Ed writes:
I would like to know how to determine when to capitalize Company in a sentence. The following are two different sentences, one with company not capitalized and one with Company capitalized. I can't figure out why one is capitalized and one is not.
Based on the strategies discussed above, the Company then developed relevant performance measures.
Based on this analysis, Bright Shine came up with a few strategies that they thought would help the company better reach its goals, along with some key measures that would allow the company to monitor its progress.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for a very good question!
As a general rule, words that are part of a company name are capitalized:
The Smith Company
Polaris Corporation
Robinson Brothers
But when we use words like "company" and "corporation" by themselves, we drop the capital letters:
I left the company in 1997.
Polaris is a highly profitable corporation.
Here's the exception: In internal documents like minutes and memos, it's acceptable (and sometimes required) to capitalize the term as a way of distinguishing it from other organizations.
So the first example you give would be quite acceptable in an annual report, or in the text of an executive's speech to board members. The second example would be acceptable usage for an "outsider" like a business reporter writing a news story about the company.
The same practice applies to senior job titles. If they're connected to a person's name, we capitalize them:
Ms. Joan Chan
Vice-President, Sales
But when the title is separate from the name, it loses the capitals:
As vice-president for sales, you may be interested in the following analysis.
And here's a predictable exception: In internal documents like minutes and memos, we capitalize the titles of individuals and groups.
The Treasurer reported a net quarterly increase in revenues of 6.8%. The Vice-President for Sales thanked the Board for supporting her marketing strategy.
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