon to begin to speak plain English.

More generally, jargon tends to be used by members of an in-group as a
means of indicating who is in and who is not. Jargon has the advantage (to
those who understand it) that it is often a succinct and economical way to
express complex ideas. It is an interesting fact that there is no such thing
as a simple language. All languages have to be sophisticated enough to
express any thought that the speaker may have.

K

Knowledge industry A business in which the key competitive advan-
tage lies in having knowledge denied to others.

A business that exploits the internet’s unique ability to publish and sell
information online at virtually zero cost.

238 Key management questions