development
/dɪˈveləpmənt/ nounDefinition
› [U] growth or changes that make something become more advanced: The first year of the plan is primarily focused on organizational development. He was recruited to oversee international business development.
› [U] the process of creating something such as a new product or service: software development The next stage in the development of this product line is a retail version.
› [U] the process of producing a plan, idea, etc.: Motorola said it did not expect its policy, which has been in development since June, to affect its bottom line.
› [C] a recent event which is the latest in a series of related events: Keeping up with new developments on the web is not easy. These beneficial economic developments have followed trade and investment liberalization.
› [U] ECONOMICS the planned increase of a country’s industry and wealth: The EU has exercised leadership and argued for policies that support the expansion of trade, growth, and development. development projects
› [U] HR improvement of a skill, ability, quality, etc.: An industry convention is a terrific venue for business skills training and professional development. They invested resources into employee training and development. individual/career/staff development
› [C] (also UK housing development, also US real estate development) PROPERTY a group of similar buildings built in an area by a particular developer: They recently bought a house in one of the town's new developments.
› [U] PROPERTY the building of houses, stores, offices, etc. usually by a company to make a profit, usually on an area of land where there were none before: The land will be used for private development. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and moved on to real-estate development in the New York City area. commercial/industrial development
› [C or U] NATURAL RESOURCES an area of land that is used for its natural resources, or the use of an area of land for its natural resources: Oil producers have focused their efforts on optimizing production from existing fields and investing more aggressively in new developments.
→ See also brand development, channel development, economic development, human resource development, management development, market development, new-product development, personal development, product development, property development, redevelopment, research and development, self-development, web development(Definition of development noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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