Career and Family Issues

The joining of the two words "career" and "family" into a single term came about in the last quarter of the 20th century as a more complete image of the worker emerged. Workers are now seen as being neither separate from family at work, nor separate from work when with the family.

Career Development

A career generally signifies something in between a way of life and a job, and therefore includes something more than a job chosen simply as means of income. A career, in essence, is a series of related jobs towards the fulfillment of a set of individual goals that provide a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was organized in 1973 as the result of the Treaty of Chaguaramas (Trinidad) and replaced the Caribbean Free Trade Association. CARICOM works to strengthen the integration of its member nations in both economic and noneconomic spheres of activity.

Caribbean, Doing Business in the

As a term describing a geographic region, "Caribbean" is used in reference to the Caribbean Sea and the various islands and island groups within it. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, even though found in the Atlantic Ocean, are nevertheless also thought of as being "Caribbean." Regional analysts, however, be they economic, demographic, political, or business oriented are more likely to use "Caribbean Basin" or "Latin America" when reporting on this region of the world.


A cartel is formed when a group of independently owned businesses agrees not to compete with each other in areas such as prices, territories, and production. A cartel agreement is considered a collusive agreement in that the different parties agree not to allow market forces to determine their pricing, production, and other business practices.

Cash Cow

Since its introduction by management guru Peter F. Drucker (1909-) in the mid-1960s, the term "cash cow" has taken on a variety of related meanings.

Cash Flow Statement

A cash flow statement is a financial report that tells the reader the source of a company's cash and how it was spent over a specified time period. This is an important indicator of financial soundness because it is possible for a company to show profits while not having enough cash to sustain operations.

Cash Management

Cash management is a broad area having to do with the collection, concentration, and disbursement of cash including measuring the level of liquidity, managing the cash balance, and short-term investments.

Catalog Marketing

Catalog marketing is a specialized branch of direct marketing. The two disciplines share many of the same characteristics.

Census Data

"Census data" most often is associated in the public mind with population. The U.S.

Central America, Doing Business in

Bridging North America and South America, Central America includes Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama and has a population of approximately 31 million people. An alternative classification of Central America preferred by the United Nations includes Mexico in this term, too.

Central American Common Market (CACM)

The Central American Common Market (CACM) was established in 1960 with the signing of the General Treaty of Central American Integration at Managua, Nicaragua. The original signatories of the treaty, which became effective June 3, 1961, were El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Central Banks

A central bank is a financial institution established by a national government for the purpose of regulating the monetary policies of that country. Responsibilities of central banks include: holding the reserves of commercial banks, controlling a country's monetary reserves, regulating a country's money supply, check collection, establishing interest rates, issuing legal tender, holding foreign currency reserves and monitoring exchange rates, and regulating governmental credit policies and government loans and borrowing.

Centrally Planned Economy

A centrally planned economy is one in which the total direction and development of a nation's economy is planned and administered by its government. The antithesis of central planning is capitalism which is characterized by private sector control of production, distribution, and consumption.

Certificate of Origin

A certificate of origin is a document attesting to the country from which a product or good is imported or the source country of any or all parts or materials that went into the completion of the product. Certificates of origin may be issued by various responsible organizations or institutions including chambers of commerce and national consulates.

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs)

Accounting is a profession that prepares, analyzes, and manages financial information about businesses and individuals. This information is usually in the form of financial records and reports.

Chambers of Commerce

A chamber of commerce is a private voluntary association whose membership consists of companies, civic leaders, and individual business people. Its members seek to promote business interests typically in broad-based ways.

Channels of Distribution

Channels of distribution move products and services from businesses to consumers and to other businesses. Also known as marketing channels, channels of distribution consist of a set of interdependent organizations involved in making a product or service available for use or consumption.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The chief executive officer (CEO) is the leading executive officer of a corporation charged with principal responsibility of the organization and accountable only to the owners, directors, and/or stockholders. As the principal corporate officer, the CEO's basic function is to provide overall leadership to a corporation by establishing direction and tone, overseeing internal management, and functioning as the company's primary representative with outside groups and organizations.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

In managing the corporation's financial interests, the CFO is primarily responsible for the management and protection of corporate assets. To assure the continual growth and prosperity of the corporation, the CFO participates in the development of short- and long-term planning strategies along with other senior executives to provide them with an understanding of the company's financial outlook, as well as an analysis of regional, national, and global economic conditions that will affect the company's position.

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

The chief information officer (CIO) is the executive officer of a business or organization who is responsible for managing the data, systems, and personnel involved with information systems (IS). The CIO position is typically accorded a rank of senior vice president or executive vice president and often reports to the president or CEO.

Child Care/Elder Care


Child Labor

Child labor is highly regulated in the United States at both the national and state levels. These laws attempt to protect children, who are statistically much more likely to make mistakes and have accidents than adults, from employment practices that might jeopardize their health or diminish their future opportunities by interfering with their schooling.

China, Doing Business in

China—officially, the People's Republic of China—is the world's fourth-largest country. It has borders with Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kirghistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1991, enacted into law on 21 November, was the most comprehensive civil rights legislation to pass Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Like the 1964 landmark, the 1991 act prohibits all discrimination in employment based on race, gender, color, religious, or ethnic considerations.

Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act, as amended by Congress most recently in 1990, is the legislative cornerstone of the United States' air pollution policies. It outlines specific clean air objectives and standards that individuals, businesses, and government agencies must comply with, and provides for the regulatory framework through which the rules are enforced.

Clean Water Act

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. government passed a series of pollution control acts designed to clean up and protect the nation's environment.

Closed Economy

A closed economy is a self-contained economic unit that has no business or trading relations with anyone outside of that unit. Usually referring to a nation or area of common currency (but can, in general, refer to any system of self-reliance), the relatively closed system would be characterized by a small amount of exposure to external markets, as opposed to the relatively open economy.