Title: Describe what organisations are and why they exist. Explain how they tend to change over time.

An Organisation can be defined as the following:

“An organisation is a clearly bounded group of people who pursue separate co-ordinated and formally structured activities which together contribute to a common goal”

There are several main components to an organisation; these include clear boundaries, enabling the organisation to identify who belongs to a particular organisation; stable structured relationships which allow for clear lines of communication and collaboration between people; defined and grouped tasks, employees having different roles/tasks to complete and a collective purpose.

A similar definition is:

“Organising is a process of determining who will perform the tasks needed to achieve organisational objectives, the resources to be used and the way the tasks will be managed and co-ordinated"

Although organising is not primarily concerned with the specificity of goals and tasks, how things are organised will ultimately have an effect on which tasks can be attempted and the degree to which they are achieved, it is more successful if given to specific people or groups of people rather than those that do not have the required skills.

There are different types of organisations that exist; a sole trader is the simplest of such legal entities. It is owned by one person who runs it and is the only person responsible for the organisation, like a plumber for example. They have complete liability for any debts that the business incurs and there is no clear distinction between the behaviour of the organisation and the individual.

A partnership exists between 2 – 20 individuals; its legal relationship is created by when the a Deed of Partnership is signed. Like the sole trader, they are liable for any debts incurred jointly and severally,