Concern, a widespread form of monopoly associations. It contains several formally independent enterprises. The parent company establishes its financial control over these enterprises by wielding the controlling block of shares. It enjoys the real power within the association. The purpose is to ensure high monopoly profits via the use of financial ties, patent and licence agreements, agreements on common interests, personal unions, etc. At the initial stage of imperialism’s development the concern united enterprises in one sector of industry (so-called horizontal combining) , whereas today it is mostly based on the principle of diversification, i. e., one concern is comprised of companies engaged in different sectors of the economy ( industry, transport, commerce, banking, insurance and other companies). This is the way they strengthen their positions and gain new markets. A minority of concerns operate on the principle of consolidating the firms bound by a common technological process, from the extraction of raw materials and to sales of the finished product through a marketing network (so-called vertical combining). A concern is headed by a Board of Directors, which usually includes owners of the largest blocks of shares. This board makes the fundamental decisions for the concern’s activities and is responsible for the control and general management of its operations. The daily management of a concern is carried out by a managerial council subordinated to the Board. A feature of modern concerns is their active struggle not only for the domestic market, but also for external markets by selling their products abroad and investing in their foreign branches (subsidiaries) and local firms of other countries. International concerns which emerged after the war are waging an acute competitive struggle, making advantageous use of the large-scale combined production, new technology, patents, and by producing new kinds of products. Bourgeois economists 63 present the activities of concerns as an example of economic efficiency and technical progress under capitalism. In fact, however, small groups of monopolists and top-level managers use technical progress only to enrich themselves.