Vacancy - A job opening which is offered by a company that wants to hire an employee. An available room in a hotel.

Vacancy Rate - The percentage of unoccupied rental space or units, e.g hotel rooms, compared to total available rental area at a given time.

Vanity Publishing - The author pays the publisher.

Valid - Legally or formally acceptable or binding. Unexpired, e.g. a passport.

Value-Added Reseller - VAR. A company which purchases a product and modifies or enhances it before reselling it to the consumer. This practice is common in the computer industry.

Value Engineering - In manufacturing, a method of producing a product at the lowest price but without sacrificing quality, safety, etc., and at the same time meeting the customers needs.

Valued Policy - An insurance policy in which the insurer agrees to pay a claim for a specified amount in the event of loss, damage, etc., for items insured, such as works of art.

Value Investor - An investor who buys shares, etc., which they believe to be underpriced, in order to make a profit by selling them when they price rises.

Value Share - A share, etc., which is considered to be underpriced and is therefore a good investment prospect.

Vanilla - Plain and ordinary without any extras. Basic.

Vapourware - Term used to describe computer software which is advertised before it has been, and may never be, developed, often to damage sales of a competitor's product which has already been launched.

Variable Cost - In business, costs which vary according to the changes in activity, production, etc. of the company, such as overheads, labour and material costs.

VAT - Value Added Tax. A tax paid by consumers which is added to the price of certain goods and services.

VDU - Visual/Video Display Unit. A computer screen or monitor which displays text and/or pictures.

Vendee - A person or business who buys goods, property, etc.,

Vendor - A person or business who sells goods, property, etc.

Venture Capital - Money invested in a new business which is expected to make a lot of profit but which also involves considerable risk.

Verbal Judo - The use of voice tone and body language to diffuse a potentially aggressive or violent situation without being confrontational. Described as Tactical Communications, Verbal Judo was developed in 1983 by American literary professor, martial arts expert and later serving policeman, Dr George ('Doc Rhino') Thompson, initially for the US police. Verbal Judo has since become a more widely applicable training program for handling conflict for all sectors, alongside the popularity of Thompson's books, notably Verbal Judo (1993) and the Verbal Judo Institute.

Vertical Disintegration - A situation in which a company that previously produced parts and materials is now buying them from other suppliers.

Vertical Equity - A concept of economic fairness, for example people who are better off should contribute more taxes than those who are less well off.

Vertical Integration - A situation in which a company acquires one or more of the companies which are involved in the production or distribution processes of its goods/services, for example a brewer which buys a pub chain, or a clothing retailer which buys a knitwear factory.

Vertical Sector - Often shortened to 'vertical' - this refers to an industrial activity or trade, for example media, or coal production, or healthcare. A sub-section of a vertical market sector, such as car magazines (within the media vertical), is typically called a niche or a niche market. Often used with the term Horizontal Sector.

Vested Interest - When an individual, business or group has a special interest in something, such as property, an activity, etc., from which there is a personal or financial gain.

Veto - Latin for 'I Forbid'. To vote against. The right to block a law, etc.

Vexatious Litigant - A person or party who regularly brings unsustainable lawsuits against another party in order to harass or annoy them.

Viable - Capable of being done or working successfully.

Vicarious Liability - Having legal responsibility for the actions of another, e.g. the liabilty of an organisation for the actions of its employees.

Vigorish - A slang term, also abbreviated to vig, for the commission or fee charged by a bookmaker or casino on a wager. Also the interest on a loan from a loan shark or unregulated loan provider. The term is Yiddish (Jewish) deriving from the Russian word vyigrysh, meaning winnings.

Viral Marketing - Also known as Word Of Mouth. An advertising and marketing technique which encourages people to pass on information about a product, etc., often by e-mail or from one Internet website to another.

Virtual Memory - On a computer, a technique of simulating additional memory by moving data between the computers memory and a hard disk.

Virtual Reality - An artificial three-dimentional (3-D) image or experience, created by a computer, and which seems real to the person looking at it.

Virus - A computer program with a hidden code, designed to infect a computer without the owners knowledge, and which causes harm to the computer or destroys data, etc.

Vocation - An occupation for which a person is strongly suited and/or to which they are dedicated.

Vocational - Relating to an occupation for which a person has undergone special training or has special skills.

Voice-Over - A presenter or actor in a TV commercial or program who is heard but who is not seen on the screen.

Voice Recognition - Technology which allows computers, mobile phones, etc., to be operated by being spoken to.

Void - A contract, agreement, document, etc., which is no longer valid or legal.

Voluntary Bankruptcy - A situation in which a debtor voluntary files for bankruptcy because they cannot pay their creditors.

Voluntary Liquidation - A situation where the owners/directors of a solvent company decide to cease business, sell the company's assets and pay all the creditors.

Vote Of No Confidence - A vote which shows that the majority of those voting have lost confidence in something, usually a government.

Voting Shares - Called Voting Stock in the US. A company share which gives the shareholder the right to vote on matters regarding company policy, etc.