ORGANIZATIONS 1 BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE

 

BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE 11. ORGANIZATIONS 1

 

A Business and businesses Business is the activity of producing, buying and selling goods and services. A business, company, firm or more formally, a concern, sells goods and services. Large companies considered together are referred to as big business. A company may be called an enterprise, especially to emphasize its risk-taking nature. B Commerce Commerce is used to refer to business: • in relation to other fields: ‘literature, politics and commerce’. • in relation to government departments that deal with business: the US Department of Commerce The adjective commercial describes money-making business activities: C Enterprise In 1970s Britain, there were state-owned or government-owned companies in many different industries such as car manufacturing and air travel. Some industries had been nationalized and were entirely state-owned, such as coal, electricity and telephone services. In the 1980s, the government believed that nationalized companies were bureaucratic and inefficient, and many of them were privatized and sold to investors. Enterprise is used in a positive way to talk about business, emphasizing the use of money to take risks. D Word combinations with ‘enterprise’ EXERCISES 11.1 Correct the mistakes using words and expressions from A opposite. 1. Before we employ people, we like to put them in job situations to see how they do the work and fit into the corporate ladder. 2. The company has built a grand corporate logo as a permanent symbol of its power. 3. Our stylish new corporate culture shows our wish to be seen as a more international airline. 11.2 Someone is talking about the word combinations in B opposite. Which are they referring to each time? 1. It carries passengers and goods, it’s not military. 2. It’s going to be used for offices and factories, not houses. 11.3 Use expressions from D opposite to complete this text. Margaret Thatcher often talked about the benefits of (1) _____________ _______________ or (2) _____________ _______________. She said that her achievement was to establish an (3) _____________ _______________ in Britain, an economy where people were encouraged to start their own companies and where it was acceptable to get rich through business, an (4) _____________ _______________.

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