11. Read the dialogue, role-play it:

Anna is having lunch with her sister Barbara. Anna has just accepted a position as an Administrative Assistant. Her boss is an executive in a firm that manufactures heavy machinery used in construction.

Barbara: You've got a new job, Anna. My congratulations.

Anna: Tanks, Barbara.

Barbara: Tell me a few words about your boss. What does he do?

Anna: Well, he is one of the vice-presidents of the company, so he is rather important. He is an executive.

Barbara: Do you know the difference between an executive, a manager and an administrator?

Anna: I am afraid I can hardly tell you the difference. I think these words are interchangeable and they really aren't different in many companies.

Barbara: What about your company?

Anna: In our company the top officers are called administrators. The next highest group - the vice presidents, the heads of major departments and branch plant managers - are executives like my boss.

Barbara: Is that all?

Anna: The group below consists of managers, they are general managers and foremen.

Barbara: So I see that any organization has a number of positions and some people have more authority than others.

Anna: You are right.

Barbara: But it would be interesting to know more about the functions of an executive like your boss.

Anna: I'd say he makes a lot of important decisions. He sets objectives, coordinates work, delegates authority, makes hiring, firing and just general leading.

Barbara: It seems to be important.

Anna: It is important. It's evident that making careful decisions is the basis of good management.

Barbara: Do you work under pressure?

Anna: You know I'm quite used to work under pressure from my last job. I am also accustomed to lots of paper work and red tape.

Barbara: Good for you.

Anna: And what's more important I feel that I can learn a lot because my boss is very competent.

Barbara: Good, I think we'd be in a hurry not to get late for the work.

Part 4 Company Structure

1. Remember the following words:

- relationship

- shareholder

- workforce

- hierarchy

- Board of Directors

- department

- public relations

2. Read and translate the text:

In business organization structure means the relationship between positions and people who hold the positions. Organization structure is very important because it provides an efficient work system as well as a system of communication.

Most companies are made up of three groups of people: the shareholders (who provide the capital), the management and the workforce.

At the top of the company hierarchy is the Board of Directors, headed by the Chairperson or President. The Board is responsible for policy decisions and strategy. It will usually appoint a Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer, who has to overall responsibility for the running of the business. Senior managers or company officers head the various departments or functions within the company, which may include the following:

Marketing

Sales

Public Relations

Information Technology or IT

Personnel or Human Resources

Finance

Production

Research and Development or R&D

Historically, line structure is the oldest type of organization structure. When a business grow in size and becomes more complex, there is a need for specialists. In such a case administrators may organize staff departments and add stuff specialists to do special work. The activities of the stuff departments include an accounting, personnel, credit and advertising. Generally, they do not give orders to other departments.