Crafts, SME, multinationals… today in France more than 19 million workers are employed by 2.6 million companies. Companies are a reality impossible to circumvent, an essential component of economic and social fabric. However, they remain ignored. French people have a fuzzy and sometimes negative perception of them, forgetting the determining role that companies play in the savings and more generally the life of a country. This book is an invitation to discover, without prejudice, companies in their reality and their diversity: how a company works; how it is created and how it survives; what the different actors are – internal and external; where does each employee fit within the company; what is the role of a company in a country’s life… Through 20 clear, enthralling and fully illustrated chapters (maps, graphs, photographs …) this book introduces the reader to a concrete, global and synthetic vision of companies: their essentials, values, actors, operating processes and this, no matter their size – SME or multinationals – or their branch of activity. This book will allow the reader – especially teenagers about to enter the working life, teachers and families – to discover or acquire a better understanding of a reality impacting them all.