PREFERRED STOCK, usually, non-voting capital stock that pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. A firm with a distinct sustainable competitive advantage is one that does not have preferred stock.
DIRECT LABOR UTILIZATION RATE is total payroll charged directly to job numbers in the period divided by the total payroll (direct and indirect) expended in the period. Since payroll is by far the single largest cost to operate a firm, generally speaking, the higher the direct labor rate, the more efficiently economically managed is the firm.
MACRO ENVIRONMENT is the external factors which affect a company's planning and performance, and are beyond its control: e.g, socio-economic, government regulations, legal and technological change.
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