13. Business and businesses

The economic system is made up of people with basic needs that they must satisfy to survive. As most people cannot produce all the goods and services they need, we depend on other persons or businesses to make them for our consumption. Business is the activity of producing, buying and selling goods and services. A business organization is a firm, a company or a business that makes, buys or sells goods, or provides services, to make a profit.

Businesses vary in size. Large companies are referred to as corporations. Many consider the corporation the ideal way to organize business. Large companies operating in many countries are multinationals. Small companies are referred to as small businesses or small firms.

When we start a business we talk about setting up a business or establishing a business. New businesses are called start-ups. Once a business has been established we talk about being in business or running a business.

To do business means to trade or deal with a company or country. It's not easy to organize a business and to operate it successfully. When a company is not successful, it may go out of business.

Business may be classified according to which industry they are in: for example, construction, oil, banking, food.

All the companies which make goods from raw materials or assemble components into finished products work in the manufacturing sector. All the companies which provide services in areas such as tourism, banking and finance, communications, wholesale and retail trade work in the service sector .

Besides, a company may be owned by the state, or by private individuals. Privately – owned and – run companies work in the private sector. A private enterprise is a system that allows individuals within a society to pursue their own interest without government regulation or restriction. State- owned and – run organizations are in the public sector .When a private company is bought by the state and brought into public sector, it is nationalized in a process of nationalization.

When the state returns a company to the private sector in a sell-off, it is privatized. The first to be sold off in a privatization program are often the companies responsible for the public supply of electricity, water and gas: the utilities.

The economic situation, as well as decisions taken by the owners of a company, affects how it grows and changes. You may expand your business, specialize in something, you may also diversify' your business.

14. People and organization

Work plays a major part in most people's lives. People of all sorts work in business, and the terms businessman and businesswoman reflect this, referring to a wide range of individuals, from the rich and famous to small company owners, from people in large organizations to those who work for themselves.

Many people choose to be self-employed (to have their own business) or to work freelance for several employers. An entrepreneur is someone who starts their own company.

As the labour market becomes more flexible, many employers respond by increasing the number of fixed-term contracts and part-time workers. We can also speak about permanent or temporary job.

In large organizations, administration of people is done by the personnel department, although this expression is now sometimes rejected. Companies talk instead about their human resources or HR.

The Human Resources department of a company is responsible for planning, recruitment of new people, staff training and development, staff appraisal, welfare, pensions administration and industrial relations. It works to ensure that the right people are available to meet the company's needs. Some companies move their workers regularly between teams or departments. This is called job rotation.

An employer is a person or company that provides job. Boss is an informal word meaning "someone in authority" for example an employer or owner of a company, or simply someone in a superior position.

The person who runs a specific part of an organization is called a manager. An executive is usually a manager at quite a high level. People at the head of an organization, are senior executives, top executives or top managers.

People working for a company are referred to as its workforce, employees, staff or personnel and are on its payroll. Payroll is the list of all the people employed by a company, and the amount of money paid to each of them. The payroll is usually divided into monthly-paid staff, weekly-paid staff and hourly-paid staff.

Professionals or people who perform various office jobs are white-collar workers, while manual workers in factories, on building sites, etc. are called blue-collar workers. Someone who works with you in your job is a colleague (sometimes called a co-worker).