U n I t 8

TOPIC: BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

TEXT A

TEXT B

TEXT C

GRAMMAR: The Perfect Continuous Tenses

Indefinite Pronouns: much, many, few, little

Reading drills

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

a) stress the first syllable:

business, enterprise, scarce, chance, satisfy, partnership, savings, retail, effort, profit, minimal, legal, legally, liable, personal, personally, loss, property, debt, borrow, terminate;

b) stress the second syllable:

proprietor, proprietorship, restriction, consumer, achieve, success, aside, financial, compete, involve, dissolve, assume, salon, repair, incur, ability;

c) stress the third syllable:

institution, economic, satisfaction, corporation, operation, disadvantage, recognition, liability, opportunity, continuity.

Text A

One of the major economic institutions is the business organization, a profit-seeking enterprise¹ that serves as the main link between scarce resources and consumer satisfaction. These businesses compete with one another for the chance to satisfy people’s wants.

There are three major kinds of business organizations: the sole proprietorship², the partnership³ and the corporation⁴.

The most common form of business organization is the sole proprietorship — a business owned and run by one person. The main advantage of a sole proprietorship is that it is the easiest form of business to start and run. There is almost no red tape⁵ involved. Most proprietorships are able to open for business as soon as they set up operations. In the event that the owner wants to dissolve the business⁶, a sole proprietorship is as easily dissolved as it is formed.

Sole proprietors own all the profits of their enterprises and are free to make whatever changes they please. They have minimal legal restrictions and do not have to pay the special taxes placed on corporations. They also have the opportunity to achieve success⁷ and recognition through their individual efforts. Sole proprietorships are generally found in small-scale retail and service businesses such as beauty salons, repair shops, or service stations.

The major disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is the unlimited liability⁸ that each proprietor faces. Since the business and the owner are legally the same, the sole proprietor is liable for⁹ all financial losses or debts that the business may incur. If a business fails, the owner must personally assume the debts¹⁰. This could mean the loss of personal property such as automobiles, homes and savings¹¹.

A second disadvantage of the sole proprietorship is that it has limited financial resources. The money that a proprietor can raise is limited by the amount of savings and ability to borrow. Another serious problem faced by the sole proprietorship is the lack of continuity of the business. When the owner dies, the business also legally terminates.

Comments

1. a profit-seeking enterprise — прибуткове пiдприємство

2. sole proprietorship/sole trader/one-man firm — одноосiбна власнiсть

3. partnership — партнерство

4. corporation — корпорація

5. red tape — бюрократизм

6. to dissolve the business — припинити діяльність підприємства

7. to achieve success — досягти успіху

8. unlimited liability — необмежена юридична відповідальність

9. to be liable for — бути відповідальним за

10. to assume the debts — приймати/брати на себе борги

11. savings — заощадження