Comprehensive Analysis: Company Types, Structures, and PESTLE Impact

This report provides an overview of different types of companies, including micro, small, medium, and large businesses, and their characteristics. It further explores various company structures such as sole trader businesses, partnerships, limited liability companies, public limited liability businesses, and cooperatives, highlighting their unique features and examples. The report also delves into different organizational structures like functional and divisional structures, examining their impact on business productivity. Finally, it incorporates a PESTLE analysis to assess the influence of political, economic, social, and technological factors on businesses, emphasizing the importance of adapting to these external forces for sustained growth and success. This document is available on Desklib, where students can find a wide array of study resources and solved assignments.

Types of Company

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Different Types of Companies and their work................................................................................3
Micro Business:...........................................................................................................................3
Small Business............................................................................................................................3
Medium Size Business................................................................................................................4
Large Size Business....................................................................................................................4
Different Companies........................................................................................................................4
Sole Trader Business...................................................................................................................4
Partnership...................................................................................................................................5
Limited Liability Business..........................................................................................................6
Public Limited Liability Business...............................................................................................6
Cooperative.................................................................................................................................6
Different Business Structure and influence of External Factors on Businesses..............................7
Different Organisational Structure..............................................................................................7
PESTLE Analysis........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The project is based on different types of companies in which the differentiation between
different types of companies and their legal entities are explained including the internal and
external factors that could impact the business performance and productivity are determined.
There are several types of companies which is unique and different from each other in terms of
working and functioning of activities (Brondoni, 2018).
Different Types of Companies and their work
Micro Business:
Micro Business is one of the types of companies in which the business operation are run
at very small scale. The Type of scale is measured on the basis of number of employees,
investment and total worth of business. In UK there are 5.7 million micro businesses, it can be
said that the majority of businesses includes less than 10 employees in business operation and
must have a balance sheet of less than €2 million. The business activities includes in Micro
business are Independent Contractors and freelancers. The few Micro businesses in UK are Boss
Brewing Company, Issoria, Beauty Boulevard and The Willoughby Book Club.
Characteristics of Micro Business-
It plays an important role in maintaining the social cohesion and economic viability in
several regions of UK. The Micro business also provide growth and employment opportunities to
people of UK. The Business cover limited area of locations and target small market areas
through which they can increase profit margin and growth of company.
Small Business
Small businesses are owned by private owners or partnership that has less than 50
employees in business operation and have less than €10million annual turnover (Jelfs and
Thomson, 2016). The Examples of small businesses are grocery stores, tradespeople, small
manufacturing units, medical stores and bakeries. Size of the small businesses are limited and the
business is run by few employs.
Characteristics of Small business-
Small business helps in providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and also create jobs for
people with greater job satisfaction. It also helps in boosting local economies and support

communities and neighbourhoods. The Companies generate lower profit and revenue as they
capture small market areas and includes smaller teams of employees.
Medium Size Business
The Medium Size Business includes less than 250 employees and have turnover less than
£12.9 million. It is also important for the Country as UK economy generates 47 percent revenue
form small and medium sized business (Zhang and et. al., 2021). The Medium size business
contributes in making healthy economy by increasing growth, opening new market and
providing better job opportunities to people. Examples of Medium size business are making
paper bags, leather product manufacturing, aluminium door and window manufacturing and LED
Light manufacturing.
Characteristics of Medium size businesses
The medium size businesses are passionate about their work and give productive
outcomes to Economy due to which the economic growth increases. They also focus on
improving the customer experience by dealing with them in effective and efficient manner. The
Medium size businesses are life long learner and also focus on continuous improvement.
Large Size Business
The Large size business includes more than 250 employees in its business operation.
They contribute 40 percent of UK employment and generates more than 1.5 billion euros. The
Large scale business helps in increasing the overall economy of UK by developing new products
and services according to the taste and preference of customer. Few Examples of Large Scale
business are tea industry, engineering industry, automobile industry, electronic technology and
cotton industry.
Characteristic of Large Size Business-
The Large size business have great number of business operation daily and also have
more number of employees in Organisation. They run business activities with an aim to fulfil the
need and demand of customer by producing products according to their taste and preference. The
Target market of large scale business is wide and diversified due to which they earn high profit
and succeed in Competitive Market (Tipu, 2016).

Different Companies
Sole Trader Business
Sole trader business is also known sole proprietorship in which the operational activities
of business are run and operated by one individual person. The single person takes risk and enjoy
the benefits gained by running business activities. It doesn't have any legal identity separate from
its owners and also considered as one of the easiest form of ownership. The owner is responsible
for liabilities of Company and if any loss occurs they have to met the loss with personal assets.
One of the benefit of sole trader business is that it can be easily set and requires low start-up cost.
They also have a full control on the business activities and make effective decision for increasing
the growth. The Sole trader also enjoys the privacy as there is no involvement of other people.
Main motive of sole proprietorship is to fulfil the basic needs of their family by earning better
profit margin. Few Examples of sole trader business are freelancers, social media consultants and
designers.
Characteristic of Sole trader business-
Sole proprietorship is owned by single owners and have one man control on the
functioning and operational activities of business. The Owner gets free from legal formalities and
also keep all the profits eared through Company. Sole trader business have unlimited liability
due to which the personal assets of the owner can be used in order to bear the loss. The Business
is small in size due to which it can be establish easily.
Partnership
Partnership is an another form of companies in which two or more than two parties
agreed to run the business activities by sharing profit and risk. The partners get mutually agreed
to manage the company and take responsibility of obligation and debt. Partnership is formed
under the existence of an agreement in which all the duties and responsibilities are mentioned
including the ratio of sharing profit and loss (Andriof, 2017). It is a type of company which can
be easily started by sharing the burden and access to new skills, knowledge, contacts and
experiences. In Partnership the control and ownership are combined an individual person can't
make the decision. The Examples of partnership are UBER and Spotify, Apple and Mastercard
and GoPro & Red Bull.
Characteristics of Partnership-

The Characteristic of partnership is that it requires a legal agreement in which the
partners have to make formal mutual contract which must be written following the norms of
government act. In Partnership owners have to share the profit and loss according to the ratio
mentioned in partnership deed and if in case there is no clause mentioned in deed or agreement it
will be distributed equally between the partners.
Limited Liability Business
Limited liability company is another type in which the owners are not responsible for the
debt and liabilities of Company in personal manner. It is a business structure which comes under
state statutes and also requires articles of Organisation to be filed. One of the benefit of Limited
liability business is that they don't have to pay federal taxes and the profit and losses are listed in
personal tax returns of owner. The Limited liability companies have to indulge in fewer
corporate formalities and there is no ownership restriction (Alcock, Brotchie and Gray, 2015). It
requires less paper work and record keeping as compare to other types of companies. Examples
of limited liability business are Blockbuster, Anheuser-Busch and Westinghouse.
Characteristic of Limited Liability Business-
One of the characteristic of limited liability business is that it is a separate legal entity
which means they can own a property, sell or buy property and retain attorneys on their own.
The Company also have limited liability which means employees are not responsible for legal
faults and misdeeds of other person.
Public Limited Liability Business
Public limited liability business is another type of companies in which the shares of stock
are offered to general public. To establish public limited company a huge investment is required
and also there is a greater risk to run the business activities. The Public limited companies are
owned by Board of Directors and their composition are set in article of association. The Liability
of shareholders are limited which means the business can be sued on its own without involving
shareholders. In public limited companies, the shares are sold and bought in stock exchange
market. The few examples of Public limited companies are HSBC Holdings, Royal Dutch Shell,
British Petroleum Company Limited and Rolls Royce Holdings.
Characteristic of Public Limited Liability Business-
The Characteristic of Public limited liability business is that the shareholders can easily
transfer their shares to public. Organisations in public limited liability can never come to end

which means any member come and go but the business activities run in effective and efficient
manner.
Cooperative
Cooperative is a business association which is owned and controlled by customers who
use the products and services of Company. The Business activities are managed by the people
who work in the Organisation. It is being said that cooperative businesses are more productive as
compare to other form of companies (Kryuchko and Bezus, 2020). Cooperative businesses helps
in increasing the productivity of staff and suppliers so that they can perform better in order to
support their business. The Examples of Cooperative business are Central England Cooperative,
Heart of England Cooperative Society and Channel Island Cooperative Society.
Characteristic of Cooperative-
Cooperative business have voluntary membership which means anyone can join the
business who have an interest to do some productive for the society. The Finances raised by
members of Cooperative is through purchase of shares.
Different Business Structure and influence of External Factors on Businesses
Different Organisational Structure
Functional Organisational Structure
Functional Organisational structure is one of the type of Organisational structure in which
the employees of specific structure are bring together in order to form a department. The
Examples of functional Organisational structure includes sales, marketing, production,
accounting and finance. The Structure starts from highest level of responsibility and goes down
from other responsibilities. Organisation has different department which is managed by the
employees of department independently (Su, Chen and Wang, 2019). Functional Organisational
structure encourages the specialisation and helps department to feel self determined. In this
Organisational structure the chain of command is clear and each member have limited authority.
Divisional Organisational Structure
Divisional organisational structures determines the business activities into market,
products, services and geographical groups. The visions of Company have control over resources
and have its own department which helps in running the business in smooth and effective
manner. The Division includes its own sales team, human resource team, IT team and Marketing

team. Divisional Organisational Structure helps large companies to stay flexible and allows for
quicker response to industry changes. One of the example of divisional organisational structure is
McDonald's. The Organisational structure also affects the productivity of business as it is
important for the companies to work under policies and procedures (Ayadi, 2019). By working
in adhere rules and regulation organisation can promote efficiency and increase the productivity
of business.
PESTLE Analysis
Political Factors includes the interference of government, they impose the new tax or
duty which can create an impact on the performance and growth of business. It contains fiscal
policy, tax policies and trade tariffs.
Economic Factors includes the determinants such as interest rate, economic growth
pattern, inflation rate and foreign exchange rate. Through economic factors the purchasing power
of the consumes get affected which also influences the productivity of business.
Social Factors involves population analytics, cultural trends, demographics, etc. So it is
important for the business to understand the social factors that affects the business.
Technological Factors may also affect the growth of Organisation as there is a rapid
increase in innovation due to which it is necessary to adopt new and latest technology in order to
sustain in Market.
Legal Factors must be accounted by the Companies in order to stay away from any legal
disputes and conflicts.
Environmental Factors includes weather, global changes in climate, geographical
location and environmental offsets. The Organisation must work by reducing the negative impact
on environment.
CONCLUSION
From the above information it is being concluded that there are different types of
Companies that are different from each other in terms of activities an size. These Companies
contribute their best in raising the economy of the Country by providing various opportunities
such as job and innovation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alcock, J., Brotchie, J. P. and Gray, S., 2015. Strategic Liquidation of a Limited Liability
Firm. Available at SSRN 2560260.
Andriof, J., 2017. Patterns of stakeholder partnership building. In Perspectives on corporate
citizenship (pp. 215-238). Routledge.
Ayadi, R., 2019. Business Models, Ownership, Organisational Structures and Size. In Banking
Business Models (pp. 67-78). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Brondoni, S. M., 2018. Competitive Business Management and Global Competition. An
Introduction. In Competitive Business Management (pp. 21-42). Routledge.
Jelfs, A. and Thomson, H., 2016. Marketing small and medium sized enterprises in the digital
age: Opportunities and challenges. Teaching Business & Economics. 20(1). p.4.
Kryuchko, L. and Bezus, R., 2020. Cooperative relationships and business.
Su, Z., Chen, J. and Wang, D., 2019. Organisational structure and managerial innovation: the
mediating effect of cross-functional integration. Technology Analysis & Strategic
Management. 31(3). pp.253-265.
Tipu, S. A. A., 2016. Comparing the behaviour of opportunity and necessity driven
entrepreneurs. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business. 27(1).
pp.84-107.
Zhang, H and et. al., 2021. Making the business case for sustainable manufacturing in small and
medium-sized manufacturing enterprises: A systems decision making approach. Journal
of Cleaner Production, 287. p.125038.