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VANILLA MODEL/PLAIN VANILLA. Standard, ordinary. A product with few amenities is called a vanilla model. See also STRIPPED-DOWN.
“Some hedge funds are reducing their usually hefty fees for these plain-vanilla styles, though others are still charging more than traditional money managers. And when a gain tops a major index, some are charging ‘performance fees’ of as much as 20% of the gain achieved above that index, though other hedge funds are foregoing these fees in their long-only products.” (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 29, 2002, p. C.1)
VAPORWARE. Products, usually referring to technology or software, that are ineffective. The term is a parody on Tupperware, a manufacturer of long-lasting plastic products.
“Indeed, Microsoft has been criticized in the past for offering up ‘vaporware’: announcements of products far from being ready to market.” (Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2000, p. B.6)
VEER OFF COURSE (TO). Go the wrong way.
VEG OUT (TO). Relax, to “vegetate.”
“‘Nothing personal, I just want to veg out and watch TV tonight,’ he says. After all, he's filed for bankruptcy before.” (Wall Street Journal, Nov. 27, 1997, p. B.1)
VELOCITY. In economics, the turnover rate of the money supply.
VERTICAL INTEGRATION. The expansion of a company, either upward or downward in the process from production to sale. Vertical integration expands company control of production, distribution, and retailing.
VESTED/VESTING. Having worked for a company the minimum amount of time necessary to qualify for various benefits.
“The ‘EPS Challenge Option Grants’ promised 350 shares of fully vested stock options at a strike price of $62.50 a share for all employees-and many more shares for executives-if the company reached annual earnings-per-share of $6.46 by Dec. 31, 2003, twice the figure for 1998.” (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 23, 2004, p. A.1)
VESTED INTEREST. Personal financial involvement.
VIRAL MARKETING. Word-of-mouth advertising using the Internet. Like a computer virus, information is rapidly forwarded among Internet users, reaching thousands and millions of people in a short period of time.
“Creators of the buzz phrase ‘viral marketing’ don’t know jack about it compared to two people who inadvertently put the Internet community’s newfangled term for word-of-mouth advertising to work and received millions of dollars in pledges without even trying.” (DM News, January 25, 1999, p. 1)
VIRTUAL COMPANY. A company that develops and markets products but sub-contracts production to other companies.
VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK. Electronic private communication system.
VISIBLE SYMBOL. Something one can see.
VISION CONGRUENCIES. Thinking the same way.
VISION STATEMENT. Management’s prediction of the future.
“As part of its strategic rollout, the hospital's 1,100 workers were given blue ribbons to affix to the bottom of their ID cards, bearing the slogan ‘It All Begins With Me!’ the hospital's new ‘vision statement.’" (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 2002, p. B.1)
VISION THING. See VISION STATEMENT.
“No one can accuse Hillary Clinton of lacking the vision thing. The first First Lady was elected to public office on Tuesday and by Friday was rewriting the Constitution.” (Wall Street Journal,
VOODOO ECONOMICS. Critic’s description of REAGANOMICS. The Reagan political platform included increased defense spending, decreased taxes, and a balanced budget. Critics suggested that these goals could only be simultaneously accomplished using voodoo.
“‘The paradoxical lesson of the '80s is that when marginal rates are too high, cutting them is -- thanks to the resulting economic growth -- a win-win policy for both taxpayers and the treasury,’ Mr. Baker wrote. ‘This is not voodoo economics; it's hard, cold reality.’" (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2004, p. A.14)
VOTING STOCK. Stock that includes the right to vote on the company’s business.
VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN FORCE (VRIF). Management’s first method of DOWNSIZING. As part of downsizing in the 1990s, U.S. companies offer their employees incentives in order to get voluntary reductions in force.
VULTURE FUND. An investment fund which speculates in companies or real estate holdings that have declined significantly in value.
“The Aladdin is in bankruptcy proceedings in Las Vegas. Marriott's main rival, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., has linked up with restaurateur Robert Earl and New York vulture fund Bay Harbour Management LC as the so-called stalking-horse bidder for the Aladdin, with a deal that would cost less than half the $1.4 billion originally invested in the property.” (Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2003, p. B.5)