2.

BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS

I.

Match the words/ phrases on the left with the corresponding definition on the
right:

1. public company

2. partnership
3. stock exchange
4. private company
5. limited liability
6. sleeping partner
7. board of directors
8. financial statement
9. chairman
10. sole trader
II.

a. this means that no shareholder of such a type of company

can be asked to pay more than the nominal value of his
shares or the amount of guarantee if the company goes
bankrupt.
b. a limited company with up to 50 shareholders, which is
not quoted on the stock exchange;
c. any presentation of the accounts of a company showing
its financial position at a particular moment;
d. a group of up to 20 people with unlimited liability for a
firms debts;
e. the effective management committee of a limited liability
company;
f. a place where people buy and sell shares of companies;
g. a person who has capital in a partnership but takes no
part in its commercial and managerial activities;
h. the highest position on a companys board of directors;
i. a person who is the only owner of a business whose
manager he also is;
j. a limited company quoted on the stock exchange.

Use the right form of the words/ phrases above to fill in the gaps:

Businesses are organized in different ways. When there is only one owner, the company is called a
.1... If two or more people associate to form a company they make up a
..2 . In both sole trader organizations and partnerships, the owners supply the capital and, as
a rule, they assume the management of the organization. In partnerships, only the active partners take
part in the management of the company, whereas the ..3.. do not. Both forms of business
organizations discussed above have no legal obligation to make periodic statements of accounts
available to the public. The owners in both types of companies under consideration have unlimited
liability, that means they are entirely liable for the debts of the company. It is the owners who are
entitled to take possession of all the profits the company makes and all losses are borne by them.
On the other hand there are . .4....companies. Such types of companies are either
public or private. 5. involve that the public has not access to the company, the shares
are sold to a restricted number of people. Shares are the parts into which the assets of a company are
divided. The owners of the company are shareholders and they hold shares in proportion with the capital
they invested in the company. Thus there are minority shareholders and majority shareholders. ..6
limited (abbreviated plc.) are accessible to the public, as they are as a rule quoted on the ..
.7. . The management of limited liability companies is entrusted to a ..8.. elected by
the shareholders in the Annual General Meeting (abbreviated AGM). The shareholders are entitled to the
profit made by the company and therefore receive dividends. As for losses, they are borne by the
shareholders, but only to the extent of the amount invested in the business, as this is the meaning of

limited liability. The shareholders have the right to receive the annual 9. of the
company, accompanied by an independently audited report.
Companies are organized in a hierarchical or pyramidal structure. The .10...holds the
highest position in a board of directors. Sometimes he is the chief executive officer (abbreviated CEO).
The managing director is next in rank. Senior managers head the different departments of a company
such as: marketing, finance, public relations, human resources, research and development etc. According
to some sources, however, other managers, such as sales managers, should be considered members of
middle management. The middle management consists of assistant managers who report to senior
managers. If someone reports to somebody else, he is the subordinate of the latter. Big companies have
headquarters and branches in the country or abroad. If decisions are taken at the headquarters they are
said to have a centralized management. If decisions are left to the competence of branch managers they
are said to have a decentralized management.
III.
Find words/ phrases in the text that mean:
1. legal responsibility for causing damage or injury or for paying something;
2. to be given the right to do something;
3. elements such as money or property that a person or company owns;
4. someone who owns shares in a company;
5. managers with a high rank or position;
6. the place where a company or organization has its main offices;
7. to a full extent;
8. to give someone responsibility for an important job or activity;
9. the opposite of profit;
10. to tell someone what price you would charge them to a particular price of work.
IV.
Give the full form of the following abbreviations. Some of them are in the text:
1. plc.;
2. CEO;
3. AGM;
4. SME;
5. SWOT;
6. MBO;
7. HR;
8. OB;
9. TQM;
10. ROI.
V.

Fill in the gaps with a suitable word from the list:

management behaviour
long-term
against

contacts
communicate
measuring objectives

decide
select

delegating implementation
suppliers tactical
set

Managers have to identify and .1.the objectives for their company. They are involved in
..2, strategic planning, as well as in the drawing up of short term, ...3..plans.
Managers must organize the company, ..4..on allocation and use of the companys resources.
They ..5...and train the staff that should be able to suitably carry out the tasks of the

organization. In the 6.of their programme they must command, delegate, motivate and
..7effectively with all the levels of their company. It has been pointed out that good relations
at work, among workers and between workers and ..8. favourably influence output, the
quality of work and motivation. The feeling of belonging to a group has a positive impact on the
..9...of employees. Successful managers always involve their staff in performing important
tasks, ...10..them some activities, this leading to improved results of the company. The control
activity means ..11...the performance of their staff, setting obtained results ..12
objectives the management by 13technique is but one example in this respect. Managers also
have to establish and make ...14... with the outside world, they represent their organization in
its relation with customers and ..15.., government and other parties.
VI.

Read the definition of corporate strategy and then choose one answer from the box for
each question:

The corporate strategy of an organization is both an overview of where the organization is now and
a description of what is necessary to take it forward. It combines:
a statement of the core functions of the business;
its aims and goals;
how to achieve its aims and goals.
action plan
market research
strategic plan

analysis of resources
corporate objectives
mission statement

audit of external environment

marketing plan

1.

What is our business?

_______________________________
2.
Where do we want to go?
_______________________________
3.
Who are our customers?
What do they need?
_______________________________
4.
What threats and opportunities
are there?
_______________________________
5.
What are our strengths and
weaknesses?
_______________________________
6.
How do we achieve our goals
in terms of marketing?
_______________________________
7.
How do we get to where we want to be,
with our present resources?
_______________________________
8.
What do we have to do / know?
_______________________________
VII.

Complete the sentences with an appropriate word from the list below:
behind

1.
2.

of

to (x2)

in

for(x3)

with

out

The Sales manager reports .the Marketing manager.

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible ..the running of the company.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The Finance Manager is in charge ..the Finance department.

A partner is fully liable .the debts of the partnership.
Ill deal this problem personally.
We are phasing ..the old model, as it is rather old-fashioned.
We must do something to increase our market share: we are dropping .our competitors.
The directors are interested .the prospects of future developments in South Africa.
There is a need .a full risk assessment before going into these markets.
We look forward .receiving a detailed plan of the project.
VIII. Use the words in the box to fill in the gaps for the presentation of a company:

research and development centres

local agents
training centres

regional headquarters
local offices
warehouses

factories
office

head-office
plant

Our1is in London. This is where most of our senior managers work. We also
have four 2: in Singapore, serving Asia; in Boston, Massachusetts, serving the
whole of North America; in Buenos Aires for South America; and in Zurich, for Europe, Africa and
the Middle East. We have 3in seventeen other countries, and in countries where
we do not have our own people, we usually have.4.
Of course we make a wide range of products but recently we have closed some 5..
and reduced the number of products being made at others. However, distribution is still as local as
possible and we have .6.., depots and distribution centres in almost every country
in which we operate.
We have also closed some smaller 7and moved many of our best scientists and
technicians to two major centres in France and the US.
We think that staff development is essential to our present and future success and we run more than
5,000 courses for our employees in the fifty 8..which we have across the world.
Thats about all I want to say about our presence worldwide. Now, if you would like to follow me,
first of all Ill show you my 9and then well start the tour of the 10 .
IX.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Translate into English:

Aciunile se cumpr de la burs.

Un depozit servete la stocarea mrfurilor.
Din cauza vnzrilor nesatisfctoare, cu regret v informm c nu mai intenionm s comandm
produsul D-voastr.
Detailistul capt o importan tot mai mare n societatea actual.
Ai fost vreodat s vedei sucursalele noastre din ar?
Stephen i-a terminat perioada de prob i nu tie dac va fi angajat definitiv.
Comitetul director al firmei va lua o decizie n acest sens sptmna viitoare.
Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov are misiunea de a forma specialiti cu pregtire superioar
ntr-o gam variat de domenii fundamentale.
Cei care nu duc la ndeplinire sarcinile de lucru n timp util vor fi n curnd sancionai.
As fi interesat sa tiu care sunt obiectivele pe termen scurt ale companiei D-voastr.