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the Pareto principle
noun [S] (also Pareto's law , informal the 80/20 rule) ECONOMICS, WORKPLACE, PRODUCTIONDefinition
› the idea that a small quantity of work or resources (= time, money, employees, etc.) can produce a large number of results: The Pareto principle, when applied to time, states that 20% of your time determines 80% of your production. The Pareto principle can be applied to quality improvement, as the majority of problems (80%) are produced by a few key causes (20%).
(Definition of the Pareto principle noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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