horizontal and vertical integration and co-operative

Explain:   What horizontal integration is?   Horizontal integration is when a production company develops into other areas of one industry. e.g. A Media Company can own a Magazine, Radio, Newspaper, Television and Books. Disney bought Pixar to create a bigger and stronger company	Benefits / PROS   Increasing in profit   It helps to create more money and makes the company more popular among readers. Also, not all media readers prefer reading magazines. The more technology literate people will read the magazine online, so horizontal integration helps to reach a wider audience. It also reduces costs of production because it can join with other areas of the company instead of buying in services. Competition is also reduced.	Drawbacks / CONS     One disadvantage is that the company has reduced flexibility due to the laws and legalities that it has to follow. Another disadvantage is that horizontal integration can be seen as a monopoly, meaning it is taking over everything and has less flexibility.
Explain:   What vertical integration is?   Vertical integration is when a production company take charge and have ownership of the production, distribution and demonstration of a product which means the company will receive all of the profit that the product makes. e.g Warner Brothers produces, manufactures, distributes their own products.	Benefits / PROS   Vertical integration can help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing transportation expenses and reducing turnaround time, among other advantages. This can also mean that they have an advantage over the competition as consumers are more likely to choose their goods if they are value for money. The company doesn’t have to rely on anyone else which is also an advantage.	Drawbacks / CONS   However, sometimes it is more effective for a company to rely on the expertise and economies of scale of other vendors rather than be vertically integrated. A disadvantage is that the cost of vertical integration is high.
Explain:   What co-operative is?   A co-operative is when 2 companies join together to produce a product and their members have a say in what happens. An example of this could be when a newspaper runs as a workers co-operative. e.g. City Limits run by workers of Time Out when the owner stopped equal pay.	Benefits / PROS   Owned and run by its members so they have a say in how the business is run and also share in the profits made.	Drawbacks / CONS   Limited self-promotion-when working with other members it will be hard to find the opportunities to promote yourself and your product.