Flexible - the ability of an employee to be able to carry out various tasks or functions. Such an ability cuts costs and makes the business more efficient. Forward markets - these allow traders to avoid exchange rate risk. They buy their currencies at a rate fixed in advance. Globalisation - the process whereby trade is now being conducted on ever widening geographical boundaries.
Countries now trade across continents and companies also trade all over the world.
Government failure - the problems of resource allocation that occur as a result of government intervention in markets, for example a food shortage in a planned economy. Groups - the unit of several people that now increasingly form the team or collection of individuals who are responsible for performing certain tasks. Index number - a statistical exercise that is used to make comparisons of a set of numbers over a period of time. A selected point in time is given the value of 100 and the other number are compared with it. The Retail price Index is an example of an index number.