Forms of Business
LEAD – IN
I. A) Match the company to its definition. Pay attention to the words in bold:
Different types of companies |
Description of company |
company |
A company that is owned and controlled by the larger company. The Isle of man Bank is now a subsidiary of Nat West Bank plc. |
firm (law/ electronics/ building etc. firms) |
A large company that employs a lot of people, especially one that includes several different departments or several smaller companies. |
business |
A company – use this when you are talking about a company as something that provides jobs, not as something that produces and sells things. Parker Plastics is the city’s biggest employer, with about 3000 workers. |
corporation |
Any organization, either large or small that produces goods or provides services in order to make a profit (доход). |
multinational |
A company, especially one that provides services rather than producing goods, often financial or legal services. |
subsidiary |
A company, shop or factory that sells goods or provides services, especially one that employs only a small number of people or only one person. |
employer |
A very large company that has offices and factories in many different countries. |
b) Which of these firms, in your opinion, are likely to be small/ big business?
1. Bakery. |
7. Hairdresser’s shop. |
2. Pharmaceutical company. |
8. Auto repair shop. |
3. Dentist. |
9. Computer manufacturing. |
4. Electronics firm |
10. Law consultancy. |
5. Computer games salon. |
11. Aerospace company. |
6. Chemist’s/ drugstore (Am.) |
12. Dress-making establishment. |
c) Define the type of the company:
Mitsubishi (Japan), Parker Plastics (the UK), the Isle of man Bank (the UK), the British Broadcasting Corp., Microsoft (the US), General Motors (the US), Toshiba (Japan), IBM (the US), Coca-Cola (the US), Standard Oil (the US).
Example: Mitsubishi is a multinational company whose head office is in Japan.
II. Study abbreviations of different types of companies and name them in the box below:
a) Ltd British Inc. American
The written abbreviation of “Limited”(с ограниченной ответственностью) and “Incorporated”(объединённый) is used after the name of large or small company to show that is legally established that its owner are legally responsible for only a limited amount of money if the company goes into debt (долг).
b) Co. BrE/ AmE /kəu/
The abbreviation of “Company” is used after the name of a company.
and Co./ & Co. is often used after the name of a company when the name is the owner’s name.
c) Corp. BrE/ AmE
The written abbreviation of “Corporation” is used after the name of a large company, especially in the US.
d) plc BrE/ AmE /pi: el si:/
The abbreviation of “public limited company” is used in Britain after the name of a large company..
e) Pty
The written abbreviation of “Proprietary” is used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa after the name of a company. (From Longman Active Study Dictionary)
Stevenson Securities Ltd, SyQuest Technology Inc., American Express Co., Young and Co. of Bristol, Federal Express Corp., Marks & Spencer plc, Coca-Cola Co., Australian Wine Growers Pty, Standard Oil. Corp., General Motors Corp., the British Broadcasting Corp. |