CO-OPERATIVES: The word ‘co-operative’ refers to two types of business:
- Retail Co-operative Society-, which sells goods and services to the public.
- Co-operative- a group of people ‘clubbing’ together to produce goods or provide a service.
FRANCHISE: A franchise is the situation where an individual the franchisee-in equipment and training provided by a franchiser business such as McDonald’s. Franchise can be set up as a individual shops and can also be set up within department stores as separate small ‘department’. A franchise is also the right to sell another firm’s products.
MATCHES THE BUSINESS
NUMBER: 2
GUCCI- The Gucci Company is a Private Limited Company, which basically means that their shares are not available to the public. For a Private Limited Companies their shareholders are within the company. The shareholders are generally close friends or family members of the owner/ owners. The advantage for the Gucci Company in being a Private limited Company is that they have limited liability, which enables them not to loose more than they invest, but a disadvantage of this is unlike a sole trader or partnership the company is legally obliged to publish its accounts every year.
Articles Of Association- mean the details of the internal rules for a company. This basically means that the Gucci Company has made rules and regulations for the company in case the company was to fall or was to split up. Companies generally have an Article of Association so it will show proof of who in the company was to get a certain amount from the company.
Memorandum of Association- means the nature, purpose and structure of the company. This generally means that the Gucci Company had to have a Memorandum of Association- this is a reason being before the company can trade.
The Gucci Company also have a Certificate of Incorporation; this means that they are allowed to trade.
The Body Shop- The Body Shop is a Public Limited Company, which means that the company’s shares are available to the public. The directors generally run a public limited company. An advantage of being a Public limited Company is that it helps the company to expand and diversify. A disadvantage of this is that each particular shareholder has very little say in how the company is run, unless they have an awful lot of shares.
The Body Shop has a Certificate of Incorporation. This means that The Body Shop is allowed to trade, and to be allowed to trade the company had to have a Memorandum of Association, which means that the company have to have a purpose and structure for being. Shareholders own The Body Shop, but directors run the company.
SIMILARITIES/ DIFFERENCES
NUMBER: 3
PLC- the company shares are available for the public to buy, and plc’s are generally owned by large amount of people.
PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY- its shares are not available to the public, and private limited companies are generally smaller businesses than plc’s (normally owned by a smaller amount of people)
The ownership between The Body Shop and Gucci, are quite different
The differences are:
- Gucci is a private limited company, whilst The Body Shop is a PLC.
- Gucci is owned by smaller amount of people than the Body Shop.
- Family members or friends are generally Gucci directors. The Body Shop directors are not family; the stakeholders elect them.
SHARE PRICES
GUCCI- the current share price for the Gucci Company on the 26-09-03 is $34.03.
Some Executives of the Gucci Company
They are:
- Adrain D. Beliamy
- Domenico De Sole
- Robert Singer
- Patrizio Di Marco
- Tom Ford
- Mark Lee
- Chantel Roos
- Giacomo Santuci
- Patricia Barbizat
- Aureliano Benedetti
These are some of the members that are on the Board of Directors. These directors are the one who are responsible for all the decisions. With these decisions the business is able to up build their company.
The Body Shop- the current share price for The Body Shop on the 16-10-03 is 128.5p.
Some of the People on the Board of Director
They are:
- Norman R. Augustine
- Bruce L. Byrnes
- R. Kelly Clark
- Scott D. Cook
- W. James McNerney, JR.
- Johnathan A. Rodgers
- Ralph Snyderman, M.D.
- Robert D. Storey
- Domenico De Sole
These are some of the directors; they make the final say in all the decisions that are made and the shareholders at The Body Shop elect them.
To be a shareholder you would have to buy a share from the company. These shares enable you to own a part of that business.
LIABILITY AND UNLIABILITY
NUMBER: 5
Limited Liability: The Company is blamed for its debt not the owners.
Unlimited Liability: The owner/ owners are liable (they have to pay for the debts).
GUCCI & The Body Shop: Both Gucci and The Body Shop have limited liability, because the business has a separate legal entity from its shareholders. So the business is responsible for all its debts.
I think that every business should have limited liability because those businesses with unlimited liabilities when they go in debt the owners will have to pay for those debts. I think that it is unfair, because why should the owner be blamed for the failure of the business. I know that it is a part of taking responsibility for the business but the people who have to pay so many debts are going bankrupt. I think that every business should be able to get limited liability no matter the problem. I believe that it is only fair and it will cause less problems with some business owners who’s businesses are failing.
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BOOK: CGP GCSE Business Studies revision guide→Second Edition for 2005-2007 exams→EXAM BOARDS→ AQA, Edexcel, OCR→SECTION→ Business Ownership Structure →Page 4 (26/09/03)
