There are no sophisticated marketing campaigns; the company allocated just $225 for advertising last year.

Others said companies were allocating supplies to keep customers from ordering more than they needed in order to resell at higher prices.

The government can challenge the way the companies allocate their profits internally.

One area in which they have had particular impact is in how companies allocate their stock to employees.

With the market opened up to competition, many other companies also allocated these numbers to users.

The company allocates work to transcriptionists in their clients' area to ensure accuracy.

If a company allocates those shares to a small fund, they can have a big impact on performance.

Over the next 20 years, it estimates, companies will allocate the biggest share of their exploration and production budgets to those regions.

An Enron spokeswoman said there was nothing to fear because the company had already "allocated" $200 million to be paid into the plans.

The company, he said, allocated too much money to buy land and infrastructure for several city blocks, leaving its investors with low short-term yields.