Gross domestic product (gdp)

GDP is the amount of money a country makes from goods and services inside the country for a certain period of time, usually for a year. When GDP is calculated different sectors of the economy are analyzed.

In the United Kingdom the following sectors of economy are usually analyzed: manufacturing, services (financial, professional and scientific services, leisure and tourism), energy (oil, natural gas, coal) and agriculture. In the USA the following sectors of economy are usually analyzed when the GDP is defined: construction and manufacturing; trade and finance; transport, communication and services; agriculture and mining.

As an example, quoting a recent year's GDP figures, the following can be: In the UK the services sector accounted for roughly 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, Manufacturing sector accounted for small percentage of the Gross Domestic Product. Energy production sector accounted for 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Agriculture - only 4 per cent of GDP. But the agricultural sector satisfies two-thirds of the country's needs. Only a small fraction of the total population, about 2 per cent, are engaged in agriculture.

In the USA the construction and manufacturing sectors accounted for 40 per cent of GDP; trade and finance earned 25 per cent of GDP; transport, communication and services sector earned 20 per cent of GDP; agriculture and mining earned 5 per cent of GDP. In the USA 10 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture.

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Takeovers and mergers

There are several relationships that may grow up between business in UK and the United States of America. They are as follows:

• takeovers,

• mergers,

• amalgamation,

• integration,

• combination,

• absorption

No agreement has been reached among financial experts as to the precise difference in meaning between the terms. The most popular are takeovers and mergers. In a takeover one company buys a controlling interest in another company by acquiring at least 51 per cent of its shares. The company does this by making a direct approach to the company's shareholders for their shares. The company intending to take over will not necessarily consult the company it is taking over.

The Stock Exchange Council in London has drawn up a code of practice to regulate taking over to prevent some abuses. One such abuse is secret dealing when a company wishes to take over secretly and buys its shares secretly. Another abuse is insider dealing where confidential information is used for personal profit.

With a merger, two or more companies involved will consult with each other previously. They try to make a certain agreement on their merger to the satisfaction of both companies.

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Management

As a rule a private company has only one director. A public company must have at least two directors. Usually there is no upper limit on the number of directors a public company may have. The company's notepaper may list either all or none of the names of its directors. A limited liability company or a corporation is headed by the board of directors elected by shareholders. The directors appoint one of their numbers to the position of a managing director to be in charge of the day-to day running of the company. In large organizations a general manager often assists managing director. Some companies also have assistant general managers. Many directors have deputies who are named deputy directors.

Directors may also be shareholders. They are responsible for the management of a company's affairs. They are not subject to any residence or nationality restrictions.

Big companies have many managers heading departments. They are all responsible to the managing director. Among various departmental managers the following can be mentioned:

• a sales manager

• a personal manager

• a chief manager

• a district manager

• a sales and marketing manager

• an industrial engineering manager.

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