3-The Structure of Firms and Internal Environment_思维导图模板

3-The Structure of Firms and Internal Environment

structure of firms

definition

Organisations exist to add value to inputs and create outputs that consumers will purchase

There are many different types of products, services and consumers

Therefore, different types of organisations exist to fulfill customers requirements, deal with differences in supply etc

classification for organizations

Size

Ownership

Legal form

Sole Trader (Not a legal form)

Most basic form of organisation

Not a legal form of organisation – the individual
and the organisation are indistinguishable

Individual is responsible financially and legally for
any debts, outstanding unfulfilled contracts etc.

Liability for the above is unlimited

If the business owes money and there is insufficient money in the business itself, then the private individual is liable

Very easy to establish

Difficult to know how many organisations
exist; in the UK, VAT (Value-Added Tax) returns are
used to measure the number

No obligation to file annual accounts

Sole trader can have employees (despite the name)

Many fail after a short time due to their
lack of management expertise and access
to financial resources

Examples – hairdressers, newsagents,
window cleaners

Partnerships

Two or more people combine resources and form a
partnership

In the UK, The Partnership Act 1890 defines a partnership as “the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a
business with a view to profit”

Contract exists between the two parties, terms include:

The amount of capital subscribed by each partner

How profits will be determined and allocated between
partners

Salary allocation for the partners

Procedure for dissolving the partnership

Prior to 2000, partnerships did not have a legal entity and therefore each partner had unlimited liability (as with the sole trader)

Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000

Allows limited liability to partnerships in
specific circumstances

Examples – solicitors, accountants etc.

Limited companies

Limited in this instance meaning that the owners no longer have unlimited liability for the debts of their companies

This is covered in the UK by the Companies Act 2006

In the US, these are known as
incorporated companies(股份有限公司）

Creating the limited company in the UK
Two legal documents required:

Memorandum of Association（公司章程、公会规约）

Name of the company – must end in Limited (for the UK)

A statement regarding the limited liability of the owners, including whether they would be responsible for any outstanding debts if the company was wound up

Objects clause（目的条约） – “this specifies the scope within which the company can exercise its separate legal personality”

Regulates the company’s association with the outside world

Articles of Association（公司章程）

Regulates the internal administration of the company

This includes elements such as

Issue and transfer of shares

Rights of shareholders

Meetings of members

Appointment of directors

Procedures for producing and auditing accounts

在英美法国家或地区，公司有两份章程性文件，即Memorandum of Association和Articles of Association，共同简称为M&AA，前者一般译为组织大纲，是公司注册时向政府注册机构提交的公司章程，其内容比较简单，通常只包括公司名称、公司组织形式、公司注册地址、股份数额、股票种类等基本信息，有些国家只需公示这份文件，后者一般译为章程，主要规定公司的治理规则，侧重于公司内部规章。

Company administration

All companies have directors（董事） who are selected by the shareholders to run the company

All companies must have a secretary who is responsible for specific tasks including filing reports and accounts with the Register of Companies

Shareholders（股东）

Own the company, therefore can exercise control over it

Company reports and accounts

The annual report has to be produced

All companies that have a share capital must make a return to the Register of Companies

This includes an audited Balance Sheet（经审计的资产负债表）and Profit and Loss account（损益账户） that gives a true representation of the transactions（交易） for that year

Liquidation and receivership (清算和接管）

Liquidation - ”termination of a business operation by using its assets to discharge its liabilities”

清算-以其资产清偿负债终止业务

Receivership（破产接管） – “a court action that places property under the control of a receiver during litigation（法律诉讼） so that it can be preserved for the benefit of all”

the state of property that is in the hands of a receiver; "the business is in receivership"

Public Limited Companies (PLC)

definition

Must have a minimum share capital of £50,000, compared to £100 of a private limited company

Must have a minimum of two directors

A PLC can offer its shares and debentures（公司债券)to the public

Advantages

Can quickly gather a large amount of capital (finance) from the public which is conducive (helpful) to the growth of the company

Company’s shares can be freely transferred after the listing on the Stock Exchange (listing on the Stock Exchange means that the Stock Exchange has approved the company based on financial and other data provided that it can trade its shares. Any person can purchase these shares and they can be transferred to other people or / and companies)

Disadvantages

The company's ability to resist risks (market – e.g.competition, change of customer preferences etc.) is poor because most of the time the majority of shareholders lack a sense of responsibility. This is improving but only on a small scale

Large shareholders – because they hold many shares, their voting influence is so strong that the smaller shareholders power is very small / weak

The company's trade secrets are easily exposed compared
to a private company because the rules of the Stock
Exchange are that any changes to the company must be
made public for the benefit of all shareholders

quangos(半官方机构）

The UK government's definition in 1997 of a quango was: A body which has a role in the processes of national government, but is not a government department or part of one, and which accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arm's length from Ministers.

In effect it is a semi-public administrative body outside the civil service / public sector but receiving financial support from the government, which makes senior appointments to it.

They are supposed to do some practical job better than a government department could e.g. One UK example is the Forestry Commission, which is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in England.

Commercial and quasi-commercial（类商业）
organisations operating in the public sector

State-owned Enterprises (SOEs):（国有企业）

Often referred to as nationalised industries（国有化企业）

Most countries have a state-owned industry sector

In the UK, the majority have been privatised（私有化）

e.g. telecommunications（电信）, public utility providers（公共事业供应商） such as power（电力）, water, train services etc.

Co-operative societies（合作协会）

Date back to the 19th century in the UK

Aim was to provide cheap food to their members and to share any profits

Can be producer based or retail based

Largest in the UK – The Co-operative Group

Areas include food (largest sector), insurance and banking – The Co-operative Bank (which will be covered in Topic 11– Corporate Responsibility)

Charities and voluntary organisations

In the UK, charities are registered with the Registrar of Charities

Main purpose is to

provide charitable support for various groups in society (e.g. Red Cross, Oxfam) or to

invest in research e.g. Cancer Research or British Heart Foundation

However, the organisation of these charities can be
complex due to their dual roles of both raising money and distributing aid/funding

Employees often work as volunteers and do not receive any financial reward

franchise organisations
（特许经营组织）

Franchisor （授予特许者）

owns the franchise brand name, usually a public or private limited company

Franchisee （特许经营人）

buys the right to use the franchise from the franchiser (more likely to be a sole trader)

Examples

Domino’s Pizza, Bodyshop, McDonald’s

franchise指特许经营权，是一种权利。franchisee指特许经营者，被授予特许经营权的人，可以理解为“加盟店”。franchiser和franchisor是一样的意思，只是拼写不同，指“能够授予他人特许经营权的人或组织”。简单来说，franchise是一种权利，franchisee是权利的被授予者，franchise是授予他人权利的人/组织

Industry sector

internal environment

definition

The relationship between the external environment (covered in topic 2) and the internal environment is key to the way an organisation functions

Management within organisations needs to be aware of the implications of changes in their external environment and how these can be utilised internally, based on the resources they have available to them

Organisation charts and
organisational structures

Worthington states that, whichever organisational
structure is chosen, the following should be achieved

Achieve efficiency in the utilisation of resources

Provide opportunities for monitoring organisational performance

Ensure the accountability(责任） of individuals

Guarantee co-ordination（合作） between the different parts of the enterprise

Provide an efficient and effective means of organisational communication

Create job satisfaction, including opportunities for progression

Adapt to changing circumstances brought about by internal or external developments

Organisation Chart：“defines the formal pattern of role relationships and the interactions between roles and individuals occupying those roles”

Worthington classifies individual authority relationships(个人权威关系） into the following categories:

Line relationships（垂直管辖关系）

Occur when authority flows vertically downward through the structure from superior to subordinate (e.g. managers-section leader-staff)

Staff relationships are created when senior personnel appoint assistants who normally have no authority over other staff but act as an extension of their superior

Functional relationships（职能关系）

Functional relationships are those between specialists (or advisors) and line managers and their subordinates (e.g. when a specialist provides a common service throughout the organisation but
has no authority over the users of the service). E.g.. Personnel or IT

Lateral relationships（横向关系）

Lateral relationships exist across the organisations, particularly between individuals occupying equivalent positions within different departments or sections (e.g. committees, heads of departments, section leaders)

group

Grouping by organisational activities

Functional organisation – focused around the functional activities

By product or service – certain groups and individuals are
responsible for certain product lines

Divisional structure(部门结构） – an organisation is split into individual divisions that are self-contained

Possibly each division containing its own functional areas

functional areas

definition

“The functional areas of finance, operations management, HRM etc. and the individuals who are allocated to them, are central to the process of transforming organisational inputs into output.

The management of these functions and of the relationships between them will be a key factor in the success of the enterprise and in its ability to respond to external demands for change“

marketing（市场营销）

“Social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others”

operations management (运营管理）

“Operations is concerned with the transformation of a variety of inputs such as information, people, materials, finance and methods into a variety of outputs such as goods, services, profit, customer and employee satisfaction”

finance & accounting

Raising, controlling management and reporting of
all financial aspects of an organisation

Split into 3 key areas

Financial management

Management accounting

Financial reporting

(note implication – is mainly for larger companies, Private and public limited companies)

human resource
management (HRM)

“Human Resource Management involves all management decisions and actions that affect the nature of the relationship between the organisation and its employees –its human resources”

research and development (R&D)(研究和开发）

“is the name given to the organisational function that is usually the focus for innovation within a firm. R&D can refer to an activity or the name of a specific department. Expenditure on R&D and the size of an R&D department have been used as measures of levels of innovative activity”

In-class Exercise

You just graduated from QMUL/BUPT and had a huge success
in selling your very first App on Apple’s App Store. You’re
enthusiastic now to set up your own software business.

Summarise the relative advantages and disadvantages of a
sole trader, and a limited company within the hi-tech sector
before deciding on the specific legal form you would like to
choose for your new business.

Advantages

Limited Companies

• Economies of scale

• Global reach

• Vertical hierarchy

• Stable market

Sole Traders

• Responsive, flexible

• Regional reach

• Flat structure

• Organic

• Simple

• Niche finding

Disadvantages

Limited Companies

• Financial requirements

• Human resources

• Relatively complex

• Mechanistic

Sole Traders

• Unlimited liability

• Restrictions in further development

• No clear division of labour

Wrap-Up

Remind students the wide range of other factors that can cause individuals to make different decisions when starting their own business (e.g. personal ambition, access to finance and desire to have full control of their own business)

3-The Structure of Firms and Internal Environment

模板简介

猜你喜欢

相关文章