English Business Administration Vocabulary: 20 Words to Take You to the Top

Business administrators are responsible for the organizing, managing and operating functions of a company.

In this post, we’ll discuss some vocabulary related to business administration.

And even if you don’t think you’re interested in this profession, these words are still very useful for understanding business, in general.

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Traits You Need for a Career in Business Administration

Business administration involves running the day-to-day operations of an organization. This may sound easy, but your scope of work may include managing products, people and the direction of your business. Below are some words that are often used to describe a successful business administrator.

• Enterprising. This means that you’re quick to see new business opportunities and use them to the financial benefit of your business. You show a willingness to take risks and create new projects.

• A team player. You work well with others. You have the people skills to manage and work with your co-workers, employees and business partners.

• Goal-oriented. You’re deeply involved in setting and achieving goals that will drive your sales and profits into long-term success. You’re someone who is organized and focused on producing results.

4 Sources for Free Business Administration Books

If you’re considering a career in business administration, you can start by reading some free business books:

• Forbes recommends “10 Completely Free Books Every (Would-be) Business Leader Should Read,” which contain old but trusted business knowledge.

• At Bookboon, you can download free management books that give you the theory and practical knowledge to manage your business effectively.

• Carl Copeland Parsons’ book on business administration is based on his series of lectures at the University of Michigan.

• You can also find many Bachelor of Business Administration books to download from HubHoob.

And if you want an immersive experience, check out FluentU.

Give it a free try and see for yourself!

So now that we’ve established your interest in business administration, the next thing you need to do is to master the vocabulary. Here’s a list of the top 20 words that describe the work and activities of business administrators. Are you ready to get started?

20 Top Business Administration Vocabulary Words for English Learners

(1) Facilitate

To facilitate means to make things easier and help them run more smoothly. A facilitator is the person whose job is to facilitate.

Sample sentence: “The course facilitator is there to provide guidance and encouragement for the group to find out the answers for themselves.”

(2) Coordinate

The verb to coordinate means to arrange for two or more parties (people or groups) to work together. The person who coordinates tasks or activities is known as a coordinator.

Sample sentence: “We need someone to coordinate the conference call with our business partners in Europe and Asia.”

(3) Prioritize

To prioritize means to deal with things in their order of importance or urgency. Things that are more important are given a higher priority so they get done before the less important things.

Sample sentence: “I have eight emails waiting in my inbox. Let me prioritize which ones I should answer first.”

(4) Schedule

The verb to schedule means to plan for an event (such as meetings, conference calls and deliveries) to take place at a certain time and place.

Sample sentence: “Peter’s stuck in a traffic jam. We may run into scheduling problems if we can’t confirm what time he’ll be at the office for the meeting.”

(5) Process

The verb to process means to put something through a series of actions to achieve a certain result. The noun processing describes the series of actions and steps needed to produce a certain result.

Sample sentence: “You may submit your business loan application today. Processing usually takes up to two to three weeks.”

(6) Motivate

The verb to motivate means to provide a good reason for doing something, or to encourage someone to work harder.

Sample sentence: “George doesn’t seem to be putting in much effort lately. It’s time his sales manager steps in and motivates him to meet his quota.”

(7) Collaborate

The verb to collaborate means to work together with another person or group to achieve a common goal.

Sample sentence: “Higher management wants us to collaborate with our partners in Britain to develop a better product.”

(8) Supervise

The verb to supervise means to direct and be in charge of someone or something. The adjective supervisory is used to describe the quality of someone who’s in charge.

Sample sentence: “The contractor will be in later to supervise the office remodeling.”

(9) Document

You might already know that the noun document refers to a paper or computer file. The noun documentation refers to the creation of records or files.

Sample sentence: “I think you should read the document carefully before signing it.”

(10) Budget

The verb to budget means to make a plan for the amount of money to spend on something. The word budget can also be used as a noun to mean the amount of money that’s made available for spending.

Sample sentence: “If you’re organizing a year-end office party, you’ll have to work out a budget for it.”

(11) Negotiate

The verb to negotiate means to formally discuss something and come to an agreement. The noun negotiation refers to the formal discussion to arrive at a decision that all parties agree to.

Sample sentence: “After a week of negotiation, we still can’t agree on the terms of the contract.”

(12) Implement

The verb to implement means to effectively start using or enforcing an action or plan. You might implement a set of measures or rules, for instance.

Sample sentence: “We’re now ready to implement security measures that we hope will make this office building a safer place for our employees.”

(13) Communicate

You’ve probably heard of the verb to communicate, which means to pass on information to someone. The noun communication refers to the act of expressing or exchanging information.

Sample sentence: “Due to the lack of communication, we don’t have all the facts we need.”

(14) Recruit

The verb to recruit means to find suitable people to work for your company.

Sample sentence: “After securing this deal, we had to recruit more managers to head the projects.”

(15) Authorize

The verb to authorize means to give approval or permission to someone to do something. Authorization, or the act of giving approval, is commonly given in the form of a signature.

Sample sentence: “I’ll have to get my supervisor to authorize this check before I send it to you.”

(16) Merchandise

The noun merchandise simply refers to the products or goods that are bought and sold by your company.

Sample sentence: “This year, there has been an increase in our imports of foreign merchandise.”

(17) Inventory

The noun inventory refers to the items or products you have in stock.

Sample sentence: “The year end is the time when we check our stock and update our inventory lists.”

(18) Turnover

The noun turnover is pretty interesting. It may refer to the amount of money your company receives in sales, or the rate at which your company’s merchandise is sold and replaced by new stock. It could also mean the rate at which staff leave your company and are then replaced by new people.

Sample sentence: “Our total sales turnover this year is higher than the past two years combined. You can all expect a bonus at the end of the year.”

(19) Distribution

The noun distribution refers to the delivery of products or merchandise to your store or business.

Sample sentence: “The new manager takes care of the distribution of our sports and fitness products to other countries.”

(20) Profitability

The noun profitability refers to the profit or amount of money gained from your sales or business.

Sample sentence: “Management would like you to conduct a study of the profitability of expanding our market overseas.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.

Right, now it’s time for you to start putting these 20 business administration words to use in your daily work every chance you get.

Remember, you have to keep practicing to improve quickly.

Very soon, you’ll be ready to add even more new words to your business vocabulary. Happy learning!

Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)