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Unit 7: management styles

Starting up:

A: which of these statements do you agree with? Explain your reasons.

Managers should: be available at all times to give staff advice and support à because they are the person to go to when an employee has a problem, by giving advice and support they will feel more comfortable to asks things of their own.

Managers should: use polite language at all times: they are the image of a company and its employee, nice manners are essential to keep the image of the company high.

 

B: what is the role of a manager? Choose your top three roles from the following and explain your ideas.

• Decision-maker: they have a big responsibility in makes the right decisions so that’s an important part of their job.
• Problem-solver: they are the key players so when there is a problem someone struggles with they should be the ones to solve them.
• Motivator: it’s an important part of their role as manager to motivate their employees so they will always perform at their best.

Can you connect the roles above to the points you discussed in exercise A?

8 use polite language at all times: decision-maker and problem-solver.

6 be available at all times to give staff advice and support: motivator and problem-solver.

 

C: how important are these factors in judging the success of a manager?

The loyalty of staff: If he earns the loyalty of his staff he probably is a good manager.

Achievement of results: this literally indicates whether a manager is successful.

Popularity with their superiors: I believe you are only popular with your superiors when you perform well.

Vocabulary: management qualities

A: Give the opposite meaning for each of these adjectives, using the prefixes in, ir, un, il or dis. Then provide the noun forms.

considerate

inconsiderate

Consideration

competent

incompetent

Competention

creative

uncreative

creativity

diplomatic

undiplomatic

diplomacy

efficient

Inefficient

Efficiency

flexible

inflexible

Flexibility

inspiring

uninspiring

Inspiration

logical

illogical

Logic

loyal

disloyal

Loyalty

organised

disorganised

Organisation

decisive

indecisive

Decision

sociable

unsociable

sociability

Supportive

unsupportive

Support

responsible

irresponsible

responsibility

 

B: mark the stress on the positive adjective and noun forms in Exercise A. Listen and check your answers.

C: choose the four best qualities of a manager using the adjectives in exercise A and rank them in order of importance (1 = most important). Then choose the four worst qualities and rank them (1 = worst).

1. Responsible
2. Decisive
3. Organised
4. Supportive
5. Irresponsible
6. Indecisive
7. Disorganised
8. unsupportive

D: match these pairs of contrasting management styles.

autocratic

democratic

centralising

Controlling

Directive

Collaborative

empowering

Delegating

Hands-on

Laissez-faire

Task-orientated

People-orientated

 

E: discuss these questions.

1. Which management style would you like to experience / have you experienced?

Laissez- faire is a style I’ve already experienced and it’s fun to do your own thing and see where it ends up.

2. How would you describe you own management style?

Collaborative would be my own management style, I would work together with my employees in order to fulfil a task.

3. What qualities do you think you possess or lack?

I think I possess the delegating quality and the people-orientated ability, I like to fulfil my part of the work but also manage the task in a way where I can delegate and say people what they could to in order to achieve a good result.

Listening: successful managers

A: which two factors influence the managerial function today, and what are the two examples that Laurie gives of these factors?

Factor one, the ability to manage in an increasingly competitive, volatile, changing, business environment. Example BRICK nations.

Factor two, nowadays, the manager must manage with an increasingly rate of technical changes. Example ICT, the manager has to interact with staff who may not be at the same desk.

B: listen to the second part. Which six managerial philosophies does Laurie manage mention?

1. Consideration, trust, respect
2. Recognition and credit
3. Involvement and availability
4. Sense of justice
5. Positive action on an individual basis
6. Emphasis on end results

C: listen to the final part and complete these extracts.

1. Direction
2. Organized
3. Structure
4. Routine
5. Individual
6. Organisational
7. Committed
8. Self-direction
9. Self-control

Reading:  management styles

A: discuss these questions.

1. What do you like or dislike about the management style in your organisation?

I would like a laissez-faire management style. An office where I could do my work on my own rate would be my ideal workplace.

2. What would your ideal workplace be like.

An office where I could do my work on my own rate would be my ideal workplace.

 

B: work in pairs. Read the article quickly and decide which of these statements are tru for the CEO you read about.

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. true

 

C: read your article again. In pairs, compare and contrast the styles of the two CEO’s.

D: which of these adjectives do you think describe Anna Wintour?

She is a perfectionist, demanding, ruthless.

E: match the adjectives in the box to the definitions below.

Anti-authoritarian, approachable, demanding, perfectionist, ruthless, self-motivated, talented, volatile

1. Not caring if you have to harm others to get what you want: ruthless
2. Not satisfied with anything unless it’s exactly right: perfectionist
3. Having a natural ability to do something well: talented
4. Wanting to achieve something by themselves: self-motivated
5. Against forcing people to follow strict rules: anti-authoritarian
6. Friendly and easy to talk to: approachable
7. Expecting time and effort from others: demanding
8. Liable to suddenly become angry: volatile

F: complete this paragraph with adjectives from exercise E.

1. Approachable
2. Volatile
3. perfectionist
4. Anti-authoritarian
5. Talented
6. Self-motivated

G: discuss these questions.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each style of management described in the

articles.

The first one is very decisive, impatient and bears a look that says that she is the boss. A very strict management style. Not every employee can handle this way of managing.

The second one is less strict, it’s a more relaxing way of managing.  People might not always meet the deadlines because they manager is less demanding.

2. Would you rather work for a male of female manager? Describe your ideal manager.

I don’t care whether a have a male or female manager. I only care about the personality of the manager. My ideal manager would be both my boss which can motivate me to perform at my best but also in a way a colleague which I can go to if I need help.

3. Do you agree with Buckmaster that most meetings are a waste of time?

I think meetings are a necessity as long as the subject that are spoken off are relevant and need further attention before the employees get to work. If the work that needs to be done doesn’t need any further attention then their shouldn’t be a meeting.

Language review: text reference:

A: look at the Jim Buckmaster article on page 145 and say what all the words in red refer to.

All the words in red refer to pronouns.

B: look at the first paragraph of the Anne Wintour article on page 69 and find an example of it as an ‘empty’ subject.

 

C: look at the anna Wintour article again and underline all the examples of text reference. Use this checklist to help you.

• Pronouns
• Possessive adjectives or pronouns
• It, this, that, these and those

 

D: say what all the words you underlined in Exercise C refer to.

They can refer to nouns.

E: read this paragraph and say what the former and latter refer to.

Former refers to the critics and latter refers to her supporters.

F: write a profile of a manager you know or are interested in.

I would like to one day either be a sales manager or a brand manager.

A sales manager would be an interesting job because I like the personal aspect of the job where you need to have certain people skills in order to be good at your job. I also would like to work with others and try to achieve good sale numbers.

The job of a brand manager also looks very interesting. Working and thinking about the design and the different functions of a product inspire me too.

Skills: presentations

A: Jason. Listen to both parts of the presentation and answer these questions.

What is the name of the product?

Quench Ice Tea

When will it be launched?

At the beginning of March.

What are its unique selling points?

They come is several flavours and versions. And it’s a thirst-quenching.

What will the audience take away with them?

B: listen to the first part again and complete these extracts.

1. Launched
2. Unique features
3. Different versions/ edge
4. Stress/ wide appeal
5. Health-conscious customers/ selling point

C: listen to the second part and complete these extracts.

1. Turning now to/ high-quality
2. Slide
3. Mean/ means/ choice
4. Beautifully designed/ eye-catching/ appealing/ stand out
5. Summarise/ appeal/ outstanding design/ comprehensive marketing program

D: match each extract in Exercise B and C to a heading in the useful language box below.

Stating the purpose:1, 1A

Involving the audience:2

Persuading:3,5

Emphasising:4,1B

Changing the subject:

Referring to visuals:2A,4

Discussing implications:3A,3B,3C

Exemplifying:5

 

Unit 8: team building

Starting up:

A: Think of at least two advantages and two disadvantages of working in teams.

Advantage:

If a problem occurs more people can work out a solution and then you can pick the best solution.  The more people you have the more you can spread the work and let everyone do the things he’s the best at.

Disadvantage:

The people you team up with are supposed to make the work go faster but one bad player can make the whole team fail at the end, there can’t be a bad player because that would drag down all the other group members.

A group needs to work together in order to be successful, you can’t expect to work better in group if they can’t stand different opinions.

B: For each category in this quiz, tick the three statements that most apply to you. Then read the explanations on page 136.

 

 

 

What sort of team player are you?

Doers vs. Thinkers

Details vs. Ideas

Mind vs. Heart

Planners vs. Improvisers

a) I consider what I say

b) I contribute a lot in discussions

c) Action is more important than reflection

d) I listen to others before I say anything

e) Discussion gives me energy and ideas

f) I don’t say a lot at meetings

a) I often come up with unusual solutions.

b) It’s important to be realistic

c) People see me as a creative person.

d) I like practical solutions

e) You shouldn’t overlook details.

f) You shouldn’t get lost in details.

a) I like to think logically

b) I keep emotions out of decision-making.

c) I avoid confrontation

d) I sometimes tread on people’s toes.

e) Understanding people is as important as being right

f) I care about other people’s feelings.

a) Meetings have to be prepared for carefully.

b) I like surprises.

c) I hate time wasting at meetings.

d) Too much time can be spent on preparation.

e) People say I’m a punctual person.

f) I need a deadline to get me going

 

C: work in groups and compare you answers to Exercise B

 

 

 

Vocabulary: prefixes

 

 

 

A: match the prefixes of the words (1-10) to their meanings (a-c).

1.       Mismatch

Not

2.       Pro-European

In favour of

3.       Pre-event

Before

4.       Post-activity

After

5.       Disconnect

not

6.       Ex-military

Former

7.       Bilateral

Two

8.       Remotivate

Again

9.       Multicultural

Many

10.   hyperlink

Very / more than usual

 

B: complete this web advert using the correct form of words from exercise A.

Is your team letting itself and the company down?

1. Mismatched
2. Disconnected
3. motivate

We have the solution.

1. Bilateral
2. Ex-military
3. Pre-event
4. Post-activity
5. Hyperlink

C: complete the final part of the advert from Exercise B with the verbs in the box.

Develop

Loyalty and trust

Maximise

potential

Break down

barriers

stimulate

communication

inspire

Creativity

build

Relationship

reduce

Staff turnover

 

D: Add prefixes to these words to give their opposite meanings. Then use them to discuss the questions below.

Uncommunicative

unfocused

Unsociable

Indecisive

unimaginative

unstable

Inefficient

Disloyal

Intolerant

unenthusiastic

Unorganised

impatient

inflexible

unpractical

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listening: building successful teams

 

A: listen to first part of an interview with Dan Collins. According to Dan, what is a team, and what is a leader’s role in a team?

A team is a group of people that are enthusiast to achieve the same goal.

The leader makes sure the goal is well understood and clear. The leader has to encourage people along to way to the objective.

B: listen to the second part. What kind of communication problems do people at work often have?

To have more spontaneous conversations which explore new opportunities.

 

C: listen to the third part. Work in pairs. Which four team roles does Dan mention?

Leaders: appointed leaders or natural leaders. Natural leaders because it’s in their nature to lead.

Creative people are the people who solves problems because they are creative. They think creative, out of the box. There are also creative people who use analysis to solve problems.

gluers: these people glue the team together. They make sure the team feels good. Example: birthday card on team members birthdays.

Doers: these people insure that things get done and that they get done in time.

 

D: listen to the final part. What does Dan say about the attitudes to teams and how they are led a) Europa and the US, and b) India and China?

In the US and Europe, they are very open to empowered form of leadership. More In the US than in Europe.

The leader can do things as they want with very little interference.

E: you have to set up a team for a very important project. Choose four people you know and say why they would make a good team.

My girlfriend Camille as the doer because she is good at working towards deadlines and make sure things are done in time.

Me as the leader, I enjoy being the leader of a group, I always have. I think it’s in my nature to help people perform at their best. I think I’m a good listener which helps a lot but I can also be very direct and say who needs to be done why and how.

My friend Maxim as the creative thinker.  He someone who come up with creative ideas to solve a problem. His way of thinking would help out when the team is stuck.

My friend Daan as the gluer, he has a very nice character. I think he’s the kind of guy you can’t get mad at and you respect him for that. He can bring people that have different characters together and make sure everyone feels appreciated.

 

Reading: new ways of team building

A: you’re going to read an article entitled Recipes for team building. What do you think are the advantages of sending teams on cookery courses?

I think a cookery course could help a team to get to know each other but more importantly they get to experience working together. Maybe it’s in not a relevant assignment to work on together but they learn how to work as a unit.

B: read the article on the opposite page and check if your answers in A were mentioned. What other advantages were mentioned.

Entertain clients, foster team spirit and relax. Business bonding.

C: scan the article to find

1. All the cookery school
2. Their clients
3. Their locations

D: read the article again and answer these questions.

1. Who are these people? Summarise the points they make in the article.

Anna Venturi: Founder

Masala Siatsu: Vice President CPU, HR

Christi Strauss: CPU Chief Executive

Richard Pash: Marketing Manager

Rosalind rathouse: Founder

Letizia Tufari: Daugther of Venturi

2. Apart from running team-building courses, what else do some corporate cookery schools do? Why Is this successful?

E: without looking at the article, complete these word partnerships.

1. Foster team spirit
2. Break down Barriers
3. Joint venture
4. Client hospitality
5. Income stream

F: answer these questions.

1. Would you like to attend a cookery course as part of a team-building exercise? Why? Why not?

The sound of a cookery course as part of a team-building exercise sounds very attractive to me, I like to cook every now and then but more importantly getting to know you team members in another environment must be interesting, people tend to behave differently when they are somewhere else.

2. What would you find difficult about working in a team?

I can’t really think of anything, but the thing I would find difficult is to stay motivated when you get a team that doesn’t want to do anything and that you get stuck with them and can’t figure out how to succeed on you own strength.

3. Which sort of people make the worst team members?

They ones that hold you back to be successful, if they don’t want to obtain good results and hold you back to get good result, you’re in a very bad position.

4. If you could go on or design any team-building course, what would it be?

I think I would design a team-building course where I would change up the roles of the people that are going to participate. Example, a boss comes with his employees. I would make sure that the employees could have the change to lead the boss in order to let both parties experience how it feels to do the other persons job.

 

G: write a short paragraph summarising the advantages of sending teams on a cookery course.

They get to know each other and work together in a different environment. It is a sort of therapy that is supposed to let them bond. The stress of getting results isn’t there so everyone gets to know the others in a different sphere.

Language review: modal perfect

A: answer yes, no or not sure to each of these questions.

1:  They should have changed the team leader.

Did they change the team leader? No

2:  Alicia needn’t have spent so much time on the report.

Did Alicia spend too much time on the report? Yes

3: They could have prepared better if they’d had more time.

Did they prepare as well as they wanted to? No

4:  The team would have been stronger without him.

Was the team as strong as it could be? No

5: The team may have made a decision by now.

Has the team made a decision yet? Not sure

6:  Carlos shouldn’t have spent all the budget on one team-building course.

Did Carlos spend all the budget on one team-building course? Yes

7:  The Chairman couldn’t have prepared properly, as we lost the contract.

Did the Chairman do enough preparation? No

8:  I’ve lost my memory stick. I must have dropped it somewhere

Did I drop my memory stich somewhere? Yes

 

B: Which of these statements use the modal perfect correctly? Suggest alternative modals for the incorrect statements.

 

1: It’s too late to sign the contract. You must have done it last week.

Should

2: I’m a bit angry. You would have told me you had invited the entire team for dinner.

Could

3: His behaviour yesterday could have ruined all the team spirit we have built up.

Ok

4: They bought the shares when they were cheap and sold them at their peak, so they needn’t have made a lot of money.

Should have

5: Simone wasn’t at the meeting. She might have been delayed at the airport.

Could

6: You couldn’t have booked a place on the June course because it was completely full.

Ok

7: She’s made a lot of mistakes. She should have been very careless.

Ok

8: Abi was inspirational and a motivator. We must have made her team leader.

Should

Skills: resolving conflict

A: Read these suggestions about ways of dealing with conflict. Put each of them under one of these headings: Do or Don’t.

 

Do:

• Try to see the problem from the point of view of the team.
• Be truthful about how you see the situation.
• Encourage open and frank discussion.
• Bring potential conflict and disagreement into the open.
• Give special attention to team members who are creating problems
• Try to find ‘win-win’ solutions.

 

Don’t:

• Delay taking action if possible.
• Get angry from time to time with difficult members.
• Try to ignore tensions within the team.
• Persist with ‘impossible people’ – you may win them over.

 

B: Listen to the conversation between Karen, Head of Department, and Larissa. Which suggestions from Exercise A does Karen use to deal with the conflict between Larissa and her colleague, Sophie?

The suggestions 1,2,3,4,5,7 and 10

 

C: Listen again and note down the phrases Karen uses to deal with the conflict. Add them to the appropriate selections in the Useful language box below.

 

1. I think I understand now
   showing sympathy
2. What you trying to say is
   reviewing the situation
3. Ok, I’ve got a picture
   showing sympathy

4.What do you want me to do?                
Resolving the conflict

5. I think there is one thing you could do
   making suggestions
6. Let me explain
   making suggestions

7.Why don’t we wait for a while?                           
Expressing your feelings

 

Unit 9: raising finance

Starting up:

A: what are the advantages and disadvantages for private individual of borrowing money from these sources.

1. A bank, it’s in my opinion the best way of lending money, you’re are guaranteed your money.
2. A friend or colleague, I think It’s a bad idea that you would lend money of a friend or colleague even though they might not any interest. You’re risking a hole friendship with this gamble.
3. A loan shark (woekeraar), it’s never a good idea to lend money knowing that you will have to pay a very high rent. You’re risking that you can’t pay back the loan and might even lose everything.
4. A member of your family, I think this can go in two ways; either you can pay back the money and there is no problem of you have trouble paying back in time and your family struggles under the stress and you end up getting a fight.
5. A pawnbroker(pandjesbaas), if you have to risk more than you can gain because you have to get for example your house as collateral I wouldn’t risk it.
6. A credit-card company, having the opportunity to get in credit can be useful as long as you can pay back at the end of the month, if you can’t you’re in big trouble so I wouldn’t recommend it.

B: in what situations might someone use the sources of finance mentioned in Exercise A?

I wouldn’t recommend going into business with a loan shark but if you 100 sure that you will be able to pay back in time and the reward is greater than the risk only then would I go for it.

C: what do you think these sayings mean? Do you agree with them?

1. 1 Money talks, if you have the money you can get things done.
2. 2 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, you can’t risk betting on one horse, you have to bet on several things so you can’t lose everything because you made one wrong bet.
3. 3 You have to speculate to accumulate, you have to gamble a bit in order to get great success.
4. 4 Don’t throw good money after bad. Don’t spend any more money if you don’t feel comfortable with doing so.

• Lend you money and lose a friend. If you go into bed with lending to a friend it’s guaranteed to destroy the friendship.
• Out of debt, out of danger. If you don’t have any debts they can’t make you anything.
• He who pays the piper calls the tune. The one who pays for everything runs the show, is the boss.
• Beggars can’t be choosers. If you don’t pay for something you can’t decide how it’s done.

 

D: what would you like to raise money for, and how would you fix it?

I’m not the person to go raise money for anything but If I should pick one I would go raise money for the ill who deserve treatment but can’t pay for it.

I would organise stuff where people can buy things were there is a good profit margin so they get something in return and know they pay more for a good cause.

 

VOCABULARY: financial terms

A: choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

1. Cashflow
2. Asset
3. Interest
4. Bankruptcy
5. Indemnity (schadeloossteling)
6. Equity (eigen vermogen)
7. Principal
8. Mortgage
9. Instalment
10. Working

B: choose the correct words to complete each definition.

1. Black
2. A grant
3. A debtor
4. A dividend
5. Assets
6. An overdraft
7. Liquidation
8. Collateral

C: discuss these statements.

1. I don’t agree if you buy its yours is you lease it is just money wasted.
2. I think the control on credit is sufficient these days.
3. If you get enough profit you don’t have to loan to expand.
4. I don’t agree, your credibility is damaged.
5. I agree, the longer you have the capital the longer you can use it for yourself.
6. Raising money is always a good idea If you’re whether you are successful or not.

 

LISTENING: ways to raise money

A: simon Davies. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer these questions.

Which three ways of raising finance does he mention?

1. Borrowing true debt
2. Equity
3. Hybrid, affective combination of the two. Starts out as borrowing which can convert to equity in the feature.

What are the advantages of:

• Private markets?

confidentially

• Public markets?

Much deeper pockets, greater source of funding

• Borrowing money

Far greater amount of funding available.

B: listen to the second part and answer this question

What are the disadvantages of:

• Shares / equity?

A fairly significant capital cost.

• Debt

Interest burden.

• Public markets?

No type of private relationship with clients.

• Private markets?

Potential lack of capital. They want a significant return. They want a say in the business.

C: listen to the final part. Simon says there are four reasons why finance has become a short-term business. What are they?

1. Bread of opportunity available.
2. Speed and quality of information.
3. Banks have become less relationship driven from financial perspective.
4. Equity perspective: very easy to buy and sell shares.

Reading:  finding finance

A: how can start-up companies raise money?

They can lend money of family members, they can go to the bank to loan money.

 

B: work in small groups. Before you read the article, check that you know the meanings of these terms.

1. business angels: is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debtor ownership equity. 
2. bank finance:
3. equity finance: Equity financing is the process of raising capital through the sale of shares in an enterprise. Equityfinancing essentially refers to the sale of an ownership interest to raise funds for business purposes.
4. debt fundraising:

C and D: work in pairs and answers these questions in pairs.

E: find idioms in the first six paragraphs that mean the following.

1. Finish something you have started= to go the distance
2. A sudden or unexpected chance to do something that allows you to become successful in your job= lucky break
3. Reduce your chances of failure or loss by trying several possibilities instead of one= hedged her bets
4. Make sure you always know what is happening in a situation = keeping your ears to the ground

 

F: complete these sentences with the idioms in Exercise E.

1. Go the distance
2. Lucky break
3. Hedge her bets
4. Keeping your ears to the ground

G: discuss these questions

1. What questions would you ask Saha if you were an investor?

I would ask her for advice before I would even start to consider thinking of starting up something on my own without having the certainty of finding investors.

2. If you were setting up a business in your country, how would you raise the finance.

I would start of by checking if I know people who could be interested in investing in my business. Every part of the funding that can be cheaper than a banc loan I would consider. If I still needed money I would look for a partner to help cover the cost and if needed we could still go to loan but with less risks for myself.

 

 

 

 

 

Language review: dependent prepositions

 

A: Complete the extract from the article with suitable words and dependent prepositions from the box.

 

1. Looked into
2. access to
3. investing in
4. turned down
5. settled on
6. pitch to.

B: study grammar reference on page 150, then match these halves of sentences. They are all from newspaper articles or headlines;

1=c

2=a

3=f

4=b

5=h

6=d

7=e

8=g

9=j

10=i

 

SKILLS: NEGOTIATING

A: which of these negotiating tips do you agree with? Why? Why not?

1. the more information you get the better you can decide something
2. interrupting someone is very annoying you should write down your question and ask it when the opportunity is given
3. money isn’t always the most important thing, you might get some help in return later on
4. I agree
5. I agree, it’s makes it easier for you listeners to understand what you’re up next
6. summarising makes it easier for your audience to understand what you are going to do concrete.
7. I think this is maybe a good idea if you don’t want to appear aggressive
8. that depends on who you’re talking to

B: match the techniques to their definitions.

1open questions= d

2closed questions= e

3softening phrases=b

4signalling phrases=a

5summarising=c

 

 

 

Unit 10: customer service

Starting up:

A: which of the following irritate you the most when dealing with customer service departments? Choose the top three.

On the phone:

 

·         Being put on hold

·         Choosing a series of options during your call

·         Being cut off

 

Face to face:

 

·         Too few staff at peak times

·         Unhelpful customer service personnel

·         Stressed or indifferent staff

 

Repairs and refunds:

 

·         Disputes over credit notes ‘proof of purchase etc’

·         Poor- quality repairs

·         Delays on repairs

 

B: discuss these questions.

1. How important to a company’s success is customer care?

It’s very important the reputation of the brand itself can be damaged if there is no or poor customer care.

2. Is it possible to have too much customer care?

Yes, sometimes you just need to be left alone so you can do you own thing while shopping.

3. In what situations can too much customer service become a problem? Have you ever experienced this?

If you can make up your mind about something and they try to convince you in something you don’t like and regret it when it’s too late. Yes, in clothing stores for example.

Vocabulary: complaints

A: complete the beginnings of these sentences with words from the box.

complaints

To be diplomatic

payment

You know their buying habits

guarantee

A minimum expectation these days

standards

Will lose customers

refunds

To retain customer loyalty

rapport

Of high-quality customer service

compensation

Only way to meet customer expectations

 

 

 

 

 

B: match idiomatic expressions to their meanings.

1. Pass the buck= avoid responsibility
2. Get to the bottom of the problem=find the real cause of something
3. The last straw=the last in series of irritating events
4. Slip my mind=forget to do something
5. Ripped off= pay far too much for something
6. Talk at cross purposes= misunderstand what someone else is referring to
7. Go the extra mile= try harder to achieve something

C: Use the expressions from exercise B in the correct form to complete these sentences.

1. Get to the bottom of the problem
2. Pass the buck
3. Ripped off
4. Slipped my mind
5. Talking at cross purposes
6. The last straw
7. Go the extra mile

Listening customer service:

A: discuss he best and worst customer service you have had in a restaurant.

Once we were at a restaurant and they didn’t book us for that night so they took another table with the best view of the restaurant and apologised.

There was a restaurant at the sea that was so unfriendly and had us waiting so long to order that we just left instead.

B: listen to the first part of the interview would you like to go to Le Manoir. Why, why not?

I would love to go there, they have a 2star Michelin restaurant. The kitchen stands central and food is important for them. And it’s a nice hotel which tells you what you can do rather than what you can’t do.

C: listen to the second part and complete these extracts.

1. Customer expectations
2. Empathy
3. Client
4. Individually
5. Looking
6. Provide
7. Consistent standards
8. Standards
9. Get

 

 

D: listen to the third part and answer these questions.

1. What do all staff at Le Manoir do, and why is this useful when dealing with demanding customers?

Get them to empathise with the customer, the guest, try to put them in the customers place.

2. What does Philip say about expectations?

People expectations are very high, we’re a high-end so we must try to exceed their expectations.

E: listen to the final part. How are customers changing, what are they doing, and how can this be useful?

Much more demanding than before. More open world in which people as more questions. The people are complaining much faster than before. The complaints however, help to improve the company because the company can prevent those complaints in the future. The complaints help to improve the company and even exceed the clients expectation even more.

 

Reading: changing customer service

A: Read the article and say if the writer agrees with these statements.

1. Customer service is important.

He certainly does agree that service is important.

2. Good customer service means always being able to speak to a person.

He mentioned that it’s very important that a client has a human contact when he has a problem or complaint.

B: read the article again and answer these questions.

1. How has customer service changed?

It used to be face-to-face and nowadays they clients can contact someone with their cell phone that can help them from across the world.

2. What did some customers not like at first?

Speaking to customer service representatives based in other parts of the world or mechanical systems that didn’t offer the right choices.

3. What can companies do with customer data?

Using insights in their location, previous purchases, personal data and other information, customer management systems can react as soon as a customer contacts the business.

4. Why do a lot of customers have bad experiences?

Companies seem to be happy to rely on canned, scripted responses, poorly strained agents and clunky systems to deliver customer services.

C: summarise paragraph in 5 one sentence.

The response has to be personal. This means pre-empting the customer’s needs and acting intuitively to minimise the time spend on the phone.

 

D: find idioms in the first and last paragraphs that mean the following.

1. To say that you support or agree with something without doing anything to prove it.
2. While physically close to someone= face to face
3. Information you get by someone telling you= word of mouth.

E: complete these sentences using idoms in exercise D.

1. Face to face
2. Word of mouth

 

F: which changes in customers service mentioned in the article have you noticed, and which industries.

Changes in the way of getting information when there is a problem. It used to be in a personal and familiar way now it’s rather impersonal, you get help from someone you don’t know or get to see.

 

Language review: gerunds

B: match these sentences to their meanings

1.      I regret telling you

I told you and I wish I hadn’t

2.      I regret to tell you

I am sorry about the bad news I am about to tell you

3.      We stopped producing the Alpha model.

We stopped the production of the Alpha model

4.      We stopped to produce the Alpha model

We stopped the production of something else in order to produce the Alpha model

5.      I tried speaking to Customer Services

It didn’t resolve the problem

6.      I tried to speak to Customer Services

I couldn’t get through to anyone there

 

C: Complete these guidelines for improving customer service with suitable gerunds.

1. Returning
2. Collecting
3. Organising
4. Responding
5. Learning

 

Skills: active listening

A: how do you know if someone is not listening to you? How does it make you feel?

Just by asking a simple question about what you were saying you will notice immediately whether the person was listening or not. I feel very annoyed if someone doesn’t listen to what I’m saying, if they are not interested they can just say so, that way I also know that I don’t need to waste my time by telling them anything.

B: which of the following do you do to show people that you are listening to them?

I do all these things, except ‘say nothing until you are absolutely sure that the speaker has finished. It’s a bad habit of mine to interfere someone while he’s speaking but that’s only proof that I’m interested in what he or she is saying.

C: listen to three conversations in which people are talking about customer service and make notes under these headings.

1. The product or service involved:

• Wine was to sweet
• Answering questing about flight
• Printer broke

1. Reasons why the customer thought the service was good or bad

 

• Bad service because there was no refund policy in the store.
• Cheap flight and very friendly personal. Exceeded all expectations.
• Printer broke and after that all words and no actions. Replacement never made it.

Unit 11: crisis management

Starting up:

A: think of a crisis you have experienced. Say what happened and how it was handled.

I once fell and my bike got stuck in the train rails. The crisis was that at the point of me crossing the train track the bell had already rung. The only thing I could think of is that my leaving my bike on the track would cause great problems so I stayed calm and eventually managed to get the bike out of the train tracks the second the train was coming out of the turn.

B: crisis-management experts have identified 10 key steps for companies in a crisis. Complete 5-10 below using the verbs in the box

Analyse, disclose, inform, practise, predict, set up

 

1. Predict
2. Set up
3. Inform
4. Analyse
5. Disclose
6. practise

C: complete this table with the steps in exercise B.

Before the crisis

During the crisis

After the crisis

·         Try to predict what crises could occur

·         Inform the directors

·         Practise making decisions under stress

·         Analyse as much information as you can

·         Set up a crisis management team

 

·         Disclose the actions you took to deal with the situation

 

D: answer these questions.

1. What sort of crises do business managers have to face?

Problems with employees that are ill. Deadlines that need that are inclosing with risk of not managing it in time.

2. How is a business crisis different from a business problem?

A problem is something you can try to figure out but if it doesn’t work the outcome is not that bad, a business crisis however is much more sever. The crisis is endangering everything and needs to be solved immediately.

3. Can you think of any examples of recent business crises? Which do you think have been the worst in recent years?The fipronil problem in the farming sector. Farmers used product that endanger the health of the people who eat them. Both the people and farmers got a lot of problems because of this business crisis.

Vocabulary: handling crises

A: match words from box a with words from box b to make word partnerships, adding ‘of’ if necessary.

Action, admission, contingency, damage, flow, legal, speed, loss, press, press

 

Action, conference confidence information liability limitation plan release response

 

• Action plan
• Admission of liability
• Damage limitation
• Contingency plan
• Press release
• Press conference
• Speed response
• Legal action
• Loss of confidence
• Flow of information

 

B: complete these sentences with word partnerships from exercise A

 

1. Speed response
2. Press conference
3. Press release
4. Flow of information
5. Action plan
6. Contingency plan
7. Legal action
8. Admission of liability
9. Loss of confidence
10. Damage limitation

 

 

C: match an expression from exercise a and b with each of these verbs.

1. Implement an action plan
2. Issue a legal action
3. Take legal action
4. Hold a press conference
5. Suffer loss of confidence
6. Prepare a contingency plan
7. Control flow of information

 

D: answer this question, then discuss your ideas.

 

Which of the word partnerships in exercise C do you think are:

Essential in a crisis?

Speed response

Implement an action plan

Important to avoid?

Suffer loss of confidence

Take legal action

Useful but not essential?

Control flow of information

Prepare a contingency plan

Listening: dealing with crises

A: in groups tell three things you know and three things you would like to know about the Toyota crisis of 2009/2010.

I don’t know anything about this crisis and I don’t need to know anything about it.

C: listen again and complete these extracts using no more than three words in each gap.

1. Slow to acknowledge
2. Slow to respond
3. Problem
4. Recall
5. Unclear
6. Confused
7. Tell it all
8. Tell it quickly
9. Get out there
10. Doing something

 

D: listen to the second part and answer these questions.

• What is the three-part model?

it says that you need to attend to the possibility of a crisis beforehand. There is a before piece, a during piece and an after piece.

• What are the three critical activities of questions for part one?

1. Audit: what could go wrong?
2. Can we avoid the avoidable?
3. Contingency plan ready and a dedicated team ready to act should a crisis occur.

E: listen to the third part. What three things need to be done during a crisis?

First you need to recognise that there indeed is a crisis= crisis identification.

Second thing to do is contain the crisis as best as possible.

Third thing to do is resolving the crisis, finding what the cause of the crisis is.

F: listen to the final part. What questions does he ask with regard to:

• The recovery

how do you recover from the crisis?

• The auditing of the management of the crisis?

What can be learned? What worked and what didn’t work?

• Rebuilding?

How does it rebuild itself? How does it recover?

Reading: dealing with crises

B read your article and choose the best headline on the left:

Expect the unexpected

C: read your articles again and take notes on these questions.

• What crises happened?

There was a problem with the pushchairs: in a few cases fingertips were chopped off in the pushchair hinges.

• How did the companies mentioned deal with their crises?

It was issuing repair kits.

• What lessons can be learned.

That they have to be ready, that they have to empathise. To be polite and don’t discriminate.

E: in pairs make as many word partnerships as you can.

 

• Deal with a crisis
• Cope with an issue
• reassure an investigation
• Face problem
• Issue a recall
• Handle
• Announce a warning

Language review: conditionals

A: match the sentences below to these headings

1. Promise
2. Bargaining
3. Invitation/ request
4. Reflecting on the past
5. Speculating about the future
6. Advice/ warning/ threat

1

D

2

F

3

B

4

E

5

D

6

A

7

F

8

C

9

B

10

F

11

D

12

C

 

B: decide whether each of these situations is a) likely or b) unlikely to happen to you.

1. You get a pay rise next year=unlikely
2. You win a lot of money=unlikely
3. Your computer gets a virus=likely
4. You travel abroad next year=likely
5. You have to give a presentation in English=likely
6. Your company is take over by a competitor=unlikely

Skills: asking and answering difficult questions

A: listen to the interview and answer these questions

1. What kind of toys are popular with children, according to Tim?

Stuffed (animal) toys.

2. How many of the toys does this company have in stock?

50000 toys.

3. How serious is the problem with the toys? Explain you answer.

The problem is very serious, the stuffed toys have a defect. The eyes can be pulled of the toys very easily by children and they then put them into their mouth and start choking. This is a very dangerous situation that needs to be looking in a treated accordingly.

B: listen again to these questions from the interviewer. In each case, decide whether the question is a) neutral/ polite or b) aggressive.

1. Neutral/polite
2. Neutral/polite
3. Neutral/polite
4. Aggressive
5. Aggressive
6. Aggressive
7. Neutral/polite
8. Aggressive
9. Aggressive
10. Neutral/polite

 

 

 

Unit 12: mergers and acquisitions

 

Starting up:

A: What do you understand by these terms?

• A takeover/acquisition

An enterprise taking over another enterprise.

• A merger

When two companies go work together as one bigger company, the two separate companies no longer exist but become one company.

• A joint venture

When two companies work together at something because they have mutual interests or goals. They work together because they want to achieve the same thing.

C: think of three reasons why one company might wish to take over another company.

1. To have a bigger market share.
2. To get rid of the competition.
3. To become bigger and get the opportunity to make a bigger revenue.

D: what do you think the advantages and disadvantages of acquisitions may be for a company?

Employees: they might lose their job when another company can do all the work with their own employees.

Customers: they might be happy because a there is less competition so cheaper products on the markets.

Suppliers: they can have bigger orders because the company grew bigger.

Shareholders: they can make a lot of money when the price of the shares goes up.

Products and services: two are stronger than one, I think there can be made better services and products when two companies combine their strengths.

Vocabulary: describing mergers and acquisitions

 

A: match the terms to the definitions

Joint venture

A business activity in which two or more companies have invested together

MBO (management buyout)

When a company’s top executives buy the company, they work for

Merger

Two or more companies joining to form a larger company

Takeover/acquisition

Getting control of a company by buying over 50% of its shares

Bid

Offer money for shares in a company

stake

Money risked or invested in a company

 

 

 

B: circle the noun which forms a word partnership with each verb.

1. Take a stake
2. Make a bid
3. Launch a share
4. Target a company
5. Set up a joint venture
6. Make a merger
7. Reject a bid
8. Sell a stake

C: choose the correct words or phrases to complete these extracts.

 

1. Merger
2. A joint venture
3. Acquisition
4. Takeover bid
5. Stake

D: think of a merger or acquisition you know about.

I don’t know any.

Listening: making acquisitions

 

A: listen to professor Scot Moeller. What three reasons does Scott give for the lack of success of some mergers and acquisitions.

1. Inadequate planning
2. The due diligence done on the target company tends to be done much too quickly.
3. A lack of planning for the post-merger integration period.

 

B: listen to the second part of the interview and answer these questions.

1. Why is it sometimes better for the newly acquired company to be:
   1. Kept separate for a period of time? To understand that company better, perhaps because you want that company to operate as a separate subsidiary.
   2. Integrated very quickly? To make sure that you don’t lose customers, that you don’t lose employees, perhaps because there is a very time-critical element.
2. What do you need to determine in addition to the speed of a merger?

You also need to determine whether you want to impose your own culture and way of operations on that company, or in fact to keep that company’s own culture separate.

3. What other questions does Scott say you need to ask?

Are you going to appoint somebody from the company itself to run that division, or do you want to bring in a new management, perhaps from the acquirer’s own management, or perhaps from the outside?

C: listen to the final part and take notes why the merger between the bank of New York and Mellon bank was eventually successful.

 

They understood some of the mistakes from previously, so experience is very important. They met very early before the deal became public, and they determined what it was that were showstoppers, things that could derail, that could stop the deal in the future from being successful, and they did determine what those items were, very early on.

 

D: how would you go about making sure that the staff of a company that you have just acquired feel valued and welcomed?

I would make sure that they feel certain. By telling them that they will remain highly appreciated employees of the company. Give them reason why they shouldn’t worry for what might chance in the future and that they would only benefit from the acquirement.

 

Reading: acquiring a green business

A: in groups, look at the table below and answer these questions.

1. What do the companies in column A do?

They all acquired other smaller companies. They took over the smaller ones in column B.

2. Match the company in column A to the company that it acquired in column B. Feel free to guess.

Unilever= Ben and Jerry’s

Danone= Stoneyfield Yogurt

Colgate-palmolive= Tom’s of Maine

L’oreal=the body shop

Estéé Lauder= Aveda

Cadbury Schweppes= Green and Black’s

3. What do you think all the companies in column B have in common?

They all have certain values that were implemented in their brand, they had certain USP’s that were important for them. They all were green independent businesses.

B: read the first paragraph and check your answers in Exercise A.

All correct.

C: read the rest of the article and say if these statements are true or false.

1. True
2. true
3. False
4. False
5. False

D: answer these questions

1. What do large companies have that smaller companies don’t?

Multinationals can increased distribution, access to more markets, and most of all, cold, hard cash.

2. What problem did Ben and Jerry’s have just after the acquisition?

It cause factory closings, job losses, and management changes.

 

E: find the three expressions in the first paragraph that describe one company being taken over by another company.

1. Being swallowed
2. Acquired by
3. now owned by

F: complete the paragraph below with the words from the box.

1. Conglomerate
2. Corporations
3. Multinational
4. Partnership
5. subsidiary

G: discuss this statement.

The transport of values from a smaller green company to a large multinational that has taken it over is impossible.

It depends on how the takeover needs to add value to the bigger company. If they took over the company to innovate than I can be that they take over their core values. If they just wanted to take over competition than they don’t need to care about its values because they are no longer rivals.

Language review: prediction and probability

A: choose the correct verb forms.

1. We will have paid back the loan by December.
2. I will be here for three years next May.
3. Next year, she will be working in our Tokyo Office.
4. We will be holding a meeting soon.
5. Don’t phone me tomorrow because I’ll be working on the bid all morning;
6. We will be offering a special discount from January 1st.
7. By the end of next year, we will have launched six new products in three years.
8. This time next year, we will be enjoying the results of the merger.

 

B: work in pairs. Say what you really think about the likelihood of these things happening.

1. It’s very unlikely that their will crash a stock market next year.
2. It’s very unlikely that Microsoft will merge with Apple.
3. It’s unlikely that the majority of managers will be woman.
4. Brazil, Russia, China and India will likely become the major world economies.
5. It’s highly unlikely that the world wide web will be having serious problems.

C: work in pairs. Make predict about you company, your country or yourself.

In my lifetime, it’s certain that I’ll find a job.

In the near future, you will be finding me hanging in a bar.

In the next couple of years, I will be studying at Brussels.

Over the next decade I will have been in the news.

 

 

Skills: making a presentation

A: listen and answer these questions.

1. For what reason did Eastman Property buy the Highview group of the hotels?

There are three main reasons: the gap in the market, the market conditions and the opportunity for growth.

2. What are Susan Drake’s plans for Highview in the future?

She has a clear, realistic and ambitious strategy for the Highview brand. We plan to buy other hotels in the UK, improve their performance and market them using the Highview brand. Highview will be the future of budget hotels in the UK. Highview will set a new standard for value for money.

 

D: you are the Managing Director of Eastman Property. Your company intends to buy one of these businesses located in your country:

• A travel agency
• A shopping mall
• A business equipment store
• A cinema complex
• A sports and leisure centre

Choose one of the businesses. Make a presentation to a group of investors explaining why you wish to buy the business, and what plans you have for its future development.

 

Right why did we choose this business equipment store. This is the fantastic opportunity to acquire this business equipment store. There is a gap in the market which offer full market cover. Right I’ve told why we want to acquire, the equipment store will set new standard in a complete new market that we’ll be having all for ourselves in the next couple of years. We will start small but since there are little competitors known we will become the market leader at the end of our first year in this newly discovered market.

 

 

 

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