Vocabulary

● Find in the text the synonyms to the following words and word-combinations.

a) principles ___________________

b) if nothing spoils it ___________________

c) promote ___________________

d) before ___________________

e) look at someone directly ___________________

f) realize ___________________

g) negotiation ___________________

h) badge ___________________

i) threadbare, shabby ___________________

j) conference, fair ___________________

k) neglect ___________________

● Complete the dialogue with the expressions below.

Meeting someone you know

Andrew Petrov and Tony Evans are both engineers. They know each other quite well.

A. Hello Tony. How are you?

T. .........., and you?

A. Not too bad ...........?

T. We are having an excellent year. A lot of new developments. What about you?

A. .......... . We got the big engineering contract, you know.

T. .......... . By the way, ..........?

A. Not very well I’m afraid. She’s been in hospital.

T. ...........

A. It’s nothing serious. She’s getting better.

T. Good. Listen. Can I introduce you to my new boss?

A. Of course.

T. Marcello. Can I introduce Andrew Petrov? Marcello Baresi.

A. .........., Mr Baresi?

a) Fine, thanks. e) I’m sorry to hear that.

b) How do you do. f) That’s good.

с) How’s your wife? g) How’s business?

d) Not so bad.

2. Plants and factories

● Read the text.

Corporate culture and national characteristics

Steve Redwood, a London-based management consultant Price Waterhouse, tells of a client who had brought together a team of eight different countries to work on a project. „The national stereotypes applied,” he says. „The people from Switzerland and Germany were mainly interested in the way the project was organized. The people from Spain took a much more intuitive ap­proach. The British had a high level of skepticism about whether the whole thing really mattered. Language was not the issue. It’s more basic than that, but the biggest corporations are dominated by the culture of the home country. Companies are very German, or very British, or very American. One big difference with American companies is they think globalization means Americanising the world. Others do not have that arrogance.”

If top management all come from the home country, that makes it much more difficult to attract and keep a global pool of talent. People know when they fit in and when they do not. That’s true even of national companies: there’s a tendency for people to have gone to the same school, or all have trained as engineers, it’s even more true when it comes to where you grew up.

The problem lies not in attracting people – a talented Indian or Korean manager will typically want early experience with a multinational – but in keeping them. People will join the company to learn, but unless they feel they are part of the company, they are going to leave, and exploit the brand status of the company in their next job.

Given the importance of local cultures within the global company, an obvious question is how to appraise and identify talent around the world on a consistent basis. There’ve been developed a set of 11 management competences which can be used worldwide.

The aim is to have a clear objective measure of potential. Such things as entrepreneurial drive, the ability to lead and develop others, and integrity have been measured. That makes a common core of behaviours. It has been tested, and so far it seems to be culturally transferable.

from the Financial Times

● Find out if the statements are TRUE or FALSE ac­cording to the text, and correct the false ones.

1. In national companies, it’s common for people to come from different backgrounds. _________

2. People can feel whether they fit in the company or not. _________

3. If senior managers in a company are all from the same country, it’s difficult to recruit people from other countries. _________

4. American companies think that globalization means developing an international culture. _________

5. Lots of companies worldwide are truly international. _________

6. Managers from different countries approach tasks in different ways. _________

● Choose the correct alternative:

1. The problem with employing people with different national background is ..........

a) recruiting them;

b) motivating them;

c) retaining them.

2. If they do not feel the part of the company, they will ..........

a) stay anyway;

b) cause a lot of trouble;

c) leave pretty soon.

3. In applying for their next job they will ..........

a) mention the company they have worked with;

b) not mention the company they have left;

c) criticize the company they have left.

● What do these figures mean in the text?

8 ____________________ 11 ______________________ 1 ___________________

● Complete the definitions of these words used in the text:

1. If something that is used in one culture can be used in another culture, it is cultu-rally ......... .

2. People who are honest have ......... .

3. People who have new ideas for business activities and put them into action are ......... .

4. What people can do and what they might be able to do in the future is their ......... .

5. Talents, skills and abilities are ......... .

6. If you do something on a ......... basis, you use the same standards and rules in every situation.

7. If you ......... something, you measure and judge it.

8. If you ......... something, you see where it is and where you can find it.

9. ......... is natural ability to do something.