A.P1 Explain the features of two contrasting businesses.
Introduction
Throughout this essay, I will be talking about a private organisation (profiting
companies) and a non-for-profit/public organisation (companies which help for
society and are funded by the taxpayers) and express their opposing traits/features.
The private organisation that I will be talking about is ‘Sony.’ Sony is known as a
PLC (public limited company) as it is on the stock exchange in a variety of countries.
Its headquarters are based in Minato city, Japan but some other ones are spread out
across the globe in countries such as United States (where it is known as Sony
corporation of America) and Argentina. Sony was founded in 1945 immediately after
WW2, first established as “Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation”
where they manufactured the ‘first’ tape recorders and ‘The Walkman’. The Non-for-
profit/public organisation I will be talking about is ‘The British Heart Foundation.’ This
charity was founded in 1961 due to concern for the rise of heart problems in the
Common Era and to help those with cardiovascular difficulties. This dedication in
forming a charity led the organisation to be the largest independent funder of
cardiovascular research in the UK (United Kingdom).
Sony (private organisation)
Sony’s Ownership
Sony was founded by two Japanese friends, ‘Masaru Ibuka’ and ‘Akiu Morita.’
Morita’s family was the largest shareholder in Japan leading him to adopt a keen
interest in electronics and sound. Ibuka was a student of architectural engineering.
Sony in its present day owns and manufacture a large quantity of renowned products
and companies such as PlayStation, Crunchyroll, Xperia, Sony pictures, Sony music,
Columbia pictures and Vaio. The PlayStation 2 is the bestselling console overtaking
Microsoft's Xbox 360. This increased its rise to the video game industry after the
PlayStation 1. Sony also competed immensely with apple due to their ‘Sony
Ericsson’ during the 2007’s. They reached their prime mobile phone sales during
2014 but then decreased volume of sales shortly after. From the 1960s to present
days, Sony have been enhancing their quality of products ranging from the first ever
tape recorder, the Walkman, disc players to television, consoles, monitors, phones
etc. In 1995, Sony signed a 50/50 ownership with Micheal Jackson named’ Sony
ATV music publishing which is the best music publisher as of 2016. Sony is a share
company (‘Kabushiki gaisha’) registered to the Tokyo Exchange and other abroad
stock exchanges such as the ‘New York Stock Exchange.’ The company has Limited
Liability meaning that the owners’ personal items cannot be taken away if the
,company owes debt or goes bankrupt but rather assets solely used for the company,
granted by governments (desktops, monitors, desks, Furnitures) will be seized to pay
off debts. They also have a responsible business conduct for employers to think and
behave ethically. The benefits of Sony being on the stock exchange is that it is
easier to raise substantial amounts of funds due to the shares being open to the
public hence the rise of investors. Also, Sony can try and expand their company by
introducing various new projects which could potentially enhance the business.
However, Sony mostly manufacture devices/gadgets. This may be a disadvantage
for Sony as they do not vary their types of commodities which leads to other brands
like Samsung overtaking them in success. In addition, being a public limited
company means that there could be potential hostile takeover due to shares being
able to be purchased by the public. Additionally, the public can view financial
information about Sony such as (net worth).
Liability
Although Sony is superior in the tech and entertainment industry, it carries the
burden of debts. Due to experiments and operations with gadgets, entertainment,
and gaming, company debts may soar. Dominant roles with expert specialised
knowledge for finance are trusted to handle these dilemmas. For example, The Chief
Financial Officer (in this case: ‘Kenichiro Yoshida’) must strategise ways to manage
and avoid risks of bankruptcy.
Many unincorporated companies are stricken with debts which may usually be
impossible to pay off when the enough revenue income depreciates. This is the case
when the government can seize company assets or personal assets to pay off debts.
However, since Sony is an incorporated business, it has limited liability meaning that
company assets will only be seized.
Sony’s Purpose
The purpose of Sony is to manufacture goods and technology for the consumers to
buy to maximise profits. They produce a lot of commodities ranging from movies,
music, games/consoles, and smartphones. They go with a simple motto, ‘make,
believe’ with a promise to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity
and technology.’ They are also responsible for the production and animation of a lot
of movies (such as the spiderman franchise) and anime (aniplex). The most popular
gadget is the PlayStation having a 22% of revenue generated from Sony whilst
financial services generating 14% as a source of revenue. Sony has a net worth of
$122.86 billion. A drawback to their manufacturing is that they only create tech-
related objects and do not manufacture other type of objects to meet demands of
people. Samsung ranges from fridges, Televisions, phones hence their profit shares
which beat Sony.
,After World War 2, Japan was in demand for radios due to lack of awareness about
the World’s state and news. Part of Sony's first aim was to manufacture and sell
these radios. This led to Sony’s first success.
Sector
Sony as an organisation, range in the Secondary sector, tertiary sector, and
Quaternary sector as there are manufacturing factories for products such as Sony
headphones and PlayStation, there are services such as Sony stores/any other
retails selling Sony products and there are IT (Information Technology) engineers
and research sectors to help enhance their gadgets and sound and movie
production/animation. Some may argue Sony falls under the secondary sector due to
being renowned for just manufacturing devices and gadgets such as (TV’s, consoles,
headsets, phones, DVD discs and radios). Sony also produces cameras and
recording devices which expands their role as major manufacturers in the secondary
sector which deliver items for content and entertainment.
However, some may argue that Sony plays a significant role in the tertiary sector
where they are more of a service company rather than a manufacturer. Sony offer a
wide range of services varying from PlayStation exclusive games (on the PS4/5) like
‘God of War,’ and ‘Spiderman’ to consumers/fans. There are also online streaming
platforms like PlayStation Network where fans buy different deals and packages to
play online. Various Sony commodities are also stocked in numeral renowned retail
shops as well as Sony shops itself.
Additionally, Sony’s size in the tertiary sector is gradually increasing due to the
recent introduction of PlayStation VR.
Scope and size
Sony is a multinational organisation which holds a dominant position in the Business
Industry with other global competitors like Amazon, Ikea, and rivalries like Apple inc
and Samsung. Sony consistently achieves top 200 in the global 500 companies
which is an impressive feat (although expected of) and goes to imply dominance and
the experience Sony has had among fellow competitors. Sony has 146,300
employees as of 2023 and headquarters, services and factories are scattered
around the globe in countries such as the US, The UK and countries in Asia, South
America, etc. It goes under the category of a large business due to its international
recognition and infrastructure -belonging to Sony- built abroad. Sony earns the most
revenue from Japan, Europe, and United States. This differed to the 1945s-1960s
where Sony was a franchise well known in Japan. It was known as TTEC (Tokyo
telecommunications Engineering corporation).
The British Heart Foundation (Not-For-Profit)
Ownership of The British Heart Foundation
, The British Heart Foundation is owned by 14 employees, The chief executive being
‘Dr Charmaine Griffiths’ and the Medical Director being ‘Professor Sir Nilesh
Samani’. These employees (and 12 others) are responsible for the governing
strategies and vital decisions to be made to help further expand and maximise the
organisation’s quality and purpose of charity. The British Heart Foundation was
founded in 1961 by a group of professional doctors from queen’s hospital due to
concern from the rise in cardiovascular diseases as well as deaths caused by
cardiovascular and blood circulation failure. The British Heart Foundation
collaborated with the British Cardiovascular Society in 2019. Grants from £5000-
£20000 were provided by the government to reach the charity’s ambitious motive of
tackling cardiovascular problems through the employer's sheer dedication and work
ethic. They have also actively collaborated with other not-for-profit businesses such
as healthcare providers, universities (research parks) etc. Through these collabs, it
enables The British Health Organisation to improve research as well as advance
progress which is highly beneficial for those suffering from cardiovascular difficulties.
The benefits of being Not-for-profit is that The British Heart Foundation can gain
government grants (money to assist a company). They also do not need to pay tax
The drawback of having a Not-for-profit organisation is that employees will have to
spend their funds for charity as it is their purpose of doing so. Fundraising may also
be difficult.
Liability
The British Heart Foundation has a complex finance conduct of debts and liability.
Borrowed money and loans may have potentially been used to fund research parks,
educational workshops, or initiatives. If they fail to pay back these borrowed money
(with interest) company assets may be seized by the government. This is a huge
drawback as the BHF will lose money due to Interest if their projects and operations
do not function to its full potential. Chief Financial Officers are specialised experts
who manage company debts strategically so then it does not put their company on
the brink of bankruptcy. They maintain budgets for programmes, initiatives, and
research parks to ensure all their funds are not saturated in one operation but
equally distributed among the varying projects, so they have more chance of
triumphing.
The Purpose of The British Heart Foundation
The purpose of The British Heart Foundation is to research and study problems with
the heart to help minimise risks of heart attacks, heart failures and other heart-
related medical problems. Since this is a non-for-profit organisation, it aims to assist
and treat patients without charging them, the organisation does however benefit from
donations and funds from taxpayers. An example of a project carried out by The
British heart foundation which was successful was the research of heart transplants.
Introduction
Throughout this essay, I will be talking about a private organisation (profiting
companies) and a non-for-profit/public organisation (companies which help for
society and are funded by the taxpayers) and express their opposing traits/features.
The private organisation that I will be talking about is ‘Sony.’ Sony is known as a
PLC (public limited company) as it is on the stock exchange in a variety of countries.
Its headquarters are based in Minato city, Japan but some other ones are spread out
across the globe in countries such as United States (where it is known as Sony
corporation of America) and Argentina. Sony was founded in 1945 immediately after
WW2, first established as “Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation”
where they manufactured the ‘first’ tape recorders and ‘The Walkman’. The Non-for-
profit/public organisation I will be talking about is ‘The British Heart Foundation.’ This
charity was founded in 1961 due to concern for the rise of heart problems in the
Common Era and to help those with cardiovascular difficulties. This dedication in
forming a charity led the organisation to be the largest independent funder of
cardiovascular research in the UK (United Kingdom).
Sony (private organisation)
Sony’s Ownership
Sony was founded by two Japanese friends, ‘Masaru Ibuka’ and ‘Akiu Morita.’
Morita’s family was the largest shareholder in Japan leading him to adopt a keen
interest in electronics and sound. Ibuka was a student of architectural engineering.
Sony in its present day owns and manufacture a large quantity of renowned products
and companies such as PlayStation, Crunchyroll, Xperia, Sony pictures, Sony music,
Columbia pictures and Vaio. The PlayStation 2 is the bestselling console overtaking
Microsoft's Xbox 360. This increased its rise to the video game industry after the
PlayStation 1. Sony also competed immensely with apple due to their ‘Sony
Ericsson’ during the 2007’s. They reached their prime mobile phone sales during
2014 but then decreased volume of sales shortly after. From the 1960s to present
days, Sony have been enhancing their quality of products ranging from the first ever
tape recorder, the Walkman, disc players to television, consoles, monitors, phones
etc. In 1995, Sony signed a 50/50 ownership with Micheal Jackson named’ Sony
ATV music publishing which is the best music publisher as of 2016. Sony is a share
company (‘Kabushiki gaisha’) registered to the Tokyo Exchange and other abroad
stock exchanges such as the ‘New York Stock Exchange.’ The company has Limited
Liability meaning that the owners’ personal items cannot be taken away if the
,company owes debt or goes bankrupt but rather assets solely used for the company,
granted by governments (desktops, monitors, desks, Furnitures) will be seized to pay
off debts. They also have a responsible business conduct for employers to think and
behave ethically. The benefits of Sony being on the stock exchange is that it is
easier to raise substantial amounts of funds due to the shares being open to the
public hence the rise of investors. Also, Sony can try and expand their company by
introducing various new projects which could potentially enhance the business.
However, Sony mostly manufacture devices/gadgets. This may be a disadvantage
for Sony as they do not vary their types of commodities which leads to other brands
like Samsung overtaking them in success. In addition, being a public limited
company means that there could be potential hostile takeover due to shares being
able to be purchased by the public. Additionally, the public can view financial
information about Sony such as (net worth).
Liability
Although Sony is superior in the tech and entertainment industry, it carries the
burden of debts. Due to experiments and operations with gadgets, entertainment,
and gaming, company debts may soar. Dominant roles with expert specialised
knowledge for finance are trusted to handle these dilemmas. For example, The Chief
Financial Officer (in this case: ‘Kenichiro Yoshida’) must strategise ways to manage
and avoid risks of bankruptcy.
Many unincorporated companies are stricken with debts which may usually be
impossible to pay off when the enough revenue income depreciates. This is the case
when the government can seize company assets or personal assets to pay off debts.
However, since Sony is an incorporated business, it has limited liability meaning that
company assets will only be seized.
Sony’s Purpose
The purpose of Sony is to manufacture goods and technology for the consumers to
buy to maximise profits. They produce a lot of commodities ranging from movies,
music, games/consoles, and smartphones. They go with a simple motto, ‘make,
believe’ with a promise to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity
and technology.’ They are also responsible for the production and animation of a lot
of movies (such as the spiderman franchise) and anime (aniplex). The most popular
gadget is the PlayStation having a 22% of revenue generated from Sony whilst
financial services generating 14% as a source of revenue. Sony has a net worth of
$122.86 billion. A drawback to their manufacturing is that they only create tech-
related objects and do not manufacture other type of objects to meet demands of
people. Samsung ranges from fridges, Televisions, phones hence their profit shares
which beat Sony.
,After World War 2, Japan was in demand for radios due to lack of awareness about
the World’s state and news. Part of Sony's first aim was to manufacture and sell
these radios. This led to Sony’s first success.
Sector
Sony as an organisation, range in the Secondary sector, tertiary sector, and
Quaternary sector as there are manufacturing factories for products such as Sony
headphones and PlayStation, there are services such as Sony stores/any other
retails selling Sony products and there are IT (Information Technology) engineers
and research sectors to help enhance their gadgets and sound and movie
production/animation. Some may argue Sony falls under the secondary sector due to
being renowned for just manufacturing devices and gadgets such as (TV’s, consoles,
headsets, phones, DVD discs and radios). Sony also produces cameras and
recording devices which expands their role as major manufacturers in the secondary
sector which deliver items for content and entertainment.
However, some may argue that Sony plays a significant role in the tertiary sector
where they are more of a service company rather than a manufacturer. Sony offer a
wide range of services varying from PlayStation exclusive games (on the PS4/5) like
‘God of War,’ and ‘Spiderman’ to consumers/fans. There are also online streaming
platforms like PlayStation Network where fans buy different deals and packages to
play online. Various Sony commodities are also stocked in numeral renowned retail
shops as well as Sony shops itself.
Additionally, Sony’s size in the tertiary sector is gradually increasing due to the
recent introduction of PlayStation VR.
Scope and size
Sony is a multinational organisation which holds a dominant position in the Business
Industry with other global competitors like Amazon, Ikea, and rivalries like Apple inc
and Samsung. Sony consistently achieves top 200 in the global 500 companies
which is an impressive feat (although expected of) and goes to imply dominance and
the experience Sony has had among fellow competitors. Sony has 146,300
employees as of 2023 and headquarters, services and factories are scattered
around the globe in countries such as the US, The UK and countries in Asia, South
America, etc. It goes under the category of a large business due to its international
recognition and infrastructure -belonging to Sony- built abroad. Sony earns the most
revenue from Japan, Europe, and United States. This differed to the 1945s-1960s
where Sony was a franchise well known in Japan. It was known as TTEC (Tokyo
telecommunications Engineering corporation).
The British Heart Foundation (Not-For-Profit)
Ownership of The British Heart Foundation
, The British Heart Foundation is owned by 14 employees, The chief executive being
‘Dr Charmaine Griffiths’ and the Medical Director being ‘Professor Sir Nilesh
Samani’. These employees (and 12 others) are responsible for the governing
strategies and vital decisions to be made to help further expand and maximise the
organisation’s quality and purpose of charity. The British Heart Foundation was
founded in 1961 by a group of professional doctors from queen’s hospital due to
concern from the rise in cardiovascular diseases as well as deaths caused by
cardiovascular and blood circulation failure. The British Heart Foundation
collaborated with the British Cardiovascular Society in 2019. Grants from £5000-
£20000 were provided by the government to reach the charity’s ambitious motive of
tackling cardiovascular problems through the employer's sheer dedication and work
ethic. They have also actively collaborated with other not-for-profit businesses such
as healthcare providers, universities (research parks) etc. Through these collabs, it
enables The British Health Organisation to improve research as well as advance
progress which is highly beneficial for those suffering from cardiovascular difficulties.
The benefits of being Not-for-profit is that The British Heart Foundation can gain
government grants (money to assist a company). They also do not need to pay tax
The drawback of having a Not-for-profit organisation is that employees will have to
spend their funds for charity as it is their purpose of doing so. Fundraising may also
be difficult.
Liability
The British Heart Foundation has a complex finance conduct of debts and liability.
Borrowed money and loans may have potentially been used to fund research parks,
educational workshops, or initiatives. If they fail to pay back these borrowed money
(with interest) company assets may be seized by the government. This is a huge
drawback as the BHF will lose money due to Interest if their projects and operations
do not function to its full potential. Chief Financial Officers are specialised experts
who manage company debts strategically so then it does not put their company on
the brink of bankruptcy. They maintain budgets for programmes, initiatives, and
research parks to ensure all their funds are not saturated in one operation but
equally distributed among the varying projects, so they have more chance of
triumphing.
The Purpose of The British Heart Foundation
The purpose of The British Heart Foundation is to research and study problems with
the heart to help minimise risks of heart attacks, heart failures and other heart-
related medical problems. Since this is a non-for-profit organisation, it aims to assist
and treat patients without charging them, the organisation does however benefit from
donations and funds from taxpayers. An example of a project carried out by The
British heart foundation which was successful was the research of heart transplants.
