Key Text

Ex.1. Read the text given below, pay attention to the words in bold type. Try to understand them without any help. And now say what this text is about?

A company is a legal entity formed to conduct business or other activities. It operates as one single unit in the success of which all the members participate.

Millions of people go into business and set up a company to get a maximum profit. A major goal in the functioning of any company is making a profit. Profit, also known as an economic surplus, is the money that remains after all the expenses are paid. Creating an economic surplus is a primary goal of business activity. Unfortunately business is not always brisk, there are periods when business drops off and companies sustain losses or even go out of business.

Companies, or business organizations, belong to either the private or the public sector. The private sector consists of companies belonging to private individuals, and the public sector of companies owned by the government.

Most countries allow you to run a business in at least three different ways:

· as a sole trader (Br. English) or sole proprietorship (Am. English);

· as a company (Br. English) / corporation (especially Am. English);

· as a partnership.

A business run by a sole trader (sole proprietor) has just one owner, who is entirely responsible for all the company's busi­ness affairs.

An incorporated company may have limited liability so the liability of the members for the company debts is limited or unlimited liabilitythat isthe liability of the members is not limited in any way. A joint-stock company is a company in which the members pool their stock, trading on the basis of their joint stock. Its shareholders (owners) and directors (people chosen to run the company) only have limited liability. The shareholders each receive one dividend (part of the profit) per share.

There are two types of joint-stock companies: a public limited company and a private limited company. A public limited company must have a name ending with the initials "Plc" and have a share capital. Most public companies are converted from private companies, under the re - registration procedure laid down in the Companies Act. A private limited company is any registered company that is not a public company. The shares of a private company may not be offered to the public for sale.

A business run by a partnership has two or more owners. There are two types of partnership:

• General or ordinary partnership, where all part part­ners have unlimited liability.

• Limited or special partnership, consisting of at least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least one limited partner whose liability is limited to the capital he has invested. The limited partners do not run the risk of losing their personal property if the company goes bankrupt, but neither do they have any say in how the business is run.

Firms in the public sector are owned by the government of the country.

Companies are involved in many activities, for example buying, selling, marketing and production, in a range of different industries, such as information technology, telecommunications, film, and car manufacture. Many well-known companies are multinationals, these are companies which operate in a number of countries.

Multinationals often have a complicated structure. There is usually a parent or holding company. This company owns other companies or parts of other companies. These other companies are called subsidiaries.

Comprehension check

1. What is a company?

2. What is a profit?

3. What are the main three forms of business organizations?

4. Who owns a private sector company?

5. What does the abbreviation “Plc” mean?

6. What type of company needs the stock to be pooled?

7. Can a private limited company sell its shares?

8. What activities are companies involved in?

9. Explain the meaning of a multinational.

10. Describe the structure of a multinational.

11. What is a subsidiary?

Ex.2. Complete the words to match the definitions given.

1. a legal entity	c_ _ p_ _ _
2. total revenue minus total cost	_ _o _ _ t
3. not a public company	_ r _ _ _ _ e
4. a company that owns other companies	_ o _ _ i_ _
5. a capital of a company	s_ _ _ _ c_ _ _t _ _
6. it is limited or unlimited	_ i _ _ _ l _ _ y
7. operating in a number of countries	_ u _ _ i _ a _ _ _ n _ _
8. person who owns shares	_ h _ _ _ h _ _ d _ _
9. to grow smaller or less; decline	d _ _ _ _ f_
10. a business owned by a single person	p _ o _ _ i _ t _ _ _ _ i _

Ex.3. Look at this diagram of a company’s structure.

International Fibres (USA)

Euro Fibres (W. Europe)

Clothescom (UK)

Polyweave (E. Europe)

Are these statements about the company true (T) or false (F)?

1. International Fibres is a parent company.
2. Clothescome (UK) is a subsidiary company.
3. Polyweave (E. Europe) is a holding company.
4. International Fibres is not a multinational company.

Ex.4. Match items in column A with their antonyms in column B.

A	B
1. to go into business	a) to sustain losses
2. holding company	b) earnings, gains
3. to drop off	c) unlimited
4. expenses	d) subsidiary
5. limited	e) to go out of business
6. public	f) to be brisk
7. to get a profit	g) private

Ex.5. a) The words in the box frequently occur before “COMPANY”

a joint-stock

to set up a

a holding

COMPANY

a multinational

a private

to register a

to own a

a a public sector

b) Translate into Ukrainian these sentences.

1. A joint stock company is a form of partnership, possessing the element of personal liability where each member remains financially responsible for the acts of the company.

2. If you want to set up a company as a sole trader, inform the government agencies of your intentions to go self-employed, and you can start trading right away.

3. Private Company Services is a practice made up of 2,000 individuals dedicated to turning life lessons, strong relationships and industry knowledge into value for private companies and their owners.

4. A holding company usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself, rather its only purpose is owning shares of other companies.

5. Common examples of a public sector company can be seen in social services, city and urban development areas, and military services.

6. A New York man claims he owns 84 percent of the social-networking company Facebook. (Digital Media, July 12, 2010).

7. If you need to register the company quickly, we offer a Same Day Incorporation service, the registration fee for which is £50.00 and must be correctly received before 15.00 hrs.

8. Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation with a global presence, having major operations in Europe, Latin America, North America, Australia, China and South Africa.

Ex.6. Complete the chart below with the information from the box. Use the Internet for necessary information.

Peugeot	Benetton	container ship operator
American Express	French	Japanese
Italian	drug and chemical maker	drinks supplier

Company	Main activity	Nationality
Cisco Systems	Internet equipment supplier	American
	Car manufacturer
Bacardi Martini		Spanish
	Travel and financial services provider	American
Bayer		German
	Clothing manufacturer
Sony	Electronic goods maker
AP Moller-Maersk		Danish

Ex.7. Complete this table by adding the nouns or verb form of each word.

Verbs	Nouns	Nouns (agents)
		manufacturer
2 prepare		---
3 launch
	expansion
5 operate
	competition
		producer
	ownership
9 distribute
		seller

Ex.8. Use a verb or a noun from the table in exercise 7 to complete these sentences.

a) International Fibres is a multinational company. It is a ¹_________ of fabrics and clothes. It ² ________ in three markets: Western Europe, the UK and Eastern Europe. The company is focusing on the ³ _________ of its Eastern European subsidiary, Polyweave (E. Europe). Eastern Europe is a difficult market, but the company’s managers think it can ⁴ _________. Polyweave is trying to keep its production costs low and is busy making ⁵ ________ for the ⁶__________ of its new range of clothes.

b) 1. Mercedes Benz and Ford ⁷______ high-quality cars. 2. Every year Benetton ⁸_________ a new range of clothes. 3. Benetton is ⁹________the number of shops they have in the UK. 4. The Financial Times Group is the ¹⁰________ of Les Echos and Recoletos. 5. Interroll Worldwide Group focuses on food processing and ¹¹________, logistic centres etc. 6. How efficiently our company ¹²________ its products will determine its success. 7. Many banks today have to ¹³________ to attract new customers. 8. Because of the global economic crisis many medium-size businesses find themselves in a stiff ¹⁴________ with other companies.

Ex.9. Translate into English. Use the dictionary if necessary.

1. Є різні типи компаній: компанії з обмеженою відповідальністю, компанії з необмеженою відповідальністю, приватні та акціонерні. 2. Наша компанія має понад 2 000 акціонерів. 3. Зареєстрована компанія є юридичною особою. 4. Мільйони людей займаються виробництвом, купівлею, продажем або постачанням товарів і послуг. 5. У США компанія з обмеженою відповідальністю називається корпорація. 6. Наша фірма займається купівлею та продажем жіночого одягу. 7. Компанія “Nike” виробляє спортивний одяг. 8. McDonald’s – це найбільша у світі компанія, яка забезпечує високоякісне харчування і має понад 19 000 ресторанів у 100 країнах. 9. У нас є дві дочірні фірми у Голландії та Німеччині. 10. Компанія Paramount займається виробництвом кінопродукції. 11. Скільки дочірніх компаній ви маєте? 12. Coca-Cola є міжнародною корпорацією. 13. У яких країнах поширена сфера діяльності вашої компанії? 14. Я працюю на акціонерне товариство. 15. Сьогодні інформаційні технології є однією з найсучасніших галузей виробництва. 16. На жаль, бізнес не завжди йде жваво. 17. Прибуток – це гроші, які залишаються після сплати всіх витрат. 18. Приватні підприємці несуть необмежену відповідальність.