GOodwill is really accouting term Goodwill is a concept used to refer to an individual or a business's ability to exert influence within a community, club, market or another type of group, without having to resort to the use of an asset (such as money or property), either directly or by the creation of a lien. Different entities will have different amounts of goodwill within the group. A community usually refers to a group of people who interact and share certain things as a group, but it can refer to various collections of living things sharing an environment, plant or animal. ... A club is generally an association of people united by a common interest or goal, as opposed to any natural ties of kinship. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity. ... Economics offers various definitions for money, though it is now commonly defined by the functions attached to any good or token that functions in trade as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. ... Property designates those things that are commonly recognized as being the possessions of a person or group. ... In law, lien is the broadest term for any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. ...

Sources of goodwill

An entity typically has goodwill because of the others' trust that it will act in the common interest or, more generally, that it will live up to its claims. Sometimes, the trust needs only extend to that the entity will act a bona fide and thus is not broken in the eventuality that it failed to comply with its promises due to external factors. It is possible, however, that an entity perceived to be more capable of achieving its claims enjoys more goodwill than another, less capable one, despite the later's good faith (for example a person known to "get what he wants" might enjoy more goodwill than one known to "give up at the first sign of difficulty"). Trust in sociology and psychology refers to an open, positive relationship between people, or between people and social institutions such as a corporation or government. ... Trust in sociology and psychology refers to an open, positive relationship between people, or between people and social institutions such as a corporation or government. ... In law, good faith (in Latin, bona fides) is the mental and moral state of honest, even if objectively unfounded, conviction as to the truth or falsehood of a proposition or body of opinion, or as to the rectitude or depravity of a line of conduct. ...

Goodwill is generally not used to refer to power seized through use of force. For example, the head of an invading army is seldom said to have goodwill before the people of the invaded territories, despite the fact he has real power over them. It can be argued that, in this example, the army is in fact an asset used to maintain power.

One's goodwill is also affected by one's face. A loss of face typically, but not always, translates in a loss of goodwill. Face refers to two separate but related concepts in Chinese social relations. ...

Examples

For example,

• A bank has goodwill within the banking system and a particular market because of the others faith that it will honor all debts, refrain from unjustifiably issuing new currency and that it will, in general, perform all transactions in a correct manner. It can, as a consequence, attract financial capital from the market by borrowing without having to secure such loans with real-estate or other type of guarantees.
• Likewise, an individual can have goodwill towards a financial institution by being able to contract a credit without having a lien placed on a piece of property and without having to provide a guarantor.
• The head of government (e.g. the Prime Minister) has goodwill before the good people of a state because they comply with and support his or hers decrees without being coerced to do so, in the belief that he or she acts in the common interest. The Head of Government thus holds an Office of Trust.

The concept of goodwill also applies on a smaller scale, with regard to, for example, customer-vendor relations and even one's standing (or respect) within his or her group of acquaintances. Banker redirects here; see wiktionary:banker for more meanings. ... Financial capital, or economic capital, is any liquid medium or mechanism that represents wealth, or other styles of capital. ... Credit as a financial term, used in such terms as credit card, refers to the granting of a loan and the creation of debt. ... In law, lien is the broadest term for any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. ... A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ... The Head of Government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. ... Decree is an order that has the force of law. ... Coercion is the practice of compelling a person to act by employing threat of harm (usually physical force, sometimes other forms of harm). ... Respect is an attitude of acknowledging the feelings and interests of another party in a relationship, and of treating as consequential for the self the helping or harming of the other. ... An interpersonal relationship is some relationship or connection between two people. ...