Affiliation
Independent small business owners such as physicians are affiliated with hospitals. On Bizgrouplink.com the affiliated individuals can communicate together to resolve their issues collectively with an organization.
In a broad sense, if an organization is affiliated with another larger organization, it is officially connected with the larger organization or is a member of it. … If a professional person, such as a lawyer or doctor, is affiliated with an organization, they are officially connected with that organization or do some official work for it.
An affiliate, in general business terms, is an “official attachment” of one business entity to another. Official attachment implies a contract or agreement of some kind and an announcement to the public of the connection between the two businesses. Whether one business is an affiliate of another is based on common ownership, common management, and the existence of a contract.1
The SBA says that an individual, entity, or business (Business A) is an affiliate of another business (Business B) if Business B has control over Business A, based on one of several factors. The SBA considers factors like ownership, management, previous relationships with or ties to another business, and contractional relationships.2
In addition, parties to a joint venture may be considered affiliates of each other in certain circumstances.3
The term “affiliate” has two specific uses in business contexts:
In corporate law and taxes, an affiliate is a company that is related to another company, usually by being in the position of a member or a subordinate role, a subsidiary.
In online retailing, affiliation is common in marketing and selling wherein one company may affiliate with another to sell products or services. The seller has a website on which affiliates may sell products. The seller has control over the site and pays a commission to affiliates. This relationship is sometimes called “affiliate marketing.”
