Organizations – Vocabulary and Phrases
corporation – A business organization owned by a group of stockholders, each of whom enjoys limited liability (that is, each can be held responsible for losses only up to the limit of his or her investment). A corporation has the ability to raise capital by selling stock to the public.
The most important aspect of a corporation is limited liability. That is, shareholders have the right to participate in the profits, through dividends and/or the appreciation of stock, but are not held personally liable for the company's debts.
corporate culture – Corporate culture comprises the attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.
Senior management may try to determine a corporate culture. They may wish to impose corporate values and standards of behaviour that specifically reflect the objectives of the organization.
corporate ladder – the hierarchical order of position, title, or rank, as in a large corporation
This workshop is on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder Effectively. It takes more than just working longer, harder and smarter.
corporate headquarters – the chief administrative office of a corporation
Genzyme Centre, the corporate headquarters for Genzyme Corporation, received the highest rating issued by the US Green Building Council.
commerce – an interchange of goods or commodities, esp. on a large scale between different countries (foreigncommerce) or between different parts of the same country (domestic commerce); trade; business.
chamber of commerce – an association, primarily of people in business, to promote the commercial interests of an area.
commercial disaster – a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great commercial loss, damage, or hardship
Agencies should seek commercial disaster recovery solutions rather than dividing their work load into multiple sites for the purpose of disaster recovery, unless (l) each site meets the minimal target size, and (2) the combined capital and operating costs, less the costs of commercial disaster recovery, is less than the single site operation.
state-owned company – a company owned by a state
The state requires a state-owned company to operate profitably and to make a net profit.
to nationalize – to bring under the ownership or control of a nation, as industries and land
President Hugo Chávez plans to nationalize Venezuela's entire energy sector.
to privatize – to transfer from public or government control or ownership to private enterprise
The oil industry has been privatized.
a mutual – a mutual fund: an investment company that issues shares continuously and is obligated to repurchase them from shareholders on demand
It has been shown in study after study that a majority of mutual funds fail to beat the market.
non-profit organizations – A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", or "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes, without concern for monetary profit. NPOs are active in a wide range of areas, including the environment, the arts, social issues, charities, early childhood education, health care, politics, religion, research, sports or other endeavours.
Most countries have laws which regulate the establishment and management of NPOs, and which require compliance with corporate governance regimes.
charity – a charitable fund, foundation, or institution
He left his estate to a charity.
private limited company (Ltd or Inc) – a company owned by its shareholders and limited by shares
public limited company (PLC) – a type of limited company whose shares may be offered for sale to the public.
unlimited partnership – An unlimited partnership company is the choice when the business is to be run together with someone else. In an unlimited partnership company all the partners, two persons or more, are responsible for the company’s liabilities.
limited partnership – A limited partnership company can be established by at least one ordinary and one sleeping partner. The number of sleeping partners can be great since they do not take part in decision-making. Both natural and juridical persons can act as ordinary and sleeping partners.
sleeping partner – A partner in a trade, or shop, who lends his name and money, for which he receives a share of the profit, without doing any part of the business.
annual general meeting – An Annual General Meeting (commonly abbreviated as AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public (including companies with shareholders), are often required by law (or the constitution, charter etc. governing the body) to hold.
An AGM is generally held every year to inform their members of previous and future activities.
hot-desking – Hot desking originates from the definition of being the temporary physical occupation of a work station or surface by a particular employee. This work surface could be an actual desk or just a terminal link. In any event the concept of the hot desk is that the employer furnishes a permanent work surface which is available to any worker as and when needed. There is no personal domain pertaining to a particular worker and physical facilities are employed as and when needed.
home working – working from home
For staff who want to work from home, making sure they can work as effectively there as when they are in the office demands good communications.
outsourcing – refers to the delegation of non-core operations from internal production to an external entity specializing in the management of that operation. Outsourcing is utilizing experts from outside the entity to perform specific tasks that the entity once perform itself.
The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of labour, capital, technology and resources.
to contract out – to assign a job to someone outside one's own business
The Employer may contract out work normally performed by members of the bargaining unit.
open plan office – an open plan office is made up of one main room with tens or hundreds of people working in the same space
An effective open-plan office must provide environmental satisfaction for its occupants as well as meeting an organization's budgetary requirements.
board member – a member of a governing board
The seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. A full term is fourteen years.
colleagues – a person with whom one is associated in a profession or occupation
head of (distribution) – a chief, boss
line manager – a person managing the affairs of a some group of people (especially the group's business affairs)
managing director – someone who controls resources and expenditures
logistics – the planning, implementation, and coordination of the details of a business or other operation.
procurement – Procurement is the acquisition of goods and/or services at the best possible total cost of ownership, in the right quantity and quality, at the right time, in the right place for the direct benefit or use of governments, corporations, or individuals, generally via a contract.
to handle complaints – to deal with, solve complaints
We hope you found this article useful and invite readers to provide feedback (via email) on how your organization handles customer complaints and which practices are most prevalent in your organization.
to deal with problems – to do something about problems
The seminar is on how to deal with problems about insurance.
to run sth – to be in charge of something
I run the reception desk.