Talk:Concern (business)

Lemma

Even though I speak German as L1, translating the term "Konzern" by "concern" sounds rather peculiar. Obviously both terms have the same Latin root, but are used in completely different ways and situations. Having said that, Konzern actually has no other meaning in German than "business group" whereas the English "concern" is a fairly basic vocab, its German equivalent being Sorge. --Kazu89 ^ノート 12:31, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

If this term isn't used in specialist literature, I propose to move it to either the German "Konzern" or something like "business group (Germany)". --Kazu89 ^ノート 12:35, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

I would support moving the page to a more appropriate page title - which clearly reflects that this is a specialist German operation. Maybe even Konzern (German business group) - purely because the English language translation of "concern" does not accurately nor truely reflect the German meaning. My suggestion should hopefully also avoid any potential need for DAB redirects. HTH. 78.32.143.113 (talk) 09:22, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Speaking as L1 British English, with fluent German as an L2...

@Kazu89 - The use of the term 'concern' for 'business' in a general sense, at least in British English, is perfectly regular. To talk of a business as being 'a going concern' (conducting business effectively) is in regular everyday use, for example. One might also talk about a 'family concern' (family-owned business), or such-and-such a company being 'a large concern'. See here http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=15890&dict=CALD&topic=enterprises or here http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concern as examples.

Therefore, insofar as the question of the validity of the word 'concern' as a synonym for business/company is concerned, it's fine and does not warrant moving the page on that basis. HOWEVER - since the article currently seems to address itself only to the German legal arrangement for a group of associated companies, there is some merit in the suggestion of moving it to 'Konzern' or somesuch. It really depends, in my opinion, on the intended future purpose and direction of the article. Petecollier (talk) 13:42, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

I would say that the purpose and direction of the article would be to talk about the meaning of the term, its application, and concepts. As pointed out earlier it is a global term and concept. Apparently this article started with the German wikipedia which would explain some of the focus on Germany. As such, the lead is inappropriate, as it is not the case that this is a strictly German term or construct of German law, although of course this concept exists in Germany. It is a term used in English-speaking countries and a concept used in others. I was actually lead to this article from a Japanese article, Zaibatsu. I have definitely seen Japanese media refer to "concerns" although I don't recall what specific Japanese word was used. In general we should edit the article to present a worldwide view. Placing an undue emphasis on the German understanding and implementation is not balanced, so we need to edit this to focus more on the general, more universal concepts, and as necessary we can point to how examples differ in other countries as is general practice in otehr articles. For example, see Health care reform and Fractional-reserve_banking. Rifter0x0000 (talk) 11:05, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

General language

The article and its title in particular seem to be based on the extremely common assumption that "Fremdwörter" mean the same in English as in German - this just isn't the case; often the Fremdwort originates from a language other than English (frequently French, Italian in some cases) where the meaning is different to the English meaning, or the meaning has changed over time - lagauge, and usage, develop with a mind of their own! The German "eventuell" is a good example, invariably rendered as "eventually", which, of course, means "letztendlich" in German. This word, I'm pretty sure, came to German from French, and the English meaning had probably already changed even then. This is why it's a good idea to study a little language history, to really be fluent in a language - there are so many pitfalls which only then becaome apparent. Maelli (talk) 14:29, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably the best solution here is to retitle the English article "Konzern" - and tidy up the rest of the language - although, to be honest, a good dictionary will tell you that a "Konzern" is not the same as a "concern" in English. Maelli (talk) 14:32, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

The Point

What is the point of this article? Is it supposed to tell us which German words relate to which particular German laws, as it currently does, or is it supposed to explain this form of corporation and how it differs from other corporate forms? 84.250.167.86 (talk) 23:24, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Concern in English

I am not an English native speaker, but I don't think it is true that concern can only mean worry or so. At least it is a common phrase you read in e. g. the Times and other quality papers that a company is able (or not) "to continue as a going concern". There seems to be a meaning for concern as business. Perhpaps it's archaic or legal terminology or so, but it should be explained in here. In particular, since the title is Concern and Konzern.2001:BB8:2002:2400:A967:2771:DEF9:CA7F (talk) 16:02, 20 December 2022 (UTC)

I agree. For instance: https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/going-concern/ states that a going concern is a business that is profitable. This article, in English, refers the the Kalishnikov Concern in Russia, showing it's used in English even if the company isn't German. Law Insider (https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/business-concern) gives a broader definition of the term than the article, so maybe the article need to be less German-centric. HTH brings up a good point that the English version may not reflect the German use of the term, in which case maybe separate articles for these two terms, as Maelli seems to be suggesting, would be more appropriate? Tengu99 (talk) 01:49, 1 August 2023 (UTC)