Introduction

I have been asked to create a report of four existing businesses, including the different scales,
sizes and ownership types that they have and how they are classified (primary, secondary, tertiary).

My chosen four organisations:

1. Amazon - The purpose of the global business amazon is to serve customers online and focus on
the best products, prices and conveniences. The other purpose of the business is to make a
profit off the retailing, services and the overall product sales, (most of the revenue comes from
the product sales). They aim to find the desires of the consumers by using technology to raise
the customer experience and help them find what they want and need. Amazon is a public
limited company meaning that ownership is based upon shares. The people who hold the shares
are called shareholders. Since Amazon is a public ltd, that means they can offer shares to the
public and sell them to anyone. Amazon for example is managed by the Directors and owned by
their shareholders. Amazon is a large company with 1,335,000 employees throughout the world.
The business is so big it is the largest retail company in the world. They provide services and
products worldwide, which makes them a global company. Amazon is classified in the tertiary
sector as it is a retail company that sells goods to customers. The current highest shareholders in
the company as of now is Jeff Bezos, Andrew Jassy and Jeffrey Blackburn

2. Walmart – The business purpose of the national business Walmart is helping people worldwide,
saving money and living better, at any time, or anywhere. The purpose of the organisation is to
work together to lower the cost of living for everyone and earn profit by retailing while doing so.
Walmart is a public limited company like Amazon. Walmart is also managed by the directors and
owned by their shareholders. It is a large company with an estimated 2.2 million employees
throughout the world, Walmart used to be the largest retailing company until Amazon
surpassed them. Walmart is a international company providing services and products in 24
different countries. Walmart is classified in the tertiary sector too as it is also a retail company
that sells goods to customers.

3. McDonalds – The purpose of the global number one leading food chain, McDonalds is to serve
quality food for great value in a friendly environment around the world. McDonalds is a public
limited company like the other 2 but it operates in the food chain industry, it is the largest food
chain restaurant in the whole world with an estimated 210,000 employees. Not only that but it
also operates globally, making it a global company. McDonalds is classified in all 3 sectors
because they produce their own meat and manufacture it just for McDonalds as well as serving
food and drinks to the customers.
 4. Adidas – The purpose of the global Adidas is to sell the best sports and fitness products in the
world, and to offer the best service and customer experience in a sustainable way. The aim of
the business is to change the lives of everyone that’s into any kind of sports by providing high
quality products such as shoes, clothes and anything sports related. Adidas is a public limited
company, and it operates in the clothing/footwear industry. It is the second largest apparel
company with an estimated of 62,285 employees. The company is worldwide, making it a global
company. Adidas is classified in the tertiary sectors because they sell shoes/clothing to the
customers, which is retailing.

Advantages of a Public Ltd Company:

The advantages of being a public ltd business is that capital can be used to pay off debts, the company
can raise capital through share sales and the shareholders have limited liability.

Disadvantages of a Public Ltd Company:

The disadvantages of being a public ltd business is that anyone can buy shares of a company including
rivals, it is expensive to set up, shareholders could argue about making decisions for the business.

Business Classification:

There are different types of business classifications, there is the primary sector, secondary sector and
the tertiary sector. The primary sector mainly focuses on gathering raw materials from nature and which
will be used to manufacture products. The secondary sector refers to the manufacturing process in
which the gathered materials are manufactured. The tertiary sector refers to when the finished product
is sold to a business and then sold to the customers (retailing).

Task 4: Analyse the possible reasons why a Sole Trader might become either a Partnership or a Private
Limited Company.

There are different reasons as to why one would switch their ownership structure. It could be because
they are in need of funds to continue operating the business and support/assistance
when making decisions for the company. Many companies decide to switch their sole
trading structures because they might be afraid of the risks of getting in debt. It could be
because they want to generate more revenue and need the expertise of investors to do
so. It could be because they pay less personal tax than a sole trader.