11.7: Key Terms Defined
Back office services – interoffice services involving personnel who do not interact directly with clients.
Break-of-bulk point – point of transfer from one form of transport to another.
Bulk reducing – industrial activity that produces a product that weighs less than the inputs.
Commodification – The process of transforming a cultural activity into a saleable product.
Containerization – transport system using standardized shipping containers.
Deindustrialization – process of shifting from a manufacturing based economy to one based on other economic activities.
Economies of scale – efficiencies in production gained from operating at a larger scale.
Footloose capitalism – spatial flexibility of production.
Fordism – rational form of mass production for standardizing and simplifying production.
Gig economy – a labor market characterized by freelance work.
Globalization – the state in which economic and cultural systems have become global in scale.
Intermodal – transportation system using more than one of transport.
Just in time delivery – manufacturing system in which components are delivered just before they are need in order to reduce inventory and storage costs.
Locational criteria – factors determining whether an economic activity will occur in a place.
Logistics – the coordination of complex operations.
Outsourcing – shifting the production of a good or the provision of a service from within a company to an externals source.
Offshoring – shifting the production of a good or the provision of a service to another country.
Supply chain – all products and process involved in the production of goods.
Taylorism – the scientific management of production.