Business english pair work 2

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Business English Pair Work 2

Further Conversation Practice for

Business People Steve Flinders and SilDon Sweeney

SERIES EDITOR: NICK BRIEGER

PENGUIN BOOKS

PENGUIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Hannondsworth, Middlesex, England

Published by Penguin Books 1998

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text copyright © Steve Flinders and Simon Sweeney 1998

Dlustration © Chris Chaisty 1998

All rights reserved

The moral rights of the authors and of the illustrator have been asserted

The photograph on pages 33 and 103 (by Sandra Lousada) is reproduced courtesy of Collections;

the photographs on p.52 (by Sandra Lousada, Paul Bryans and John Wender) are reproduced cour­

tesy of Collections and the photographs on p 122 (by George Wright, Anthea Sieveking and John

Cross) are reproduced courtesy of Collections and Barnaby's Picture Library

Printed in England by William Clowes Limited, Beccles and London

Set in New Century Schoolbook and Helvetica

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,

by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the

publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published

and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent

purchaser

Photocopying notice

The pages in the book marked From Business English Pair Work 2 by Steve Flinders and Simon

Sweeney © Penguin Books 1998 P H 0, 0 COP I A 5 LEmay be photocopied free of charge

for classroom use by the purchasing individual or institution This permission to copy does not

extend to branches or additional schools of an institution All other copying is subject to permis­

sion from the publisher

Acknowledgements

The publishers make grateful acknowledgement to York Associates for permission to reproduce

copyright material as follows:

1 ideas presented in the York Associates' video Communicating Styles by Derek Utley in Activity

17: Communicating Styles (ISBN 0 948333 62 6);

2 definitions of certain business terms in the glossary of this book taken from Key Tenns in

Personnel by Steve Flinders (ISBN 0 948333 46 4); and

3 notes on giving presentations adapted from The York Associates Teaching Business English

Handbook by Nh� Brieger (ISBN 1 900991 07 1)

More details of all three titles are available from York Associates Publications, 116 Micklegate,

York YOI IJy, England, tel: + 44 (0)1904'624246, fax: + 44 (0) 1904 646971, e-mail:

training@yorkassoc.go-ed,com,

The authors and publishers would also like to thank:

• Bob Dignen at York Associates for Activity 64: Troubleshooting;

• Adrian Furnham of the University College London Business Psychology Unit and regular

contributor to The Financial Times, who invented the exercise type used in Activy 47:

Privatisation; and

• Gunilla Ingels for providing the inspiration for Activity 40: Nerd management

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders in every case, The publishers would be

Contents

11

Pair Work Activities

2 Active listening 32 102 35 Managing an investment portfolio 66 136

3 Advertising standards 33 103 36 Managing the future 67 137

6 Banks, lending and borrowing 36 106 39 Negotiating a deal 70 140

9 Business anecdote 39 109 42 Performance appraisal 74 144

10 Business ethics 40 110 43 Personal presentation 75 145

11 Business grammar 41 111 44 Personnel management 76 146

12 Business philosophy 42 112 45 Planning a meeting 77 147

13 Business and the environment 43 113 46 Pricing strategy 78 148

14 Business in the community 44 114 47 Privatization 79 149

15 Capital investment 45 115 48 Product management 80 150

20 Conference organization 50 120 53 Relocation 85 155

23 Contract dispute 54 124 56 Shareholders' expectations 88 158

25 Creati ve thinking 56 126 58 Social arrangements 90 160

27 Executi ve recruitment 58 128 60 Talking politics 1 92 162

r

31 International marketing 62 132 64 Troubleshooting 96 166

33 Just-in-time management 64 134

Notes on Making Presentations 169

A-Z of Language Functions 176

Communication Skill Table 180

iii

I ntrod uction

To the teacher

Business English Pair Work 2 has been written in response to the demand for more fluency practice activities Its aim is to give foreign students of Business English, working in pairs, addi­ tional classroom practice in communicative activities in order to develop fluency in communi­ cation skills As with its predecessor, Business English Pair Work 1, the material addresses a wide range of adult themes from a variety of professional areas; however, most of the activities

do not require specialist knowledge The activities have been designed in order to provide communicative practice around:

• business communication skills

• key language functions

The material is completely independent of any course book and can, therefore, be used on any Business English course

Business English Pair Work 2 consists of sixty-five activities The activities are in one book containing:

• teachers' notes

• the role information for student A

• the role information for student B

• notes on making presentations

• a glossary of business terms

• an A-Z of language functions, together with sample exponents

• a table showing the communication skiIl(s) practised in each activity

Target learners

The activities are aimed at learners of Business English at intermediate level or above All the activities can be done by in-service learners: people who need English for their work Most of the activities can also be done in their existing form by pre-service learners: people training for

a career in the business world The few remaining activities can be done by pre-service learn­ ers after minor adaptations have been made and explanations of key concepts have been given

by the teacher The teachers' notes provide suggestions for lead-in activities to get pre-service students thinking about business management areas; the glossary provides key words for the managt!ment areas covered

Description and organization

The book contains sixty-five pair work activities These are arranged in alphabetical order by title (see contents page), except for the Ice breaker, ""hich comes first The activities can be done in any order and roles A and B can be taken by either person in the pair All the infor­ mation for each activity is given in the book Each activity consists of:

• a short introduction to set the scene and provide some background information about the business theme

• Student A's role (first part of the book)

v

Introduction

• Student B's role (second part of the book)

Each activity focuses on a communication skill (see below), Therefore, we have shown for each activity:

• the communication skill to be practised

• the language function(s) which may be drawn out

All of the activities can be done in pairs; however, some of the discussion activities can also

be done in small groups

Discussion and conversation:

These are activities designed to stimulate students to discuss a subject or subjects with their partner, usually in order to reach agreement These activities can often be done in small groups,

• social English in a professional context

The materials are designed both to practise communication skills and deveiop effective commu­ nication techniques Thus they focus on both fluency and effectiveness

vi

Introduction How to use the book

The materials are not graded Therefore you can choose an activity on the basis of theme or communication skill

Suggested procedure for the activity

1 Present the overall theme of the activity, focusing on key vocabulary for the topic

2 Warm up class with lead-in questions in teachers' notes; focus on key vocabulary that will

be needed in the activity

3 Divide the class into pairs

4 Assign roles A and B

5 Ask students to read the introduction

6 Ask students to look at the information for their role Make sure that they know what they have to do and, if necessary, how long they have to do it

7 Give students enough time to prepare This is particularly important for some of the activi­ ties, where students need to both absorb and understand the information before starting to communicate

S Monitor the pairs while they carry out the activity, prompting the use of functional expo­ nents, if necessary

Suggested procedure after the activity

Feedback to the learner(s) Provide feedback for individuals, pairs, or the class on strengths and weaknesses, appropriate usage and/or mistakes Refer students to glossary for vocabu­ lary items, where appropriate

2 Feedback from the learner�s For problem-solving activities, ask pairs to present their solu­ tions One technique which involves the whole class is as follows:

a) ask one pair to repeat the activity with another pair

b) ask one group of four to repeat the activity with another group

c) enlarge the group size each time, until a joint conclusion has been reached

3 Follow-up activities The teachers' notes provide ideas for follow-up activities which can be done either in class or for homework

Timing

r

.some activities can be short (about 10 minutes); others are likely to take longer, perhaps even

a whole lesson There are no time limits on the activities, except those decided by the teacher and the learners However, you should agree and set time limits - both for preparation and for the activity Don't allow an activity to drag on for too long Better a few minutes too short than too long

Additional resources

As some of the activities involve figures, a pocket calculator may be useful

vii

Teachers' notes

1 Ice breaker

Introduction

'Ice breakers' are short exercises for use with a new class

to help people get to know each other

Lead-in

Ask why it is important to be able to:

1 introduce yourself and say what you do

2 'break the ice' with strangers

3 ask polite questions

Method

1 With a group class, divide students into As and Bs

There are two possible methods Either Bs introduce

themselves, then As introduce themselves before Bs

ask all their questions and then As question Bs Or

students take it in turns to ask a question

2 Stress the importance of the two follow-up questions

Explain this is how small talk develops and helps to build

relationships The follow-up questions should help the

natural flow of the conversations

3 Students need move on to a new topic only when one

topic has naturally dried up

4 If the group is not too large, get students to walk around

so that all the As get to talk to all the Bs and vice versa

Follow-up

1 Get students to practise telling the whole group some

key information about themselves:

• name

• job title, responsibilities

• company name, activity, location, etc

Provide a model or elicit a good example from one

particular student Explain the importance of being able

to clearly introduce oneself and talk about one's work,

responsibilities, company, etc

Some specific research and thought mav be required to

r-ensure that all students have a good understanding of

their job title in English Students could find out this

information before the next class, if they are not sure

now

2 Get students to write short personal profiles of them­

selves or of their partners The latter could provide a

collaborative effort between pairs

2 Active listening

Introduction This activity aims to raise students' awareness of the importance of active listening through practising this necessary skill It is a test of how well students listen; and

an exercise in encouraging them to look at the different ways in which listeners can support speakers

Lead-in Ask the students:

1 if they are good listeners (they will naturally say that they are!)

2 what makes a good listener

3 what makes an active listener You could at �his point show some sound-down video extracts of your own choice with samples of good and bad listeners portrayed

in order to elicit more characteristics of active and inac­tive listening You could also do some warm-up prac­tice in summarizing by giving them some listening or text-based input and then asking them for concise 20-30 second oral summaries of the input

3 Filming the activity on video could help with analysis and feedback on the non-linguistic aspects of the students' listening after the end of the activity Follow-up

I Get feedback from student A on the accuracy of student B's reporting and vice versa

2 Discuss the degree of difficulty and usefulness of the exercise

This technique can be further practised using other activ­itit!s in this book; or in other general discussions which you can organize yourself

Teachers' notes

3 Advertising standards

Illtrodllctioll

This role play is a potentially highly conflictive meeting

between a journalist and a representative of a company that

is under attack

Lead-ill

Ask students if they think television programmes should

not be allowed to aHack companies and their products

Method

I Begin with a discussion on body language and conflict!

avoiding conflict in discussion Elicit examples of

aggressive body language (pointing staring thumping

the table, frowning, 'set' mouth/jaw, etc Add to this

suggestions on what language is aggressive: direct,

accusing blaming, personalizing discussion, elc Elicit

ways to reduce the risk of a discussion becoming too

conflictive Conflict can be reduced by keeping calm,

having a soft tone of voice, avoiding aggressive body

language, avoiding personal attacks, using indirect

rather than direct language, etc

2 Givc students the necessary time to think about their

roles

3 Put students into pairs

4 A begins with criticism of the product and the claims

made for the product

5 B responds defensively

6 The argument continues in true television style but

try to avoid too much conflicl

7 A nice option would be to video the interview so students

can watch it as if part of the eventual television

programme

FollOW-III'

If you have the resources, have your class make a video

documentary along the lines of this role play, including

interviews about various products It could be part of an

Lead-ill Briefly discuss how widespread ageism is ill lhe society

in which your students live and work Also discuss briefly why ageism exists

Method

J Each parlner should try and convince the other (although

it may be wise to sound out opinions before the start

in order to find out which side each should take) If all students are fervently anti-ageist and reluctant to take student A's part, point out that ageism is widespread and that it could be interesting to try and anticipate some of the arguments used by recruiters who will not consider older people, by playing this role

2 Encourage all participants to think of their additional arguments and to think of plenty of real life examples

to support their positions

FollOW-lip This is a subject where there can be a curious gap between people's claims (not many people will admit to ageist alti­ tudes) and the reality (there is serious discrimination against older people in the labour market in many indus­ trialized countries) The (British) Institute of Personnel and Development is committed 10 the removal of age discrim­ ination in employment and documentation on the subject can be obtained from the IPD, IPD House, Camp Road, London SWI9 4UX, tel: 018 J 97 J 9000, fax: 0 1 8 J 263 3333

Method

Explain that the students must first of all invent a company identity and then design an annual report for that company

,

,

Encourage students to think about the objectives and likely

readers of the report and to produce a draft design which

would fulfil the objectives and satisfy the readership

Follow-up

After students have reported back, look at the most recent

issue of the students' own annual report(s) (if they have

one) Also look at a range of other annual reports to

compare students' lists of contents with the real thing

Annual reports are generally easy to obtain if you write

to any large company The Financial Times newspaper

also operates a central service for ordering annual reports

at certain times of the year

6 Banks, lending and borrowing

Introduction

This role play is intended as a telephone conversation,

but could be a face-to-face meeting If you and your class

decide that it is a telephone call, use internal lines, if

possible If not, have students sit back-to-back so they

cannot see each other They should go through the normal

stages of a telephone call, introducing each other, getting

through, stating the reason for the call, etc The activity

involves an element of information transfer and a nego­

tiation

Lead-in

Ask why banks lend money and why they sometimes

refuse to do so

(Answer: banks make money from the interest and other

fees associated with lending They also support business

ventures They sometimes refuse to lend money if they think

the business venture is not a good one and their money

may be at risk.)

Method

A has to telephone the bank and explain what he/she wants

8 asks various questions and a negotiation follows

Follow-up

1 The bank (8) should write a letter referring to the appli­

cation and formally offer the loan with certain guaran­

tees attached

2 The client (A) can write a letter to the bank referring

to the application enquiries, asking for the loan, explain­

ing the circumstances and accepting any agreed

conditions

3 Alternatively, the client can change hislher opinion and

write a letter closing his/her account and declaring

his/her intention to change to a new bank

Teachers' notes

7 Brand positioning

Introduction This activity begins with a telephone call to arrange a meeting and then the meeting itself The topic is brand positioning

Lead-in Discuss the terms brand, brand positioning and brand identity Illustrate the terms by referring to well-known branded products

Method

1 Allow some minutes for preparation

2 A starts by telephoning to fix an appointment 8 plays hard to get A has to explain the situation as B does not know anything

3 In the meeting 8 starts by summarizing the present position and suggesting some action A should counter

as diplomatically as possible A and 8 should try to persuade each other In the end they reach a negotiated agreement

4 The negotiation should conclude with a clear summary

of what they plan to recommend to the Board

This activity is based on a presentation by one side followed

by a discussion or negotiation The parties are a govern­ment official anxious to keep public spending down and

a restoration expert commissioned to save a famous bUilding

Lead-in Ask students:

1 what public spending is

2 why governments like to keep public spending down

3 what things governments typically spend most on

4 what they spend least on

5 what national monuments they know

6 who pays to look after them

Method

1 Refer to the notes on making presentations at the end

of this book

3

Teachers' notes

2 Students work as As and Bs Give them time to prepare

their roles A in particular needs to prepare hislher

presentation, putting key information on an overhead

transparency dr flip chart It would be useful to put the

Gantt chart showing the project phases onto a visual

3 A begins, explaining the project and supplying the infor­

mation about costs B takes notes and briefly prepares

a response B should also interrupt and ask questions,

get clarification, etc

4 The next stage is a negotiation during which both sides

aim to reach an agreement they can both feel happy with

5 In extremis, no agreement will be possible

6 The negotiation should conclude with a clear summary

of what has been agreed or a statement as to why agree­

ment has not been possible

Follow-up

A fax or letter summarizing and confirming the agree­

ment would be useful

9 Business anecdote

Introduction

Anecdotes often go on for too long Preparing and struc­

turing anecdotes can help keep them interesting and to the

point

Lead-in

Before you start the activity:

1 give the students an example of a short anecdote (if

necessary teach the word 'anecdote' itself) and elicit

some key characteristics e.g one subject, to the point,

avoiding extraneous detail and characters

2 brainstorm possible linking phrases like

• That reminds me of something that happened to me

when

• That makes me think of an experience I once had

in

• It's very humid today - just like the time I

• It's so cold outside - it reminds me of when I

• Really? A similar thing happened to me in

• That's interesting I had a similar experience in

• You' ll never believe this but

• Did that really happen?

Students can use these to introduce each new story The

linking phrase does not have to be very meaningful as

long as it signals clearly that the other person is going

to take a turn at speaking

Method

Give the students plenty of time to prepare: setting this

as a homework task will save time in the classroom Since

you will be unable to monitor all the anecdotes from

several pairs, it could be useful to record each conversa­tion for analysis and later playback

Follow-up

1 The obvious follow-up is to ask students to repeat the whole exercise, but with the roles reversed so that each � partner has to repeat the other's anecdotes with a degree

of accuracy satisfactory to the originator This is an excellent test of listening and gives further practice in the skills discussed in Activity 2: Active Listening

2 Students could also repeat or continue the activity with their own suggestions for anecdote

3 Students who know each very well could be invited to score each other's anecdotes for interest and wit

10 Business ethics

Introduction The activity is a discussion on the wider aspect of ethics

in business, looking at corporate strategy, not just market­ing methods Naturally some controversial issues are raised

Lead-in Ask students:

1 what issues are involved in ethical considerations

2 why companies have to take an ethical position �

It may be better to leave the answers until after the activity The answer to the latter question is that increasingly ethi­cal questions do affect commercial realities: in the global economy consumers may have more information and more power Also, as societies become richer, consumers becomE more critical and more likely to adopt ethical standpoints Method

I There are 16 issues listed Students work in pairs ani discuss them all, marking their own judgements accord ing to the scale

2 There are alternative approaches:

a) Have learners work independently; then have a grou r discussion

b) Have learners go around interviewing everyone j the group to try to identify a group consensus on eac point This takes longer but is often the more comm' nicative and stimulating method

3 Afterwards, get pair or group feedback on the opi ions expressed

Follow-up Choose a few of the items for extended discussion or

up a debate on the lines of Modern business cannot aff(

:!

10 ignore the ethics or Ethics are all hypocrisy, or so such uncontroversial title

11 Business grammar

Introduction

This is a game to be played with students who you know

and who know each other reasonably well since, although

it has serious business and language aims in terms of

making testing demands on students' command of vocab­

ulary, it may initially seem either frivolous or off-beam

to some

Lead-in

You may wish first to test the idea with the whole group

by first thinking of a high profile business (or politicall

media/etc.) personality and giving a list of nouns which

you associate with the person in question Once they have

the idea, let them proceed as given in the main text

Method

Go through the instructions in the book so that everyone

is clear about what to do If you detect uncertainty, select

a pair to do a trial run in front of the class

Follow-up

1 Students can write down for future reference all the

words they have heard and used, and apply the same

technique to other people - superiors, subordinates,

mentors, etc as an exercise in vocabulary extension You

can also transfer the technique to various business and

managerial concepts which you can brainstorm with

the class, for example: 'Which nouns/verbs/adjectives

do you associate with leadership?'

2 You can, of course, play the same game using

non-business as well as non-business people

(The question about including such words in a CV is a

serious one since the authors can testify to having seen

such lists of 'power words' in real-life CVs.)

Teachers' notes

12 Business philosophy Introduction

This is something of a wild card activity since it is obvi­ously very open-ended You are also probably more likely

to try this exercise with a group with a well-established dynamic Nevertheless it is potentially a rewarding - and lengthy! - activity which could lead to some useful, even animated exchanges

Lead-in Before looking at the worksheet, as a scene setter, you could write on the board: 'Business is ' or even 'Business ' and invite each class member to brainstorm sentence endings, but without allowing any comment either from the group or from you

Method There are too many statements for one person to deal with and so there are various ways in which this material can

be used Have a clear idea in advance of which approach you want to adopt since this will affect how far you can use it again with the same group in the future Some alter­natives are:

Ask students to choose two or three statements only and tell them to allocate an equal amount of time to each

2 More directively, allocate a different statement to each pair

3 Get each student to choose three statements they agree with and three they disagree with and to discuss them

in pairs

If successful, this can be returned to from time to time as

an end-of-Iesson or middle-of-Iesson filler As always in discussion, don' t allow the activity to go on for too long: cutting it off in its prime is a better classroom tactic than allowing some people to get bored

Follow-up Good time management is also important during the phase when pair�r ·eport back to the whole group Since the discussions will have been both �omplex and unstruc­tured, this stage will be a challenge to students' capacity

to summarize clearly, succinctly and fairly You can also add students' own statements of business philosophy to the list

5

Teachers ' notes

1 3 Business and the environment

Introduction

The relationship between business and the environment is

likely to become a matter of increasing public concern and

debate in Ihe years to comc It is important for business

people and busine5S students to discuss the issues and the

options available to them

Lead-ill

Since the activity involves a potentially detailed and

comprehensive presentation as the first and second

stages ( although you can be the judge of how long and

detailed they should be), the sLUdents should be given

plenty of time to prepare beforehand They should be

encouraged to present the policies in their own words

by paraphrasing the text rmher than just reading through

the points; and to bring the presentation alive by provid­

ing, above all, plenty of examples Sec the back of the

book for notes on, and language for giving presentations

2 Get each pair of students to agree on who is visiting

whom so that the host is able to welcome the guest

correctly (sec below) They should also choose a sector

for their own company - construction? retailing? - to

make the exchange more plausible

Method

I Since this is a meeting, it should begin with the appro­

priate pleasantries about the trip, the weather, etc

-another opportunity for practice of Social English

which, as far as possible with only two participants,

sion, summary and a statement of the decisions taken

FollOW-lip

I All the policies cited are real-lifc examples of practice

in various British companies

2 For students who are especially interested in this area,

you can obtain more information from Business in the

Community (see Activity 14), which has a department

specifically concerned with Business and the Environment

6

14 Business in the community

Illtroduction More and more companies have some kind of community policy: an unscientific survey by the authors found that • about a quarter of annual reports of major British compa-

nies included a reference to the company's community role One of them (United Biscui ts) cites 't e belief that

commercial success and social responsibility are inextri­ cably linked' It is a theme which has received little atten-

tion in Business English before now, but is a theme which

we believe many colleagues will be increasingly keen to enlarge on in the future All the cases in the activity are based on authentic British examples

Lead-ill Ask students what image they have of business involve­ ment in the community and what examples they can give, either at first- or at second-hand Do they have any direct experience themselves? Do they accept the premise quoted above about the relationship between commercial advan­ tage and social responsibility? Or is this a British phenom­ enon emanating from the British charitable tradition which

is unlikcly to develop elsewhere? (Note that the Japanese ,

company Sony also includes a section on its role in the comlllunity in its annual report.)

Method Once the students have read the three cases (for homework), encourage them to paraphrase and explain each case rather than just read them aloud If you feel that they need prac­ tice in paraphrasing, give them input in the form of short written texts in which they have to identify the key sentence and then fil the rest of the information into two short sentences

Follow-up

I Technical note: the Fun Run case is an example of wha1

is now knowll as CRM - Cause Related Marketing

2 In Britain, Business in the Community is an organiza , tion which seeks to promote an active sense of svcia responsibility in business organizations InformatiOl about its activities can be obtained from Business in th ' Community, 44 Baker Street London WI M I DH, teJ + 44 (0) 1 71 224 1 600, fax + 44 (0) 1 71 486 1700

It

15 Capital investment

Introduction

This involves a discussion of various options on how to

spend a budget The discussion is about establishing

priorities

Lead-in

Ask students what factors are important when one fixes

priorities: what is the most important factor behind deci­

sions taken by companies? Is the profit motive what matters

most? Is it the only thing that matters?

Method

1 Initially students should study their notes and choose

their preferred way to spend the available money

2 Then student B can present all his/her suggestions and

then A responds with his/her presentation A discussion

follows

3 The idea is to reach compromises and therefore agree­

ment on what recommendations to make There is poten­

tial for conflict, but a solution has to be reached

Follow-up

Each pair can summarize what they have agreed A writ­

ten memo could note the decisions taken

16 Career advice

Introduction

In this activity, the students are required to operate in

something of a limbo between simulation and role play in

that they will probably be obliged to imagine that they are

either rather older or rather younger than they in fact are

3 what, in very general terms, the students' own expec­

tations of a career are or have become

Method

You can put the students - in particular the 'older' student

- in the mood by, first of all, talking about some of the

details of their partly hypothetical careers, i.e get each of

them to provide a brief summary of their respective career

histories to date before they actually begin the activity Ask

them to think about their respective careers and make

notes on them for reference during the activity

Teachers' notes Follow-up

1 The students can reverse roles

2 They can discuss other possible areas of guidance which could be added to the list

3 They can discuss how they approached/might have approached the other role differently

4 They can feed back to the whole class and you can see whether there are any common traits emerging from the different discussions

This activity could also represent a lead-in to Activity 12: Business Philosophy

1 7 Communicating styles

Introduction This activity aims to sensitize students to the fact that different styles of communication tend to cut across nation­ality (e.g that there are formal and informal Germans, Americans, Japanese, and so on) and therefore may be a useful perspective for increasing awareness of the fact that, for example, both formal and informal styles may be equally acceptable and legitimate

Lead-in You could begin by asking people to provide adjectives

or key words to describe their own nationality and then ask how valid each of these words or expressions is for the x hundred thousand or million people who share this label with them

Method This activity offers many opportunities for discussion and for sensitization to the existence of different styles of communication; so be prepared to allow lots of discussion both between partners during the activity and during the feedback session of the whole class afterwards

Follow-up Having gone through the questionnaire, students may well suggest their own add.�ional sets of parameters You might prompt suggestions by asking them to complete the sentence: 'Some people are too ' (in their commu­nication) and get someone also to give the opposite of each term suggested

2 The notion of no 'one right way' mentioned in the students' introduction to the activity has been extensively developed by Fons Trompenaar in his book Riding the Waves of Culture Trainers wishing to go further into the whole area of inter-cultural communication in busi­ness will find this title of value

3 The York Associates' video Communicating Styles significantly develops the ideas contained in this activity

7

th h In t e organization can actually do; and, on

t edot Ter, measU ring what their jobs ideally require them o 0

Ask the stud

t ents to think of a job they know and then,

with-?Ut sdaYlng What the job is, to list the competences (see the

m ro uctio

b h I n to the activity for a definition) needed by the

� d 0 fd�r T he others can first of all try and guess what

t nd 0 Job it is Alternatively you could provide each

hs.u enthWith a job title on a card in order to get a good Ierarc ical

talk h· Spread of jobs Students might also want to ,t IS tune without identifying the job holder, about the

cOdmtPhet�nce gap they perceive, if any, between the job

an e Job hOlder

Method

You may w' h

b & elore embark IS to sketch out some possible training costs

st d Ing on the activity itself, so that when the

b u ents come to negotiate the budget, their discussions ear some reI r .

f I Ita ISagreement to be resolved is between the immedi­ d' a Ion to realIstIc trammg costs The

poten-a e sup

en Or Who is impatient to have the new recruit

°thPertah?nal as SOon as possible, and who has to pay for

e raIning ' and the HR manager who wants the new

tre�ruldt properly inducted into the company and properly rame Ap

with th� P�OXlInate training costs (per week) together

b POSSIble number of weeks' training required could

te das In the table below, although, with more experienced

s u ents 't h

th elr oWn p rogramme and figures: ,I s ould be interesting for them to come up with

,

Follow-up Having done this activity, the students could return to the real cases they were presenting before and present differ­ ent cases one by one with the group as a whole obtaining further information through questioning and then making collective recommendations for the training or develop­ ment of the incumbent

19 Competitive tendering Introduction

This activity is a basic information transfer exercise that

is an effective vehicle for practising telephoning If you and your class decide that it is a telephone call, use inter­ nal lines, if possible If not, have students sit back-to­ back so they cannot see each other They should go through the normal stages of a telephone call, introducing each other, getting through, stating the reason for the call, etc Lead-in

Ensure that the context is understood and that the mean­ ing of competitive tendering is clear

Method

1 Give students time to fully understand their roles

2 Set up the situation, either a phone call or a meeting

3 A starts with some questions about the bid

4 Once all the points have been dealt with, students should summarize the items agreed, check that there is noth­ ing more to be said now and then end the conversation This three part ending is important

20 Conference organization

Introduction

This is a fairly straightforward example of information

transfer but with an element of fantasy for the imagina­

tive student: you want to encourage them to go for a really

successful and memorable conference

Lead-in

The conference subject has deliberately been left unspec­

ified so that the students can decide on this themselves

before they start

Method

Although some of the information has been supplied, each

student will ask the other questions which he/she will not

have anticipated so it is important for them to be ready to

improvise You might want to present the situation in

general terms before actually looking at the description

of the activity itself in order to brainstorm the kinds of

question which might be asked in these circumstances

This might elicit questions such as:

(for student As )

• What experience have you had of organizing this kind

of conference?

• What can I get for a budget of $10,000 per participant?

• What can you do to make this conference a success/

memorable/different?

(for student Bs )

• What is the aim of the conference?

• Who will the top speakers be?

• What kinds of conference room will you need? (Size?

Audio-visual equipment?)

• How many participants will there be?

• Will they be accompanied by their spouses/partners?

• How long will the conference last?

• What kind of budget are you working to?

You can leave these questions on the board while the

students read the description and then begin to prepare the

activity

Follow-up

Once a preliminary idea of what is possible has been

developed on the phone, and the pairs have reported back,

each pair could be asked to cost a more detailed proposal

with more feedback on each one There should be a lot of

discussion about what can be done for the money avail­

able Note in each case also, the size of the consultant's

fee!

Teachers' notes

21 Consumer movement Introduction

This activity depends on an informal context to work most effectively As with other informal and social contexts, the topic is there as the core of the activity but if the discus­ sion wanders away into other areas and back again, so much the better If possible, provide props to help create the informal atmosphere of a hotel lobby

Lead-in Ask students to brainstorm the relationship between consumers and companies Who is more powerful? Try to build a mini-debate on how both consumers and compa­ nies have power

Method

1 From the lead-in above, try to divide the class into those who basically think consumers do have power (As) and those who basically think companies rule everything (Bs) If the class do not divide reasonably neatly, some students will need to role play an opinion different from their own

2 As begin by putting the case for consumer power

3 Bs respond with counter-arguments

4 The second part looks at how this power is manifested

- what media are available to consumers or what means there are for companies to exert power over the consumers

5 An alternative is to keep students in larger groups and retain the debate format

Follow-up

A brief piece of writing summarizing the respective strengths and weaknesses of consumers and companies would be an effective way to conclude the activity This can be done in pairs, groups or individually as a homework task

22 Consumer survey

r Introduction

This activity is a discussion in pairs leading to designing

a consumer survey on leisure interests It can lead to actu­ ally carrying out the survey

Lead-in Ask if students have ever been surveyed by market researchers Briefly discuss the question of survey design

so that students understand that surveys are normally very restricted in the kind of questions they ask: yes/no answers, mUltiple choice, etc This is mainly so the results can be collated easily Results from surveys where answers require

a lot of writing are difficult to analyse (although such

9

Teachers' notes

qualitative surveys do have their value) For this exer­

cise, students should use questions where the answers are

restricted, as in the examples given

Method

1 Students work in pairs, first of all deciding the ten core

leisure activities they want to include in the survey

2 Then they design the questionnaire This may take some

time and need some guidance from you Essentially, tell

students to keep it simple and limited to frequency, cost

and who with, for the ten activities the students agree

on, together with other questions on preferred holiday

choices and where the respondents live If the students

want to add any other questions, they can do so, but may

need guidance from you

3 They can put scales next to each leisure activity based

on how often the respondents have taken part in them,

how much they spend, who they do this with, etc

4 When the questionnaires are ready, they should test

them, then modify them

5 Finally they can make copies and run the survey on a

number of people

Follow-up

Compile the results from the survey, analyse them and

present the results of the research

23 Contract dispute

Introduction

This role play is a telephone call involving a negotiation

to settle a dispute over a contract Alternatively, use a

telephone call at the beginning merely to arrange a meet­

ing, stating the problem As with other telephone activi­

ties, use internal lines, if possible If not, have students

sit back-to-back so they cannot see each other They should

go through the normal stages of a telephone call, intro­

ducing each other, getting through, stating the reason for

the call, etc The actual negotiation could be a face-to-face

meeting

Lead-in

Briefly ask what:

1 a distribution agreement is

2 a distribution agreement typically includes

(It refers to the supplier and an agent, who will sell goods

in a particular region under certain conditions It prob­

ably also speaks about prices and terms and support

services.)

Method

1 Give students two or three minutes to study their role

information Remind them that it is not necessary for

10

them to understand every word in the contract, only the general idea

2 A telephones B and states the problem

3 A should explain all the reasons why he/she is unhappy

4 B should try to calm the situation and move to a better future

Follow-up Both parties can write a letter summarizing the result of their discussion

24 Corporate culture Introduction

Another activity designed to be fun, but also to focus students' attention on the relationship between organiza­ tional culture and success, and to encourage them to think about what to change, how much to change and how to achieve it

Lead-in Ask the students to reflect on their working or study environments:

1 If there were one thing they could change definitively, what would it be?

2 If there were one thing they would do to make the nization more effective, what would it be?

orga-Encourage them to think laterally, even outrageously, in order to get them in the mood for the activity and get everyone to respond to the ideas which are brainstormed

Method

1 Students should first of all agree about what kind of company - activity, turnover, number of employees and location - before they start on the activity

2 They should be encouraged to add their own ideas during the activity In principle, the activity provides for a dialogue between two sets of pre-prepared and opposing views, but it is no cause for alarm if this breaks down: the important thing is to get students talk­ ing and thinking about what it is which will get people

to work together more productively and more success­fully

Follow-up

1 Although the ideas in the activity collectively represent

a bizarre assortment of management practices, all of them have been tried, and proven, individually, in one company or another across the world: there is a link between the seeming normality or abnormality of a particular idea and the geographical proximity to � students' own culture of the originator of any given idea

!

2 A number of the concepts relating to building trust

within the workforce like, for example, employees

determining their own hours, relate to the culture of the

Brazilian engineering company, Semco, under its owner,

Ricardo Semler, which attracted a good deal of atten­

tion in the business media in the mid-nineties

3 One obvious focus for discussion is:

• how easy it is to achieve change in an organization

• whether some organizations are easier to change than

others

• whether too much change can be counter-productive

Many students will want to cite examples of organiza­

tions forced into excessive and traumatic change while there

may also be others who will want to defend a general

climate of change

25 Creative thinking

Introduction

This is a brainstorm type discussion activity leading to an

option of an informal presentation of a new product idea,

in this case a magazine

Lead-in

Ask students what magazines they read and what maga­

zines they know about Ask if they read any specialist

magazines for professional or hobby interest groups

Method

1 Students work in pairs or in small groups

2 They should brainstorm the type of magazine they want

to create; then go through all the various points on the

checklist

3 Once they have the basic information, they can begin

preparing the best way to present it Depending on how

much time you want to spend on this, it can be a fairly

short activity (but full of creative energy and enthusi­

asm) or it can be quite a polished presentation

4 Refer to notes on making presentations at the back of

the book r

5 Pairs or groups present their ideas

6 You can award a prize to the most inspired concept

Follow-up

1 Have students write some sample articles for the

magazine

2 Actually create a class magazine based on the ideas put

forward from the group Have everyone make at least

some kind of contribution Offer special prizes for the

best and most entertaining contributions

Teachers' notes

26 Ethical marketing Introduction

This topic looks specifically at marketing methods rather than at wider issues in business (see Activity 10: Business Ethics) It includes a range of controversial issues Lead-in

Ask students if they think that 'anything goes' in business,

or that companies have a responsibility to give a good example In some cases, of course, the state already inter­ venes and makes some things illegal

Method

1 Students can work in pairs and note any specific disagreements between them, especially where the order­ ing 1-15 is involved, which may be very difficult to agree

on

2 Here are some alternative approaches:

a) Students can consider the p�ints individually, decide individually on a ranking from 1 to 1 5, then compare their answers

b) Have As and Bs interview each other

c) After some moments marking the page individually, open up a class discussion

3 In some cases, some changes or conditions may be added to the statements Elicit any suggestions Follow-up

Have a full scale debate on marketing ethics based on the proposition that Marketing is usually ethical or Marketing rarely shows high ethical standards

27 Executive recruitment Introduction

This is a simple discussion about the qualities needed in

a senior executive

Lead-in Ask students what skills they think are most important in top managers Brainstorm their answers and write them

Teachers' notes

Follow-up

Look at real recruitment notices in business magazines and

newspapers Identify any examples of qualities required

in applicants and any examples of perks that go with the

job

28 Form filling

Introduction

Giving and taking down basic information is a prosaic

but essential skill for anyone communicating internation­

ally, from the hotel guest to the transnational job appli­

cant This activity gives opportunities for practice in

spelling, number work, listening, cross-cultural explana­

tions (in the case of mixed nationality pairs trying to

explain, for example, exam qualifications to each other)

and so on You may wish to use the activity as follow-up

to practice in one or more of these areas

Lead-in

The purpose of the form has deliberately been left unspec­

ified so that the students themselves can choose whether

it is the first part of, e.g a job application form, an insur­

ance policy application, or other document Once they

have decided, they can begin the role play appropriately

Method

1 The activ�ty will probably work better if you only issue

one sheet at a time (see Follow-up below) so that at least

one of the students does not see the form during the first

run through The weaker of the two should therefore ask

the questions first ,

2 Since the form is quite long, it may be advisable to set

a time limit (of twenty minutes each) on the activity to

discourage students from getting too bogged down in

the details of previous jobs or long-gone schooldays

Follow-up

Each student (A and B) has the same information to allow

them each in tum to obtain information from the other,

making two separate activities

12

r

29 Homeworklng Introduction

There are quite big variations in acceptance of home­ working from one country to another, and even from one company to another, so this activity is a good way of sounding out attitudes to what seems set to be a growing long-term trend

Lead-in Establish that students understand the term and then ask them:

I if they have direct experience of homeworking or if they know anyone who has

2 how far homeworking is or would be culturally accept­ able within the students' countries/professional areas/ sectors/companies

This initial short discussion may also help you decide how

to allot roles

Method

I Get the students to read through their own list of ideas

in the description and to prepare to present them

2 Tell them to try and anticipate what the other students _ are going to say Among the lists of arguments and counter-arguments there are some which clearly mirror each other, but since the order of points is not the same, the students will need a certain agility in order to have the right counter-argument ready at the right time Hence the importance of preparation

3 Tell the students that once the discussion has actually begun, they can put forward their own points in any order they like but they should use all the arguments even­ tually, including their own

4 At the end of the discussion, you could ask pairs to actu­ ally trace the order in which the points were raised and

to see whether any pairing of arguments was achieved, e.g between At and B7 (or B6), A2 and B4, A3 and B2, A4 and B6, A5 and B3, AS and B5

Follow-up Discuss the longer-term implications of homeworking For example, if people no longer need to travel in such large numbers to a place of work, what implications thh will have on:

I the shape of cities

2 family life

3 transport and communications

This can lead to a more general discussion on the futun �

of jobs as we currently know them, a theme which ties it with ideas which could arise in Activity 1 6: Career Advice :!

30 Industrial espionage

Introduction

This role play involves two presentations and a fairly

conflictive and hostile negotiation It is unlikely to result

in a friendly agreement

Lead-in

Ask students:

I what industrial espionage is

2 if they know of any famous cases

3 if headhunting causes problems in this respect

Method

I Students will need three to four minutes to prepare

2 A gives a presentation, outlining hislher complaints

3 B responds, perhaps after a short adjournment to prepare

4 S ome d iscussion follows i n an effort to reach a

settlement

5 If no settlement is reached, they should say what the

next step will be

Follow-up

Students can exchange formal letters summarizing the

meeting and outlining the next action to take

31 International marketing

Introduction

This activity is a general discussion within a social context

The social element will work better if you prepare a few

props, such as a tray and a couple of glasses and a drink

or two for each pair This drama element will greatly help

the role playing element and add to the desired informal­

ity of the language practice

Lead-in

I Stress the informal context and remind learners that

while the topic for the discussion is i:'ii.ernational market­

ing, the informal context makes it very likely that the

conversation may easily wander away from the central

theme and then return to it This is typical of informal

conversation

2 Ask students what experience they have of interna­

tional business If they have direct or professional expe­

rience, elicit some comments on the advantages and

disadvantages of doing business internationally

3 Refer to other activities in the book with a socializing

dimension, e.g Activity 9: Business Anecdote and

Activity 57: Small Talk

Teachers' notes Method

1 Allow time to prepare, during which students read their notes

2 A 'practice run' may be useful, in which students may look at their notes After a rehearsal, they should be less dependent on their notes

3 Students should allow the conversation to be as infor­mal and wide-ranging as possible It is important that they are not tied to their notes, nor the order in the book, nor any particular viewpoint Emphasize that the discussion should be flexible and wide-ranging Follow-up

Elicit general comments from the entire group on advan­tages and disadvantages of international business What

do your group see as the most important advantages? Have they identified any that are not included in the book?

32 Job satisfaction

Introduction You can encourage people to talk about their current levels

of job satisfaction, but also about satisfaction with past jobs, and so on, for example, the best job I ever had, my ideal job, etc

Lead-in Are people generally happy in their work? If so, what makes them happy? If n04 why not? Stronger students may

go more or less straight into the activity With others, you may wish first of all to invite the group to brainstorm their ideas about factors contributing to job satisfaction before you give them copies of the activity itself Once they have the copies, you may also wish to go through the list of factors with them in order to ensure that all the mean­ings of all the factors are clearly understood

Method

It may help students if they first of all organize the points into broader headings, for example, financial and non- financial considerations They can probably suggest other broad categories themselves

Follow-up

1 As with any exercise in prioritizing you can follow the first pair work stage with a pyramid exercise -asking two pairs to agree on a common order, and so

on until the class has agreed on a collective order of priority

2 You can then reveal the results of a survey of British employees as follows (the figures in brackets are the percentage of respondents who believed the factor to

be either extremely important or important):

13

Teachers' notes

1 Interesting, challenging work (87%)

2 Open, two-way communication (80%)

3 Opportunities for growth and development (77%)

4 Realistic performance management (67%)

This role play is a telephone call involving a negotiation

to settle a problem over a delivery Both sides are keen to

reach a friendly solution

Lead-in

Briefly ask what is meant by 'Just-in-time management'

and why it is generally seen as 'a good thing'

Method

I Put next Monday's date in Article 6.01 in the contract

2 Give students two or three minutes to study their role

information Remind them that it is not necessary for

them to understand every word in the contract, only

the general idea

3 B telephones A and states the problem

4 Together they have to work out the best possible solu­

tion

Follow-up

Both parties can write a fax or letter summarizing what

they have agreed

14

34 Management development Introduction

This exercise gives free rein to students to devise a train­ing programme which, they must argue, really would be effective

Lead-in Encourage students to talk, first of all, about their own expe­riences of training and development programmes in the past Which ones are the most memorable and why? What makes

a good training or development programme? And for personnel professionals, what is the difference between 'training' and 'development'?

Method The methodology for selecting the three final options has deliberately been left undefined Although the employee choosing the programme is regarded as mature, the HR manager may still feel that the company should have a say

in the choices made and so may wish, for example, to systematize the choice by measuring the gap (see also Activity 1 8: Competence Development) between what the employee can do now and what he/she might need to be able to do in the future

Follow-up

1 You will thus be able to compare the methodologies

of the different HR managers during the feedback session after the activity has been completed You may wish to have As and Bs reverse roles before this

2 Finally, ask students how the programme they have devised can be evaluated for cost effectiveness

- '35 Managing an investment portfolio

Introduction The topic is formal but the situation is not: this is an infor­mal discussion between two friends in a restaurant Introduce a fe-.J props to help with the atmosphere You could play the role of waiter, switching ,from table to table with drinks and questions like 'Is everything all right with your meal, sir/madam?'

Lead-in Ask students:

1 what an investment portfolio may be like

2 what people invest in Answer: it may contain a spread of investments in vari­ous sectors, industries, companies, countries, etc

3 what they hope to achieve from having an investmen-� portfolio

Answer: profit, fun, interest

4 what managing an investment portfolio means

Answer: checking its progress, keeping track of the

financial news and the performance of one's invest­

ments, buying and selling investments, instructing one's

broker, etc

Method

I Allow some preparation time, partly to discuss the lead­

in questions and partly so students can understand their

notes They can keep them with them to make a few

notes during the discussion

2 Try to establish the context and the informality Remind

students that they can go 'off the subject' as much as

they like The role play will work all the better if you

can play up the restaurant feature

3 At the end each pair should summarize what they have

agreed

4 As an option, make copies of the financial press avail­

able for students to identify likely good investments

Follow-up

Especially enterprising students might like to take a regu­

lar look at the financial press to monitor companies'

performances

36 Managing the future

Introduction

This examination of the future can be rapidly developed

from a business application to a much more general view

of the future shape of the world in general

Lead-in

The sector has been left open for the students to choose:

they can either choose their own organization or one they

know well or invent one Sectors like oil, telecoms and

computing are obvious candidates if they need prompting

Method

If students need any encouragement, you can invite them

to think about the impact of technological, demographic

cultural and environmental (e.g climatic) change on the

future shape of business

Follow-up

This exercise can be repeated with the roles reversed: the

student who took the role of the journalist in the first

round can now take the role of the future watcher and

answer questions about what shape the world - and the

company - will be in fifteen or twenty years from now

This activity could be a particularly rich source of follow­

up writing

Teachers' notes

37 Market share

Introduction This activity provides opportunities for presentation skills

as well as a negotiation The two parties begin from quite different perspectives so they need to compromise to reach agreement It is possible there will be no agreement, in which case a decision can be postponed See Follow-up below Lead-in

Ask students:

1 why market share is important

2 why companies pay a lot of attention to their market share

3 what is often a risk for smaller companies in competi­tive markets (answer: being taken over)

4 what are the possible actions for small companies that are being squeezed by larger ones (answers: to compete

on quality and price - though the latter is difficult because they may not be abl� to make economies of scale; to seek partnerships; to concentrate on special­ist areas of expertise - (niche markets) to invest in expansion - a risky option)

Method

1 Each student presents the information on their respec­tive sectors The pie chart information can be repro­duced on an overhead transparency for more effective presentation (Photocopy the figures, enlarging them and transfer them onto an acetate)

2 Student A starts by summarizing the present position for the schools market and suggesting some action, especially the merger of the two sectors

3 B should present the information on the Sports Centre sector and counter A's suggestion as diplomatically as possible They should try to persuade each other and

in the end work towards a negotiated agreement

4 Option: have two pairs work together, so creating teams

of As and Bs

5 The negotiation should conclude with a clear summary

of what h�s been agreed

Follow-up

1 If you carry out this activity in pairs and in some cases

no agreement is reached, add other individuals to the pairs where there has been no agreement to contribute more to the discussion and to push the group towards agreement

2 Write a letter summarizing the action agreed

1 5

Teachers' notes

38 Micro-lending

Introduction

This is another activity (like, for example, the Business

in the Community and B usiness and the Environment

activities) which is designed to help teachers of Business

English who are interested in using materials relating to

global issues of poverty, environment and so on in their

work (see Follow-up below) Micro-lending is currently

a fast-growing and successful development in development

economics and the information in this activity is based on

actual success stories in Indonesia and Bolivia It should

be of particular interest to students in banking; students

from developing countries; students with an interest in

development; and pre-service business students of all

kinds

Lead-in

Ask students if they understand the term Micro-lending

or if they can guess what it might mean Once they have

established that it relates to small-scale lending in the

developing world, ask them to reflect on how such a system

might work and what its advantages might be

Method

Student B s will need time to take in the information

presented to them They should study the information

available and be encouraged to add to it in order to increase

the credibility of the situation The role of student As will

be to obtain as much information as possible before decid­

ing whether to advance the money or not

Follow-up

I There should be class feedback on who decided what

and why Ask how many As were convinced by Bs' argu­

ments and then develop a more general discussion about

the feasibility of this approach

2 If you are interested in getting more information about

micro-lending, contact the Consultative Group to Assist

the Poorest at CGAP Secretariat, The World Bank, 1 8 1 8

H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, tel: 202 473 9594,

fax: 202 522 3744, e-mail: cproject@worldbank.org

3 Teachers of Business English interested in Global Issues

should join the Global Issues Special Interest Group

(GISIG) of the International Association of Teachers of

English as a Foreign Language Contact GISIGJ IATEFL

at 3 Kingsdown Chambers, Kingsdown Park, Whitstable,

Kent, England CT5 20J, tel: + 44 (0) 1 227 276528, fax:

+44 (0) 1 227 2744 1 5

1 6

3 9 Negotiating a deal Introduction

This is a role play involving a buyer and a seller Both want the best deal possible, both will have to be flexible Lead-in

Ask pairs of students to work out a definition of 'negoti­ation' Elicit suggestions, highlight key words that occur

in different suggestions Then perhaps offer a synthesis:

a negotiation is 'a communication process involving two

or more parties in which agreement is reached through compromise' The key elements are agreement and compro­mise

Ask students what makes negotiations successful and what causes them to break down Negotiations typically break down because the parties involved are unable to compromise sufficiently - often for very good reasons Method

1 Student B should present the list of options available, with some indication of the likely costs There should definitely be flexibility in what B offers and he/she should lead a discussion, where various ideas are put forward and students have to support or criticize them, depending on their notes and/or opinion Either A can present all hislher ideas and then B responds, or (better)

A presents one idea to which B responds until all items have been discussed

2 The idea is to reach compromises and therefore agree­ment on what recommendations to make There is poten­tial for conflict, but a solution has to be reached

3 This activity is a good example of one that could be handled by a team of two or three negotiators on each side You could have students work in groups of four

or six In this way, teams can work out a more detailed strategy and call adjournments where appropriate to re-focus their negotiating strategy

4 The negotiation should conclude with a clear summary

of what has been agreed ,

5 It is conceivable that no agreement is reached Follow-up

1 Different negotiations will produce different results so these can be compared between pairs or groups

2 Set up another negotiation in which students work out the context and parameters of a new role play The students should initially determine the basic subject and aim of the negotiation and some key facts Once they divide into pairs or teams they can add specific details which will only come out in the actual negoti­ation Once the preparation is complete, the negotiation can take place

o

40 Nerd management

Introduction

This is based on the true life case of a company's concern

about a group of employees working too hard If neces­

sary, explain that the case in fact derives from Scandinavia

where there are constraints on the number of hours employ­

ees work, and where proposals for additional hours have

to be negotiated with trades unions This is also broadly

true throughout the European Union The authors would

be most interested to hear from B usiness English trainers

about other bizarre true life anecdotes

Lead-in

Ask students if:

1 they are clear what a nerd is and if they recognize the

type

2 if they know any nerds

3 if their organization employs any

4 if they are a problem

Method

Make it clear to students that the emphasis here is on

discussion However, to give structure to the activity:

1 Get the students to read through the briefing for the activ­

ity

2 Tell them to agree on an agenda before they begin to

start the discussion This could be:

• Definition of the problem

• Possible solutions

• Decisions

• Plan of action

• Summary of meeting

3 The brainstorming part of the meeting (item 2) could

be managed by prioritizing the different ideas, perhaps

using a whiteboard

Follow-up

Ask students if the case reminds them of anything simi­

lar in their experience Ask them if they have any expe­

rience of other groups of employees who collectively

'enjoy' poor communication with the rest of the company

What action was/could be taken in these other cases?

Teachers' notes

41 New product Introduction

This is a light-hearted discussion activity leading to an option of an informal presentation of a new product idea With group classes, it can be treated as a major project leading to an Innovations Show (see below)

Lead-in Ask students to let their imaginations run free: what new product would revolutionize their lives? A virtual reality car? A completely automated kitchen? A virtual reality family? A robot to decorate the house while you are on holiday? A television that follows you around? It may not

be necessary to offer such prompts but it may at least set the not-too-serious tone

Metlzod

I Students work in pairs or in small groups

2 They should brainstorm on the type of product they want to create, then go through all the various points

on the checklist

3 Once they have the basic information, they can begin preparing the best way to present it Depending on how much time you want to spend on this, it can be a fairly superficial job (but full of creative energy and enthu­siasm) or it can be quite a polished presentation

4 Pairs or groups present their ideas as a kind of Innovations Show, with points awarded for the various ideas

5 Award a prize to the most inspired concept

Follow-up Have students write 'product reviews'

r

17

Teachers' notes

42 Performance appraisal

Introduction

Some form of appraisal is more and more common for

employees in business organizations, and appraisals involve

increasing numbers of line managers Therefore in inter·

national organizations, it is increasingly likely that any

manager with responsibility for other people will be

involved in appraisal processes which are carried out in

English

The activity requires tact and diplomacy on the part of

the As, even if the Bs are role-playing rather than giving

a genuine self-assessment of themselves Some briefing

and preparation is therefore desirable; as is role reversal

so that both students get the chance to play both roles

I Explain that the student B s are going to make real

assessments of their own performance (as employees,

students in higher/further education or whatever) or, if

(hey prefer, to role play a persona of their own inven­

tion for the purposes of the activity The role of the As

will therefore be essentially to facilitate, i.c to struc­

ture and guide the interview, to record the information

given, and to ensure through diplomatic questioning

and probing, that the self-assessment is an accurate and

realistic one If Bs prefer to play a role, suggest or

brainstorm some possibilities, e.g a sales manager in

a car company, a product manager in a pharmaceuticals

company

2 Point out that the areas listed on the appraisal form are

deliberately ambiguous: what is revealing is the way each

appraisee interprets the meaning of each category

3 Get student As to stan with the normal courtesies to be

expected at the beginning of any meeting, before lead­

ing into the main business of the meeting, the proce­

dures for which they should present and explain

4 Since this is a one-way activity, you should allow time

for it to be repeated with the roles reversed

FollOW-lip

Students can now:

develop their own critiques of appraisal systcms in

more detail

2 debate whether or not performance assessment related

pay should be part of the appraisal proccss

1 8

3 debate the merits of upward appraisal, where subordi­ nates assess the performance of hierarchical superiors, often through the use of anonymous questionnaires

4 debate the merits of 360 degree appraisal where the appraisee is appraised collectively by superiors, subor­ dinates and colleagues

Introduction This activity is an 0PPOItunity to prepare and p r esent a 5-1 0 minute presentation Students work i n pairs and provide each other with a critical audience of one

on making presentations at the end of this book

Method

1 Students spend a minute or so deciding which option

to take, then five minutes preparing If elaborate visu­ als are needed, a little more preparation lime could be allowed

2 As and Bs work together It is important that the presen­ ters stand lip to present

3 The listener should offer constructive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the pr e se ntatio n , based on the points identified earlier which mark good technique

4 Students should tell each other whether they get the job or not

FollOW-lip

I Repeat the exercise to get a more polished performance

Each student can perform their presentation for the elllire group

2 Alternatively, choose one of the other options r

3 These could be videoed for self evaluation, further feed­ back and constructive criticism

"

I,

" ,I

"

I

44 Personnel management

Introduction

This exercise certainly ought to be of interest to person­

nel managers themselves, who, as the definition in the

activity suggests, often feel insecure about their role and

tend to agonize about what it is However, the majority of

other employees will also have views - often strongly

held - about the role of the personnel people, and this

activity can be an opportunity for them to give vent to them

Lead-in

Ask students what the personnel people in their organi­

zation do, and what they think they should do If neces­

sary, ask them to think about previous generations of

personnel managers from their experience as well Put the

results on the board If there is a wide range of functions

and types, try, with the students' help, to categorize them

in some way

Method

The pairs can incorporate the results of the initial discus­

sion into the activity itself

Encourage students to elaborate and enlarge on the roles

played by each type of personnel manager

Follow-up

Concentrate, in particular, on the ways each pair has elab­

orated on the roles played by each type, and even more

so on the other models proposed by the students themselves

45 Planning a meeting

Introduction

This involves a discussion of various preliminary sugges­

tions concerning a meeting to discuss company strategy

Lead-in

Ask students about who takes decisions in companies: the

top manager alone, the top manager and one or two others,

INCOME

make large profit

offer special payment

terms to help cashfiow

cover costs

SALES

build up sales keep market share

move prices up and down depending on economic conditions

Teachers' notes

a board or a wider number of people down to workers and part-time staff Who is involved in planning decisions? Method

1 A straightforward discussion, including description of the graph and comment on what it means for the company The idea is that the discussion leads to agree­ment on what type of meeting is required and what the next steps should be

2 There is some potential for conflict as A may be more conservative, seeing less cause for alarm B is more ambitious perhaps and is more concerned about the future for Pryam

3 An option is to bring pairs together and make this a discussion involving four people

Follow-up Each pair can summarize what they have decided to do

A written memo could summarize the action required

46 Pricing strategy Introduction

The activity is a discussion, with an element of informa­tion exchange in the second part, where A and B have different situations as prompts

Lead-in Ask students to suggest what managers have to think about when setting prices Elicit suggestions and write them on the board

Method

1 Students match the pricing factors under the four head­ings

2 Then the students raise each of their given problems as

a discussion point Together, they try to match each one to the pricing factor(s) which are most relevant to the particular situation and suggest possible solutions See Key below

Teachers' notes

A's situations:

• new lUxury product for an exclusive market - income­

driven pricing: make a large profit;

• too many competitors in a weak market - look at the

competition: price at or near competitors But may also

be a time to look at sales: hold onto market share;

• immediate fmancial problems for the company - income

factors will direct pricing policy: offer special payment

terms;

• temporary slowdown in the national economy - ethics:

try to keep people in work, or look at sales and try to

keep market share;

• monopoly or near monopoly situation - either look at

ethics and not make excessive profits, or choose an

income-driven strategy: try to make maximum profit

B's situations:

• market leader negotiating major government contract

- suggests pricing based on competition: a lower price

will get the contract;

• big increase in costs for materials, components, etc

-pricing will have to look at income, or profitability

The company must cover costs and make enough profit

• expanding market - sales driven pricing strategy: try

to build up market share;

• improving company reputation for quality, reliability,

service and value - same as above;

• the company has recently been privatized - aim to make

a large profit for the shareholders

Follow-up

Look at the pricing strategies of well-known companies

and their most successful brands

47 Privatization

Introduction

This is a very open-ended type of activity, which will

depend a great deal on the participants' interest in poli­

tics and current affairs For those with a thirst for politi­

cal debate, however, it is an original way to develop

discussion in an area which can be useful to practise in

relation to business socializing

Lead-in

It is important to accept that the various terms will mean

different things to different people, particularly people

from different countries with different political cultures,

and yet different interpretations can actually fuel the

discussion as students seek to clarify what they under­

stood by them With a weaker group you may wish to

check through the lists for meaning before the activity

starts, although this weakens the impact because the element

of surprise is lost; or you can leave the students to debate

20

between them what the terms mean and then seek collec­tive clarification afterwards

Method The emphasis in this activity should be on quick reflexes

so that students answer almost intuitively rather than reflectively This means that the activity itself may be done very quickly indeed Follow-up scoring, clarification, defining of terms and discussion will take much longer Follow-up

You can tell students who scored 9 or 1 0 'yes' answers that they might be happy living in a libertarian commu­nity with its own private army somewhere in California; and students who scored 9 or 10 'no' answers that Karl Marx would have been proud of them (unless this kind of remark is sensitive in the environment in which you work) The others probably fall somewhere within the accepted political spectrum of most industrialized or industrializ­ing nations You can together discuss whether it is possible

to link certain scores to different positions ( 'left-wing' , 'right of centre', etc.) o n the political spectrum

48 Product management

Introduction This activity can be approached, at a basic level, as a simple exercise in fantasy; or, on the other hand, as a case study - or rather a case-building activity - in which students can draw up quite detailed plans for the project's design, marketing, financing, and so on

Lead-in You should therefore be clear in your own mind how detailed an approach you would like your students to adopt: this will clearly be determined in part by their inter­est and experience You can then indicate the level of detail you expect in the amount of time you allow for the activity: this could be anything from 1 5 minutes to a week! Method

Although this is a book of pairwork exercises, you could also vary the formula for this activity Instead of having pairs work through the whole activity on their own, you could, for example:

I Get pairs to design the hotel, perhaps brainstorming beforehand all the features which will attract its poten­tial clientele

2 Feed back the results into the whole group and then get

a consensus on the shape of the project as a whole

3 Then nominate new pairs to work from this blueprint

to develop marketing, financial, personnel plans, etc and a project schedule Since these cannot be developed

in isolation, you may find that pairs begin arranging ad

hoc meetings with others in order to find out what they

are planning

4 Have the specialist pairs now report back once more to

the whole group with a series of mini-presentations

5 Have the group then collectively deliver its verdict on

the product, and on the feasibility of the project as

jointly defined

You can also say that there are effectively no budgetary

restrictions on initial investment on the project in its devel­

opment stage although they are expected to break even

within the time specified

Follow-up

Students can write up any aspect of the project into a

report; or present in writing or orally a critique of the

project as a whole

49 Product presentation

Introduction

This activity is an opportunity for a team presentation It

is based on a role play using information on a multi­

media communications system For the purposes of the

exercise, this is fine, but the Follow-up suggestions below

are important

Lead-in

Ask students to brainstorm on what makes presentations

good, including content, audience, visuals, structure,

good introduction, clear middle, strong end, and effective

handling of questions at the end Knowledge, interest,

competence, enthusiasm and a clear voice can be added

too Refer again to notes on making presentations on page

169 at the end of this book

Method

1 Students should begin by preparing good visuals, perhaps

by photocopying, enlarging and transferring to an acetate

the details from the book, or similar product informa­

tion from a magazine, including pictures, etc Effective

visuals will greatly enhance the presentation

2 Practice should follow, before the actual performance

3 In a large class, try to get students to run various presen­

tations simultaneously, a pair in each corner Logistics

and equipment availability will affect whether this is

possible Ideally, where they work in groups of four, each

pair acts as presenters and as audience once only

4 Avoid a string of repeated performances as it will be

too boring

5 Elicit feedback on the quality of the presentations

Teachers' notes Follow-up

Treat the activity above as an initial practice Get students

to prepare new lO-minute presentations based on subjects

of their own choosing Give them time to prepare their subjects, to get visuals ready and then to practise The prin­ciple of team or pair presentations is a good one in the train­ing context

50 Promotion Introduction This role play involves a discussion of various suggestions

to help promote the services of a banking and finance company

Lead-in Ask students about why promotion is so important Get them to suggest ways that companies promote themselves Ask about different types of promotion for different types

of consumer

Method

1 Direct student B to begin the conversation, welcoming

A and asking how the new job is going A should present some ideas and each suggestion should generate some discussion

2 B should be supportive and constructive At the end they should reach agreement on what steps to take next

3 Another option is to repeat the exercise with students changing roles, perhaps varying the suggestions or responses This way both students in the pair get to play the two different status roles

Follow-up Each pair can summarize what they have decided to do

A written memo could summarize the action required

2 1

Teachers' notes

51 Quiz

Introduction

A quiz is essentially a teaching tool, as it is unlikely that

many students will know more than a small proportion of

the answers However, it can work as a pair work exer­

cise because the students can give each other the right

answers

Lead-in

Explain that the test is quite hard but it is wide-ranging

and everyone will know some of the answers Students

should talk about the answers and refer to similar things

that they do know about, e.g ' I don't know the capital of

Colombia but the capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires'

This way the quiz can lead t o a lot o f discussion

Method

1 Students work in pairs

2 First, they can test themselves on their own questions

and check the answers

3 Then A asks B the questions on his/her sheet and then

tells B the answers

4 Then B asks A their questions and then tells A the

answers

5 At all times they can discuss the answers and talk about

related things

Key

A Answers: l b 2 b 3 c 4 a 5 c (Porsche) 6 Indonesia 7 Changi

8 Venezuela 9 France, Germany, Italy, B e l g i u m , Luxembourg,

Netherlands; United K ingdom, Denmark, Ireland; Greece; Spain,

Portugal; Austria S weden, Finland 1 0 a Bogota b Seoul c Riga

d Bratislava I I a Art Museum, Madrid b Ruined Inca city, Peru

c World's second highest mountain, Pakistan d Finance and banking

centre, London

B Answers: l b 2 a 3 b 4 a 5 c 6 370,000,000 7 Schipol 8 Hong

Kong 9 Association of South East Asian Nations, General Agreement

on Tariffs and Trade, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 1 0 Quito;

Riyadh; Brasilia; Lagos I I Cali fornia, Dublin, Rome, Hong Kong

Follow-up

Pair� of students can work together to design their own

quiz to ask other students Make them similar to the tests

in the book

22

52 Recession Introduction This activity is based on a discussion which looks for solutions to a problem of a sharp fall in business There

is a potential for conflict as the two roles, A and B, begin from very different perspectives

Lead-in Ask students what a recession is and what the conse­quences are Ask them to brainstorm what a company can

do when it finds itself affected by a recession

Method

1 Student B starts by summarizing the present position and suggesting some action A should counter as diplo­matically as possible Students should try to persuade each other and in the end work towards a negotiated agreement

2 Students can use the information they have to give mini-presentations as lead-ins to discussion

3 An option here is to have two pairs work together so creating teams of A and B

4 The negotiation should conclude with a clear summary

of what has been agreed

Follow-up Different negotiations will produce different results so these can be compared between pairs or groups

53 Relocation

Introduction This is a meeting to discuss a relocation plan There is potential for some conflict as the initial positions are some way apart

Lead-in Ask students why companies sometimes relocate What factors are important in relocation decisions?

3 Participants should spend two to three minutes reading their photocopies and preparing their positions

4 A should begin with a presentation of the main argu­ments in favour of the relocation

5 B (and others) respond with questions, or B may offer

a formal presentation in response

6 Discussion follows, then a decision

7 If possible, end the meeting with a formal statement on

the decision agreed

Follow-up

1 Students ca� jointly write a report outlining the argu­

ments raised during the meeting and summarizing the

2 benefits - financial and non-financial

3 motivation - what makes people want to work

Lead-in

Ask students:

1 why they work (or for pre-service students, why they

want to work)

2 what makes other people work

3 how you motivate people · to work: which conditions

motivate and which demotivate them

Method

Some of the suggestions of A and B respectively are quite

closely related e.g Christmas bonuses (B) and profit shar­

ing (A), so that students will be encouraged to go into some

detail in order to define terms, distinguish between the two,

and debate the merits of each Proceed as follows:

1 Get the students to read through the briefing for the activ­

ity

2 Tell them to agree on an agenda before they begin the

brainstorming This could be:

• definition of the problem

• possible solutions This stage could take the form of

a presentation by each student followed by discussion

• decisions

• plan of action

• summary of meeting

3 The brainstorming part of the meeting (item 2) could

be managed by prioritizing the different ideas, perhaps

using a whiteboard

Follow-up

1 Note that all the ideas listed in the activity are offered

by one company or another in Britain today

2 If no-one has already made the point, you can suggest

at the end that another approach is to reward people only

Teachers' notes with money and scrap completely all other forms of remuneration This could fuel more general discussion about how to motivate and reward people

3 Point out also that reward alone is not a recipe for creating a motivated workforce What are the other factors affecting motivation? The other important factor

to consider is return on i nvestment Although the implication is that this profitable company can afford

to invest some more in employee remuneration, you can also ask the group if there are any ways of link­ing reward strategies of this kind to a measurable return

55 Safety at work Introduction

This activity is a wide-ranging 'brainstorm type' discus­sion However an alternative treatment is to run it as an individual brainstorm and a presentation task

Lead-in Ask about safety at work in a historical sense How has safety at work improved over the years?

Method There are alternatives available Either:

1 A straightforward pair work or group brainstorm followed by discussion Or

2 Pairs work together on brainstorming They put ideas

on overhead transparencies or on a flip chart Then they present them to other pairs in an informal presentation Group discussion follows

Either way, there should be two stages: presentation of the risks, then presentation of suggested solutions

23

r

Teachers' notes

56 Shareholders' expectations

Introduction

This role play is an opportunity for pairs of students to

give contrasting presentations and to discuss the differ­

ences in view expressed by each of them

Lead-in

Briefly raise the question of what shareholders expect

from their companies Ask what happens to the profits

that companies make Essentially profit disappears in one

of four ways:

1 tax

2 dividends to shareholders

3 bonuses and pay rises to directors

4 reinvestment in the company

Method

1 Give students two to three minutes to understand their

roles They may also like to photocopy and enlarge the

pictures and transfer them onto acetates for more effec­

tive presentation

2 B starts by giving a presentation from the sharehold­

ers' perspective This should be followed by some ques­

tions or objections from A

3 Then A presents a different presentation, again with

questions or comments from B

Follow-up

1 Have a brief class discussion on what is the best approach

to distributing profit in large companies

2 Refer again to the various likely avenues for those prof­

its and elicit comments on each of them, in particular

what does 'reinvesting in the company' mean? It can

mean buying up competitors, opening up new sites,

moving into new markets, etc The general rule seems

to be that no company can 'stand still'

24

57 Small talk Introduction This is a simple discussion activity designed to practise small talk, so important in business relationships and espe­cially when socializing in a business context

Lead-in

1 The essential point is that small talk feeds on the avail­able context: what has happened, what is evident and what has just been said Introduce the topic by empha­sizing this point

2 Highlight the i nappropriateness of the following exchanges:

A: It's good to see you again

B: Yes

A: I'm glad to come back

B: Let's get down to work

Method

A: I went to see a film last night

B: We can go to my office A: It was an English film B: Shall I get you a taxi to

go to the airport?

1 Allow a minute to reflect on what the task involves

2 Students should work in pairs, or in groups, milling around speaking to different people

3 Students will need to begin talking about a topic with

a phrase like 'Have you heard about ?' or 'Isn't it bad news about ' or 'Good to hear about ' etc

4 Each new topic should be discussed for a maximum of two minutes

58 Social arrangements

Introduction

This is a telephone conversation involving information

exchange and making arrangements Use internal lines, if

possible If not, have students sit back-to-back so they

cannot see each other They should go through the normal

stages of a telephone call, introducing each other, getting

through, stating the reason for the call, etc

Lead-in

Briefly elicit views on the types of social activities that

are useful in a business context You may also refer to those

which might be less suitable

Method

1 A telephones to find out about B 's arrival and confirm

arrangements

2 Then A has to find out what kind of social activities could

be attractive and to work out a social programme around

B's wishes

3 Some students may like to run through the activity once

as a rehearsal, before giving a better, more fluent version

In any case, preparation time is useful

4 The conversation should end with various confirma­

tions

5 A variation would be to fix the meeting in a different

city that both people know well They can work out a

social itinerary to suit that city

Lead-in Ask students:

1 what makes a successful socializer

2 whether there is any relation between language ability and ease or success in social situations where English

I Get the students to read through the briefing sheet

2 Tell them that the aim is to achieve as natural a conver­sation as possible and that they should introduce their own key words as unobtrusively as possible Being able

to steer a conversation in the direction you want it to

go is an important language skill as well as a social skill because you can then move the talk to an area where you feel more confident

3 During your observation of the activity, pay particular attention to the way students signal the close to one part

of the conversation and the opening to another You can also make this one of the points for comment during your feedback If you then repeat the activity later on

- for example with other subjects - you can make this

a point for students to pay attention to themselves

4 At the end of the activity, feedback on the relative success or failure of each student and an attempt at analysis of what happened can be useful in showing students how to do better next time

Follow-up You can use this exercise type to get students to practise speaking about other topics of your choice and make it a regular filler activity in your classroom, or even to repeat the activity using the same subjects: hopefully the students will feel that their performances second time round were

an improvement on their first efforts

25

Teachers' notes

60 Talking politics 1

Introduction

This activity is obviously of direct benefit to partners from

different countries, but can be just as useful as practice

for people of the same nationality since they will be in a

position to judge and make comments on the accuracy

and appropriateness of what they are told

Lead-in

Stronger students will be able to launch into this with

little preparation so that you can concentrate on the feed­

back stage after completion of the exercise However,

with lower level students, it will be beneficial to brain­

storm and pre-teach vocabulary and expressions for most,

if not all, of the question areas Encourage students to

anticipate the words they will need On the other hand, do

not provide new and possibly difficult and obscure vocab­

ulary indiscriminately Get students to reflect on what

could be the really necessary words, and try to provide only

a limited (and therefore manageable) core vocabulary

under each heading

Method

1 Give students time to think about and to prepare what

they are going to say

2 When they are ready, ask them to find ways of signalling

and linking the different stages of the discussion together,

for example:

Student A (closing): 'Well I think those are the most

important points to do with the political parties Now

I'd like to ask you about elections in your country How

often 1'

Follow-up

1 General discussion of the politics of a particular coun­

try or of one or more countries compared

2 Various kinds of writing task

3 Reading comprehension based on a newspaper text

about a rele',;.int country

4 Dictation of a similar text followed b� questions/discus­

sion

5 Question and answer sessions focusing on the country/ies

of each student in turn

6 Examination of other constitutional questions not

covered in the activity

Lead-in

1 Role selection·(of As and Bs) could require more atten­tion than usual, although' you may decide just to take pot luck and allocate roles randomly

2 Before they start, brainstorm suggestions for leading into a political discussion: you might expect to elicit phrases like 'Did you read about X in the paper the other day, 1'

Method

1 Think carefully about how much time to allow for the discussion before you start (twenty minutes for a well­established group)

2 Students should begin with small talk and achieve a smooth transition from this into the expression of seri­ous opinions

3 The activity seems, to the students, to be a straightfor­ward political discussion, albeit one where the opinions they express are not necessarily their own However, there is a sting in the tail since, at the end of the dfscus­sion, you will ask each of them to write down all: the main arguments put forward by the other In an abbre­viated re-run of the approach adopted in Activity 2: Active Listening, each will verify how far the written statements coincide with what he/she was actually trying

to say If there is any mismatch between what one thought he/she was saying and what the other thought he/she heard, it is probably worth going to some trou­ble to find out how and why it has come about: hence the suggested use of the tape recorder

Follow-up See Follow-up to Talking Politics 1

As a warm-up with the whole group, you could ask some

brief introductory brainstorming questions along the lines

of 'What makes a successful company?' and then 'Which

company do you think has the best people policies', 'Which

is the most innovative company you know?', etc

Method

1 Make sure that this does not degenerate into a simple

exercise in form filling by encouraging students to ask

for explanations and examples under each heading:

each student might ask one or two supplementary ques­

tions under each heading, like:

• Which company do you think has the best marketing?

• And which aspect of marketing do you think they are

particularly strong in?

• And what image do they think they are trying to

project in their advertising?

2 Stress that students are not obliged to name three compa­

nies under every heading - they might only wish to

name one in several cases, but can name up to three,

particularly if they have several favourites under a

particular heading

Follow-up

The kinds of responses which are given may afford quite

different models of excellence and, if you are lucky, some

serious disagreement If so, it will emerge during the group

feedback session after each student has questioned the

other, and will in turn provide the opportunity for discus­

sion of some fundamental questions about quality, strategy,

et al

Teachers' notes

63 Training

Introduction Training is your business It is always interesting, there­fore, to hear what the clients for your services think about the training function in general and about their previous experiences of various kinds of training

Lead-in Ask students:

1 how important training is

2 how much their organizations are committed to train­ing

3 what makes training effective

Method

No guidelines are given to the students themselves as to how to structure their discussion and with the more orga­nized and aware, you can leave them to work out a proce­dure for themselves If any students do have difficulties, however, suggest that:

1 each start with a short presentation of main ideas before

2 they go into discussion and

3 attempt to reach agreement perhaps by prioritizing ideas on a board or on paper

Follow-up Ask students about:

1 their conclusions, in particular about their own sugges­tions

2 the training strategy of their companies

3 how training will change in the next ten, and twenty years

Note: for your information, corporate universities like McDonalds (the Hamburger University) do exist and are used for a wide range of training programmes for staff at all levels

27

Teachers' notes

64 Troubleshooting

Introduction

This is a very simple activity but one which can be

extremely effective with people from different compa­

nies, from different parts of the same company or from

the same department; while business students can either

discuss work- or organization-related problems, or imag­

ine themselves in professional roles The contributions

made by someone coming fresh to a business problem can

often be genuinely helpful, while it can also be therapeu­

tic to have the opportunity to share a problem with some­

one else For those who are reluctant to talk too much

about their own work problems, there is always the possi­

bility of inventing a problem or talking about someone

else's ! Students should ideally be given time to think of

a problem, for example, as homework

Lead-in

Ask students what kinds of problem people typically meet

at work See if it is possible to categorize them under

headings like delegation, time management, relations with

colleagues/superiors/suborainates, etc Ask in a general way

about problems people have had in the past, perhaps giving

an example from your own past, before moving on to

setting up the activity itself

Method

Explain that each student in turn should:

1 present the problem

2 answer any questions the partner may have to clarify

or to have more details

3 discuss the problem and invite suggestions

4 summarize the problem, the discussion and the main

suggestions or new ideas coming out of the discussion

5 thank the partner for hislher help

You, meanwhile, should take notes on language, commu­

nication and, if relevant, intercultural aspects of the

interaction while the activity is going on (see below)

r

Follow-up

Ask the students themselves how successful they consider

the meeting to have been, and how useful the activity was

Then give feedback under one or more of the following

three headings:

1 Communication

• How successfully did the students communicate?

• Did communication break down at any point and, if

so, why?

• Were clear decisions reached?

2 Inter-cultural (where applicable)

28

If communication failed or became confused at any

point, was it due to cultural misunderstandings?

(These can often be both difficult to detect and easy to misdiagnose, so take care, and omit if you don't feel confident about it)

3 Language Give them language feedback as appropriate Many students have high expectations about being corrected Point out the things which you thought they did well

as well as things which you think should be improved

65 Utopia Introduction This is an (even more flippant than usual) activity to finish the book with, but one to which creative students have the opportunity to respond with verve and imagination and possibly even some original political thinking

Lead-in Ask your students:

1 what they will think the worl� will be like in a hundred years' time

2 what a perfect world would be like

3 whether they think things are getting better or worse

4 what they would do if they had the chance to make the world a much better place

Method Get the students to go through the usual preliminaries of welcome and small talk, agreeing on an agenda and a time for the duration of the meeting, etc., before they go into the main part of the activity

Follow-up Reporting back to the main group could be in the form of short presentations with each partner taking responsibil­ity for half of the points on the list You could do a grid

on the board which each pair could complete as it presented

in order to give a clear visual representation of the options

of all of the different pairs

Stu dent A

Material for

photocopyi ng

roduce yourself Say:

• who you are

d out the same from student B

,stions on the same topic This will help build up the conversation

• favourite means of transport

• typical working day

• preferred leisure activities

• worst business experience

• best business experience

2 ACTIVE LISTENING Student A

(Sequencing; hesitating; expressing your amazement)

Active listening means listening - really listening - to the person you are talking with; and signalling your support to that person by your expression (for example, smiling), by your body language (nodding your head, eye contact ) and by what you say ('Yes', 'Uh-huh' .) Research shows that many business people - men in particular - do not listen very much to what other people say

reqUlre you:

1 to take turns speaking and to wait until student B has finished making a point

2 not to interrupt while student B is speaking

3 to summarize what student B has said before you make your own point

The subject you are going to discuss is downsizing You support the reduction of staff numbers in companies and student B is against You should make the following points during the discussion: you must use each of these arguments in turn You will need to add your own ideas and give your own examples in support of the main argument each time:

1 Before downsizing, many companies employed many people who did not have enough work to do

3 Employees in downsized companies are closer to the customer and so give better customer service

4 There are fewer layers of management in downsized companies, so communicatiOl

is better

5 Downsized companies are more efficient

6 Downsized companies are more profitable

7 Now add one or more arguments of your own

r

32 From Ousincss English Pair Work 2 b y SlcW Flinders :l!1d Simon Sweeney © Pi!nguin Books 1998 P H 0'- 0 C O P I A 6 L E

3 ADVERTISING STANDARDS Student A

(Blaming; j udging; questioning)

Advertising standards control what manufacturers can say about their products The Advertising

Standards Authority in the UK checks advertising to make sure that it is honest, decent and legal Consumer protection agencies also work to protect consumers from false claims in advertising and product promotion

You work for a national television channel You are making a programme on products which claim

to keep people looking young and healthy Your special concern is skin care products You have a

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Ask your doctor or pharmacistJor Juvenene Gel

'It makes you look 20 years younger, Grandma'

• think that there are a lot of exaggerated claims for Juvenene Gel

• have heard that some people developed white marks on their skin with regular use of

Juvenene Gel

• think the manufacturer pays doctors to advertise the product

• think the product is basically useless - and expensive

YOU START

From Business Engli�h Pair Work 2 hy S t C\ ' C Flinders and Simon S\\CCIlC)' 0 I\::nl!uin Books 1998 P H 0 TO C n P I A B L E