Студопедия  
Главная страница | Контакты | Случайная страница

АвтомобилиАстрономияБиологияГеографияДом и садДругие языкиДругоеИнформатика
ИсторияКультураЛитератураЛогикаМатематикаМедицинаМеталлургияМеханика
ОбразованиеОхрана трудаПедагогикаПолитикаПравоПсихологияРелигияРиторика
СоциологияСпортСтроительствоТехнологияТуризмФизикаФилософияФинансы
ХимияЧерчениеЭкологияЭкономикаЭлектроника

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION INTO BUSINESS ENGLISH

Exercise 1. Explain the following words and make up sentences with either of them:

1. to mind one's own business;

2. bad business;

3. dirty business;

4. personal business;

5. business hours;

6. monkey (funny) business;

7. annual business;

8. to be in business;

9. to be out of business;

10. booming business;

11. to build up business;

12. business competition;

13. business corporation.

Exercise 2. Choose three words which you consider the most important ones in any business from the list below. Explain your answer:

money business

promotion customer

challenge result

respect profit

team spirit prestige

Exercise 3. Read the text about business and answer the questions below:

Business is an organized approach to providing customers with the goods and services they want. The word business also refers to an organization that provides these goods and services. Most businesses seek to make a profit - that is, they aim to achieve revenues that exceed the costs of operating the business. Prominent examples of for-profit businesses include Mitsubishi Group, General Motors Corporation, and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. However, some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs. Commonly called nonprofits, these organizations are primarily nongovernmental service providers. Examples of nonprofit businesses include such organizations as social service agencies, foundations, advocacy groups, and many hospitals.

Business Operations

A variety of operations keep businesses, especially large corporations, running efficiently and effectively. Common business operation divisions include (1) production, (2) marketing, (3) finance, and (4) human resource management.

Production includes those activities involved in conceptualizing, designing, and creating products and services. In recent years there have been dramatic changes in the


way goods are produced. monitor, control, and even Flexible, high-tech minutes what it used to accomplish. Another has been the trend toward The word inventory refers business keeps available just-in-time inventory, the needs for the next day or on fast, global computer

Today, computers help perform work. machines can do in take people hours to important development just-in-time inventory. to the amount of goods a for wholesale or retail. In firm stocks only what it two. Many businesses rely communications to allow


them to respond quickly to changes in consumer demand. Inventories are thus minimized and businesses can invest more in product research, development, and marketing.

Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that consumers need and want and providing those goods and services at the right price, place, and time. Businesses develop marketing strategies by conducting research to determine what products and services potential customers think they would like to be able to purchase. Firms also promote their products and services through such techniques as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to inform potential customers and motivate them to purchase. Firms that market products for which there is always some demand, such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they face competition from other firms marketing similar products. Such products rarely need to be sold face-to-face. On the other hand, firms that market products and services that buyers will want to see, use, or better understand before buying, often rely on personalized sales. Expensive and durable goods - such as automobiles, electronics, or furniture - benefit from personalized sales, as do legal, financial, and accounting services.

Finance involves the management of money. All businesses must have enough capital on hand to pay their bills, and for-profit businesses seek extra capital to expand their operations. In some cases, they raise long-term capital by selling ownership in the company. Other common financial activities include granting, monitoring, and collecting on credit or loans and ensuring that customers pay bills on time. The financial division of any business must also establish a good working relationship with a bank. This is particularly important when a business wants to obtain a loan.

Businesses rely on effective human resource management (HRM) to ensure that they hire and keep good employees, and that they are able to respond to conflicts between workers and management. HRM specialists initially determine the number and type of employees that a business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then responsible for recruiting new employees to replace those who leave and for filling newly created positions. A business's HRM division also trains or arranges for the training of its staff to encourage worker productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction, and to promote the overall success of the business. Finally, human resource managers create workers' compensation plans and benefit packages for employees.

Exercise 4. Discuss the following questions:

1. Give definition to the word 'business'.

2. What is the difference between for-profit and non-profit organizations? Support your answer with relevant examples.

3. What is production?

4. Specify the notion of 'just-in-time inventory'.

5. What is marketing?

6. Define such business operation as finance.

7. What does the HRM involve?

Exercise 5. Discussion. How do you see your future profession? Please answer the following questions:

What kind of work are you interested in:

1. well paid work

2. interesting work

3. work in a large and famous company

4. quiet work

5. work in an industry which has future prospects

6. prestigious work

7. a kind of work such as not to sit the whole day in the office

8. to travel a lot

Please, discuss advantages and disadvantages of your future profession:

1. Do you think that your future profession is prestigious?

2. Do you think it will be still prestigious and well paid by the time you graduate?

3. How difficult is it to find a good work in your field?

4. Is there a competition in your group?

5. Do you think that competition among your coeds is a good stimulus to study well or it just makes communication between you more difficult?

Exercise 6. Do the questionnaire, and then compare your answers with a partner: How do you rate as entrepreneurs?

1. Are you a self starter?

a. I only make an effort when I want to.

b. If someone explains what to do, then I can continue from there.

c. I make my own decisions. I don't need anyone to tell me what to do.

2. How do you get on with other people?

a. I get on with almost everybody.

b. I have my own friends and I don't really need anyone else.

c. I don't really feel at home with other people.

3. Can you lead and motivate others?

a. Once something is moving I'll join in.

b. I'm good at giving orders when I know what to do.

c. I can persuade most people to follow me when I start something.

4. Can you take responsibility?

a. I like to take charge and to obtain results.

b. I'll take charge if I have to but I prefer someone else to be responsible.

c. Someone always wants to be the leader and I'm happy to let them do the job.

5. Are you a good organizer?

a. I tend to get confused when unexpected problems arise.

b. I like to plan exactly what I'm going to do.

c. I just like to let things happen.

6. How good a worker are you?

a. I'm willing to work hardfor something I really want.

b. I find my home environment more stimulating than work.

c. Regular work suits me but I don't like it to interfere with my private life.

7. Can you make decisions?

a. I am quite happy to execute other people's decisions.

b. I often make very quick decisions which usually work but sometimes don't.

c. Before making a decision, I need time to think it over.

8. Do you enjoy taking risks?

a. I always evaluate the exact dangers of any situation.

b. I like the excitement of taking big risks.

c. For me safety is the most important thing.

9. Can you stay the course?

a. The biggest challenge for me is getting a project started.

b. If I decide to do something, nothing will stop me.

c. If something doesn't go right first time, I tend to lose interest.

10. Are you motivated by money?

a. For me, job satisfaction cannot be measured in money terms.

b. Although money is important to me, I value other things just as much.

c. Making money is my main motivation.

11. How do you react to criticism?

a. I dislike any form of criticism.

b. If people criticize me I always listen and may or may not reject what they have to say.

c. When people criticize me there is usually some truth in what they say.

12. Can people believe what you say?

a. I try to be honest, but it is sometimes difficult or too complicated to explain things to other people.

b. I don't say things I don't mean.

c. When I think I'm right, I don't care what anyone else thinks.

13. Do you delegate?

a. I prefer to delegate what I consider to be the least important tasks.

b. When I have a job to do I like to do everything myself.

c. Delegating is an important part of any job.

14. Can you cope with stress?

a. Stress is something I can live with.

b. Stress can be a stimulating element in a business.

c. I try to avoid situations which lead to stress.

15. How do you view your chances of success?

a. I believe that my success will depend to a large degree on factors outside my

control.

b. I know that everything depends on me and my abilities.

c. It is difficult to foresee what will happen in the future.

16. If the business was not making a profit after five years, what would you do?

a. give up easily.

b. give up reluctantly.

c. carry on.

Key to the questionnaire:        
1. a=0 b=2 c=4 9. a=2 b=4 c=0
2. a=4 b=2 c=0 10. a=0 b=2 c=4
3. a=0 b=2 c=4 11. a=0 b=4 c=2
4. a=4 b=2 c=0 12. a=2 b=4 c=0
5. a=2 b=4 c=0 13. a=2 b=0 c=4
6. a=4 b=0 c=2 14. a=2 b=4 c=0
7. a=0 b=4 c=2 15. a=0 b=4 c=2
8. a=2 b=4 c=0 16. a=4 b=2 c=0
44 or above            

 

You definitely have the necessary qualities to become the director of a successful business. You have a strong sense of leadership, you can both organize and motivate and you know exactly where you and your team are going. Between 44 and 22

You may need to think more carefully before setting up your own business. Although you do have some of the essential skills for running business, you will, probably, not be able to deal with the pressures and strains that are a part of the job. You should perhaps consider taking some professional training or finding an associate who can compensate for some of your weaknesses. Below 22

Managing your own business is not for you. You are better suited to an environment where you are not responsible for making decisions and taking risks. To operate successfully you need to follow well defined instructions and you prefer work that is both regular and predictable.

Exercise 7: How would you generally feel happy or unhappy, if you were in the following situations. Use the words in italics to help you decide:

1. The company you work for is well-known for its job security.

2. You were suddenly made redundant.

3. You received a promotion.

4. You were given an increment.

5. You worked unsociable hours.

6. You had a steady job.

7. You had adverse working conditions.

8. You suddenly found yourself unemployed.

9. You took time off work because of repetitive strain injury.

10. The office where you work has sick building syndrome.

11. You receive regular perks as part of your job.

12. Somebody called you a workaholic.

13. Your company doesn't give you many incentives.

14. Your boss announces that there is going to be some downsizing of the workforce.

15. Your work didn't offer much job satisfaction.

16. Your company has a generous incentive scheme.

17. You receive a commission for the work you have done.

18. You receive support from a union.

19. You were under stress.

20. You were forced to resign.

21. You received a cut in your salary.

22. Your company gave you sickness benefit.

23. You found your job very demanding.

Exercise 8: Match sentences 1-6 in the first box with one of the sentences A-F in the second. Use the words in italics to help you:

1. Samantha is the assistant manager of a bank and she works from 8.30 to 5.30 every day.

2. Tracy works on the production line of a factory which makes cars. She uses a machine to spray paint onto the finished car parts.

3. Jane works for herself. She is a photographer. She works every day for about eight or nine hours.

4. Jeanette is a cleaner for a company in Birmingham, but she only works there for about three or four hours a day.

5. Claire has a powerful job in the personnel office of a large multinational company. She is responsible for employing new people and getting rid of those that the company doesn't want to employ anymore.

6. Marie works in the finance department of an international college in Oxford.

A. She is a semi-skilled blue-collar worker in a manufacturing industry.

B. She is a self-employed and works full-time. She likes to describe herself as freelance.

C. She is responsible for hiring andfiring.

D. She calculates the wages, salaries, pension contributions and medical insurance contributions of all the staff.

E. She is a full-time white-collar worker in a service industry.

F. She is an unskilled part-time employee.

Exercise 9: Now read this essay and complete the gaps with one of the words or expressions from Exercise 7 and 8. You may need to change the form of some of the words:

'Some people live to work, and others work to live. In most cases, this depends on the job they have and the conditions under which they are employed. In your opinion, what are the elements that make a job worthwhile?'

In answering this question, I would like to look first at the elements that combine to make

a job undesirable. By avoiding such factors, potential 1)_____________ are more likely to

find a job that is more worthwhile, and by doing so, hope to achieve happiness in their

work.

matter if you are an cleaning the floor, a 4)______________ worker of the 5)____________, or in a bank, shop or one of 7)_____________: if you with the knowledge that any time, you will never would like a

First of all, it doesn't

2)________

3)_______________

on a production line in one

a 6)____________ worker

the other

lack 8)_____________,

worker

you might lose your job at feel happy. Everybody

9)____________ in which he or she is guaranteed work. Nowadays, however, companies

have a high turnover of staff, 10)____________ new staff and 11)____________ others on

a weekly basis. Such companies are not popular with their workers.

The same can be said of a job in which you are put under a lot of 12)______________ and

worry, a job which is so 13)_____________ that it takes over your life, a job where you

work 14)____________ and so never get to see your family or friends, or a physical job in

which you do the same thing every day and end up with the industrial disease that is always in the papers nowadays - 15)________________________________.

With all these negative factors, it would be difficult to believe that there are any elements that make a job worthwhile. Money is, of course, the prime motivator, and everybody

wants a good 16)_______________.But of course that is not all. The chance of

17)___________, of being given a better position in a company, is a motivating factor.

Likewise, 18)____________ such as a free lunch or a company car, an

19)___________ scheme to make you work hard such as a regular 20)________________

above the rate of inflation, 21)_______________ in case you fall ill and a company

22)_____________ scheme so that you have some money when you retire all combine to

make a job worthwhile.

Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find all of these. There is, however, an alternative.

Forget the office and the factory floor and become 23)_________________ and work for

yourself. Your future may not be secure, but at least you will be happy.


 

Exercise 10. You are going to hear four conversations in which a number of men and women agree and disagree about different suggestions concerning working life. As you listen, write down the topic of the conversation and put a (S) for the people who agree or a (X) for those who disagree:

Conversation 1 Conversation 3
Topic:...............................................   Topic:................................................  
       
1st woman   1st man  
1st man   1st woman  
2nd woman   2nd man  

 

2nd man   2nd woman  
3rd man   3rd man  
3 rd woman   4th man  
    3 rd woman  
Conversation 2   Conversation 4  
Topic:......................................   Topic:......................................  
   
1st man   1st man  
1st woman   1st woman  
2nd man   2nd man  
2nd woman   2nd woman  
3rd man   3 rd woman  
4th man   3rd man  
3 rd woman      

 




Дата добавления: 2015-09-12; просмотров: 225 | Поможем написать вашу работу | Нарушение авторских прав

B. Past result of present or continuing condition. | IN CASE | VERBALS ( Infinitive. Gerund. Participle I, II.) | Verbs normally followed by the infinitive. | I want you to help me. | He seems clever. | С. Verbs followed by the Gerund. | He stood there, with his back towards the door. | Questions | DEFINITIONS |


lektsii.net - Лекции.Нет - 2014-2024 год. (0.028 сек.) Все материалы представленные на сайте исключительно с целью ознакомления читателями и не преследуют коммерческих целей или нарушение авторских прав