Topic Four (1.4): Business Structures
Introduction
Businesses can be classified based on what stage of the chain of production they operate at, known as the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. In this topic, you will learn that businesses can be classified based on whether the business is owned wholly by a government (public sector) or owned by private individuals (private sector). You will also explore the different business structures and consider why some of them have limited liability and why this is seen as good for the business owners.
Read and Make Notes
Read Chapter 2 (pages 18 to 29) in your textbook and make notes under the following headings:
- Economic sectors;
- Changes in relative importance of economic sectors;
- Public and private sector of the economy;
- Sole trader;
- Partnership;
- Limited companies;
- Private limited companies;
- Public limited companies;
- Legal formalities in setting up a company;
- Cooperatives;
- Franchises;
- Joint ventures;
- Social enterprise;
- Changing the form of business ownership.
Tasks
- Read this topic sheet and complete the task:
READ & COMPLETE – Topic Sheet 1.4 Business Structures Download READ & COMPLETE – Topic Sheet 1.4 Business Structures
- Now explore the following resources and add to your notes:
EXPLORE – Sole Traders and Partnerships (Revision World) Links to an external site.
EXPLORE – The Different Legal Structures of Businesses (S-cool) Links to an external site.
EXPLORE – How A Holding Company Works (Joshua Kennon) Links to an external site.
- Watch these videos and add to your notes as required:
WATCH – Different Forms of Business (Introduction) (Tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Limited and Unlimited Liability (Tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Private and Public Sector Organisations (Tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Joint Ventures (Tutor2u) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Social Enterprise 101 (YouTube) Links to an external site.
Activities in the Book
- Complete Activities 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6 in Chapter 2 of your textbook.
- Suggested answers can be found in the digital textbook and in General Resources.
Consolidate
- The following resources will help draw together what you have learnt so far. Explore them and add to your notes:
- Now try the exam-style practice questions on pages 30 to 31 in the textbook.
- Suggested answers can be found in the digital textbook and in General Resources.
Terminology
- Write down (in your own words) definitions of all the key terms from Chapter 2.
- Tick off these terms on your glossary.
- A helpful tip is to make flashcards for key terms as you go along, with the word on one side and the definition on the other. This makes revision later on much easier.