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U. S. Company News Links:

Europe Company News Links:
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17 May 2012 at 8:01am
Michael Arghyrou: Michael Arghyrou is a senior lecturer in economics at Cardiff Business School. ...
A Greek Exit From the Euro Would Lead to Chaos
17 May 2012 at 8:01am
Alexei Monsarrat: Alexei Monsarrat is the director of the Atlantic Council Global Business & Econ...
Goodbye Euro, Welcome Back Drachma
17 May 2012 at 8:01am
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Firms Pray for 'Yes' in Irish EU Treaty Referendum
17 May 2012 at 7:41am
Ireland group that has launched a campaign to urge voters to ratify the treaty. "For the country ...
CLG racks up €3.7m losses and warns of 'major risk' in downturn
17 May 2012 at 4:58am
Bord Gais , racked up losses of €3.7m in the year to the end of last June as the recession and lo...

United Kingdom Company News Links:
Listen to this week’s Business in Wales podcast - May 17
17 May 2012 at 8:01am
' ); } writeAuthHeader(54, true, 'http://www.walesonline.co.uk/registration/index.cfm', nul...
Business Minister confirms two new enterprise zones in Pembrokeshire and Snow...
17 May 2012 at 5:26am
The Haven Waterway and Snowdonia will join the existing five zones at Cardiff Central Business Di...
Vodafone, Standard Chartered lead FTSE 100 decline
17 May 2012 at 3:35am
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Vodafone Group PLC and Standard Chartered PLC were among stocks...
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17 May 2012 at 3:19am
By Charlene Gubash, NBC News DOUMA, Syria -- Surrounded by ancient olive groves, Douma is just te...
Vauxhall announcement boosts UK car industry
17 May 2012 at 3:01am
The UK automotive industry received a major boost today with news of a £125 million investment in...

Asia Company News Links:
Sharp Plans to Beef Up Education Business
17 May 2012 at 2:37am
Sharp Corp had a press conference in its booth at the 3rd Educational IT Solutions Expo, a trade ...
Japan GDP jumps 4.1%, beating estimates
16 May 2012 at 7:29pm
The expansion, which translated into a 4.1% annualized rate, comfortably beat expectations for 3....
Investors Hope For Support At 19,000
16 May 2012 at 6:52pm
5/16/2012 9:18 PM ET (RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed right back to the downside aga...
Japan GDP Rises 1.0% On Quarter In Q1
16 May 2012 at 5:45pm
5/16/2012 8:04 PM ET (RTTNews) - Japan's gross domestic product expanded 1.0 percent in the first...
Piramal to buy US data company for Rs 3.4k cr
16 May 2012 at 5:27pm
Ajay Piramal , chairman of Piramal Healthcare, clinched a third acquisition after selling formula...

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Company:
A company (also called a business, firm, or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. A company needs a market. A consumer is an essential part of a company. Companyes are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit to increase the wealth of owners. The owners and operators of a company have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for work and acceptance of risk. Notable exceptions include cooperative companies and state-owned enterprises. Socialistic systems involve either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable companies.

The etymology of "company" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "company" has at least three usages, depending on the scope � the singular usage (above) to mean a particular company or corporation, the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the music company" and compound forms such as agricompany, or the broadest meaning to include all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of company, like much else in the philosophy of company, is a matter of debate.

Company Studies, the study of the management of individuals to maintain collective productivity in order to accomplish particular creative and productive goals (usually to generate profit), is taught as an academic subject in many schools.

Basic Forms of Company Ownership:
Although forms of company ownership vary by jurisdiction, there are several common forms:

1. Sole Proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a company owned by one person. The owner may operate on his or her own or may employ others. The owner of the company has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the company.

2. Partnership: A partnership is a form of company in which two or more people operate for the common goal of making profit. Each partner has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the partnership. There are three typical classifications of partnerships: general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

3. Corporation: A company corporation is a for-profit, limited liability entity that has a separate legal personality from its members. A corporation is owned by multiple shareholders and is overseen by a board of directors, which hires the company's managerial staff.

4. Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op company" or "co-op", a cooperative is a for-profit, limited liability entity that differs from a corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy.

Classifications:
There are many types of companies, and, as a result, companies are classified in many ways. One of the most common focuses on the primary profit-generating activities of a company:

1. Manufacturers produce products, from raw materials or component parts, which they then sell at a profit. Companies that make physical goods, such as cars or pipes, are considered manufacturers.

2. Service Companyes offer intangible goods or services and typically generate a profit by charging for labor or other services provided to government, other companies or consumers. Organizations ranging from house decorators to consulting firms to restaurants and even to entertainers are types of service companies.

3. Retailers and Distributors act as middle-men in getting goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumer, generating a profit as a result of providing sales or distribution services. Most consumer-oriented stores and catalogue companies are distributors or retailers. See also: Franchising.

4. Agriculture and Mining Companyes are concerned with the production of raw material, such as plants or minerals.

5. Financial Companyes include banks and other companies that generate profit through investment and management of capital.

6. Information Companyes generate profits primarily from the resale of intellectual property and include movie studios, publishers and packaged software companies.

7. Utilities produce public services, such as heat, electricity, or sewage treatment, and are usually government chartered.

8. Real Estate Companyes generate profit from the selling, renting, and development of properties, homes, and buildings.

9. Transportation Companyes deliver goods and individuals from location to location, generating a profit on the transportation costs.

There are many other divisions and subdivisions of companies. The authoritative list of company types for North America is generally considered to be the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS. The equivalent European Union list is the NACE.

Organization:
Most companies must accomplish similar functions regardless of size, legal structure or industry. These functions are often organized into departments. Common departments include (but are not limited to):

Human Resources:
Typically responsible for hiring, firing, payroll, benefits, etc.
Finance: responsible for managing the enterprises financial resources.
Budgeting and Forecasting: planning how the enterprise wants things to happen.
Cash and Treasury Management: ensuring the enterprise has money when it's needed.
Accounts Payable and Receivable: ensuring the enterprise receives what it's owed and pay what it owes.
Tax Planning/Filing and Reporting: meeting obligations to the government.
Risk Management: ensuring the enterprise doesn't get surprised by something unfavorable.
External and Internal (Management) Reporting: providing visibility into the enterprise for those who need it through financial reporting and other types of reporting.

Marketing and Sales: responsible for selling the company' goods or services to the customer and for managing the relationships with the customer.
Marketing: typically responsible for promoting interest in, and generating demand for, the company' products or services, and positioning them within the market.
Sales: finding likely purchasers and obtaining their agreement (known as a contract) to buy the company' products or services.

Operations: makes the product or delivers the service.
Production: produces the raw materials into the delivered goods, if they require processing.
Customer Service: supports customers who need help with the goods or services.

Procurement: responsible for acquiring the goods and services necessary for the company. Sometimes organized as:
Strategic Sourcing: determines the company' needs and plans for acquiring the necessary raw materials and services for the company.
Purchasing: processes the purchase orders and related transactions.

Research and Development: tests to create new products and to determine their viability (e.g. pilot plants).

Information Technology: manages the company' computer and data assets.

Communications/Public Relations: responsible for communicating to the outside world.

Administration: provides administrative support to the other departments (such as typing, filing, etc.).

Internal Audit: an independent control function typically accountable to the Board of Directors for reporting on the proper functioning of the other departments.

Management is sometimes listed as a "department" but typically refers to the top level of leadership within the company regardless of their functional role.,/p>

Management:
The study of the efficient and effective operation of a company is called management. The main branches of management are financial management, marketing management, human resource management, strategic management, production management, service management, information technology management, and company intelligence.

Government Regulation: Most legal jurisdictions specify the forms of ownership that a company can take, creating a body of commercial law for each type.

Organizing a Company:
The major factors affecting how a company is organized are usually:
* The size and scope of the company, and its anticipated management and ownership. Generally a smaller company is more flexible, while larger companies, or those with wider ownership or more formal structures, will usually tend to be organized as partnerships or (more commonly) corporations. In addition a company which wishes to raise money on a stock market or to be owned by a wide range of people will often be required to adopt a specific legal form to do so.
* The sector and country. Private profit making companies are different from government owned bodies. In some countries, certain companies are legally obliged to be organized certain ways.
* Limited liability. Corporations, limited liability partnerships, and other specific types of company organizations protect their owners from company failure by doing company under a separate legal entity with certain legal protections. In contrast, unincorporated companies or persons working on their own are usually not so protected.
* Tax advantages. Different structures are treated differently in tax law, and may have advantages for this reason.
* Disclosure and compliance requirements. Different company structures may be required to make more or less information public (or reported to relevant authorities), and may be bound to comply with different rules and regulations.

Many companies are operated through a separate entity such as a corporation, limited partnership or limited liability company. Most legal jurisdictions allow people to organize such an entity by filing certain charter documents with the relevant Secretary of State or equivalent and complying with certain other ongoing obligations. The relationships and legal rights of shareholders, limited partners, or members are governed partly by the charter documents and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the entity is organized. Generally speaking, shareholders in a corporation, limited partners in a limited partnership, and members in a limited liability company are shielded from personal liability for the debts and obligations of the entity, which is legally treated as a separate "person." This means that unless there is misconduct, the owner's own possessions are strongly protected in law, if the company does not succeed.

Where two or more individuals own a company together but have failed to organize a more specialized form of vehicle, they will be treated as a general partnership. The terms of a partnership are partly governed by a partnership agreement if one is created, and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located. No paperwork or filing is necessary to create a partnership, and without an agreement, the relationships and legal rights of the partners will be entirely governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located.

A single person who owns and runs a company is commonly known as a sole proprietor, whether he or she owns it directly or through a formally organized entity.

A few relevant factors to consider in deciding how to operate a company include:
1. General partners in a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), plus anyone who personally owns and operates a company without creating a separate legal entity, are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the company.

2. Generally, corporations are required to pay tax just like "real" people. In some tax systems, this can give rise to so-called double taxation, because first the corporation pays tax on the profit, and then when the corporation distributes its profits to its owners, individuals have to include dividends in their income when they complete their personal tax returns, at which point a second layer of income tax is imposed.

3. In most countries, there are laws which treat small corporations differently than large ones. They may be exempt from certain legal filing requirements or labor laws, have simplified procedures in specialized areas, and have simplified, advantageous, or slightly different tax treatment.

4. In order to "go public" (sometimes called IPO) -- which basically means to allow a part of the company to be owned by a wider range of investors or the public in general -- you must organize a separate entity, which is usually required to comply with a tighter set of laws and procedures. Most public entities are corporations that have sold shares, but increasingly there are also public LLCs that sell units (sometimes also called shares), and other more exotic entities as well (for example, REITs in the USA, Unit Trusts in the UK). However, you cannot take a general partnership "public."

Commercial Law:
Most commercial transactions are governed by a very detailed and well-established body of rules that have evolved over a very long period of time, it being the case that governing trade and commerce was a strong driving force in the creation of law and courts in Western civilization.

As for other laws that regulate or impact companies, in many countries it is all but impossible to chronicle them all in a single reference source. There are laws governing treatment of labor and generally relations with employees, safety and protection issues (OSHA or Health and Safety), anti-discrimination laws (age, gender, disabilities, race, and in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation), minimum wage laws, union laws, workers compensation laws, and annual vacation or working hours time.

In some specialized companies, there may also be licenses required, either due to special laws that govern entry into certain trades, occupations or professions, which may require special education, or by local governments who just want your money. Professions that require special licenses run the gamut from law and medicine to flying airplanes to selling liquor to radio broadcasting to selling investment securities to selling used cars to roofing. Local jurisdictions may also require special licenses and taxes just to operate a company without regard to the type of company involved.

Some companies are subject to ongoing special regulation. These industries include, for example, public utilities, investment securities, banking, insurance, broadcasting, aviation, and health care providers. Environmental regulations are also very complex and can impact many kinds of companies in unexpected ways.

Capital:
When companies need to raise money (called 'capital'), more laws come into play. A highly complex set of laws and regulations govern the offer and sale of investment securities (the means of raising money) in most Western countries. These regulations can require disclosure of a lot of specific financial and other information about the company and give buyers certain remedies. Because "securities" is a very broad term, most investment transactions will be potentially subject to these laws, unless a special exemption is available.

Capital may be raised through private means, by public offer (IPO) on a stock exchange, or in many other ways. Major stock exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq (USA), the London Stock Exchange (UK), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Japan), and so on. Most countries with capital markets have at least one.

Company that have gone "public" are subject to extremely detailed and complicated regulation about their internal governance (such as how executive officers' compensation is determined) and when and how information is disclosed to the public and their shareholders. In the United States, these regulations are primarily implemented and enforced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other Western nations have comparable regulatory bodies.

As noted at the beginning, it is impossible to enumerate all of the types of laws and regulations that impact on company today. In fact, these laws have become so numerous and complex, that no company lawyer can learn them all, forcing increasing specialization among corporate attorneys. It is not unheard of for teams of 5 to 10 attorneys to be required to handle certain kinds of corporate transactions, due to the sprawling nature of modern regulation. Commercial law spans general corporate law, employment and labor law, healthcare law, securities law, M&A law (who specialize in acquisitions), tax law, ERISA law (ERISA in the United States governs employee benefit plans), food and drug regulatory law, intellectual property law (specializing in copyrights, patents, trademarks and such), telecommunications law, and more.

In Thailand, for example, it is necessary to register a particular amount of capital for each employee, and pay a fee to the government for the amount of capital registered. There is no legal requirement to prove that this capital actually exists, the only requirement is to pay the fee. Overall, processes like this are detrimental to the development and GDP of a country, but often exist in "feudal" developing countries.

Intellectual Property:
Companyes often have important "intellectual property" that needs protection from competitors in order for the company to stay profitable. This could require patents or copyrights or preservation of trade secrets. Most companies have names, logos and similar branding techniques that could benefit from trademarking. Patents and copyrights in the United States are largely governed by federal law, while trade secrets and trademarking are mostly a matter of state law. Because of the nature of intellectual property, a company needs protection in every jurisdiction in which they are concerned about competitors. Many countries are signatories to international treaties concerning intellectual property, and thus companies registered in these countries are subject to national laws bound by these treaties.

Exit Plans:
Companyes can be bought and sold. Company owners often refer to their plan of disposing of the company as an "exit plan." Common exit plans include IPOs, MBOs and mergers with other companies.

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