Question 1 Report
(a) List five types of business units in Nigeria.
(b) Give five main differences between a retail co-operative society and a public limited liability company.
(a) Five types of business units in Nigeria
(b) Five differences between a retail co-operative society and a public limited liability company
| Retail co-operative society | Public limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Formed and owned by consumers who join voluntarily to buy goods cheaply. | Formed by investors (shareholders) to carry on business for profit. |
| Membership is open and each member has one vote, regardless of the number of shares held. | Voting power depends on the number of shares held; a large shareholder has more votes. |
| Surplus is shared among members as dividend in proportion to their purchases (patronage). | Profit is shared among shareholders as dividend in proportion to shares held. |
| Its main aim is the welfare and mutual benefit of members, not maximum profit. | Its main aim is to maximise profit for the shareholders. |
| Capital is usually small, raised from members' subscriptions and shares. | Capital is large, raised by selling shares and debentures to the public. |
(A further difference: shares in a co-operative are not freely transferable and cannot be sold on the stock exchange, whereas shares of a public company are freely transferable and quoted on the stock exchange.)
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