Unit 5. International business styles

1. KEY VOCABULARY (SB page 44) Learn

The characteristics of management often vary according to national culture, which can determine how managers are trained how they approach their jobs.

The amount of responsibility of any individual in a company depends on the position that he or she occupies in its hierarchy. Managers, for example, are responsible for leading the people directly under them, who are called subordinates. To do this successfully, they must use their authority, which is the right to take decisions and give orders. Managers often delegate their authority. This means that employees at lower levels in the company hierarchy can use their initiative that is to make decisions without asking their managers.

To sum it up, the work of a manager can be divided into planning (setting objectives), organizing, integrating (motivating and communicating), measuring the performance of their staff, and developing people.

The job of the top managers is to consider the needs of the company and to take the responsibility for innovation. Top managers also have to manage business relations with customers, suppliers, distributors, bankers, and investors, neighboring communities, public authorities and so on. Top managers are appointed, and supervised, advised (and dismissed) by a company’s board of directors.

2. NEW MANAGEMENT STYLES (text from WB p. 25. Do it after Reading ex 1 and 2 page 47 in SB) Learn

Traditional management styles were based on the vertical chain of command. In the traditional model, senior management used to exercise their authority, and the subordinates at lower levels of the company hierarchy had to carry out their decisions. But in conditions of increasing complexity of business traditional management styles are becoming obsolete.

The modern business environment is constantly changing. So, in modern big digital organizations, teamwork or matrix management has proved to be the most effective. It means that a team is structured for accomplishing a certain project with all the team members sharing the responsibility. The team managers are appointed but their functions mostly lie in the sphere of coordinating and measuring the performance of the staff. For the next project the teams are re-structured into new ones and with other people in charge. In this case, decision-making is no longer restricted to senior managers; managers have to delegate tasks to people at lower levels and to empower them to take the necessary decisions.

As one manager put it, ‘Today you have to be very careful about what you say to someone who works with you because tomorrow that same person could be you boss.’

• matrix management – матричная организация труда, матричное управление. Организационная структура со своим управлением, при которой создаются независимые команды для выполнения трудового задания.

3. GIFT GIVING IN THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CONTEST. (SB: ex 2 page 48) Fill in the gaps:

Vocabulary to use: • custom • is a sign of • sensitive • cultural clash • minefield • offensive • negotiation • etiquette

• abroad

In Great Britain and the United States corporate gift giving is not a very popular (1) _________; people can spend their entire working lives without ever receiving a corporate gift. However, gift giving is sometimes an integral part of the (2) _________ process when doing business (3) ___________. It is important to learn about the (4) ___________ of gift giving before sending a gift to an international client or business partner, otherwise you may find that your gesture appears (5) ___________. For example in China a desk clock (6) ____________ bad luck or death. It is also interesting to note that the receiver never opens a gift in front of the giver, as that would signify that the content was more important than the act of giving. Waiting for the person to open your gift would show that you were not (7) ___________ to Chinese culture. In France, don’t give something with your company logo, as they find items like this impersonal and in bed taste. Giving knives in Italy, Russia and Argentina could lead to problems in establishing a deal as this signify cutting off the relationship. Giving flowers is another possible (8) ____________. In England, Australia and Canada some people take white lilies as a symbol of death while in Germany, yellow and white chrysanthemums could be seen this way. What gift giving customs of Russia can cause a cultural (9) ____________?