Vocabulary
to attempt – to make an effort, to try to do smth, esp. without succeeding
prediction – an act of seeing or describing a future in advance as a result of knowledge, experience, thought
to form – to make or produce combining parts
to compare (with) – to show similarity between one thing and another
allocation – an act of setting apart for a particular purpose
to satisfy – to be or give enough for, fulfil a need or desire
to renounce – fml. to give up (the claim), to say formally that one has no more connection with
to assume – to believe to be true without having proof that it is
utility – usefulness
value – the worth of smth in money or as compared with other goods for which it may be exchanged
cost – the amount of money paid or needed for buying, doing or producing smth
benefit – anything that brings help, advantage or profit
bargain – an agreement between people to do smth in return
normative (economics) – the branch of economics, dealt with the analysis of whether this or that economic phenomenon is good or bad
positive (economics) – the branch of economics dealt with the analysis of real economic processes and their real interrelation
Exercise 1. Find the Russian equivalents to the following words:
Positive economics, normative economics, multitude, renunciation, non-chosen opportunity, to refer to the facts, quality of goods desired, means of satisfying his needs, follow the problem of production, transformation of the natural resources into, in the first / second case.
Exercise 2. Translate into English:
Координационные механизмы, требовать, осуществление (выполнение), определять, неограниченные и конкурсные сферы использования, частичное удовлетворение, ограниченные ресурсы, увеличивать до предела, производство, рассматривать вопрос во всех аспектах, пользоваться спросом, отрасль, методологический подход.
Exercise 4. Translate into English:
Основные экономические проблемы – это проблемы, присущие любому обществу, независимо от его политической, экономической и интеллектуальной развитости. Их решение требует ответа на вопросы – Что? Как? Кто? Для кого? будем производить.
Основные экономические проблемы решаются по-разному каждым обществом во всём мире.
Нередко можно слышать, что экономика России находится в упадке. Однако есть некоторые факторы, показывающие, что наша страна показала сравнительно неплохие результаты за последнее время.
Европейская экономика находится в состоянии застоя. Если цены на такие природные ресурсы как нефть останутся высокими, потребуется много времени на её оживление.
ОПЕК объявила о повышении цен на нефть, что может негативно сказаться на экономике США.
На саммите должны присутствовать президенты многих стран. Они обсудят основные экономические проблемы.
США придётся обеспечить порядок и мир в Ираке. Экономика этой страны находится в полном упадке.
Распределение доходов может быть решено по-разному: отдать предпочтение внешности, проворности, интеллекту, способностям или с помощью проверки нуждаемости.
Part 2. Forms of business organization.
Read and translate the text:
At the beginning of the 1980s there were many public corporations in the United Kingdom. They included British Coal, British Steel, the Post Office, British Telecom, the British Airports Authorities, British Rail and some others. They were nationalized mostly by Labour governments for political reasons, reflecting a desire to control and plan the economy in detail and in belief in the "rightness" of public ownership as an ideal. Some corporations became public to be rescued from bankruptcy. Thus the governments saved thousands of jobs in those firms, so the taxpayer was saved from paying out large sums to unemployed people. Very many public corporations later became private again. But some others are still publicly owned. In 1982 when British Coal was nationalized, all the mines went into public ownership. Then most mines were closed in the town as low-profit making. But some of the mines are still operating. To avoid a high rate of unemployment in such places now there has developed a lot of modern industry: HJ Heinz have been here for many years canning baked beans, soup and so on. Also there's an ICI factory, GKN the engineering group, and Nabisco making biscuits and breakfast cereals, and GUS, the Europe's largest mail order house.
Industry analysis provides the manager with summary descriptions of competition that are useful for strategic decision making. The manager attempts to define the relevant markets that the company is serving. Then, the manager attempts to characterize the extent of competition. New competitors arise in many ways. Start-ups and local competitors expand and become regional, national or global competitors. They also arise or change fundamentally as a consequence of innovation. Market definition is a difficult process that is closely related to defining the nature of the company's business. Most businesses in the United Kingdom operate in one of the following ways: sole proprietorship / trader, partnership, limited liability company, branch of a foreign company.
The sole proprietorship is the oldest form of business. There are many one-man owners, for example: a farmer, doctor, solicitor, estate agent, garage man, jobber, builder, hairdresser etc.
The partnership is a firm where there are a few partners. They are firms of solicitors, architects, auditors, management consultants etc. The names of all the partners of the firm are printed on the stationery of a partnership.
The most common type of company in the United Kingdom is the limited liability company. At the end of the name of such a company the word Ltd. is used. For example: Wilson and Son Ltd. Many of such companies are joint-stock companies owned by shareholders.
Limited liability companies are divided into public and private ones. Only public companies may offer shares to the public at the stock exchange. The names of such companies end in p.l.c. which stands for public limited company, for instance, ‘John and Michael p.l.c’. Private limited companies may not offer shares to the public. The names of such companies end simply in Ltd.
A branch of a foreign company is a part of a company incorporated outside Great Britain but acting under the law of the UK. Usually these companies act in the UK under their normal foreign names. All partnerships and companies are regulated by the law of the UK or by Acts of Parliament, and are to be registered with the Registrar of companies. In order to be registered they are to deliver a few documents, namely: a certified copy of the company's charter, statute, memorandum and others. When a company is registered a certificate of incorporation is issued by the Registrar.
Businesses in the USA may be organized as one of the following forms: individual business, general partnership, limited partnership, corporation, alien corporation.
An individual business is owned by one person.
A general partnership has got several owners. They all are liable for debts and they share in the profits. Depending on the extent of commitment of the partners partnerships can take many forms. Companies can enter into informal strategic alliances, explicit long-term contract, or joint ventures. Informal purchasing agreements allow firms to form and dissolve partnerships quickly in response to changing market conditions. The partners avoid some of the costly negotiations required to form formal contracts and the potential costs of unwinding the agreement. Informal agreements have the disadvantage that the partners often need to renegotiate as market conditions vary. Informal agreements can be stepping-stones to longer-term relationships between companies.
Joint ventures are separate organizational units formed by two or more firms. The partners to a joint venture can be any types of firm, from small entrepreneurial businesses to multinational corporations. The joint venture can be directed at practically any business activity. What can make a joint venture an attractive alternative to full vertical integration is that the partners share the total costs of distribution, manufacturing, procurement, or other activities.
In a competitive environment, companies sometimes form large-scale alliances with protective partners. Companies form alliances to construct networks, sharing the costs of providing network services and assuring interconnection. Network alliances exist in telecommunications, Internet transmission, airlines, rail and trucking. Companies also form partnerships to negotiate and promote technology standards in such industries as computer hardware and software, product labeling, and broadcast communications.
Airlines create networks through strategic alliances – there are over 500 airline alliances in operation. For example, the Star Alliance includes United Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Air Canada, Asett Australia, Air New Zealand, Thai Airways International, VARIG, and all Nippon Airways. Passengers benefit because they can put together a trip on multiple airlines with greater ease of making connections and take advantage of shared airline amenities such as lounges in airports for business travelers. The airlines benefit because they can feed passengers to each other's route, thus creating a global system. The Star Alliance advertises that it is ''the airline network for Earth" with over 210,000 employees and flights to 720 destinations in 110 countries.
A limited partnership has got at least one general owner and one or more other owners. They have only a limited investment and a limited liability.
A corporation is owned by persons, called stockholders. The stockholders usually have certificates showing the number of shares which they own. The stockholders elect a director or directors to operate the corporation. Most corporations are closed corporations, with only a few stockholders. Other corporations are owned by many stockholders who buy and sell their shares at will. Usually they have little interest in management of the corporations. Alien corporations are corporations of foreign countries.
All the corporations are to receive their charters from the state authorities. The charters state all the powers of the corporation. Many corporations try to receive their charters from the authorities of the State of Delaware, though they operate in other states. They prefer the State of Delaware because the laws are liberal there and the taxation is rather low. Such corporations, which receive their charters from an outside state, are called foreign corporations. All the corporations are required to get certificate to do business in the state where they prefer to operate.
There are several relationships that may grow up between business in Great Britain and the United States of America. 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% 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 takeovers 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 thanks to information 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.