ABSTRACT
The Emergence of the Company as a form of business organization is outlined in this chapter. Collaboration among human beings accelerated economic progress in society. Principles of social collaboration were embodied in guilds. These guilds had been in existence for over two thousand years. In the last five hundred years, the concept of limited liability was added to guilds giving birth to the company. Companies have accelerated the pace of economic growth and improved the quality of human life. This benefit is at the cost of concentrating economic power in the hands of a few. Today companies are the main vehicles of economic activity. Unfortunately, the cost of this vehicle may be gauged from the corporate scandals that erupt at regular intervals. Legislation has proved to be inadequate to check human greed. Disclosure seems to be the only viable alternative for minimizing the cost of the company. In extreme cases, the legal protection given to companies is withdrawn by the courts of law. Economic progress in India too is driven by companies. With the passage of time, the importance of companies has increased steadily.
