Disney parks need to be running at roughly 50% of capacity to be profitable

[Xixi Luo]

Disney parks need to be running at roughly 50% of capacity to be profitable, according to the firm.
How to understand "need to be running"? "run" is transitive when it means to be in charge of an organization. I think "need to be run" is more intelligible to me.

 

[Raymott]

No, that's OK. If you run a business, the business is running more or less well.
In this case, although you would not run Disney parks at 50% capacity if you could do better, the business doesn't always run the way you'd prefer it to. Although you are right when you say '"run" is transitive when it means to be in charge of an organization', in the last clause it doesn't mean that; it means how the organisation responds.

 

[Tdol]

How to understand "need to be running"?

Operating

 

[Xixi Luo]

Thanks, now I see "run" here means "operate" instead of "manage." But why not "need to run at 50% of capacity"? Is there a difference?

 

[Raymott]

If you are trying to clarify something, you need to write a full sentence. There's simply no answer to 'But why not "need to run at 50% of capacity"?'
I've indicated above that the person runs the business (transitive), and the business then runs at a certain capacity (intransitive).
If you mean "Why not 'Disney parks need to run at 50%?'", then you can write that; it means almost the same as "Disney parks need to be running at 50%".

 

[Xixi Luo]

Sorry for my vague question. My point here is about the tense.
"Disney parks need to run at 50% of capacity" "Disney parks need to be running at 50% of capacity"
I see here two "run" both mean "operate" and are intransitive. My question is that what's the difference between the diffrent tenses--"to be running" and "to run"
For me, I don't know why "need to be running." I think "need to run" is enough to express its meaning.

 

[tedmc]

1. Need to run - simple present tense expressing a general truth.
2. Need to be running - present continuous tense expressing the truth as of now.
3. Need to be run - action in the passive form.

I think 2 is more natural since the immediate concern is the present moment.

 

[jutfrank]

1. Need to run - simple present tense expressing a general truth.
2. Need to be running - present continuous tense expressing the truth as of now.
3. Need to be run - action in the passive form.

I think 2 is more natural since the immediate concern is the present moment.

That's not really right, Ted.

The main verb need is in the present simple in all three of your examples. The subsequent verb forms are all different kinds of infinitive, and I don't quite agree with what you say they mean.

The basic infinitive to run works okay in this sentence, but the continuous infinitive to be running works much better, as it gives a sense of the ongoing nature of the action expressed by the verb.

It's the same essential difference expressed by these two sentences:

The machine runs.
The machine is running.