Knowing your company

Complex makeup

Many Guyanese have heard the adage “Show me your company and I’ll tell you who you are”.  That remark is usually reserved for judging people’s character and behaviour.  Knowing one’s company can allow a person to form an opinion about a person’s ambition and the things that were likely to influence the pursuit of those ambitions.  Friends with positive behaviour are seen as having a positive influence on someone, while friends with negative behaviour are seen as having a negative influence.  But that is not what this article is about.  Nor is it about money laundering or any of those things.  This article is trying to understand a business or a company and why it is characterised in a certain way.  As one studies a company, one tries to put it into a certain category such as a sector of an economy, an institutional type or give it a special type of economic identity to gain a better understanding of its contribution and importance to society.  Just like someone with a complex personality, companies can have a complex makeup too.