Unit 2 Forms of Business Ownership

Unit 2Forms of Business OwnershipTeacher: Class Profile: Estimated time: 180 minutes in 4 periods for teachingI ObjectivesStudents are able to: Know the characteristics of the three forms of business organization. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of them.II Content ArrangementPeriods 1-2: Reading APeriods 3-4: Reading B & CPeriod 5: Individual StudyPeriod 6: Simulated DrillIII Materials and Devices Needed1. Century Business English (Reading)2. Overhead projector3. ComputerIV Teaching ProceduresReading A-Sole ProprietorshipsI. Pre-reading activities 25 mins1. Explain the following problem: Are they sued to pay for the debt? ABC is owned by five persons, who are allowed to participate the firms management and share the profits or losses of the business. ABC has defaults on a payment to YZ Food Suppliers. YZ sues ABC and each of the owners of ABC personally for payment of the debt.2. Can you suggest some practical methods of running a business of sole proprietorship?3. Team work. Divide the class into two groups and discuss the topic “The advantages and disadvantages of a corporation”. II. Time-limited Reading 15 minsAsk the students to scan the entire passage twice, underline the difficult points and try to arrive at correct answers to these questions:1. Why would unlimited liability be considered as one of the biggest disadvantages to sole proprietorships?2. Why is the sole proprietorship the most popular form of business ownership?III. Key Points Explaining 30 mins1. Many people desire to be their own boss. A sole proprietorship accomplishes this goal. You can begin a word processing service out of your home, open a car repair center, start a restaurant, or go about meeting other wants and needs of your community. Many people want to be the boss of themselves. Running a sole proprietorship can make this dream come true. You can do some business such as word processing service, a car repair center, a restaurant, also, you can do anything to meet everyones need in your community.This is the beginning of a sole proprietorship.accomplish: v. achieve, complete完成, 达到, 实现e.g.No one knows how long it will take us to accomplish the task. 这个任务不知道要多少年才能完成。Theyll certainly accomplish somethimg. 他们会搞出名堂来的。2. You also get to keep the profits from the business and have the freedom to wind up your business whenever you want. As a sole proprietorship owner, you can keep all the profits and finish your business at any time.wind (sth) up: finish 结束e.g.It is time for you to wind up your affairs. 你该清理并结束自己的事务了Before I wind up, there are two more things to be said.在我结束讲话之前，还有两件事要说。3.He/She has unlimited liability. The owner of a sole proprietorship should be responsible for the business. Liability of general partners and sole proprietor owners of a company extending to their entire assets, including personal property. This contrasts with the limited liability of stockholders in a corporation, or the liability of limited partners in a joint venture, whose potential losses are limited to the extent of their investment.liability n. responsibility 责任, 义务, 倾向, 债务, 负债, 与assets相对e.g.A partnership may have unlimited liability as well as limited liability. 合营可以是无限责任也可以是有限责任。Yet they have unlimited liability and are responsible for all their business debts.但他们的责任是无限的，必须对其业务上的一切债务负责。4. The only way to transfer ownership of a sole proprietorship is to sell the entire business to someone else. Otherwise, the life of the business ends when the sole proprietor dies. If an owner of a sole proprietorship doesnt want to run the business but does hope others to be its owner, the only way is to sell it to others, if not, the business is over when he dies.transfer v. move, change hands, deliver 移动，转让，改变e.g.She has transferred to our Beijing branch. 她已调至我们在北京的分部。IV. Supplementary Information 15mins1. Sole Proprietorship(1) A sole proprietorship is a form of business that is owned by only one person. For most countries, the majority of businesses take this form of organization. Common examples include most restaurants, laundromats, beauty parlors, flower shops, news-stands and grocery stores. Sole proprietorships are typically small businesses. In the United States, there are approximately 11.7 million of them (70% of all businesses), but they account for only 6% of total business sales and 23% of total income. 2. Sole Proprietorship(2)The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) permits one exception to the “one sole owner” rule. If the spouse of a married sole proprietor works for the firm but is not classified as either a partner or an independent contractor, the business may still considered to be a sole proprietorship and forgo having to submit a partnership income tax return. Also, the sole proprietorship can avoid self-employment taxes.If the owners true name is used, such as “John Smith Auto Repair,” there is ordinarily no problem in selecting a name for the sole proprietorship. But care must be taken if a fictitious name is contemplated. The owner must register the name with the county to see whether the name duplicates that of another business. Even if it does not, the owner must submit a “doing business as (dba)” form to the county, or, in a few states, to the secretary of state.V.Case Study 20 mins1.In which way does Lester start his business? Do you find it easy to start your business as a sole proprietor?2.As a sole proprietor, how does Lester deal with his debt? What do you think of risks in running a sole-proprietorship business?3.Can you make a comparison of a sole proprietorship with a corporation?VI. AssignmentPeriods 3-4 Reading B &CI. Reading A Practices 10 mins.Comprehension-Tell whether each of the following statements is true or false. VocabularyTranslationeg. To a sole proprietor, there are very few government and legal regulations to comply with. The sole proprietor owns all the business assets, makes all the decisions, takes all the risks, and keeps all the profits of the business. The business itself pays no tax, but the owner must pay personal income taxes on his profits.Use overhead projector to check the work of some students or do peer-editing, i.e. ask students to check the work of fellow students.2. Reading B -Partnerships 30 mins.A.It involves the pooling of capital resources and business or professional talents of 2 or more individuals with the goal of making a profit.A partnership is a gather of money and professional experts. Its goal is to get profits.pool: v. put (money,resources,etc)into a common fund共享, 共有, 集中(钱、力量等),e.g.They pooled their savings and bought a house in the country.他们将各自的积蓄合在一起在乡下买了一幢房子。 If we pool our ideas, we may find a solution.我们集思广益就能找到解决办法。B. A partnership does not have to file public financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission or send out quarterly financial statements to several hundred thousand owners, as do corporations such as Eastman Kodak and Ford. Unlike Eastman Kodak and Ford, A parnership should not give a public financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its owners each quarter.file: v. send (sth) so that it may be recorded 送交（某物）以便备案e.g.They have files an application for citizenship. 他们已递交了居留申请书。C. Partners invest in the business, and profits earned by the business are distributed to the partners in the proportions. Partners put money in the business, and they get profits according to the sum of the money they put. proportion: n. comparative part or share of the whole比例, 部分e.g. The proportion of the population still speaking the dialect is very small. 只有少数居民仍使用这种方言。 What is the propotion of men to women in the population? 人口中男女的比例是多少？D. If the business fails, the partners will be personally responsible to pay all of the debts and obligations of the partnership. If the business fails, the partners should be responsible for that and pay the debts of the business, using his or her own property.obligation: n. law,moral pressure, promise, etc that forces one to do sth (法律、道义、承诺等的)义务、职责e.g. She is under an obligation to him because he lent her money. 因为他把钱借给她了，所以她有偿还他的义务。E. The partner who wished to continue in the business would be at a serious disadvantage. The business could be disrupted; financing would be reduced; and management skills might be lost with the departing partner. If other partners quit, the partner would get into trouble if he wants to continue the business, such as the bad business condition, less capital and poor management. disrupt: v. cause disorder 打乱，扰乱e.g. Demonstrators succeeded in disrupting the meeting.示威者扰乱了会议 Fog disrupted traffic.大雾使交通陷于混乱3. Reading C - Corporations 15minsA. The approval of a majority of the stockholders may be required for certain major decisions that affect business operations. However, professional managers actually run the everyday activities of a corporation. The running of a corporation depends on the decisition of the most stockholders, and the professional managers deal with the daily affairs of the corporation.approval: n. agree 赞成, 承认,e.g. He nodded approval.他点头表示赞成。Pragmatic policies win approval 务实策略赢得赞赏B. The board of directors has duty of hiring professional managers, and the owners delegate their power of operating the business to these managers. The board of directors must choose professional managers to manage the corporation, and the stockholders entrust the rights to them too.delegate: v. choose sb. to carry out (duties, a task,etc) 挑选或委派某人执行（职责、任务等）e.g.The new manager was delegated to reorganize the department. 派这位新经理重新组织该部门。C. Shareholders have the right to sell their shares of a corporations stock to whomever they please, barring a legal restriction on some closed corporations. Shareholders can sell their shares of a coporation freely. They can sell them to anyone they want. As to the close corporations, law has been made to impose limitation on them, that is, their stocks are not allowed to sell to the public. barring: prep. except不包括, 除非e.g.We shall return at midnight, barring accidents.除非有意外事故，我们将于午夜回来。Barring strong headwinds, the plane will arrive on schedule.如果不是猛烈的顶头风，飞机会准点到达的 restriction: n. limitation 限制, 约束e.g.They exported commodities there without restriction.他们出口商品到那里没有限制。D. The corporation has to pay taxes on its profits. The shareholders must also pay income tax on the dividends they receive through ownership. This practice of taxing corporate income and dividends is referred to as double taxation. The corporation is treated as a legal entity and must pay taxes on its taxable income. When after-tax corporate profits are paid out in dividends to the stockholders, the dividends are taxed a second time as part of the individual owners income. Thus owners pay taxes twice on corporate profits. dividend: n. share or profits paid to shareholders in a company股息, 红利e.g.These shares yield a dividend of 10%. 这些股票有一成