It's All Greek To Me: Idioms

It’s all Greek to me
LECTURE 1
IDIOMS
IDIOM = a group of words in a fixed order that
have a particular meaning that is different from
the meanings of each word on its own:
To "have bitten off more than you can chew" is an idiom that means you
have tried to do something which is too difficult for you.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/idiom
Business Idioms 1
• Have a rough ride
• Be curtains for someone
• Bump in the road
• Be heart and soul
• Bear fruit
• Roll up one’s sleeves
• Ray of hope
• Stand out from the crowd
• Make a long story short
• Paint a grim picture
Business Idioms 2
• Be like shooting fish in a barrel
• Be snowed under
• Be as stubborn as a mule
• Be ringing off the hook
• Be a pain in the neck
• Come rain or shine

Business Idioms 3
• Weed sth. out
• Farm sth. out
• Sth. is still half-baked
• Not let the grass grow under smb’s feet
• The writing’s on the wall

Business Idioms 4
• Be the cream of the crop
• Separate the wheat from the chaff
• Wildcat strike
• Work one’s fingers to the bone
• Sweeten the pill
• Look for a needle in a haystack

Business Idioms 5
• Be rolling in it
• Be paid peanuts
• Cook the books
• Feather one’s own nest
• Lie through one’s teeth
• Not have a leg to stand on
• Turn a blind eye to sth
• It’s like talking to a brick wall

Business Idioms 6
• Red-letter day
• Work flat out
• Hit a snag
• Start from scratch
• Put on your thinking cap
• Set the wheels in motion
• Keep under wraps

Business Idioms 7
BURSTING WITH PRIDE
• Knock sth together
• Break the news
• Plug a product
• Generate a lot of buzz
• Strike while the iron is hot
• Jump to conclusions
• Rake it in
Business Idioms 8
TEAM PLAYERS
• Eager beaver
• Live wire
• Number cruncher
• Night owl
• Top dog
• South paw
Business Idioms 9
NO TROUBLE AT ALL
• Nothing to it
• No strings attached
• Ring a bell
• Let sth get you down
• No hard feelings
• No sooner said than done

Business Idioms 10
OVER MY DEAD BODY
• Wet behind the ears
• Think on one’s feet
• Keep an open mind
• Be an old hand
• Keep an eye on smb
• Be in over one’s head
• Keep your fingers crossed

Business Idioms 11
TIME IDIOMS
• Against the clock
• Around the clock
• At the end of the day
• Beat the clock
• Crunch time
• For the time being
• From day one

Business Idioms 12
BE A GOOD SPORT
• Be on the home stretch
• Be under the wire
• Drop the ball
• Be still in the game
• Beat smb to the punch
• Play in the big league
• Touch base with smb.

The Job Application Process
Getting started
• Start with yourself
 What are you interested in?
 What are you good at?
 Strengths/ Weaknesses?
 Short-/ medium-/ long-term career aims?
 Skills & experience?
• Know where to start
 Company websites; job platforms; networking;
speculative application; recruitment consultants
• Be flexible
The Job Application Process
• Job Advertisement
 How to read job ads

 Who is the advertiser?
 What is the job offer?
 Who exactly are they looking for?
Curriculum Vitae (Résumé)
• CV Formats
 Reverse-chronological CV
 Functional CV
• CV Style
 Layout – easy to read
 Fonts – use standard
 Length - ~ 1page
 Presentation
 Scannable CV – include key skills
Curriculum Vitae (Résumé)
• Essential elements
 Personal details
 Contact details
 Job objective
 Personal profile
 Key skills and experience
 Professional qualifications/ Work experience
 Educational qualifications/ Education
 Interests and activities
 Referees (BrE)/ References (AmE) or References available upon request
• Optional elements
 Gender
 Date of birth
 Nationality
 Marital status
 Additional skills
 Memberships/ Affiliations
 Driving licence
• Not advisable (in English job applications)

 Photo
 Place of birth and information on parents
 Religious denomination
Covering Letter
• Format – depends on national conventions
• Style
 Layout (same as CV)
 Fonts
 Formality
 Length
 Presentation
 Correctness
Covering Letter
Your address
Recipient’s address
Date
Salutation
Subject line
Opening paragraph
Main body of the letter
Final paragraph
Close
Enclosure
Covering Letter
Salutation:
Dear Mr/ Ms/ Mrs/ Dr/ Professor + last name (no
comma)
Dear Sir or Madam (if you don’t know the name)
Close:
Dear Mr Smith Yours sincerely (no comma)
Dear Sir or Madam Yours faithfully (no comma)
Covering Letter
• Salutation
• Subject line:
 name of the job/ reference no.
• Opening paragraph:
 Start with capitals!!!
 Introduce yourself
 How you learned about the job
 Job name & why you are interested in it
• Main body:
 One to three paragraphs
 Describe your skills & qualifications
 Mention your achievements and strengths & how they match the job
 What you know about the company/ use keywords from the ad
• Final paragraph:
 Willingness to provide further info
 Interest & when you are available
 Thank the recruiter
• Close
• Enclosures: CV/ Encl.: CV/ Enc.:CV
Email Writing
Email
• Salutation:
To Whom It May Concern
Dear Sir/ Madam
Dear Mr./ Ms./ Mrs.
Dear John
Hi/ Hello Paul (or just the first name)
No salutation – very informal (in longer email exchanges)
Emails
• Writing an opening sentence:
I am contacting you to…
With regards to your phone call…
Following up on your phone call…
In reply to your…
I am writing to you to…
In answer to your question about…
Thank you for…
Here’s a short reminder about…
Sorry I haven’t replied…
Just writing to…
Emails
• Attaching a file:
I am sending you/ attaching…
Please find attached…
I’m sending you the price list/ document as an
attachment.
I’ve attached…
Emails
• Writinga closing sentence:
I look forward to hearing from you.
We look forward to doing business with you.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Have a good weekend.
Have a nice day.
Hope this helps.
Emails
• Writing complimentary close:
Sincerely,
Regards,
Best regards,
All the best,
Best,
See you soon,
Take care,
Perspectives on
Click to add text
Click to add text
management
What is managing?
• Managers vs. Leaders?
• What is a Manager?
• What is a Leader?
Managers
• Different
environments, different stakeholders, different
key performance indicators, same responsibilities:
 Identifying customers' needs

 Setting targets and putting the necessary resources in place
 Planning and scheduling their own work and the team they
manage
 Measuring performance and the outcomes achieved
 Reporting on results.
 Stakeholder = all the people who can be affected by their

company's actions
Managerial roles – Henry Mintzberg
• Interpersonal roles — figurehead

• Information roles — effective communicator
• Decision roles — spotting opportunities, allocating resources
and dealing with conflict
Interpersonal roles
• Figurehead — Performing symbolic duties as a

representative of the organization
• Leader— Establishing the organizational culture and

motivating the staff
• Liaiser — Developing and maintaining business networks

Information roles
• Monitor — Collecting all types of information that are
relevant and useful to the organization
• Disseminator — Communicating information from

outside the organization to relevant groups inside the
organization
• Spokesperson — Communicating information from

inside the organization to outsiders
Decision-making roles
• Entrepreneur — Spotting opportunities, being innovative
and championing change in products, services or
business processes
• Disturbancehandler — Dealing with unexpected
challenges and crises
• Resource allocator — Deciding on the most appropriate
use of the organization's resources
• Negotiator— Negotiating with individuals and dealing
with other organizations
Qualities of a manager
• Team player – collaborate with colleagues; interact
with clients
• Able to challenge his/ her own assumptions
• Creative thinking skills
• Able to adopt a ‘people perspective’
• Not afraid to ask questions
Organization structure
• No formal structure —small companies run by a single person or group.
• Functional — separated according to different aspects of company work
(e.g. producing goods, dealing with financial matters).
• Product —divided according to a particular product or type of product,
functional teams.
• Multi-divisional — separate units specializing in a particular area;
separate units dealing with particular types of products.
• Matrix — a mixture of divisional structures, more flexible and organizes
work around specific projects.
• Tall — complex hierarchies, many layers of management
• Flat — shared responsibility, fewer managers, individuals responsible
for their own tasks.
Vocabulary
• Chain of command
• Lines of responsibility
• Spans of control
• ‘Managerial mystique’
• Subordinates
• Collective leadership
• Bureaucratic organizations
• Entrepreneurial culture
• Board of management
• Henri Fayol - General and Industrial Management
 administrative management:
 management concepts applicable irrespective of business sector
(manufacturing, services, public sector, etc.)
 managers micro environment (roles & responsibilities)
macro environment (wider economic context)
• Frederick Winslow Taylor - The Principles of Scientific Management
(1911)
 scientific management:
 production process productivity rates greater efficiency
 division of labour, time and motion studies, work measurement and piece-rate
wages
• Peter Drucker – What Makes an Effective Executive? (2004)

 management by objectives
 decentralization of the role of management
 knowledge working
Management in different sectors
• Private:
 Private ownership/ entrepreneurs
 Equity – owner/ shareholders/ investors
 Generate profit
• Public:
 Don’t hold equity
 Social mission – serve the public
 Aim to provide services rather than seek profits
• Not for profit:
 Social objectives
 Accountable to stakeholders not shareholders
 Triple bottom line: planet, people, profit
NOUN ADJECTIVE NOUN ADJECTIVE
competition/ competitive privacy private

competitor
correction corrective public public
entrepreneur entrepreneurial society social
finance financial strategy strategic
institution institutional sustainability sustainable

Resources managers use
• Data and information:
 proprietary software – data mining – data collection and analysis
raw data
shelf space/ stock, inventory control/ logistics

• Time:
 time management software project management/ expenses/ pay
• Money – financing sources:
 savings
 grants
 loans
 venture capitalists
 business angels

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It’s all Greek to me

• Be ringing off the hook

• Be a pain in the neck

• Come rain or shine

• Farm sth. out

• Sth. is still half-baked

• Not let the grass grow under smb’s feet

• The writing’s on the wall

• Separate the wheat from the chaff

• Work one’s fingers to the bone

• Sweeten the pill

• Look for a needle in a haystack

• Cook the books

• Feather one’s own nest

• Lie through one’s teeth

• Not have a leg to stand on

• Turn a blind eye to sth

• It’s like talking to a brick wall

• Work flat out

• Start from scratch

• Put on your thinking cap

• Set the wheels in motion

• Keep under wraps

• Break the news

• Generate a lot of buzz

• Strike while the iron is hot

• Let sth get you down

• No sooner said than done

• Think on one’s feet

• Keep an open mind

• Keep an eye on smb

• Be in over one’s head

• Keep your fingers crossed

• Around the clock

• At the end of the day

• Beat the clock

• For the time being

• From day one

• Be under the wire

• Drop the ball

• Be still in the game

• Beat smb to the punch

• Play in the big league

• Touch base with smb.

 How to read job ads

• Not advisable (in English job applications)

 Identifying customers' needs

 Stakeholder = all the people who can be affected by their

• Interpersonal roles — figurehead

• Figurehead — Performing symbolic duties as a

• Leader— Establishing the organizational culture and

• Liaiser — Developing and maintaining business networks

• Disseminator — Communicating information from

• Spokesperson — Communicating information from

• Peter Drucker – What Makes an Effective Executive? (2004)

competition/ competitive privacy private

entrepreneur entrepreneurial society social

finance financial strategy strategic

institution institutional sustainability sustainable