Definition & Role

• • Production Unit: It transforms inputs into outputs for sale.
  • Organization: A structured group of people working together towards common goals.
  • Social Institution: A place of work, training, and the creation of social bonds, but also of conflict and negotiation.

• Economic agent: It answers the fundamental questions: what to produce, for whom, and how, by seeking to satisfy market needs and generate a profit.

Main characteristics

• Decision-making autonomy: It manages its resources independently.
• Economic purpose: To generate profit to ensure its sustainability.
• Diversity: It exists in a wide variety of forms and sizes (SMEs, large companies, etc.) and in all sectors of activity.

Legal forms (Examples)

• Sole proprietorship (EI): The owner is the individual, without separation of assets (except for EIRL).
• Companies: Create a separate legal entity, such as the SARL (Limited Liability Company) or the SA (Public Limited Company).
• Specific legal structures: EURL, SAS, SNC, etc., each with its own rules of liability and operation.