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I got into an argument with a British native speaker over the following phrase:

'the company failure to comply with its contractual obligations'

I'm a non-native speaker, therefore I can't be quite sure, but I really doubt this could be grammatically correct.

Am I wrong, are both 'company failure' and 'company's failure' correct? Context: website article for a law firm.

The whole sentence:

It is necessary to determine or at least assess the amount of damage, which may be caused by a Ukrainian company failure to comply with its contractual obligations.

Some other cases:

It is necessary to determine or at least assess the amount of damage, which may be caused by a Ukrainian partner failure to comply with an agreement.

An important factor is the possible introduction of legislative currency restrictions that may affect the Ukrainian company ability to buy foreign currency and transfer it to a foreign counterparty.

Such enforcement proceedings may signal the commencement of the counterparty’s financial problems.

Meanwhile, the company winding-up is possible through its reorganization or liquidation.

In the latter case, the Ukrainian law provides for a period within which Ukrainian counterparty creditors may file their claims against such a bankrupt company.

Thank you.

QriS
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1 Answers1

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I According to this ngram both are used and "company's failure" is much more common. "Company's failure" refers to a particular failure in a given domain of operation of a company (1) or to a case of company failure (2) as this is defined in "II", in other words a commercial failure ending the company.

  • (1) When "(1)" is the case, the noun phrase has a complement introduced by "to" which makes precise the given failure.: "the/a company's failure to comply…", "the/a company's failure to pay…", "the company's failure to provide information…", etc.

  • (2) Traders, Planters and Slaves: Market Behavior in Early … David W. Galenson - 2002 - Any one of these problems by itself might have been sufficient to cause the company's failure; the presence of all three appears to have ensured it. Interestingly, the poor economic performance of the Royal African Company may have ...

II "Company failure" is a compound noun which the term "business failure" connotes; but here is a source which defines implicitly "company failure" as "commercial failure": commercial failure. In all cases one might also use the term "flop".

Turning Around Failing Schools: Leadership Lessons From the … Joseph Murphy, ‎Coby V. Meyers - 2007 - —“the study of the symptoms of company failure has been a most neglected area of management” (Argenti, 1976, p. 57).

Company Law in the New Europe: The EU Acquis, Comparative … Janet Dine, ‎Marios Koutsias, ‎Michael Blecher - 2007 - ‎ However the risks to shareholders and the risks to employees are significantly different if we look at the impact of a company failure. The shareholders are carefully protected by the state imposition of limited liability and if the company fails will ..

According to the grammar of the examined sentence there is little doubt that it must be "company's failure" as meaning "failure in a particular domain (not the end of the business). It is the failure to comply to some requirement, necessity, legal injunction, etc.).

LPH
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  • Thank you so much! You made it very clear! My simple logic was as follows: in this case it's not 'company failure' (=business failure), it's a failure to comply. Whose failure to comply -- the company's failure to comply. – QriS Apr 28 '20 at 04:07