The Business World

Business:
1. the buying and selling of goods for profit; trade; commerce.
2. a person or corporation that buys and sells goods.
3. a store, office, etc., where trade is carried on.
4. amount or volume of trade.

Company, enterprise, firm, business are used equally to refer to any group of people joined together to
accomplish the same goal.

Company:
1. a number of individuals associated together.

2. association.

3. a number of persons united for joint action, esp. for business.

Corporation:

1. an association of individuals, created by law and having an existence apart from that of its members.

2. a large business organization formed this way.

Enterprise:

1. a company organized for commercial purposes; business firm.

2. a project undertaken or to be undertaken, esp. one that is important or difficult or that requires boldness
or energy.

Firm:

1. commercial company; business.

2. legal association formed by partners and concentrated on business or professional goals.

Joint venture:

1. a business enterprise in which two or more companies enter a temporary partnership.

2. business association where partners share risk capital and profits according to what has been agreed.

Multinational:

1. a large corporation with operations and branches in several countries.

2. a large corporation with operations and subsidiaries in several countries.

A subsidiary is a separate legal entity that is fully or partially held by another company, while a branch is just an
extension of the parent company (a company that owns a controlling interest in one or more companies and
owns more than half the shares of a company). The branch reports to the head office, while the subsidiary will
report to the holding company (like a parent company, a holding company controls other companies through
stock ownership but that usually does not engage directly in their productive operations).

Cooperative:
1. a jointly owned business operated by its members for their own benefit.
2. a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of
services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers or farmers.