MBA Lingo

Here is some “cool” MBA jargon that could help you during your campus visits and interactions with current students, as well as your interviews:

2×2: Pronounced “two by two,” this is a favorite consulting tool used to analyze a number of items along two dimensions. It’s basically a graph with X and Y axes that cross in the middle, creating four different sectors.

Benchmark: Here’s another standard-issue item from the consulting toolbox. Benchmarks are levels of performance or output against which you can evaluate the performance of something else.

Bulge bracket: Generally defined as the top five to ten full-service investment banks on Wall Street. Firms move in and out of bulge bracket over time. The name derives from the top bracket on a Tombstone ad in the WSJ.

Buy side/sell side: The buy side is home to the institutional buyers of securities, specifically asset-management firms, mutual funds, and pensions. At an investment bank, you work on the sell side, providing research and selling securities to investors, who are on the buy side.

Cold call: In B-school, it’s a method of teaching, where a professor randomly selects a student to discuss a business case.

Critical path: A term mostly used in core Operations courses in MBA programs. It refers to the sequence of events where a slip in any one activity generates a slip in the overall schedule. It is used extensively in the exciting world of project management.

Deliverable: The product or solution you give (deliver) to the professor. Just another fancy word for “homework.”

Elevator pitch: A pitch to an MBA recruiter, or bored janitor, as the elevator goes from floors 1-10 and you have a captive audience. Here is your chance to sell your “story” under 2 minutes and land that job interview!

Facetime: Refers to time spent speaking face to face on the job, especially to senior management. For example, “I need to arrange some facetime with you next week.” Some jobs require more facetime than others.

Financial services: What most life insurance companies diversify into. Includes some or all of the following:annuities, brokerage services, money management, mutual funds, retirement plans.

Framework: Basically, a framework is any kind of structure you can use to look at a problem. It can be as simple as, “The company’s problems stem from both internal and external factors.” Or it can be something more MBA-ish, like Porter’s Five Forces. MBAs love frameworks, and the more you use them (up to a point), the more analytical you’ll sound.

Hedge fund: A hedge fund is usually set up as a private partnership for investors who can afford to lose. They invest in everything from stocks to commodities to currencies, and often use borrowed money (leverage). The idea is to take big risks in hopes of a whopping return.

Insider trading: Insider trading occurs when a manager, employee, or other person “inside” a company uses information not known to the public to profit from a purchase or sale of the company’s stock.

Investment banker: A term used by outsiders only. If you are in the business, you are a banker. The opposite is “commercial banker.” A knowledgeable MBA should always refer to the term as “banker.”

IPO: Initial public offering, a privately company sells shares of stock to the public for the first time, and the shares are then publicly traded through a stock exchange.

Leverage: The grand daddy of nouns turned verbs, “leverage” is used indiscriminately to describe how a resource can be applied to a particular environment or situation. “We intend to leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across our business units to drive profits.”

M & A: Get used to this shorthand, as virtually no MBAs bother saying “mergers and acquisitions.”

Scientific Management: Applies to scientific tools (such as research, analysis, and objectivity) to business to improve productivity. A time-and-motion study breaks work down into subtasks to discover how long each task takes. The goal is to understand the job and improve the way it is done.

Soft skills: Non-analytical skills such as conflict resolution, leadership, and communication.

Synergy: The (often illusory) value gained by combining two or more companies or divisions. Also known as “economies of scope.”

Touch base: Another naughty sounding gem, this one is simply a request to meet again to discuss the current status of your MBA application/job application/networking efforts, etc. “Rebecca, I would like to touch base with you later to discuss the Smith account.” You gotta think this one leads to a lot of lawsuits…

If you would like to add any additional MBA Lingo, please feel free to write it below and I will make sure it is included.