On Types of Organization of Group of Companies

The introductory part of the paper characterizes the horizontal and vertical types of group of companies (in German and Swiss terminology called as Gleichsordnungskonzern or Koordinationskonzern). Unsubordinated group of companies is characterized by the uniform business management together with the absence of the controlling linkage between its members.
The main part of the paper is dedicated to the vertical type of group of companies, called as a concern, which represents the supreme form of the vertically organized group of companies. The paper analyzes the interest of the concern, uniform policy and uniform business management as the key attributes of concern. Furthermore, the paper is focused on the possible types of organization of vertical type of group of companies. Within such a group of companies, a number of concerns may exist. Also the organization, in which some of the controlled members form together a concern, whereas the other members are only controlled without being uniformly managed, is possible. The group of companies may also be organized in a way that the person standing on the top of the group controls the parental company, which creates a concern from its controlled subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries. The paper also highlights further types of organization of the group of companies.