Consortium 286537 217272698 2008-06-05T09:44:36Z 92.0.204.22 /* Famous consortia */ A '''consortium''' is an [[Professional body|association]] of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal. ''Consortium'' is a [[Latin]] word, meaning 'partnership, association or society' and derives from ''consors'' 'partner', itself from ''con-'' 'together' and ''sors'' 'fate', meaning ''owner of means'' or ''comrade''. ==Economics== Each participant retains its separate legal status and the consortium's control over each participant is generally limited to activities involving the joint endeavor, particularly the division of profits. A consortium is formed by [[contract]], which delineates the rights and obligations of each member. Consortia are more common in the [[non-profit organization|nonprofit sector]]. A more permanent joint activity is usually called an [[institute]]. ===Examples=== For example, [[Five Colleges (Massachusetts)|Five Colleges, Inc.]] is one of the oldest and most successful consortia in the [[United States]]. The participants in Five Colleges, Inc. are: [[Amherst College]], [[Hampshire College]], [[Mount Holyoke College]], [[Smith College]], and the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst|University of Massachusetts at Amherst]]. Another example of a successful consortium is the [[Five Colleges of Ohio]] of Ohio: [[Oberlin College]], [[Ohio Wesleyan University]], [[Kenyon College]], [[College of Wooster]] and [[Denison University]]. These consortia have pooled the resources of their member colleges and the university to share human and material assets as well as to link academic and administrative resources. An example of a for-profit consortium was [[Airbus|Airbus Industrie]] ("Airbus"). Formed in 1970, Airbus is one of the world's premier manufacturers of civilian airliners. Airbus is now owned by [[EADS]]. EADS itself is a merger of [[Aérospatiale-Matra]] of [[France]], [[DASA|Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace]] of [[Germany]], and [[Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA|Construcciones Aeronáuticas]] of [[Spain]], which were originally separate partners in the consortium, owning 37.9%, 37.9%, and 4.2%, respectively. BAE Systems owned the remaining 20% but sold this in 2006. Airbus' status as a consortium means that profits accrue to the partner companies representative to their interests. Work is allocated on the same basis as profits. Another example of a for-profit consortium is when a group of banks collaborate to give a loan. This is more commonly known as a [[syndicated loan]]. In England it is common for a consortium to buy out financially struggling football clubs in order to keep them out of [[liquidation]]. ==Famous consortia== *[http://www.mn-consortium.org REACH Mn Consortium] *[[World Wide Web Consortium]] *[[Consortium Book Sales & Distribution]] *[[The Open Group]] *[[Six Companies]] builder of [[Hoover Dam]] (aka Boulder Dam) *[[Freeview|Freeview Consortium]] - British Digital [[terrestrial television]] service *[[Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation]] *[[SEMATECH]] *[[Euclid University Consortium]] *[[Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education|Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE)]] *[http://www.mugen-noe.org/ MUGEN NoE Consortium] *[http://www.vanadiumconsortium.com The (REACH) Vanadium Consortium] *[[Zann Consortium]] A fictional Pirate Consortium from the Star Wars universe. *[[West End Gang]]/[[Montreal Mafia]]/[[Hells Angels]] the three dominate criminal organizations in the Montreal Underworld == See also == *''[[Purgatorial societies|Consortium fraternitatis]] *''[[Consortium imperii]]'' (Roman sharing of imperial power) *''[[Consortium magistorum]]'' *[[Joint venture]] *[[Patent pool]] ==Sources and external links== *{{Catholic}} passim * [http://www.consortiuminfo.org/ ConsortiumInfo.org] *[http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/ Consortium for Street Children] [[Category:Consortia| ]] [[Category:Types of organization]] [[bg:Консорциум]] [[da:Konsortium]] [[de:Konsortium]] [[es:Consorcio]] [[fr:Consortium]] [[ko:컨소시엄]] [[id:Konsorsium]] [[lt:Konsorciumas]] [[nl:Consortium]] [[ja:コンソーシアム]] [[no:Konsortium]] [[pl:Konsorcjum]] [[pt:Consórcio]] [[ru:Консорциум]] [[sk:Konzorcium]] [[sl:Konzorcij]] [[fi:Konsortio]] [[sv:Konsortium]] [[vi:Côngxoocxiom]] [[tr:Şirketler birliği]]