Understanding the main points. 1. In the opinion of experts, what are the two factors indicating that a company is

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1. In the opinion of experts, what are the two factors indicating that a company is

truly a multinational?

2. Which of the top fifteen multinationals in Figure I depends most heavily on

earnings from foreign trade?

3. Why might a foreign government object if a subsidiary of a multinational in one

country supplies a subsidiary in another country with below-cost products?

4. What must a multinational do if it wishes to have a subsidiary in Nigeria?

5. What do you think the aim of the book International Business Blunders is?

6. Why did the Asian executives criticise their American managers?

7. How might an unfamiliarity with Japanese culture put European businessmen at

a disadvantage in Japan?

Vocabulary focus

1. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases.

1. assets

2. close down

3. put pressure on

4. started up

5. get on its feet

6. earnings

7. friction

8. equity

9. offended

10. get to the point

11. beat around the bush

12. empty-handed

LANGUAGE STUDY

1. Complete the following passage, using suitable words from the box below.

agreement compromise (verb) concession counter-proposal(s) deal

equity inflexible investment negotiate shareholding

stalemate deadlock

withdraw pull out

Many countries, such as Nigeria and India, are trying to get more control over their economies. They welcome foreign ……………… (1) but insist that their own nationals own a percentage of the foreign company’s ……………… (2). The size of the ……………. (3) varies, ranging from 20% to 60%, though it can be higher or lower.

When governments try to increase their nationals’ equity shareholding, foreign companies are not pleased. Generally, they try to ………………. (4)

with the government to keep the percentage as low as possible. They argue and haggle, make proposals and ……………….. (5), to persuade the government to give way and make some kind of ……………….. (6). If the foreign company employs many local people, or earns a lot of foreign currency, the government may be willing to ………………… (7).

Some governments are very ………………… (8) and will make no concessions. In this case, the negotiations end in a …………........... (9), with neither side giving way. The foreign company ends up by ………………. (10) from the country. This usually leads to feelings of great bitterness on both sides. No company wants to leave a country. In general, the foreign firm will make every effort to reach …………….. (11) or make some sort of ……………….. (12) with the host government.

2. Idiomatic uses of foot/feet.

Study the following list of expressions. If necessary, check their meaning in a

dictionary.

1. get back on one’s feet (again)

2. get a foot in the door

3. fall on one’s feet

4. have/get cold feet

5. put one’s foot down

6. put one’s foot in it

7. have a foothold in

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the words in italics with the correct

forms of the expressions above.

1. The management has acted firmly concerning smoking in the factory.

2. We don’t have a contract with them but we’ve taken the first steps towards getting one.

3. I was laid off in January but I was really lucky because I found an even better job a month later.

4. I made a bad mistake when I told our Marketing Director that the new product would fail.

5. For some time, we were planning to enter the US market. Then, at the last moment, we lost our nerve and decided not to.

6. The group of department stores made losses for three years running. However, now it has recovered.

7. It took three years’ hard work, but at the last we’re got a secure position in the Japanese market.

3. Idiomatic uses of mind.

A. Complete the following sentences with suitable words.

1. Companies sometimes have difficulty ……………….. up their minds which

market to enter.

2. We are in ……………….. minds whether to set up a subsidiary in West

Germany. We’re not sure if sales will be large enough.

3. Our agent’s results have been disappointing but we must …………………. in

mind that he’s only been handling our goods for eighteen months.

4. ………………….. my mind, overseas postings upset one’s family life.

5. Our Chairman’s a bore. He goes on and on about exports. I reckon he’s got a

………………..-track mind!

6. When you work in a foreign country, you’ve got to be ………………..-minded

and respect the opinions of the people living there, even if you think those

people are rather intolerant and ………………..-minded.

7. I’m not really happy working in the Personnel Department. I’ve a

……………….. mind to ask for a transfer.

8. When my boss was sent to Hong Kong, it never …………………… my mind

that I would be asked to replace him.

B. Working in groups of two or three, discuss the meaning of the words in italics in

the following sentences.

1. We’ve had little success in the Saudi Arabian market. Mind you, it’s a tough one

to break into.

2. I’ve forgotten to send off those letters. Never mind! I’ll post them first thing

tomorrow morning.

3. Efficient secretaries are rarely absent-minded.

4. This is the third time this week Jean has been late for work. I’m really going to

give her a piece of my mind.

5. That sales presentation I’ve got to give – you know, it’s been on my mind all

week.

4. The word or phrases listed below can be followed by of, to, for or on.

Working in pairs, decide which preposition follows each one.

(v.=verb, n.=noun, sb.=somebody)

criticize (sb.) …for………..

focus (v.) ……………...

responsible ……………..

agree ……………...

praise (sb.) ……………...

congratulate (sb.) ………………

famous ………………

set one’s heart ………………

gamble (v.) ……………….

succeed ………………

approve ………………

accuse (sb.) ………………

chance (n.) ………………

in favour ………………

object (v.) ……………….

think ……………….

Rewrite the following sentences without changing their meaning. Use the words and phrases above and make any other necessary changes.

e. g. Susan’s job is to order supplies.

responsible

Susan is responsible forordering supplies.

1. Some people have said that multinationals do not train enough local staff.

criticised

………………………………………………………………………………………

2. ‘Today, we shall pay special attention to the problems of multinationals,’ said the television presenter.

focus

………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Their proposal was unacceptable to us.

agree

………………………………………………………………………………………

4. IBM make high-quality products and give good service, as everyone knows.

famous

………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Because of his actions, several local firms have gone bankrupt.

responsible

………………………………………………………………………………………

6. I’m absolutely determined to work in our Los Angeles plant for a year or two.

set one’s heart

………………………………………………………………………………………

7. Is it at all possible for you to be transferred abroad?

chance

………………………………………………………………………………………

8. We are taking a chance, hoping that the host government will make concessions.

gamble

………………………………………………………………………………………

9. Some governments cannot accept the fact that multinationals dominate key industrial sectors.

object

………………………………………………………………………………………

10. They were able to persuade the government to offer more favourable conditions.

succeed

………………………………………………………………………………………

Finally, make your own sentences using the following words or phrases followed by the correct prepositions: praise, congratulate, approve, accuse, in favour, think.

UNIT 14 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

DISCUSSION

Study the following situation and then answer the questions below.

Let us suppose you are a top executive for a multinational organization. You are sent out to run a subsidiary in a small African country. The subsidiary, a chemical manufacturing plant, has had poor results recently. Your job is to make it profitable again.

Shortly after you take up your appointment, you realize that the plant is causing a lot of pollution. Fumes are pouring out of the old-fashioned chimneys and the wind blows them towards the nearby towns. In addition, chemical waste is finding its way into rivers and streams. To reduce all this pollution, you will need to spend a great deal of time and money.

This may not, however, be necessary. Some of your managers, who are nationals of the country, tell you not to worry. They can “pull strings” with government officials, so that the government will turn a blind eye to the pollution. Other foreign companies, say the managers, look after their pollution problem in this manner.

1. If you were the executive in this situation, what would you do?

2. What do you think most companies would do if faced by the same problem?

READING

What is the purpose of a business? Is it just to make as much profit as possible for its shareholders? Or does a business have a wider responsibility to help solve society’s problems? This is the controversial topic we shall now examine.

Thirty or so years ago, discussions of social responsibility were of three types. Firstly, there was a lot of talk about how business people should behave in their work. Should they have the same ethical standards – the same principles – as they had in their private life? A question which was often discussed was: should an executive offer a bribe to secure a contract, when he knew that his competitors were likely to do so? Secondly, people discussed the social responsibility of business towards its employees. They were interested in how organizations could improve the working conditions of their employees. Finally, social responsibility included the idea that business people should contribute to cultural activities. They should support activities like music festivals and art exhibitions. Executives were also expected to serve on educational committees, hospital boards, and so on. In other words, they had to take an active part in the life of their community.

These days, there is a new approach to social responsibility. Many people say that a business should try to meet the needs and interests of society. It has an obligation to help solve the problems of society. Because of this new concept, society expects more from its business organizations. For example, pressure is put on businesses to provide a safer environment. A chemical company, therefore, is not only expected to meet government standards regarding pollution. It must take steps to reduce pollution to as low a level as possible – even if this means reduced profits.

These days, businesses are expected to show social responsibility in all kinds of ways. They are urged to provide safer products; to protect and respect the environment; to hire more people from minority groups; to offer work opportunities to unemployed youngsters; to oppose racial discrimination and at all times behave with integrity. The list is endless.

An example of the new approach can be found in banking. Some well-known British banks have had pressure put on them to stop doing business in South Africa. This is because many of their customers are opposed to South Africa’s policy of Apartheid. For example, in 1986 Barclays Bank withdrew its business from South Africa. Similarly, a few years ago, some Swedish companies were criticized for taking part in an electrical power project in Africa. The project was located in a country which was then a Portuguese colony. Some Swedish newspapers accused the companies of “supporting imperialism”.

The new concept of social responsibility means that businesses and business people must have integrity. They must deal honestly with their employees, and with the outside world. As Sir John Clark of the Plessey company says, “I attach more importance to integrity than to ability”.

Successful companies are very sensitive if their integrity is attacked. They usually respond sharply. Some time ago, an English health inspector found fault with the standards of hygiene in a Trusthouse Forte hotel. Lord Forte was most upset by the inspector’s accusations. Making no attempt to plead guilty and by so doing avoid publicity, the Trusthouse Forte Group fought the case in the courts. It also advertised in several national newspapers to give its side of the case.

The integrity of the shoe-making firm, Clark’s, was recently questioned. To make its shoes, Clark’s were using leather cured by sperm-whale oil. Conservation groups heard about this and put pressure on the company to stop using such leather. They even talked of boycotting the company’s shoes. At first, Clark’s said that it had no control over leather provided by its suppliers. However, a little later, the Chairman Daniel Clark gave a direct order that the company should only buy leather cured without sperm whale oil. He also invested in testing equipment to ensure that supplies of leather were free from this type of oil.

A lot of business people agree with the “wider” concept of social responsibility. They accept that businesses should help to solve social problems – even if their businesses did not create them. And even if the social actions do not bring profits.

There are, nevertheless, some famous people who are against the new approach. One of these is Milton Friedman, an American economist who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. Milton Friedman believes that business has only one social responsibility. That is “to use its resources and energy in activities designed to increase its profits as long as it stays within the rules of the game … and engages in open and free competition, without deception and fraud.” Friedman says that a business’s social responsibility is “to make as much money for its shareholders as possible”. Another famous person makes a similar point. Ian MacGregor has been chief executive of large organisations like British Steel and the National Coal Board. He says that a business’s first priority is to create wealth. Many companies, he believes, have a concept of social responsibility which distracts them from this task.

It is certainly true that social actions cost money. And businesses have to bear that cost often by raising prices, lowering wages or having less profit. Someone has to pay for the social actions in the end – it may be the customer, the employee or the shareholder.

Of course, by showing social responsibility, the company may well benefit in the long run. A spokesman for the Rank-Xerox company spoke recently of the wide range of social projects Rank-Xerox were engaged in: grants of equipment to universities; information technology projects and seminars; training programmes in universities and schools; career seminars; sponsorship of art competitions etc. The spokesman said that the social projects were “an integral part of the company’s business strategy”. They were not some sort of charity work which would get a brief mention in the company’s annual report. Being a large organisation, Rank-Xerox had many contacts with government departments and other groups in society. And, since it was a knowledge-based company, it needed to hire highly skilled people. Its social programmes were “critical to its success”. There was no doubt that, in the long run, these activities were profitable to the organisation.

Understanding the main points

1. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Nowadays business organizations are expected to have more social

responsibilities than they used to. T/F

2. It is accepted that a company should not lose profits in order to

become socially responsible. T/F

3. Some Swedish companies were criticized because they expressed

unpopular political opinions. T/F

4. Trusthouse Forte took legal action in order to protect the reputation

of its hotels. T/F

5. Milton Friedman suggests that a company does not need to show

integrity, provided that it competes freely. T/F

6. Ian MacGregor says that some organizations do not make as much

profit as they could because they have wrong ideas about social

responsibility. T/F

7. Rank-Xerox has a large programme of social projects because it

believes that these will improve its image and reputation with the

public. T/F

8. It is probably in the long-term interests of a business to show a strong

sense of social responsibility.

Vocabulary focus

1. Find words or phrases in the text which mean the same as the following:

1. standards of moral behaviour(paragraph 2)

2. something offered or given to persuade somebody,

usually to do something wrong (paragraph 2)

3. the natural conditions (air, water and land) in which we live (paragraph 3)

4. strongly against (paragraph 5)

5. refusing to buy or persuading people not to buy (paragraph 8)

6. dishonesty or trickery (paragraph 10)

7. criminal deception (paragraph 10)

8. make people well-off, prosperous (paragraph 10)

9. in the end, ultimately (paragraph 12)

LANGUAGE STUDY

1. Match the following verbs with the correct nouns.

VERBS	NOUNS
1. offer	a) the cost
2. pull	b) a contract
3. solve	c) strings
4. bear	d) a point
5. secure	e) a problem
6. take	f) a blind eye to
7. turn	g) a need
8. put	h) pressure on
9. meet	i) a bribe
10. make	j) steps to

Now chose four of the above phrases and make your own sentences to show their

meaning.

2. Complete the following sentences with suitable prepositions.

1. The company were accused ……………….. (1) polluting the environment

and were criticized ……………….. (2) doing so. Naturally, they were upset

……………….. (3) the charge and denied responsibility.

2. The government has brought ……………….. (1) a new law to protect

minority groups. The aim of the law is to prevent employers ……………(2)

discriminating ……………….. (3) such groups.

3. We are engaged ……………….. (1) many programmes which help the

community. For example, schoolchildren benefit ……………….. (2) the

training programmes we run, and from the equipment we have provided

them ………………. (3).

4. Our management is strongly opposed ……………….. (1) expenditure on

social programmes and objects ……………….. (2) people putting pressure

……………….. (3) the company to contribute more ……………….. (4)

society.

5. We pay lip service to the idea of social responsibility but really we are only

interested ……………….. (1) making a profit. Nothing must distract us

……………….. (2) that purpose.

3. Idiomatic uses of run.

A. Rewrite the following sentences without changing their meaning. Replace

the words in italics with verbs from the list and make any other necessary

changes.

run up	run down	run out of
run up against	run through	run out

1. We won’t meet that urgent order unless we speed up production. We have

little time left.

………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Can we review the plan for the sales campaign, please?

………………………………………………………………………………….

3. We won’t be able to launch the product in February. The Design

Department have met some technical problems.

………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Our firm is gradually reducing its marketing operation in the Far East.

…………………………………………………………………………………

5. This contract comes to an end next month, then we’ll have to renew it.

…………………………………………………………………………………

6. They have incurred so many debts that they’ll have to close down soon.

…………………………………………………………………………………

B. Match the following expressions with the correct definitions.

1. run-of-the-mill (adj.)	a) period leading up to
2. run-down (adj.)	b) in second place in a competition
3. runner-up	c) very busy
4. in running order	d) after a good deal of time has passed
5. run off one’s feet	e) ordinary
6. in the long run	f) having a chance of winning
7. in the running for	g) in poor condition, not very profitable
8. run-up (n.)	h) working properly

Now, complete the following conversations with expressions from the list above.

1.- Is the machine worth buying?

- Certainly. It’s old but in perfect ……………….. .

2. - Who’ll be our next department head?

- No idea. I gather several people are ……………….. .

3. - You look tired out.

- It’s not surprising. We’re preparing the annual accounts at the moment and

everybody in our department is ……………….. .

4. - Why is that hairdressing salon going so cheap? They’re selling it for

under $10,000.

- I understand the business is very ……………….. – the owner has neglected

it badly.

5. - I hear you didn’t get the prize for best salesman this month.

- That’s right, but I was ……………….. and our Sales Manager gave me

a couple of free tickets for the theatre.

6. - Why was the AZ 502 launch delayed by three months?

- In the ……………….. to the launch our engineers discovered some technical

faults.

MANAGEMENT ABBREVIATIONS

1. SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise

2. BCG Boston Consulting Group

3. MBO Management by Objectives

4. MBWA Management by Walking About

5. TQM Total Quality Management

6. QUEST Quality in Every Single Task

7. ROI Return On Investment

8. SBU Strategic Business Unit

9. SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

10. CAD Computer-Aided Design

11. CAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing

12. DSS Decision Support Systems

13. HR Human Resources

14. IT Information Technology

15. JIT Just-in-Time

16. MRP Materials Requirement Planning

17. FMS Flexible Manufacturing System

18. BEP Break-even point

19. CEO Chief Executive Officer

20. OB Organisational Behaviour

References

1. Business Vocabulary in Use. Intermediate. Bill Mascull, Cambridge University Press, 2006. – 172c.

2. Business Vocabulary in Use. Advanced. Bill Mascull, Cambridge University Press, 2004. – 133c.

3. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs. J. Seidl, OUP, Oxford, 1990. – 128c.

4. Exercises on Idioms. J. Seidl, OUP, Oxford, 1989. – 94c.

5. English Collocations in Use. Michael McCarthy, Felicity O’Dell, Cambridge University Press, 2008. – 188c.

6. Keys to Management. David Cotton, Longman, 1998. – 224с.

7. Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt

8. Presentation skills. www.businessballs.com 2006

9. Professional English. Management. Simon Sweeney, Pearson Education Limited, 2002. – 107c.

10. Work keys alliance of business labor education www.act.org

CONTENTS

Предисловие	3
UNIT 1. The Manager’s Role	5
UNIT 2. Frederick W. Taylor: Scientific Management	11
UNIT 3. The Quality of Working Life	17
UNIT 4. Decision Making	24
UNIT 5. Top Management – Planning and Strategy	31
UNIT 6. Goal–Setting	38
UNIT 7. The Management of Time	45
UNIT 8. Motivation	53
UNIT 9. Performance Appraisal	58
UNIT 10. Centralisation or Decentralisation?	65
UNIT 11. Communications	71
UNIT 12. Leadership	78
UNIT 13. Management in Multinationals	85
UNIT 14. Social Responsibility	93
Management Abbreviations	99
References	100
Contents	101