English On Business Practical English For International Executives_TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES

UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES AGENDA UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES 1 AGENDA the company Personnel About the Types of company Exercise | organization Responsibilities in

UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES AGENDA

UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES

1

AGENDA

the company Personnel

About the Types of company Exercise |

organization Responsibilities in the Exercises 2, 3 and 4

company Working for Working conditions Exercise 5 and 6

Exercise 8, 9 and 10 Datafile: Changes berween companies

Exercises 11 and 12

Company Performance in figures Exercise 13

performance Your company’s fortunes Exercises 14 and 15

Comparing performances Exercises 16 and 17 Company Controlling and attending Datafile: Company

Exercises 18 and 19 Meeting the Public relations Datafile: A word from

About the organization

What sort of company is it?

There are many types of business organization and the different terms can be confusing Read both columns below The left-hand cohimn gives various types of organization and the other column contains short descriptions of each organization Cover the Type column, and from the description mame the type of organization Finally, cover the Description column, and try to describe each organization listed

Description

an organization to relieve poverty, advance religion or education, etc; benefits from some financial concessions

an organization operating to make a profit

a democratic firm owned by its workers

a new commercial activity [for example How’s your new enterprise? Also in some company names; for example, Smiths Enterprises (enterprise = firm)

3

an organization which is part of the state administration

a firm, usually without commercial activity, created to be

parent to other companies

a firm where shareholders’ lability is limited

company in which another firm has less than a 50% interest

an organization operating in several countries

company owned by the state

a firm based in a tax haven to avoid higher taxation

a general word for a company, usually a small one, part of a large group It also means-activity; for example, our

commercial operation

a company which owns another

two or more partners working together for profit, without lumited liability

a company whose shares are not publicly available

a company whose shares are publicly available

a fnendly association of people; for example, a sports society (society = firm)

firm owned by 2 parent company

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Exercise 2 Who's responsible for Business Systems?

Below is a diagram showing the structure of a ‘mixed’ type of multinational company based in the US: some activities are organized into domestic, regional and international divisions, others into worldwide product divisions

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

[ i j Ĩ |

Domestic Domestic Worldwide Pacitic Division International Corporate Staff

Telecom- Business Delence {Telacom- Division (Corporate munications Systems Division Systems Division munications and (Telecom- Planning, etc} Division Business munications and

Systems} Business

Systeme other than in the Pacific

region)

Now write questions and answers using responsible for/comes under Example Who's responsible for Business Systems in the Pacific? That comes under the Pacific Division

a) Corporate Planning b) Defence Systems in Africa e) Telecommunications in USA a) Business Systerns in Europe e) Telecommunications in SE Asia

Exercise 3 You'll have to see the production people about that!

Purchasing Factory | | Maintenance Transport Management Financial Data

Departments | 7” Accounts Accounts Processing

Members of the Group Internal Audit team are visiting your firm

On the cassette you will hear a series of questions, and you must help the auditors by answering their questions Example You hear:

I have a question about the company’s sales budget You reply: Youll have to see the sales people about that

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UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Tapescript

I have a question about the company’s sales budget

Could you help me? It’s about last year’s development costs I'd like to know exactly when you delivered these goods

Our Computer Audit team wants to visit you soon Who should I ask about it?

Do you have purchase contracts with all your suppliers?

I'd like to discuss these cash-flow forecasts Who do you think could help me?

Exercise 4 Who's the boss?

Rockbridge International Corporate Organization, USA

Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

President and Chief Executive Officer

Vice-President Vice-President, Vice-President, Vice-President, Senior Vice-President,

Corporate Development International Public Relations General Counsel Corporate Stafis

and Advertising

President,

Automonve Operanons

Vice-President, Vice-President, Vice-President, Vice-President,

Investor Relations Personnel Finance Research and

We can say that the Vice-President, Corporate Development

is responsible to/reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer

Can you make similar statements about the chain of command, by completing the following sentences?

a) The Vice-President, Finance

b) The President, Automotive Operations c) The President and Chief Executive Officer d) The Senior Vice-President, Corporate Staffs e) The Chairman of the Board

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Working for the company

Exercise 5 What's it like, working for ABS?

a) Complete the following;

1 There are good promotion

2 Salaries are quite

3 There’s a profit-sharing scheme

4 There’s a five-week b) What benefits in kind (non-cash advantages) does your friend receive?

c) What kind of move is your friend considering?

What else is there to say? A company car, of course Quite a good pension scheme That’s it The only thing I wasn’t happy about was the fact that when I started the job, the relocation expenses weren’t very generous; you know, buying a new house, moving the family, all that sort of thing costs money I thought that

UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES

Where | work, a couple of years in

sales is the inside track

a couple of years she will be one

of the movers and shakers

Can you match the expressions above with their meanings below? Example The fast way to make progress = the inside track a) the fast way to make progress

b) making important calculations

c) the dynamic people who make things happen

d) moving up towards the top of the firm

e) an ambitious person whose results are excellent

f) practical and direct knowledge of their job

g) the small number of senior people who run the organization h) very good past performance

i) outside agencies who hire people for companies

j) the main aim of the firm

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Exercise 7 The personnel interview

Language input To express a large quantity, use a lot of

Example a lot of meetings; a lot of experience

To express a small quantity, use not many (plural) or

not much (singular) Example not many negotiations; not much experience

lf there is a verb, the not makes it negative

Example You haven’t taken part in many negotiations

You haven’t much experience in planning

You have just interviewed a British applicant for a position in the Personnel Department of your company She has answered your questions about her experience of personnel work Read your notes

Personnel Recruitment Checklist (2)

Has the applicant

organized Management Development courses? (2)

experience of Management by Objectives a lle

experience of job analysis and specification? —

conducted recuitment interviews? (3)

experience of suggestion schemes? `“

taken part in union negotiations? twice

experience of management consultation? alte

experience of dismissal and grievance procedures? v

experience of manpower planning? alittle

Now summarize this applicant’s experience, beginning: You haven’t organized many Management Development courses

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Changes in the company Exercise 8 Talking about internal change

These headlines come from the in-house magazine of the ABS Group

DEPARTME COM NT SERU ME UNDER COMMERCIAL

future, remember to use will in each sentence

Exercise 9 Explaining the changes

On the cassette you will hear comments about the changes in your

[OMNO] company Example

You hear: I hear that you will have new products for 1993 You reply: Yes, that’s part of our diversification programme

Now reply to the comments on the cassette Practise until you can

do this exercise without looking at this page

Tapescript

I hear that you will have new products for 1993

I hear that there will be a reduction in the training budget

I’m told that the Purchasing Department is to come under Commercial Services

I’ve been told that all Personnel functions are moving to Head Office

I gather that the new plant will go ahead

I hear that the new model is going to be assembled by machines I’m told that 50 people are losing their jobs at Newton

I understand the small assembly plants are all being closed

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UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES CHANGES IN THE COMPANY

Exercise 10 Changing with information technology

The Information Systems Manager remembers how things were in

1974 Can you change the verbs (in brackets) to the simple past tense? Example In 1974 I was only 25

1974

Our EOP department (is) separate from the rest of the company Staff from Accounts and Sales (bring) data to us which we (feed) into the computer on punched-cards There (is) no on-line access for other departments: we (process) the data in batches, and (pass) the print-outs to the departments by hand So we (control) all the input and all the output directly, and we (update) all the data on the

computer

This year, the Informations Systems Manager 1s planning the telecommunications for a new subsidiary In his proposal, he uses the present tense Using will, can you change the verbs (in brackets)

to the future? Example There will be local area networks connecting

1994

The diagram shows the fully integrated system There (are)

local area networks

connecting the mainframe

and alli the peripherals, which (means) that ali workstations (can) have on-line access to the main databases This real-

time capability (is) most

important We (need) an electronic mailbox facility, and (require) an integrated video conferencing facility

We (can) benefit from

computer-aided design

UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES CHANGES IN THE COMPANY

A offers to buy B A has taken A / og

B accepts or resists A and B have merged joint venture informal association

fv } Note: In some countries, takeovers and

By venture B #/ associations which may have too much

influence on the market (cartels), are

controlled by monopoly (UK) or antitrust (US) legislation

horizontal and vertical groups Why do takeovers occur?

(from Twenty Years of Acquisition Behaviour in

———————— America, H Ansoff et al., Cassell/Associated

a commerical | Business Programmes)

organization

In order, from the companies asked:

takes this is 1 To complete product lines

over 2 To increase market share

—_ J called 3 To fully utilize existing marketin

its suppliers | vertical capabilities g 9

4 To offset unsatisfactory growth

5 To capitalize on technological expertise

| | another | know-how manufacturing + takes | manufacturing | 7 To meet the demand of diversified

company | | company | customers

— _—_] L_—_ | 8 To utilize existing production capacity

9 To increase control of sales outlets

this is called horizontal integration 10 To reduce dependence on suppliers

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UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES CHANGES IN THE COMPANY

Exercise 11 Talking about new operations abroad

Language input To ask for information about something, you can ask:

What about ? or What do we know about ? Example What about the rate of inflation?

What do we know about development plans?

Before the committee meeting to discuss a new operation abroad, you have made a list of information which you need On the cassette, you will hear your colleague at the meeting asking if you have any questions Ask each question, using What about ? or What do we know about ? and then make a note of his answer before asking your next question

Tapescript

So, that’s the general picture Does anyone have any questions? I’m told that it’s 2% per annum

Yes, rather high: so far as I know it’s about 20%

Corporation Tax? I’m told it’s 10%

I understand that there’s a two-year tax holiday, which isn’t bad

So far as I know, there’s a fixed percentage: about 35%, I think Nothing; I mean, I understand that there aren’t any at all Any more questions? No? Well, I think we

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UNIT 7 TALKING ABOUT COMPANIES CHANGES IN THE COMPANY

Economic aspects Gross National Product (GNP)? |“

growth rate? Political aspects nnd development plans? political stability ? stability of currency? possibility of nationalization? rate of inflation?

Labour aspects accelerated depreciation?

skilled labour? ip duties and tariffs?

local management?

labour laws?

amenities for expatriates? a

Capital aspects i> = cost of local capital?

availability >

laws about local participation? |

Language input If you have information, but are not sure whether it is true, use:

So far as | know I’m told that | understand that

Example I’m told that the labour laws are very strict

{ understand that the cost of land is high

Using the information which you noted above, make sentences beginning with So far as I know Pm told that and I understand that If in difficulty, look at the tapescript

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166,000 140,000

82 3 84 85 86 87 88 &9 9 91 92 93

b) Now, without the cassette, try to provide a similar

presentation of the sales record Practise without looking at the tapescript

Tapescript

There are two types of product range represented on this graph: product ranges A and B They are represented by two different CUEVES,

Let’s look at product A first In 1982, Microtex sold 100,000 units

in this range, and sales remained at this level in 1983 Then in

1984 turnover increased to 120,000, and by 1985 the level was

140,000 Again, in 1986, there was a steady increase to 150,000 The next year sales of range A fell slightly to 140,000 and then fell dramatically in 1988 to reach a low point at 90,000 Since then,

there has been a steady increase: to 100,000 in 1989, then a nse to

110,000 in 1990; the same increase again, to 120,000 in 1991; and again, range A sales have reached a peak of 140,000 in 1992 Now product range B Range B was the major product range in 1982; at

a level of 150,000 units per year Sales in this range enjoyed a steady period for three years, until 1984, but then in 1985 there was a sharp drop to 110,000 The sales force managed to achieve a

slight increase in 1986 (to 120,000), but then the downturn

continued: in 1987, 110,000; 100,000 in 1988; 1989, 90,000; 1990,

a low point of 80,000 Since then sales have remained steady, and

we think that turnover in the product range has reached a trough which may continue for two or three years to come,

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