UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR ECONOMICS

READING
(Module 3)
 Focus
on
Learning

1
UNIT 1: COMMUNICATION
READING 1: E-MAIL: FOR AND AGAINST
Activity 1: What irritates you most about these forms of communication?
e-mail
mobile phone
conference calling
voicemail
BlackBerry
web presentation
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Activity 2: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using e-mail?

Activity 3: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

impetuous

fester

bizarre

medium

chronic

2
 reprimand

hypocrisy

uncivil

discreet

dictate

Activity 4: Read the article quickly and choose the best title.
1. Time to switch your BlackBerry off
2. How to deal with your inbox
3. A quiet word beats sending e-mail

A quiet word beats sending e-mail

Luke Johnson

E-mail might just be responsible for the productivity increases that economists tell us are the key to
rising prosperity. But it could also be sending us all mad.

The truth is that business is generally best done face to face, and if that is impossible, then speaking
via the phone. But too many of us now hide behind silent, typed communications. The trouble is
that the recipient of an e-mail does not hear a tone of voice or see a facial expression; nor can the
sender modify their message halfway through, sensing that it is causing offence. When you read an
e-mail you cannot tell the mood of the e-mailer.

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A permanent written form is deadly if you are feeling impetuous and emotional. Too often I have
made the mistake of sending an irritable response, which will have festered and angered the other
end much more than a difficult telephone exchange. Spoken words fade, but e-mail is forever.

It is so much easier to be tough via e-mail, or to get away with weak excuses, or to make things up,
or to say no. Almost invariably, it is more human and serious to have a real discussion rather than a
bizarre online conversation. I know employees who have been fired for sending abusive e-mails, or
who have faced severe legal consequences for writing something they should have just said verbally.

Everyone in business finds their inbox is almost swamped every day with spam. I notice I spend
longer and longer sorting out the e-mails that matter from all the junk. It has become, I‟m afraid, a
dangerously corrupted medium. Large companies suffer chronic overuse of “reply to all”.

Moreover, e-mail can be a terrible distraction, especially if you use a BlackBerry. I was recently
reprimanded for peeking at mine during a board meeting – a gross form of hypocrisy on my part,
because I once threatened to sling out of the window any PDA-type devices being used in meetings
I chaired. I have now vowed to switch off both BlackBerry and mobile in all meetings – anything
less is uncivil.

It must be admitted that e-mail is hard to beat as a transmitter of documents and data. It forces the
sender to carefully think through their arguments and express themselves logically. It allows you to
reply swiftly to a host of different questions when time is short. You don‟t have to worry about
journey times or travel costs, unreliable postage or engaged phones or voicemail.

E-mail is a marvellously economical tool for keeping in touch with far-flung commercial contacts;
you can send them a note at your leisure, 24 hours a day. It is also is a terrific method of discreetly
and directly pitching to someone powerful. It certainly beats trying to get a meeting or even reach
them on the phone.

Like it or not, I could not do my job without e-mail. Meanwhile, I know a senior financier, an ex-
chair of a FTSE company, who still has his secretary print out his e-mails for him to read so he can
then dictate replies for her to e-mail back. Now that really is mad.

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Activity 5: Read the article again and list the advantages and disadvantages of using e-mail.
Does the writer mention any that you listed in Activity 2?

Activity 6: Find expressions in the article which mean the following.

1. looking at another person (paragraph 2)
2. upsetting or embarrassing someone by being rude or tactless (paragraph 2)
3. not be caught or punished when you have done something wrong (paragraph 4)
4. pretend something is true in order to deceive people (paragraph 4)
5. keeping writing or talking to someone, even though you do not see them often
(paragraph 8)
6. aiming a n idea or product at someone (paragraph 8)

Activity 7: Complete this text with the expressions in Activity 6 in the correct form.
I don‟t have a problem with him …………… (1) his family whilst he‟s posted overseas and sending
e-mails in office time. That‟s not the main issue. However, if he thinks he can …………… (2)
sending such abusive e-mails to colleagues, he is sadly mistaken and he‟ll have to face the
consequences of his actions later. He is clearly …………… (3) about his colleagues and spreading
nasty rumours. He‟d be better off speaking to colleagues …………… (4) if he has problems with
them. He‟s slightly better when speaking with customers, but he needs to think about who he's
speaking to when he‟s …………… (5) our products to them. And he just doesn‟t know how to say
no to people without …………… (6).

Activity 8: Discuss these questions.

1. “Business is best done face to face.” Do you agree?
2. How could communication be improved in your organisation?
3. How will communication change in the office of the future?
4. What do you do when you receive a nasty e-mail?
5. Is communication better these days with all the new technology?

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READING 2: CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
Activity 1: Before you read.
Think about the biggest company in your country. What is its reputation?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

corporate

mistrust

prevail

evolve

manipulate

receptive

reevaluate

disruption

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constituency

tremendous

Activity 3: Read the article from the Financial Times by Paul Argenti and do the exercises
that follow.

Time for communication to move towards centre stage

Paul Argenti

The last few years have seen the biggest collapse in confidence in business in almost a century - to
the point where probably the least trusted spokespeople on the planet today are corporate executives.
When intense mistrust prevails, whatever a company does says something about it, everything
communicates, and communication affects everything.

This is changing the definition of communication. Communication today is more of a two-way

dialogue and this has been aided by the rise of social media like Facebook and Twitter and the
explosion of information-sharing online. Today‟s best-in-class companies, such as Dell in the US
and Philips in Europe, do not just engage in dialogue. They use the latest technology as a source of
ideas, opinions and competitive intelligence, for product development, employee engagement and
media monitoring.

In addition to rethinking the definition of communication, the best companies are rethinking its
structure. There is a greater need for integration, collaboration and partnership among corporate
leadership, human capital, finance, sales and legal teams.

Another change in communication by leading companies is the rethinking of key themes. This was
the main finding of research by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, conducted with
Doremus, a business-to-business communications agency. It found that the best-in-class companies
have been guided by six themes:
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a. Focus on value and values. Stakeholders demand value for money when buying goods and ser-
vices, but they also expect to see a strong set of corporate values in the companies with which they
do business. Walmart, Hyundai and BMW have used this theme in their advertising and
communications.

b. Evolve a sense of responsibility. Corporate responsibility today is not just about philanthropy or
being green. It is about companies being responsible across all business practices. NGOs,
consumers, employees and investors are ready to punish companies that ignore evolving social
values. JPMorgan Chase has done a fabulous job reflecting its corporate responsibility initiatives on
its website and in advertising.

c. Strategy must drive communication. As Jon Iwata, IBM‟s senior vice-president for marketing
and communications, puts it: “Lincoln said, „Character is the tree; reputation is the shadow.‟ I‟m
afraid too many people in PR, marketing and advertising spend more time manipulating the shadow
than tending to the tree.”

d. Shifting from the problem to the solution. Stakeholders are most receptive to realistic and
optimistic plans, and are often ready to pay so less attention to problems of the past year.

e. Not communicating is a communication in itself. You either tell your story or have it told for
you.

f. Re-evaluate positioning. The crisis has led to disruption in how companies are thought of by
constituencies, which provides a tremendous opportunity to reposition, rebrand and redevelop.

Activity 4: Find words from the article, and related words, to complete the table.
Verb Noun
collaborate
collapse
define
engage
explode

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find
prevalence
research

Activity 5: True or false? (paragraphs 1-4)

a. There is great mistrust of companies at the moment.
b. When there is mistrust, everything that companies do is misunderstood.
c. Corporate communication is seen as increasingly two-way.
d. The best companies have just continued to use their traditional public relations departments in
order to communicate.
e. In their new approach to communication, companies have been paying attention to five things
in particular.

Activity 6: Find expressions (paragraphs 5-6) that refer to the following:

a. a subject that can be used in different forms of communication (5 letters)
b. what people expect when they buy a company‟s products (5 letters)
c. what they expect to see as guiding a company‟s behaviour (6 letters)
d. employees, shareholders, suppliers and, above all in this context, customers (12 letters)
e. giving money to charity (12 letters)
f. having good environmental policies (5 letters, letters)
g. things that society as a whole thinks are important (6 letters, 6 letters)
h. actions that have not been taken before (11 letters)

Activity 7: Imagine company board meetings where directors say these things (1-6). Which
point a-f (paragraphs 5-10) is each director most closely referring to?
1. “We have to have a press conference and be open about our quality problems – if we don‟t talk
about it and journalists get on to the story, we‟re in big trouble!”
2. “Our customers are getting real value for money when they buy our products, and they also
have the reassurance of knowing they are dealing with a socially responsible organisation!”
3. “We mustn‟t let this crisis go to waste! It gives us the chance to reposition ourselves as the
most environmentally aware energy company in the world.”
4. “Corporate social responsibility isn‟t something we can just leave to the CSR people – it
involves all of us!”

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5. “Let‟s not keep talking about our past problems. Instead, let‟s look forward to the exciting new
possibilities that exist for the future!”
6. “There‟s too much emphasis here on public relations and slick advertising. If we behave
responsibly, our corporate image will take care of itself.”

Activity 8: Choose the best summary for the whole article.

a. Corporate communication is a speciality that is best left to the PR department and advertising
agencies.
b. Everything a company does communicates something about it, and executives are becoming
increasingly aware of this.
c. Whatever a company does, people will always misinterpret its actions, and companies just have
to try to limit the damage.

Activity 9: Discuss these questions.

1. “Lincoln said, „Character is the tree; reputation is the shadow.‟ I‟m afraid too many people in
PR, marketing and advertising spend more time manipulating the shadow than tending to the
tree.” How far is it possible to „manipulate‟ the truth about an organisation‟s character?
2. Think about your organisation or one you would like to work for. In what ways can each
department show that it is responsible? How can this be communicated?

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UNIT 2: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
READING 1: ITALIAN LUXURY
Activity 1: Answer these questions.
1. What do the following have in common: Gucci, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Christian
Dior, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. Which countries tend to make the world's most desirable luxury brands?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. What would you buy if money was no object?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

powerhouse

discerning

deliberate

glamour

intent

aspire

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 relentless

groundwork

dilute

sceptical

Activity 3: Read the article below quickly and complete this information.
Tod's group HQ - where? ………………………….. (1)
Key products ………………………….. (2)
Chairman ………………………….. (3)
Competitors that Chairman admires ………………………….. (4)
New markets ………………………….. (5)
Objective in next five years ………………………….. (6)

Diego Della Valle: Italian atmosphere is central to Tod‟s

global expansion
Vincent Boland

It is not too difficult, in the high-ceilinged elegance of Palazzo Della Valle on the Corso Venezia in
Milan, to be seduced by the charms of a certain kind of Italian lifestyle. Here is the headquarters of
Tod‟s Group, which has become a powerhouse in the marketing of that vision to the world‟s
wealthy and discerning.

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The atmosphere is deliberate: where some Italian fashion houses have expanded ever further into
the realms of celebrity and glamour, Tod‟s is anchored as firmly as it can be to its family roots and
its traditional, hand-made, century-old heritage.

Its signature products – shoes and bags – are made of leather, a raw material that has remained
almost unchanged since it was first discovered. A new advertising campaign will take the company
back to basics, with a focus on Italian families and their lifestyles – actual Italian families, however
rich and privileged – rather than on celebrities.

“The Italian lifestyle is in our DNA, and in our group, we believe in our DNA,” says Diego Della
Valle, the chairman and chief executive of Tod‟s Group.

This image is especially important in new markets, such as China and India, he says. In common
with other luxury-goods makers, he is intent on capturing consumers in those markets who aspire to
the same sense of the Italian lifestyle as do customers in more mature markets. “A luxury goods
company has to have control of its image,” he says. “For Tod‟s, the thing is to communicate this
tradition, the generations of work that have gone into our products. For us it‟s an absolute priority.”

To achieve it, one must put quality before quantity, and one must maintain the group‟s traditions
even as it globalises, which it has been doing fairly relentlessly in the past decade.

The challenge is to marry tradition with modernity in a way that not all Italian luxury goods and
fashion producers have managed. Tod‟s has done it, Mr Della Valle says, by maintaining one key
vision: “We‟re a luxury goods company, not a fashion company.”

This distinction between fashion and luxury is central to Mr Della Valle‟s global ambitions. The
two have different products and ought to have different strategies, he says. The competitors he
admires most, he says, are Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Chanel.

Mr Della Valle says that the goal in the next five years is “to complete the globalisation” of Tod‟s,
for which he has been laying the groundwork. “I‟d like Tod‟s to be much bigger than it is now,
without diluting the brand,” he says.

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He expects China and India to account for as much as 25 per cent of revenues by then, because the
growth potential is much higher than in more traditional markets. “There is a much bigger appetite
for luxury goods in those markets than in mature markets, and day by day more people are coming
into this market.”

But as for China as a competing producer, Mr Della Valle is sceptical about its ability to produce
luxury goods. “It lacks the structure of small companies, the tradition, the concept of excellence”
that Italian luxury-goods producers have inherited and which they must maintain as a competitive
advantage, he says. “Made in Italy doesn‟t necessarily mean expensive goods,” he says. “It means
excellent goods.”

Activity 4: Read the article again and correct this summary.

Tod's Group wishes to convey the charms of the Italian lifestyle to the world's rich. To do this, it
focuses on celebrity and glamour, and its new advertising campaign will feature Italian celebrities.
The Chairman says he wants to expand into India and China to capture consumers there who
appreciate the Italian lifestyle. To enter such big markets, Tod's will need to think about quantity as
well as quality.
Tod's is primarily a fashion company and needs to be much bigger. China and India have more
possibility for growth than Tod's traditional markets. The Chairman is worried because China will
be able to produce luxury goods more cheaply. In future, Tod's will look to lower production costs
by manufacturing in low-cost countries.

Activity 5: Match words from each column to make word partnerships. Then check your
answers in the article.
1. competitive a. markets
2. traditional b. markets
3. raw c. advantage
4. mature d. materials
5. global e. ambition

Activity 6: Discuss these questions.

1. What products do you know that rely on their heritage and cultural background?

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2. In a recession, do you think companies such as Tod's should manufacture in low-cost countries
rather than at home? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
3. Would you ever buy a fake luxury product?
4. Do you agree that designer luxury goods are always higher quality than non-designer goods?

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READING 2: GLOBAL BRANDS
Activity 1: Before you read.
Which do you think are the top ten brands in the world at the moment, in terms of their value?
Make a list.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………....
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………....

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

recession

preach

comply

scenario

outperform

sustainable

outrank

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 unabated

tribute

embody

Activity 3: Read the article from the Financial Times by John Gapper and do the exercises
that follow.

Big names prove worth in crisis

John Gapper

For companies whose financial value depends heavily on the health of their brands, the severity and
abruptness of the recession was a challenge. The abruptness with which many consumers stopped
spending, and large companies reduced capital investment, caused a shock to the system. Many
companies experienced not only the financial crisis, but also a crisis of confidence.

Marketers and advertising agencies preach the gospel that the companies that emerge best out of
recessions are those that maintain their marketing budget and protect brands when the going gets
tough. In practice, few companies were certain enough of the future to comply. Yet some of the
Doomsday scenarios about the value of brands in the post- recession world have not come to pass.
Emerging from the recession, luxury goods companies and many other consumer brand companies
are enjoying a rebound.

The underlying value of any brand – the premium commanded by products and services with strong
reputations and identities – has not been eliminated by the crisis. Even those companies that did not
invest heavily in their brands in the worst times are regaining some confidence. “Brands outperform
in good times and when there is a recession they do go down, but they come out the other side with

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a sustainable advantage,” says Joanna Seddon, chief executive of MBO, the organisation that
compiles the ranking.

The nature of brands continues to evolve. Technology rather than marketing is now the defining
characteristic of seven of the top 10 brands, with Coca-Cola, McDonald‟s and Marlboro making up
the other three. Google remains the world‟s most valuable brand, but edging up close behind it are
two other technology companies, IBM and Apple. Both of these outrank Microsoft, whose brand
value was stable during the year. The resurgence in Apple under Steve Jobs, through the iPod, the
iPhone and now the iPad, continues unabated and, on present trends, it could be pressing Google for
first place within a year or two. That is a tribute to a company that inspires devotion among
customers.

It may also be a reflection of the value of inspirational leadership, and the way in which consumers
identify some of the world‟s most valuable brands, such as Oracle and Starbucks, with founders
who embody their qualities. Larry Ellison of Oracle and Howard Schultz of Starbucks are not only
the founders but keepers of the flame. The social media boom led by companies such as Facebook
and Twitter - as well as the rise in smartphones led by Apple – has had a broader impact on the top
100. It has boosted mobile operators such as Verizon and AT&T, despite the complaints of iPhone
users about AT&T‟s 3G coverage.

Activity 4: Complete this table with words and grammatically related words from paragraph
1.
noun adjective
abrupt
confident
healthy
finance
severe
valuable

Activity 5: Now match the adjectives above to their meanings.

a. in good condition
b. very difficult

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c. worth a lot of money
d. feeling good about the future
e. very sudden
f. relating to money

Activity 6: Use forms of expressions from paragraph 2 to correct these statements.

a. If you say that something is true and that people should act in accordance with it, you preach the
bible about it.
b. If conditions become difficult in a particular situation, the journey gets hard.
c. A series of very bad events that might happen is a fateful narrative.
d. A formal way of saying that something has happened is to say that it has come past.
e. If a company does well after a period of doing badly, it undergoes a bounce.

Activity 7: True or false? (paragraphs 2-3)

a. The value of brands was completely destroyed during and after the recession.
b. Companies that did not invest in their brands have been totally eliminated.
c. The value of brands goes down during recessions.
d. Companies with valuable brands do better than those without in the long run.

Activity 8: Which of the brand(s) mentioned in paragraphs 4-5.

a. relate to technology-based companies or their products?
b. relate to non-technology companies?
c. is top in the rankings?
d. is technology-based, and below three other technology companies?
e. are names of products related to a technology company?
f. have grown partly because of the success of other brands?

Activity 9: Find expressions that refer to (paragraphs 4-5).

a. the thing that people think about most in relation to a brand. (8 letters, 14 letters)
b. a period of success following a period of decline. (10 letters)
c. makes you admire a person, brand, etc. (8 letters)
d. a feeling of complete admiration, respect, etc. (8 letters)
e. company founders who are still building their companies. (7 letters, 2 letters, 3 letters, 5 letters)

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f. companies such as Facebook and Twitter. (6 letters, 5 letters)

Activity 10: Discuss these questions.

1. Look again at the list of brands that you made before you read the article. Compare it with the
answers to activity 8. Were there any surprises for you? If so, describe them.
2. Which of the above brands will still be important 10 years from now, and which will have
declined? Give your reasons.

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UNIT 3: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
READING 1: BUSINESS NETWORKS IN CHINA
Activity 1: Where can you meet people to build good business relations?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

notion

plain

nouveau riche

astute

imperative

wannabe

alumnus
alumni
(plural)

invariably

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 savvy

Activity 3: Read the article quickly and say who these people are.
1. Li Ka-shing
2. Gary Wang
3. Helen Wong
4. Zhou Junjun
5. Andrew Grant

How East is meeting West

Frederik Balfour

Guanxi. It‟s the first word any businessperson learns upon arriving in China. Loosely
translated, guanxi means “connections” and it is the key to everything: securing a business license,
landing a distribution deal, even finding that special colonial villa in Shanghai. Fortunes have been
made and lost based on whether the seeker has good or bad guanxi.

Now, like so many things in China, the old notion of guanxi is starting to make room for the new.
Businesspeople – local and foreign – are tapping into emerging networks that revolve around shared
work experiences or taking business classes together. Networking that once happened in private
rooms at smart restaurants now goes on in plain view – at wine tastings for the nouveau riche, say,
or at Davos-style get-togethers such as the annual China Entrepreneurs Forum held annually at
China‟s Yabuli ski resort. By tapping into these informal groups, Western companies can
theoretically improve their understanding of the marketplace, hire the best talent, and find potential
business partners.

Guanxi goes back thousands of years and is based on traditional values of loyalty, accountability,
and obligation – the notion that if somebody does you a favor, you will be expected to repay it one
day. One of Asia‟s most successful businessmen, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has used
his guanxi particularly astutely over the years, in the process winning valuable licenses and

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permission to build huge real-estate developments. Playing the guanxi game is still imperative,
especially for foreign investors.

Many of China‟s networkers meet through an American or European MBA program. Gary Wang
attended INSEAD, the famous French business school outside Paris. Today, he runs a YouTube
wannabe called Tudou that was built largely on connections made at business school. A fellow
student who worked at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide helped out with public relations. And another
INSEAD graduate, Helen Wong, a partner at Granite Global Ventures, helped Wang raise $8.5
million after a friend heard him speak at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
in Shanghai. “Without knowing all these people through INSEAD,” says Wang, “Tudou probably
never would have happened.”

Executive MBA programs, all the rage now in China, have become Guanxi Central. Targeted at
senior executives and high-powered entrepreneurs, the programs are attracting some of China‟s
most successful businesspeople. “It‟s important to have friends in different industries and meet
people from different cities,” says Zhou Junjun, who runs the Chinese operations of a South Korean
systems company and did an Executive MBA at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in
Beijing.

Multinational companies, of course, provide rich opportunities for networking, too. Ogilvy Public
Relations Worldwide holds an annual party for former employees, many of whom now work for the
company‟s clients, including Lenovo, Johnson & Johnson, and solar-panel maker Suntek.
McKinsey has plenty of alumni who have moved into senior posts at major companies and start-ups.
“Obviously, they became a valuable network for us,” says Andrew Grant, who runs the firm‟s
China practice in Shanghai.

If one thing has remained the same for foreigners in China, it is this: cracking the guanxi code still
takes hard work and perseverance. Networking at an alumni barbecue or wine tasting goes only so
far when trying to build relationships of any lasting value. After the first 30 minutes at these
functions, say people who have attended, foreigners and locals almost invariably break off into
separate groups.

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What‟s more, Chinese businesspeople are more experienced and globally savvy than they were just
a few years ago. They‟re looking for business connections who can help them expand outside China
or get their company listed on a foreign exchange. “People want something more professional and
strategic from their relationships,” says Li Yifei, Viacom‟s chief representative in China. “They
want to know how good your guanxi is back home.”

Activity 4: Read the article again. Which paragraph:

1. begins by talking about the origins of guanxi?
2. gives examples of what can be achieved if you have connections?
3. talks about how guanxi is changing?
4. talks about top connections made at M BA programmes within China?
5. talks about how a business started through connections made at a European business school?
6. talks about networking through multinational companies?
7. talks about Chinese businesspeople wanting something in return for connections?
8. suggests that making connections might take time and effort?

Activity 5: Answer these questions.

1. What is guanxi?
2. What examples are given of things you can achieve if you have good guanxi?
3. What can Western companies do if they are involved in informal groups?
4. How is guanxi changing?
5. Why does Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide hold annual parties for previous employees?

Activity 6: Find words or phrases i n the article which mean the following.
1. using or taking what you need from a supply of something (paragraph 2)
2. when someone always supports someone o r something (paragraph 3)
3. being responsible for what you do and willing to explain it or accept criticism (paragraph 3)
4. a moral or legal duty to do something (paragraph 3)
5. people you know who can help you, especially because they are i n positions of power (paragraph
4)
6. talking to other people who do similar work in order to help each other (paragraph 6)
7. determination to keep trying to do something difficult (paragraph 7)

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Activity 7: Discuss these questions.
1. What advice would you give to someone trying to develop business relationships
in China?
2. A foreign company is opening a branch in your country. What factors should it consider?
3. In your experience, are certain nationalities better at building relationships than
others? If so, which ones?

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READING 2: WORKING FOR FREE
Activity 1: Before you read.
Would you be willing to do pro bono work – that is, to work without being paid? Why? / Why not?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Part of
Word/Phrase Definition and Example
Speech

careerist

preserve

nuts and bolts

cozy

hierarchy

enlist

ethical

associate

26
 privileged

counterpart

Activity 3: Read the article from the Financial Times by Rhymer Rigby and do the exercises
that follow.

The careerist: Pro bono work

Rhymer Rigby

Pro bono work is usually thought of as the preserve of lawyers, but organisations as varied as
advertising agencies and professional services firms also donate their staff‟s time to good causes –
either for free or for reduced fees. Although employees should do pro bono work for selfless
reasons, your good deeds can also be rewarded in terms of your career.

How does pro bono work add to my experience?

If you are relatively junior, it can be a very good way to step up. “People who do pro bono work in
the Accenture Development Partnerships typically take on more senior roles than they would in big
corporate roles,” says Royce Bell, a senior executive at the consultancy firm. “You get to see a lot
of nuts and bolts and it‟s very good to get outside the normal cosy corporate world. You‟d think that
someone who sets up an IT system in Chad would have a broader view than a person who has only
worked in Fortune 200 companies.”

What about opportunities for building relationships?

Pro bono work often brings together people from different parts of organisations who might not
otherwise meet. Phil Georgiadis, chairman of Walker Media, the London agency, says it can cut
through hierarchies, too. “I‟m about to do some work for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children and I‟ll enlist a couple of graduates to work with me – that‟ll be the account team. So
suddenly you have a graduate who is reporting directly to the chairman, which is very rare,” he
explains.
27
What about job satisfaction?
Using your professional skills in the service of good causes often adds a kind of ethical dimension
to your career and can be very motivating. Maya Mehta, a senior associate at Clifford Chance, the
law firm, says that her inspiration for starting the Newham Asian Women‟s Project pro bono
scheme came from reading about forced marriages: “It got to the point where I couldn‟t just turn the
page. I wanted to do something about it.” She says it is also one way of bridging the divide between
Canary Wharf and the less privileged areas that surround it.

Pro bono work can be rewarding in other ways, too. Mr Georgiadis says you can be freer to be more
creative with work done for charities: “You often have the opportunity to do some really interesting
marketing and you have more freedom than you might have with, say, a breakfast cereal.” Mr Bell
adds that Accenture Development Partnership projects tend to be smaller and shorter than their
corporate counterparts: “It‟s much easier to see overall results and understand the positive effect of
what you are doing.”

Activity 4: Look through the whole article and match these people with the organisations
that they work for and the pro bono projects that they mention.
1. Royce Bell a. Clifford Chance i. the Great Ormond Street
2. Phil Georgiadis b. Accenture Hospital for Children
3. Maya Mehta Development Partnership ii. the Newham Asian
c. Walker Media Women‟s Project
iii. an IT system in Chad

Activity 5: Choose the correct alternatives (paragraph 1).

1. „Pro bono‟, meaning „for good‟, comes from which language?
a. Greek
b. French
c. Latin
2. Working for reduced fees or no fee at all is ...
a. limited to the legal profession.
b. only common in law and advertising.
c. found in a range of professional services.

28
3. Normally, if you donate your time, you ...
a. charge for it.
b. don‟t charge for it.
c. charge twice as much as for other work.
4. This article uses „donate‟ to mean ...
a. always charging nothing at all.
b. charging nothing or sometimes charging a reduced fee.
c. occasionally charging the full rate.
5. The opposite of „selfless‟ is ...
a. selfish
b. self-help
c. self-service.
6. Which of these words is least similar in meaning to „deeds‟?
a. doings
b. acts
c. thoughts
7. The reward for doing pro bono work comes in the form of ...
a. better career prospects.
b. more job satisfaction.
c. better salary for your current job.

Activity 6: Where are these aspects of doing pro bono work mentioned in the article
(paragraphs 2-3)? Which are not mentioned?
You may have the chance of...
a. seeing very practical aspects of projects.
b. working with the chairman, even if you are a recent graduate recruit.
c. getting a more rounded way of looking at things than you would in a large company.
d. improving healthcare in the developing world.
e. doing work with more responsibility.
f. working on projects in the developing world.
g. understanding how hierarchies work.

Activity 7: Match the verbs with the expressions that they go with (paragraphs 4-5).

29
1. use a. the divide
2. bridge b. an ethical dimension
3. add c. professional skills
4. start d. more freedom
5. have e. the project
6. have f. the positive effect
7. see g. the opportunity
8. understand h. the overall results

Activity 8: Now match the opinions (a-e) to the people who might have expressed them (1-4).
(One of these people relate to two of the opinions.) (paragraphs 4-5).
1. Rhymer Rigby a. „I couldn‟t just ignore this social problem.‟
2. Royce Bell b. „You really have a chance to work independently.‟
3. Phil Georgiadis c. „You get to see the results of your own work more easily.‟
4. Maya Mehta d. „It gives you the opportunity to know that you‟re doing good.‟
e. „It allows us the chance to have contact with some of our
neighbours.‟

Activity 9: Discuss these questions.

1. Think about your organisation or one you would like to work for. What pro bono projects
would it be advantageous for the organisation to carry out?
2. Identify an area in which you personally might like to do pro bono work. Discuss the main
points of your campaign.

30
UNIT 4: SUCCESS
READING 1: CARLOS SLIM
Activity 1: Discussion
In groups, share the stories of the successful businessmen that you admire.

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

spree

acumen

crunch

tentacle

ledger

divest

substantial

replicate

31
 frugal

marginalise

Activity 3: Read the following article from The Telegraph

Profile: Carlos Slim

James Quinn

Carlos Slim is either the world‟s richest or second-richest man, with a fortune estimated to be in
excess of $67bn. Possibly the richest man you‟ve never heard of, until recently his influence had
largely been restricted to his native Latin America, where his sprawling family empire controls
more than 200 companies, spanning everything from banking and retail to telecoms, road-building
and restaurants. But given the size of his fortune, he was unlikely to stay local for long. In recent
years, he has begun to stretch his increasingly long tentacles north of the border and into the United
States, and this week took the American intelligentsia somewhat by surprise by revealing plans to
inject $250m into the New York Times.

Slim puts his success down to his admiration for his father Julián – who emigrated from the
Lebanon aged 14 and made his fortune investing in property in the 1910–17 Mexican revolution –

32
and to American oil billionaire Jean Paul Getty. Slim learned of Getty‟s business acumen as a
young boy and has gone on to mirror his ability to make money.

Aged 11, he invested in government saving bonds, keeping a detailed ledger to track all of his
purchases. By 15, he had bought a very small shareholding in Banco Nacional de México – then the
largest bank in Mexico, and one to which he has recently been linked with buying, as the current
owner Citigroup looks to divest some of its assets.

While studying civil engineering at university in Mexico City, he realized the way to make money
was from investing in companies, and so set up on his own as a stockbroker on graduation, working
14-hour days.

It was not until the Mexican recession of 1982 that Slim really began to make some money taking
advantage of a nationwide „fire sale‟ of assets by local and foreign investors alike, looking to sell in
the midst of one of the country‟s worst economic crises.

The period led to the formation of one of the key parts of Slim‟s empire – Grupo Carso, which
today has annual sales of $8.5bn a year and owns retail outlets such as Sanborns and Sears, as well
as a wide range of manufacturing businesses.

Eight years later, in 1990, came the second major turning point in Slim‟s career when Mexico
decided to privatize its national telecoms company. Slim went head to head with America‟s
Southwestern Bell. France Telecom and as many as 35 other domestic investors, but managed to
seize control of Telmex.

Some 90 per cent of the telephone lines in Mexico are today operated by Telmex. But it is the low-
cost mobile phone network América Móvil, which he also controls, which has grown to be the most
substantial part of his empire, opening up other parts of Latin America to mobile telephony. It now
operates in 11 countries, including Brazil, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Many commentators believe that his recent buying spree is part of a desire to replicate what he did
in Mexico in the 1980s on a world stage, taking advantage of the global recession by investing in
distressed assets at knock-down prices while he can.

33
In spite of his obvious wealth, he remains frugal in his tastes, and is often seen wearing a plastic-
effect wrist watch which doubles as a calculator. His clothes tend to be bought from the many
retailers his empire owns.

Over the next four years, he has committed to spend $10bn through his charitable Carso Foundation,
whose main aim is to light marginalization and poverty by investing in health, education and
employment.

Activity 4: Correct the six mistakes in this paragraph about Carlos Slim.
Carlos Slim is probably the richest man you have ever heard of. The major influences on his life
were his father, Julián, who was born in Mexico and Jean Paul Getty. He studied finance at Harvard
University and on graduating set up as a stockbroker. He made a lot of money in the Mexican
recession of 1982, selling his assets in the middle of the crisis. In 1990, Slim gained control of
Telmex, which owns 90% of Mexican telephone lines and is the largest part of Slim‟s empire. Slim
is also involved in charity through his Carso Foundation.

Activity 5: Match the words on the left with words on the right to form word partnerships.
Then check your answers in the article.
1 business a) spree
2 economic b) acumen
3 annual c) recession
4 retail d) point
5 turning e) sales
6 buying f) outlets
7 global g) crisis

Activity 6: Complete this text with the word partnerships from Activity 5.
In 2008, influenced by China‟s success and its appetite for commodities, shipowners went on a
(1)………………., and (2)………………. of vessels reached an all-time high. The
(3)………………. came the following year with the housing crisis, credit crunch and
(4)………………. in the United States, which led to a (5)………………. Orders for ships dried up,
and department stores and (6)………………. throughout the world had empty shelves. However,
business is recovering and there has been a transformation of the industry from one that relied

34
almost exclusively on a shipowner‟s innate (7)………………. to today‟s highly sophisticated
finance-based industry.

Activity 7: If you had Carlos Slim‟s money, what kind of businesses would you buy? What
kind of lifestyle would you lead?

35
READING 2: SUCCESSFUL WOMEN
Activity 1: Before you read
Who is the most successful businesswoman in your country? How did she become successful?

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

discordant

autocracy

soppy

underlings

hang on

squash

feat

bang on

36
Activity 3: Read this article from the Financial Times by Lucy Kellaway and do the exercises
that follow.

A guide to being a successful female boss

Lucy Kellaway

Every year, the FT publishes a list of the top 50 women chief executive in the world who talk about
the secrets of their success. The number one woman, PepsiCo‟s Indra Nooyi, says you must work
hard and have fun. Irene Rosenfeld of Kraft says you must follow your passion. The others talk
about the importance of having a mentor, of being your self, of work-life balance, of teamwork and
of being humble.

There was only one discordant note. This was sounded by Dong Mingzhu, who runs Gree Electric
Appliances, a Chinese manufacturer of air conditioners and is rated the ninth most important
businesswoman in the world. “I never miss,” she says. “I never admit mistakes and I am always
correct.” I read this and laughed. It was so shocking, so out of line that I thought it a joke.

Yet Sister Dong, as she is sometimes known, has achieved results. Gree Electric Appliances has
achieved total shareholder returns in the past three years of 529.5 percent. One might argue that the
Sister-Dong-never-wrong school of management is something that only works in China, where the
fondness for autocracy is considerable and theory of management is still about making money and
hasn‟t evolved to include such soppy practices as mentoring or 360-degree feedback.

Last week, I went to see The September Issue, a documentary about life at American Vogue, and
can confirm that the Sister-Dong-never-wrong approach can work quite brilliantly in the most
highly evolved and most competitive of industries: fashion.

For 90 minutes, we see a not very personable woman who never praises anyone and hardly ever
smiles telling her underlings their work is ugly or boring. Yet for 20 years, this woman has hung on
at the top of her business, while most CEOs – male and female – last four or five years before they
are spat out or squashed.

37
Pulling off the same feat with air conditioning must be harder. For Sister Dong, and all for the other
CEOs who run complicated, global businesses, it is terribly hard to tell if they are actually wrong or
not. And in the mean time they have a choice. Either rule by fear – which still works in China and in
fashion – or rule by banging on about passion and mentors and hoping that if you are wrong, no one
will notice.

Activity 4: In paragraph 1 and paragraph 2, find reasons given by top women executives for
their success.
I….
a) work……………
b) have ……………
c) follow …………… ………….
d) believe in ……… .. …… ……………..
e) try to …………… …………………..
f) believe in ……………-…………… …………………..
g) try to be ……………
h) never ……………
i) never ……… ………….
J) am always …………

Activity 5: Now match each reason above to the executive who gave it and the company that
she works for. (In some cases, no particular person or company is mentioned.)

Activity 6: Which three of the above reasons are “discordant”? Why?

Activity 7: Which alternative could be used to replace the expression in italics without
changing the meaning?
1. Yet Siste Dong, as she is sometimes known, has achieved results.
a) fabricated b) objectified c) produced
2. GRE has achieved shareholder returns in the past three years of 529.5 per cent.
a) return on sales b) return on equity c) return on assets
3. ….in China,…. the fondness for …..
a) hatred b) indifference c) liking

38
4. …autocracy is considerable…
a) authoritarian management
b) democratic management
c) Scandinavian-style management
5. …and hasn‟t evolved to include such soppy practices as mentoring or 360-degree feedback.
a) emotional b) strong c) soapy
6. ….the Sister-Dong-never-wrong-approach can work quite brilliantly in the most highly
evolved and most competitive of industries: fashion.
a) backward b) developed c) complicated

Activity 8: Use correct forms of expressions from paragraph 5 and paragraph 6 to complete
these statements:
a) Someone not that attractive or likeable is …………….. …………….. ……………..
b) People who work under someone else‟s authority are their ……………...
c) If you stay in a job when you might be expected not to, you …………….. ……………..
there.
d) Someone rejected by an organisation is …………….. ……………..
e) Someone destroyed by an organization is …………….. by it.
f) If you achieve something difficult, you …………….. …………… …………….. ………
g) If you manage people by making them feel afraid, you ………. …………… ……………
h) If you talk about something constantly, you …………….. …………….. …………….. it.
i) If people don‟t pay attention to something, they don‟t …………….. it.

Activity 9: Which statement sums up the article best?

Western ideas about management success…
a) are all wrong.
b) may be right, or they may be wrong, but some women succeed in totally different ways.
c) may be right, but we don‟t really know.

Activity 10: Discussion

1. Go through the answers a-j to the question in Activity 4 above. What do you think of each of the
“secrets” of success? Give your reasons.

39
2. “In China, … the fondness for autocracy is considerable.” Is this true in your country‟s
companies? Why? / Why not?

40
UNIT 5: JOB SATISFACTION
READING 1: WORKING FOR THE BEST COMPANIES
Activity 1: You are going to read an article from The Sunday Times survey “The 100 Best
Companies To Work For”. What would you look for in your ideal company?

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

staff/employee
turnover

psychosomatic

accredit

reinforce

paternity leave

high-flyer

juggle

carte blanche

41
 secondment

proactive

Activity 3: Work in pairs.

Student A: Read Article A – Student B: Read Article B
Choose five points that you think make the company in your article a good one to work for.
Take notes on those points and then tell your partner, without looking back at the article.

Article A

Marriot Hotels International

Hospitality and lodging
Annual sales: £550m
Staff numbers: 11,157
Male/female ratio: 48:52
Average age: 31
Staff turnover: 36%
Earning £35,000+: 4%
Typical job: Food and beverage
associate

Marriott checks in ten places higher up our list this year thanks to its five-star treatment of staff.
Employees award the family-run hospitality business the highest positive score in our survey – 76%
- for loving their work here.

It may not be the biggest payer (three-quarters of workers get a basic salary of £15,000 or less), but
staff have fun (83%) think the job is good for their personal growth (77%) and are happy with the
balance between work and home life (66%).

42
Employees also feels they can make a difference in the organization (73%), make a valuable
contribution to its success (76%) and are excited about where the company is going (69%).

The worldwide group, which employs more than 11,000 staff, ranks second out of all 20
organisations on questions about what staff think of the company and their colleagues and third for
their positive views of managers.

There is a culture of respect and recognition, and there is training specifically on teamwork, a
quality prized by the company. Marriott even uses psychosometric testing to assess how well
managers align to its nine core organisaional competencies. Staff say that senior managers truly live
the values of the organization (71%), help them fulfil their potential and motivate them to give their
best every day (71% and 70%, both top scores). They say the managers are excellent role models
and regularly show appreciation, winning positive scores of 69% and 75% respectively, results
bettered in both cases by only one other firm.

The company, where the average length of service for general managers is 17 years, likes to
promote from within. Its performance review process creates a development plan for every member
of staff and identifies their training needs. On-the-job training is a key feature of development, and
there are NVQ programmes for accredited qualifications, with staff saying this training is of great
benefit to them (72%)

Rewards for outstanding contribution and long service, plus an annual staff appreciation week and
quarterly social activities, reinforce the value Marriott places on its people. In the year to August
2008, the firm spent £355,000 on fun events for employees, who go out of their way to help each
other (76%).

Staff have free use of the hotel leisure clubs and access to a confidential helpline if they have any
personal worries. All this helps promote a strong sense of wellbeing. Stress isn‟t a problem (76%),
workers say they are not under so much pressure they can‟t concentrate (72%) or that they can‟t
perform well (70%, the second highest score).

Benefits include between 20 and 25 days‟ basic holiday, two weeks‟ paternity leave on 90% of pay,
childcare vouchers, dental insurance, critical illness cover, life insurance and a contributory pension.

43
Employees say Marriott is run on strong principles (75%) by an inspirational boss (71%), and that
they are proud to work for it (79%).
(from The Sunday Times, copyright © The Times, 2009, www.nisyndication.com)

Article B

KPMG

Audit, tax and advisory services

Annual sales: £1,607

Staff numbers: 11,788
Male/female ratio: 53:47
Average age: 34
Staff turnover: 16%
Earning £35,000+: 49%
Typical job: Accountant

The phrase „work hard, play hard‟ could have been invented for Sue Day, a high-flyer at financial
services giant KPMG. The Corporate Finance Manager spends her working days getting the best out
of her talented team, but KPMG makes sure she also has the time available to pursue her sporting
career.

„KPMG recognizes that if it looks after people, it will get more out of them.‟ say Day, who has been
with the firm for 12 years.‟ It is difficult to juggle the training and the competition of an
international sport with a job I‟ve been here so long because KPMG is so supportive.‟

It‟s that kind or caring culture that has seen KPMG top our list for the third time in four years. And
its almost 12,000-strong workforce seems to agree with Day‟s assessment, according to our 66-

44
point employee questionnaire. The company has top-ten results for 48 questions, and ten of those
are the best scores nationally.

Corporate Citizenship manager Uzma Hand wanted to expand her career options and perhaps work
abroad. She was given carte blanche by her manager and found a four-month secondment with the
United Nations Global Impact initiative, which she says was „like everyone‟s dream if you work in
corporate social responsibility‟.

„KPMG makes me feel empowered. I am taken seriously and I can make choices about my own
career.‟ Hamid says. „I am now using my experience proactively and to the benefit of the
organization.‟

Employees say managers help them to fulfil their potential (a 70% positive score) and agree that the
organization is run on strong principles (78% - the top score nationally).

With an overall positive score of 75%, opportunities for personal growth keep staff happy. The
expansion of KPMG Europe has increased opportunities for staff to work abroad. Its successful
scheme to retain talented women encompasses Reach, a project aimed at encouraging women to
become middle managers. It also has a programme for its own emerging leaders to help them move
up to the next level.

Staff find their work stimulating (73%), agree training is of great personal benefit (74%) and
believe the experience they gain is valuable to their future (83%), all top scores nationally.

When it comes to giving something back, KPMG has an impressive record. Last year, more than
4,500 staff contributed 43,000 hours to serve the community, helping it gain a score of 64%, again
better than every other firm. All staff can use half a day of company time per month to volunteer.

As far as pay and benefits are concerned, KPMG staff are the most satisfied on our list (67%). The
company has flexible benefits scheme, including childcare vouchers, medical insurance for the
whole family and the opportunity to buy up to ten day‟s additional holiday. There are occupational
health and employee assistance programmes, and an 11.9% contribution by the firm to the pension

45
scheme. Employees feel they are paid fairly for the work they do relative to their colleagues, too
(62%).
(from The Sunday Times, copyright © The Times, 2009, www.nisyndication.com)

Activity 4: Ask your partner questions about their company, so that you can work out
together whether these statements are true or false (M=Marriott Hotels International, K =
KPMG).
1. Over 70% of staff at K and M think that their training is of great benefit.
2. M scores lower on opportunities for personal growth than K.
3. Less than half the staff in M and K earn more than £35,000.
4. M and K both offer childcare vouchers and contributory pensions.
5. K has more than double the annual sales of M.
6. K employs a higher percentage of women than M.
7. M and K have a fairly similar-size workforce.
8. More than half the staff in M and K earn £15,000 or more.

Activity 5: In pairs, look at Article A to find word partnerships with basic, role, performance
and paternity. Then look at Article B to find word partnerships with career, childcare, medical
and pension.

Activity 6: In pairs, complete these sentences with some of the word partnerships from
Activity 5.
1. You need to compare various ……………………………… policies online.
2. The government‟s new ……………………………is designed to prevent widespread
old-age poverty.
3. Ask Human Resources for the proper forms a month before your
………………………………
4. Many fathers do not take up their ………………………………entitlement.
5. …………………………… does not include overtime, bonuses, commission or travel
allowance.

Activity 7: In groups, discuss which company you would prefer to work for and why.

46
READING 2: A JOB SATISFACTION SURVEY
Activity 1: Before you read
How easy is it for young people to get jobs in your country?

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

a record low

recession

flat on one‟s
back

cripple

grind sb
down

stagnant

strand

47
Activity 3: Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Unhappiness at work rises to record level

Brian Groom, Business and Employment Editor

Job satisfaction has dropped to a record low – with a particularly sharp fall among young people –
as the pressures of recession take their toll, according to a leading business group. A study of 2,000
workers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development suggests that, even if official
figures mark an end to the recession, employees are still paying high price in job insecurity and
stress.

Evidence of unhappiness among young workers is disclosed after the launch of the government‟s
guarantee of a job, training or work experience place for every unemployed person aged 18 to 24
for six months. “We do not want to have the lost generation of the 1980s,” said the prime minister.

The government says that up to 470,000 opportunities will be created over 15 months, with 100,000
youngsters eligible straight away. BT, the telecoms group, announced 3,000 work placements in
partnership with smaller companies. The CIPD‟s survey, conducted by YouGov, found job
satisfaction levels had fallen from a net +48 last summer to +35. The job satisfaction score is the
difference between those saying they are satisfied and those who say they are not. In addition, fewer
than one in 10 said their standard of living had improved in the past six months.

Job satisfaction among people aged 18 to 24 fell from +44 to just +5. Happiness at work was higher
among older age groups, with those aged 55-64 most satisfied. Claire McCartney, a CIPD adviser,

48
said: “Even though the company is no longer flat on its back, the „real economy‟ as experienced in
the day-to-day lives of workers is crippled.”

She said unhappiness among young people may be partly explained by the fact that they had grown
up in an era of plenty and had not seen anything like this. “The lack of opportunities to learn new
skills or make their first steps up the career ladder is also likely to be grinding them down. The
stagnant labour market means people are not moving on and up as they would like, leaving many
young people stranded in entry-level jobs.”

Most workers surveyed said it would be difficult to find another job if made redundant, while a fifth
thought it likely they would lose their job. Public sector workers were more likely to report that
their organization had made, or planned to make, redundancies than in the previous quarter.

Activity 4: Look through the whole article and find:

a) an organisation for professionals working in human resources.
b) a telecoms company
c) an opinion poll organization.
d) someone who works for the organization in a) above

Activity 5: Find nouns in paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 that refer to:

a) feelings of happiness and achievement.
b) feelings of stress, unhappiness, etc, caused by something.
c) damage that something can do.
d) numbers.
e) a period when economic activity goes down.
f) not feeling safe.
g) not feeling cheerful.

Activity 6: Complete the table with words from paragraphs 2, 3, 4, and grammatically related
words.

49
 verb noun
disclosure
train
launch
experience
announcement
fall
improvement

Activity 7: Match these numbers from paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 to what they refer to.
1. 2000 a) the change in the job satisfaction „score‟ among all workers

2. 470,000 b) the number of job opportunities for young people to be created by the
government immediately
3. 100,000 c) the number of people in the CIPD survey

4. 3000 d) the age group where workers are happiest

5. +48 to +35 e) the number of people who said their standard of living had improved in the
last six months
6. less than one f) the number of job opportunities for young people to be created by the
in 10 government over the next 15 months
7. +44 to +5 g) the number of work placements to be created by BT

8. 55-64 h) the change in the job satisfaction „score‟ among 18-to-24-year-olds

Activity 8: Look at paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 in order to find the correct expressions to
replace those in italics below, using the same number of words.
a) If something is in a bad state, it is down on the behind.
b) If something is functioning very badly, it is creeping.
c) A period when everyone has all the things they want is an area of plenitude.

50
d) Your first job is your first landing on the job staircase.
e) If bad experiences make you more and more depressed, they ground you downwards.
f) If you can‟t leave a place where you don‟t want to be, you are abandoned there.
g) Jobs that people have when they join an organization are described as entrance-stage.

Activity 9: Read paragraphs 5 and 6 to decide if these statements are true or false.
a) Young people have never known anything like the present economic situation.
b) The employment market is growing now.
c) Most people could easily find another job if they wanted to.
d) 20 per cent thought that they might lose their jobs.
e) Those working in the public sector thought it more likely that they would lose their jobs in the
next three months than in the previous three.

Activity 10: Discussion

1. Imagine a similar survey in your own country. What do you think the findings would be about
job satisfaction and security in relation to a) the 18 to 24 age group, and b) the 55 to 64 age group?
2. In what ways are work placements for young people useful to a) employers and b) the young
people themselves?

51
UNIT 6: RISK
READING 1: INSURING TRADE RISKS
Activity 1: Answer these questions.
1. What things do you and your family insure against?
2. What sort of things do big international companies need to insure against?

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

buzzword

emanate

depot

outsourcing

catastrophe

reinsure

vulnerable

52
 tsunami

Activity 3: Read the following article quickly and, in as few words as possible, say what the
main point of the article is.

Internationalization – risk or opportunity?

Torsten Jeworrek

The internationalization of the economy is not as recent as the buzzword globalization would have
us believe. In fact, it was internationalization that paved the way for the beginning of the insurance
industry back in the fourteenth century, as shipowners sought to protect the increasing value of their
ships and cargoes.

Even today, the complex nature of risks emanating from international trade is one of the insurance
industry‟s most difficult challenges and one that affects all classes of business, as the following
examples show.

1. More than 90 percent of all world trade is transported by sea or other waterways. The largest
container ships today, with cargoes of up to 13,000 containers, may be worth far in excess of $1bn.
However, even this concentration of value is small compared with that found at the world‟s great
container ports, such as Singapore or Hamburg, which act as depots to goods worth tens of billions
of dollars every day.

2. The outsourcing of production sites to low-wage countries does not just reduce costs. It can also
reduce the quality of the goods produced. Defective products can result in recall costs or even
product liability costs. Recent examples of recalls that spring to mind include toys coated with lead
paint and toothpaste contaminated with the antifreeze diethylene glycol.

3. Liability losses can reach extreme proportions when pharmaceutical products cause dangerous
side effects in patients. National law in the country where the products are sold plays a key role in
this connection. The US, in particular, has seen some extremely high awards for damages.
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Insurance companies that cover such large risks need a secondary market where they can place them.
Reinsurers assume this function. Sharing the load among several carriers helps to spread the risks.
The diversification effects achieved by spreading risks across different regions and classes of
business allows reinsurers to balance their portfolios and realize a level of capital efficiency that
enables them to cover their clients‟ risks – and ultimately those of the insured – at a reasonable
price.

Extreme losses in the past show just how important the reinsurer‟s role is. One of the biggest loss
events in the history of insurance was on September 11, 2001. The attack on the World Trade
Center in New York was a prime example of the complexity of today‟s risks with an accumulation
of losses across a range of insurance classes such as fire, business interruption, liability, life and
health, and compounded by significant capital market losses.

The insurance of large and accumulation risks is a definite advantage for the sustainable
development of economies. In countries where insurance is not very far advanced, it is the
vulnerable economies and above all the inhabitants that have to bear the brunt of these losses. The
tsunami of 2004 not only brought immense human suffering but also caused losses of over
US$ 10bn. As the insurance density in the region affected is still very low, the insurance industry
only covered a small percentage of these losses, less than US$ 1bn.

Countries with an underdeveloped system of insurance suffer immeasurably more from major
catastrophes than those where a good part of the material losses can be covered by professional risk
carriers.

The global economy is increasingly networked and interconnected. Risks are becoming ever more
complex, and the insurance industry has to develop new concepts for its clients in order to meet
their need for risk cover in this changed environment.

Activity 4: Read the article again and answer these questions.

1. How did the insurance industry start?
2. What do reinsurers do?

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3. How do the two examples of major losses in paragraphs 7 and 8 illustrate this quote? „Countries
with underdeveloped system of insurance suffer immeasurably more from major catastrophes than
those where a good part of the material losses can be covered by professional risk carriers.‟

Activity 5: In your own words, summarize the key points in the numbered examples (1-3) in
the article.

Activity 6: Find words in the article which mean the following.

1. when the maker of a product is responsible for any injury that the product causes (paragraph 4)
2. money that a court orders someone to pay to someone else (paragraph 5)
3. the collection of all policies held by insurer (paragraph 6)
4. the total combined risks that could be involved in a single loss event (paragraph 7)
5. a terrible event that causes a lot of destruction and suffering (paragraph 9)

Activity 7: Complete these sentences with words from Activity 6.

6. They are being sued for ………………….. by clients who they advised to invest in an insurance
company that went bankrupt.
7. The defect in her car caused the accident, and she is suing the company for product
…………………..
8. The region was devastated by a natural ………………………..
9. It‟s safer to spread your liability by holding a ……………………….of risks.
10. An…………………… of risk happens when there is a concentration of risks that might give
rise to very large losses from a single event.

Activity 8: Without looking back at the article, match the words on the left to the phrases on
the right to make expressions.
1 bear a) the way
2 spring b) the brunt
3 meet c) to mind
4 pave d) the risks
5 spread e) a need

Activity 9: Match the expressions in Activity 8 to their meanings.

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 1. immediately think of something
2. make it possible for something to happen in the future
3. suffer the worst part of something unpleasant
4. reduce the chance of a large loss by sharing risks
5. be good enough to do what someone needs, wants or expects

Activity 10: In the next 30 years, which types of risk do you think will become a) more
significant, and b) less significant?

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READING 2: REPUTATIONAL RISK
Activity 1: Before you read
Celebrity endorsement is when famous people appear in advertisements to promote particular
products. Name as many as you can think of.

Activity 2: Useful Vocabulary

Word / Part of
Definition and Example
Phrase Speech

the rough

clean-living

infidelity

lucrative

embroil

endorse

In the wake
of sth

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 engulf

volatile

Activity 3: Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

When star power hits the rough

Paul J. Davies

As Tiger Woods tees off at The Masters tournament, the humbled athlete is not the only one
counting the cost of his fall from grace. The 34-year-old golfer‟s reputation as a clean-living and
dedicated sportsman and husband was undone when his infidelities were spilled across television,
newspapers and Internet sites after a mysterious car accident at his home.

Mr Woods‟ success on the course had enabled him to line up lucrative sponsorship deals off of it,
with brands including Accenture, Nike, Gillette, Electronic Arts. Some estimates suggest that the
arrangements made him the world‟s first sports star to make $1bn in career earnings.

But as his life became embroiled in scandal, those companies also took direct financial hits, from
having to commission and produce new advertising to the costs of their own public relations
campaigns explaining their actions in dropping the golfer and legal fees. According to a study by
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Christopher Knittel and Victor Stango, economists at the University of California, Davis, the
collective loss in stock market value of all the companies that Mr Woods endorsed was worth $5bn-
$12bn.

Of course, companies do not need a celebrity relationship to experience reputational damage.

Toyota estimates that its global recall of cars had a direct cost of about $2bn (€1.5bn, £1.3bn). That
figure does not take into account potential lost future sales, or Toyota‟s own stock price decline,
which has knocked ¥1,673bn ($17.8bn, €13.3bn, £11.7bn) off its market value even after a strong
rebound in the past month.

In the wake of the Tiger Woods scandal, DeWitt Stern, the insurance broker, saw an opportunity to
publicise a product it had launched to cover reputational risk, including how to deal with celebrity
endorsers becoming engulfed in scandal. More recently, Lloyd‟s of London, the insurance market,
held a conference on how to manage reputational risk and cover – if any – might be available.

Companies are increasingly recognizing that reputation is an important and valuable asset that is
vulnerable and volatile, according to Anthony Fitzsimmons, chairman of Reputability, a
consultancy focuses on reputation and crisis strategy, risk and management.

“Reputation can be an organisation‟s most valuable intangible asset, though it appears in few
balance sheets except as goodwill in acquisition,” he says. “People are generally aware of their
brand values, but many have not worked out what matters most when things are going wrong. Few
have made s systematic analysis of what might damage their reputation, let alone worked out how to
keep their reputation strong through difficult times.”

Activity 4: Look through the whole article. Which sport does the expression „hit the rough‟ in
the headline come from? Why is it used?

Activity 5: Find the expressions in paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 to complete these statements.
If someone….
a) suffers from losing their good reputation, they have a ………… ………… …………
b) behaves very well in their marriage, their job, etc. they are described as …………
c) does not smoke, drink alcohol, etc. they are described as …………-…………

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d) has a reputation that is destroyed, it is …………
e) signs deals that make them a lot of money, these deals are …………
f) makes a total of $1 billion from their job, these are their ………… …………

Activity 6: Match these things from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 with what they cost. (The
cost of four of the things is not mentioned)
1. the minimum estimated value of all the shares in all the a) $12 billion
companies whose products Tiger Woods endorsed
2. the maximum estimated value of all the shares in all the b) about 1,700 billion yen
companies whose products Tiger Woods endorsed
3. the legal fees of companies dealing with the damage c) $2 billion
done by Woods‟ actions
4. the cost of producing new advertising following the d) $5 billion
damage done by Woods‟ actions
5. the cost of Toyota‟s recall of cars so far
6. the possible future costs of Toyota‟s recall
7. the fall in the total value of Toyota‟s shares initially
8. the fall in the total value of Toyota‟s shares at the time
of writing

Activity 7: Complete the table with words from paragraphs 3, 4, 5, and grammatically related
words.
noun verb
commission
campaign
endorsement, endorser
damage
recall
decline
rebound
publicity
cover

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Activity 8: In paragraph 6 and paragraph 7, find:
a) an adverb meaning „more and more‟
b) an adjective describing reputation as an asset in relation to the ease with which it can be
damaged.
c) an adjective describing reputation as an asset in relation to possible changes in its value.
d) a two-word expression to talk about plans to deal with disastrous situations.
e) a two-word expression to talk about a business‟s property, but one that cannot be physically
touched.
f) the value of this asset when the business is sold.
g) a two-word expression used to talk about what people associate with particular product names.
h) a two-word expression referring to a methodical examination of something.

Activity 9: Discussion
1. You head a consultancy specializing in reputation and crisis management. A car manufacturer
comes to you for advice on what to do to recover its reputation following a recall of 100,000 of its
cars because of a steering problem. (Luckily no accidents were caused by this, but there were some
„near misses‟.) What would you advise the car company to do in relation to its communications and
advertising following the recall?
2. You are head of an oil company that has caused great environmental damage following an
explosion on one of your oil rigs. What would you do to try to restore your company‟s reputation?

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 Focus
on
Testing

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TEST 1

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TEST 2

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