* * Broadcast-safe
* How television works
* Information-action ratio
* Internet television
* List of countries by number of television broadcast stations
* List of television manufacturers
* List of years in television
* Media psychology
* Technology of television
----------------------------------
Supermarket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Produce section of a Grupo Pão de Açúcar supermarket in São Paulo
Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon
In supermarkets, sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions, rather than negotiating the price of each good with each buyer.
A supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore.
The supermarket typically comprises meat, fresh produce, dairy, and baked goods departments along with shelf space reserved for canned and packaged goods as well as for various nonfood items such as household cleaners, pharmacy products, and pet supplies. Most supermarkets also sell a variety of other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), household cleaning products, medicine, clothes, and some sell a much wider range of nonfood products.
The traditional suburban supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level, and is situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. Its basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and, frequently, the convenience of shopping hours that extend far into the evening or even 24 hours a day. Supermarkets usually make massive outlays of newspaper and other advertising and often present elaborate in-store displays of products. The stores often are part of a corporate chain that owns or controls (sometimes by franchise) other supermarkets located nearby — even transnationally — thus increasing opportunities for economies of scale.
In North America, supermarkets typically are supplied by the distribution centers of its parent company, such as Loblaw Companies in Canada, which operates thousands of supermarkets across the nation. Loblaw operates a distribution center in every province — usually in the largest city in the province.
Supermarkets usually offer products at low prices by reducing their economic margins. Certain products (typically staple foods such as bread, milk and sugar) are occasionally sold as loss leaders, that is, with negative profit margins. To maintain a profit, supermarkets attempt to make up for the lower margins by a higher overall volume of sales, and with the sale of higher-margin items. Customers usually shop by placing their selected merchandise into shopping carts (trolleys) or baskets (self-service) and pay for the merchandise at the check-out. At present, many supermarket chains are attempting to further reduce labor costs by shifting to self-service check-out machines, where a single employee can oversee a group of four or five machines at once, assisting multiple customers at a time.
A larger full-service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket. Other services offered at some supermarkets may include those of banks, cafés, childcare centers/creches, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies, and/or gas stations.
Contents
1History
2Typical supermarket merchandise
3Typical store architecture
4Criticisms
5References
6See also
7Further reading
8External links
//
History
A supermarket in Sweden in 1941
In the early days of retailing, all products generally were fetched by an assistant from shelves behind the merchant's counter while customers waited in front of the counter and indicated the items they wanted. Also, most foods and merchandise did not come in individually wrapped consumer-sized packages, so an assistant had to measure out and wrap the precise amount desired by the consumer. These practices were by nature very labor-intensive and therefore also quite expensive. The shopping process was slow, as the number of customers who could be attended to at one time was limited by the number of clerks employed in the store.
The concept of a self-service grocery store was developed by American entrepreneur Clarence Saunders and his Piggly Wiggly stores. His first store opened in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1916. Saunders was awarded a number of patents for the ideas he incorporated into his stores[1][2][3][4]. The stores were a financial success and Saunders began to offer franchises. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) was another successful early grocery store chain in Canada and the United States, and became common in North American cities in the 1920s. The general trend in retail since then has been to stock shelves at night so that customers, the following day, can obtain their own goods and bring them to the front of the store to pay for them. Although there is a higher risk of shoplifting, the costs of appropriate security measures ideally will be outweighed by the increased economies of scale and reduced labor costs.
Early self-service grocery stores did not sell fresh meats or produce. Combination stores that sold perishable items were developed in the 1920s.[5]
According to the Smithsonian Institution, the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee, Michael J. Cullen, on August 4, 1930, inside a 6,000 square foot (560 m²) former garage in Jamaica, Queens in New York City.[6] The store, King Kullen, (inspired by the fictional character King Kong), operated under the slogan "Pile it high. Sell it low." At the time of Cullen's death in 1936, there were seventeen King Kullen stores in operation.
A Safeway advertisement from the 1950s.
Other established American grocery chains in the 1930s, such as Kroger and Safeway, at first resisted Cullen's idea, but eventually were forced to build their own supermarkets as the economy sank into the Great Depression and consumers became price-sensitive at a level never experienced before.[7] Kroger took the idea one step further and pioneered the first supermarket surrounded on all four sides by a parking lot.
Supermarkets proliferated across Canada and the United States with the growth of suburban development after World War II. Most North American supermarkets are located in suburban strip malls as an anchor store along with other, smaller retailers. They are generally regional rather than national in their company branding. Kroger is perhaps the most nationally oriented supermarket chain in the United States but it has preserved most of its regional brands, including Ralphs, City Market and King Soopers.
In Canada the largest such chain is Loblaw, which operates stores under a variety of regional names, including Fortinos, Zehrs and the largest Loblaws (named after the company itself). Sobeys is Canada's second largest supermarket with locations across the country, operating under many banners (Sobeys IGA in Quebec). Today, supermarkets are found around the world in dozens of countries.
In the 1950s supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives to customers. Today, most chains issue store-specific "membership cards," "club cards," or "loyalty cards". These typically enable the card holder to receive special members-only discounts on certain items when the credit card-like device is scanned at check-out.
Traditional supermarkets in many countries face intense competition from discount retailers such as Wal-Mart, Asda in the UK, and Zellers in Canada, which typically are non-union and operate with better buying power. Other competition exists from warehouse clubs such as Costco that offer savings to customers buying in bulk quantities. Superstores, such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a wide range of goods and services in addition to foods. The proliferation of such warehouse and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller, local grocery stores, increased dependence on the automobile, suburban sprawl because of the necessity for large floorplates, and increased vehicular traffic and air pollution. Some critics consider the chains' common practice of selling loss leaders to be anti-competitive. They are also wary of the negotiating power that large, often multinational, retailers have with suppliers around the world.
Typical supermarket merchandise
Sainsbury's supermarket front end in the UK
Fruit on display in a supermarket in Japan.
Larger supermarkets in North America and Western Europe typically sell a great number of items among many brands, sizes and varieties, including:
Alcoholic beverages (as state/provincial and/or local laws allow)
Baby foods and baby-care products such as disposable diapers
Breads and bakery products (many stores may have a bakery on site that offers specialty and dessert items)
Books, newspapers, and magazines, including supermarket tabloids
Bulk dried foods such as legumes, flour, rice, etc. (typically available for self-service)
Canned goods and dried cereals
Car-care products (motor oil, cleaners, waxes)
CDs, Audio cassettes, DVDs, and videos (including video rentals)
Cigarettes and other tobacco products
Clothing and footwear (typically a general, limited assortment)
Confections and candies
Cosmetics
Dairy products and eggs
Delicatessen foods (ready-to-eat)
Diet foods
Electrical products such as light bulbs, extension cords, etc.
Feminine hygiene products
Financial services and products such as mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts, wire transfers, etc. (typically offered in-store by a partnering bank or other financial institution)
Flowers
Frozen foods and crushed ice
Fresh produce, fruits and vegetables
Greeting cards
Housecleaning products
Housewares, crockery and cooking utensils, etc. (typically limited)
Laundry products such as detergents, fabric softeners, etc.
Lottery tickets (where operational and legal)
Luggage items (typically limited)
Meats, fish and seafoods (some stores may offer live fish and seafood items from aquarium tanks)
Medicines and first aid items (primarily over-the-counter drugs, although many supermarkets also have an on-site pharmacy)
Nonalcoholic beverages such as soft drinks, juices, bottled water, etc. (some stores may have a juice bar that prepares ready-to-drink freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, etc.)
Personal hygiene and grooming products
Pet foods and products
Seasonal items and decorations
Snack foods
Soft drinks
Tea and Coffee (some stores may have a commercial-style grinder, typically available for self-service, and/or a staffed coffee bar that prepares ready-to-drink coffee and tea beverages)
Toys and novelties
In some countries, the range of supermarket merchandise is more strictly focused on food products, although the range of goods for sale is expanding in many locations as typical store sizes continue to increase globally.
Typical store architecture
The interior of a Loblaws supermarket in Toronto
Most supermarkets are similar in design and layout due to trends in marketing. Fresh produce tends to be located near the entrance of the store. Milk, bread, and other essential staple items are usually situated toward the rear of the store and in other out-of-the-way places, purposely done to maximize the customer's time spent in the store, strolling past other items and capitalizing on impulse buying. The front of the store, or "front end'" is the area where point of sale machines or cash registers are usually located. Many retailers also have implemented self-checkout devices in an attempt to reduce labor costs.
Criticisms
Supermarkets, in general, also tend to narrow the choices of fruits and vegetables by stocking only varieties with long storage lives, thus leading to medium-term extinction of the cultivation of other varieties.
In the United States, major-brand supermarkets often demand slotting fees from suppliers in exchange for premium shelf space and/or better positioning (such as at eye-level, on the checkout aisle or at a shelf's "end cap"). This extra supplier cost (up to $30,000 per brand for a chain for each individual SKU) may be reflected in the cost of the products offered. Some critics have questioned the ethical and legal propriety of slotting fee payments and their effect on smaller suppliers [1][2][3].
In Britain supermarkets have been accused of squeezing prices to farmers, forcing small shops out of business, and often favouring imports over British produce. [4]
Supermarkets can generally retail at lower prices than traditional corner shops and markets due to higher volume. This has led to small businesses losing customers and closing in many areas, which can be seen as an adverse effect on the local infrastructure. In 2000, the Finnish government drafted the new shopping hours law in such a way, that shops with a sub-supermarket floor area (<400m2) have year-around Sunday opening rights, while supermarkets are permitted to stay open on Sundays only during the summer and mid-winter months.
May 20: Oleg Yankovsky, prominent Russian actor, dies at age 65
May 6: American comedic actor Dom DeLuise dies at age 75
April 20: Father accused of trying to sell daughter, child star of 'Slumdog Millionaire'
April 8: Fox News movie reviewer fired for downloading film
Category:Film
Cinematic techniques
Digital cinema
List of basic film topics
List of film awards
List of film festivals
List of film journals and magazines
List of film topics
Lists of films
List of video-related topics
List of years in film
Lost film
Web film
Notes
^Bollywood Hots Up cnn.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007
^Silent Film Speed
^Sharing Pix is Risky Business variety.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
^ Savage, Mark (2006-12-19). "Hanna Barbera's golden age of animation". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6193603.stm. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
^http://cinematreasures.org/theater/8855/
^ Timothy McNulty (2005-06-19). "You saw it here first: Pittsburgh's Nickelodeon introduced the moving picture theater to the masses in 1905". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05170/522854.stm. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
^"Pre-Nickelodeon/Nickelodeon". University of Maryland Libraries. 2005-07-05. http://www.lib.umd.edu/RARE/Exhibits/Headley/styles1.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
^ abPBS Frontline: The Monster that Ate Hollywood: Anatomy of a Monster: Now Playing ... And Playing ... And Playing ... pbs.org. Retrieved June 23, 2007
References
Acker, Ally (1991). Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema, 1896 to the Present. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0826404995.
Basten, Fred E. (1980). Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow. Cranbury, NJ: AS Barnes & Company. ISBN 0498023176.
Basten, Fred E. (writer); Peter Jones (director and writer); Angela Lansbury (narrator). (1998). Glorious Technicolor [Documentary]. Turner Classic Movies.
Casetti, Francesco (1999). Theories of Cinema, 1945-1995. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292712073.
Cook, Pam (2007). The Cinema Book, Third Edition. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 9781844571932.
Faber, Liz, & Walters, Helen (2003). Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940. London: Laurence King, in association with Harper Design International. ISBN 1856693465.
Hagener, Malte, & Töteberg, Michael (2002). Film: An International Bibliography. Stuttgart: Metzler. ISBN 3476015238.
Hill, John, & Gibson, Pamela Church (1998). The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198711247.
King, Geoff (2002). New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231127596.
Ledoux, Trish, & Ranney, Doug, & Patten, Fred (1997). Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory and Resource Guide. Issaquah, WA: Tiger Mountain Press. ISBN 0964954257.
Merritt, Greg (2000). Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1560252324.
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (1999). The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198742428.
Rocchio, Vincent F. (2000). Reel Racism: Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0813367107.
Schrader, Paul (Spring 1972). "Notes on Film Noir". Film CommentVol. 8 (Issue 1): 8–13. ISSN 0015-119X.
Schultz, John (writer and director); James Earl Jones (narrator). (1995). The Making of 'Jurassic Park' [Documentary]. Amblin Entertainment.
Thackway, Melissa (2003). Africa Shoots Back: Alternative Perspectives in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Film. Bloomington, IL: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0852555768.
Vogel, Amos (1974). Film as a Subversive Art. New York: Random House. ISBN 0394490789.
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Financial market
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
In economics, a financial market is a mechanism that allows people to easily buy and sell (trade) financial securities (such as stocks and bonds), commodities (such as precious metals or agricultural goods), and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect the efficient market hypothesis.
Financial markets have evolved significantly over several hundred years and are undergoing constant innovation to improve liquidity.
Both general markets (where many commodities are traded) and specialized markets (where only one commodity is traded) exist. Markets work by placing many interested buyers and sellers in one "place", thus making it easier for them to find each other. An economy which relies primarily on interactions between buyers and sellers to allocate resources is known as a market economy in contrast either to a command economy or to a non-market economy such as a gift economy.
In finance, financial markets facilitate--
* The raising of capital (in the capital markets);
* The transfer of risk (in the derivatives markets);
* International trade (in the currency markets)
--and are used to match those who want capital to those who have it.
Typically a borrower issues a receipt to the lender promising to pay back the capital. These receipts are securities which may be freely bought or sold. In return for lending money to the borrower, the lender will expect some compensation in the form of interest or dividends.
Contents
* 1 Definition
* 2 Types of financial markets
* 3 Raising capital
o 3.1 Lenders
o 3.2 Borrowers
* 4 Derivative products
* 5 Currency markets
* 6 Analysis of financial markets
* 7 Financial markets in popular culture
o 7.1 Financial markets slang
* 8 See also
* 9 Notes
* 10 References
Definition
The term financial markets can be a cause of much confusion.
Financial markets could mean:
1. organizations that facilitate the trade in financial securities. i.e. Stock exchanges facilitate the trade in stocks, bonds and warrants.
2. the coming together of buyers and sellers to trade financial securities. i.e. stocks and shares are traded between buyers and sellers in a number of ways including: the use of stock exchanges; directly between buyers and sellers etc.
In academia, students of finance will use both meanings but students of economics will only use the second meaning.
Financial markets can be domestic or they can be international.
Types of financial markets
The financial markets can be divided into different subtypes:
* Capital markets which consist of:
o Stock markets, which provide financing through the issuance of shares or common stock, and enable the subsequent trading thereof.
o Bond markets, which provide financing through the issuance of Bonds, and enable the subsequent trading thereof.
* Commodity markets, which facilitate the trading of commodities.
* Money markets, which provide short term debt financing and investment.
* Derivatives markets, which provide instruments for the management of financial risk.
o Futures markets, which provide standardized forward contracts for trading products at some future date; see also forward market.
* Insurance markets, which facilitate the redistribution of various risks.
* Foreign exchange markets, which facilitate the trading of foreign exchange.
The capital markets consist of primary markets and secondary markets. Newly formed (issued) securities are bought or sold in primary markets. Secondary markets allow investors to sell securities that they hold or buy existing securities.
Raising capital
To understand financial markets, let us look at what they are used for, i.e. what is their purpose?
Without financial markets, borrowers would have difficulty finding lenders themselves. Intermediaries such as banks help in this process. Banks take deposits from those who have money to save. They can then lend money from this pool of deposited money to those who seek to borrow. Banks popularly lend money in the form of loans and mortgages.
More complex transactions than a simple bank deposit require markets where lenders and their agents can meet borrowers and their agents, and where existing borrowing or lending commitments can be sold on to other parties. A good example of a financial market is a stock exchange. A company can raise money by selling shares to investors and its existing shares can be bought or sold.
The following table illustrates where financial markets fit in the relationship between lenders and borrowers:
Many individuals are not aware that they are lenders, but almost everybody does lend money in many ways. A person lends money when he or she:
* puts money in a savings account at a bank;
* contributes to a pension plan;
* pays premiums to an insurance company;
* invests in government bonds; or
* invests in company shares.
Companies tend to be borrowers of capital. When companies have surplus cash that is not needed for a short period of time, they may seek to make money from their cash surplus by lending it via short term markets called money markets.
There are a few companies that have very strong cash flows. These companies tend to be lenders rather than borrowers. Such companies may decide to return cash to lenders (e.g. via a share buyback.) Alternatively, they may seek to make more money on their cash by lending it (e.g. investing in bonds and stocks.)
Borrowers
Individuals borrow money via bankers' loans for short term needs or longer term mortgages to help finance a house purchase.
Companies borrow money to aid short term or long term cash flows. They also borrow to fund modernisation or future business expansion.
Governments often find their spending requirements exceed their tax revenues. To make up this difference, they need to borrow. Governments also borrow on behalf of nationalised industries, municipalities, local authorities and other public sector bodies. In the UK, the total borrowing requirement is often referred to as the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR).
Governments borrow by issuing bonds. In the UK, the government also borrows from individuals by offering bank accounts and Premium Bonds. Government debt seems to be permanent. Indeed the debt seemingly expands rather than being paid off. One strategy used by governments to reduce the value of the debt is to influence inflation.
Municipalities and local authorities may borrow in their own name as well as receiving funding from national governments. In the UK, this would cover an authority like Hampshire County Council.
Public Corporations typically include nationalised industries. These may include the postal services, railway companies and utility companies.
Many borrowers have difficulty raising money locally. They need to borrow internationally with the aid of Foreign exchange markets.
Derivative products
During the 1980s and 1990s, a major growth sector in financial markets is the trade in so called derivative products, or derivatives for short.
In the financial markets, stock prices, bond prices, currency rates, interest rates and dividends go up and down, creating risk. Derivative products are financial products which are used to control risk or paradoxically exploit risk. It is also called financial economics.
Currency markets
Main article: Foreign exchange market
Seemingly, the most obvious buyers and sellers of foreign exchange are importers/exporters. While this may have been true in the distant past, whereby importers/exporters created the initial demand for currency markets, importers and exporters now represent only 1/32 of foreign exchange dealing, according to BIS.[1]
The picture of foreign currency transactions today shows:
* Banks and Institutions
* Speculators
* Government spending (for example, military bases abroad)
* Importers/Exporters
* Tourists
Analysis of financial markets
See Statistical analysis of financial markets, statistical finance
Much effort has gone into the study of financial markets and how prices vary with time. Charles Dow, one of the founders of Dow Jones & Company and The Wall Street Journal, enunciated a set of ideas on the subject which are now called Dow Theory. This is the basis of the so-called technical analysis method of attempting to predict future changes. One of the tenets of "technical analysis" is that market trends give an indication of the future, at least in the short term. The claims of the technical analysts are disputed by many academics, who claim that the evidence points rather to the random walk hypothesis, which states that the next change is not correlated to the last change.
The scale of changes in price over some unit of time is called the volatility. It was discovered by Beno�t Mandelbrot that changes in prices do not follow a Gaussian distribution, but are rather modeled better by L�vy stable distributions. The scale of change, or volatiliy, depends on the length of the time unit to a power a bit more than 1/2. Large changes up or down are more likely than what one would calculate using a Gaussian distribution with an estimated standard deviation.
Financial markets in popular culture
Gordon Gekko is a famous caricature of a rogue financial markets operator, famous for saying "greed ... is good".
Oly negative stories about financial markets tend to make the news. The general perception, for those not involved in the world of financial markets is of a place full of crooks and con artists. Big stories like the Enron scandal serve to enhance this view.
Stories that make the headlines involve the incompetent, the lucky and the downright skillful. The Barings scandal is a classic story of incompetence mixed with greed leading to dire consequences. Another story of note is that of Black Wednesday, when sterling came under attack from hedge fund speculators. This led to major problems for the United Kingdom and had a serious impact on its course in Europe. A commonly recurring event is the stock market bubble, whereby market prices rise to dizzying heights in a so called exaggerated bull market. This is not a new phenomenon; indeed the story of Tulip mania in the Netherlands in the 17th century illustrates an early recorded example.
Financial markets are merely tools. Like all tools they have both beneficial and harmful uses. Overall, financial markets are used by honest people. Otherwise, people would turn away from them en masse. As in other walks of life, the financial markets have their fair share of rogue elements.
Financial markets slang
* Big swinging dick, a highly successful financial markets trader. The term was made popular in the book Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis
* Geek, a Quant
* Grim, an ageless man known for his whistle and tendency to relate current events to financial market[citation needed]
* Nerd, a Quant
* Quant, a quantitative analyst skilled in the black arts of PhD level (and above) mathematics and statistical methods
* Rocket scientist, a financial consultant at the zenith of mathematical and computer programming skill. They are able to invent derivatives of frightening complexity and construct sophisticated pricing models. They generally handle the most advanced computing techniques adopted by the financial markets since the early 1980s. Typically, they are physicists and engineers by training; rocket scientists do not necessarily build rockets for a living.
* White Knight, a friendly party in a takeover bid. Used to describe a party that buys the shares of an organization to help prevent the takeover of that organization by another party (that is making a hostile bid).
Business
A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments, charities or other businesses. Businesses 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 business 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 businesses and state-owned enterprises. Socialistic systems involve either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.
The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" 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 business" and compound forms such as agribusiness, or the broadest meaning to include all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of business, like much else in the philosophy of business, is a matter of debate.
Business 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.
Contents
* 1 Basic forms of ownership
* 2 Classifications
* 3 Organization
* 4 Management
* 5 Government regulation
o 5.1 Organizing a business
o 5.2 Commercial law
o 5.3 Capital
o 5.4 Intellectual property
o 5.5 Exit plans
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
o 7.1 General
* 8 Notes and references
Basic forms of ownership
Although forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction, there are several common forms:
* Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. The owner may operate on his or her own or may employ others. The owner of the business has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the business.
* Partnership: A partnership is a form of business 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.
* Corporation: A business 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 business's managerial staff.
* Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op business" 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.
For a country-by-country listing of legally recognized business forms, see Types of business entity.
Classifications
Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business.[citation needed]
Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business.[citation needed]
There are many types of businesses, and, as a result, businesses are classified in many ways. One of the most common focuses on the primary profit-generating activities of a business:
* 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.
* Service businesses offer intangible goods or services and typically generate a profit by charging for labor or other services provided to government, other businesses or consumers. Organizations ranging from house decorators to consulting firms to restaurants and even to entertainers are types of service businesses.
* 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
* Agriculture and mining businesses are concerned with the production of raw material, such as plants or minerals.
* Financial businesses include banks and other companies that generate profit through investment and management of capital.
* Information businesses generate profits primarily from the resale of intellectual property and include movie studios, publishers and packaged software companies.
* Utilities produce public services, such as heat, electricity, or sewage treatment, and are usually government chartered.
* Real estate businesses generate profit from the selling, renting, and development of properties, homes, and buildings.
* Transportation businesses deliver goods and individuals from location to location, generating a profit on the transportation costs
There are many other divisions and subdivisions of businesses. The authoritative list of business 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
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)
Advertisement of Victoria's Secret. Advertisement is an important aspect of business.
Advertisement of Victoria's Secret. Advertisement is an important aspect of business.
Most businesses 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[1]
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 business' 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 business' products or services, and positioning them within the market
Sales
finding likely purchasers and obtaining their agreement (known as a contract) to buy the business' 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 business. Sometimes organized as:
Strategic sourcing
determines the business' needs and plans for acquiring the necessary raw materials and services for the business
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 business' 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 business regardless of their functional role.
Management
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (August 2007)
The study of the efficient and effective operation of a business 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 business intelligence.
Government regulation
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Please improve this article if you can. (August 2007)
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The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
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The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street, London, England.
The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street, London, England.
Most legal jurisdictions specify the forms of ownership that a business can take, creating a body of commercial law for each type.
Organizing a business
The major factors affecting how a business is organized are usually:
* The size and scope of the business, and its anticipated management and ownership. Generally a smaller business is more flexible, while larger businesses, or those with wider ownership or more formal structures, will usually tend to be organized as partnerships or (more commonly) corporations. In addition a business 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 businesses are different from government owned bodies. In some countries, certain businesses are legally obliged to be organized certain ways.
* Limited liability. Corporations, limited liability partnerships, and other specific types of business organizations protect their owners from business failure by doing business under a separate legal entity with certain legal protections. In contrast, unincorporated businesses 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 business 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 businesses 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 business does not succeed.
Where two or more individuals own a business 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 business 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 business include:
1. General partners in a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), plus anyone who personally owns and operates a business without creating a separate legal entity, are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business.
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 business 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 businesses, 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 businesses, 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 business without regard to the type of business involved.
Some businesses 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 businesses in unexpected ways.
Capital
When businesses 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 business 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.
Business 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 business today. In fact, these laws have become so numerous and complex, that no business 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
Businesses 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 businesses 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 business 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
Businesses can be bought and sold. Business owners often refer to their plan of disposing of the business as an "exit plan." Common exit plans include IPOs, MBOs and mergers with other businesses.
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