Work and jobs What do you do? To find out what someone's job is you say "What do you do?' Here, Kerstin talks about her job: 'I work for a large European car maker. I work on car design. In fact, I run the design department and I manage a team of designers: 20 people work under me. It's very interesting. One of my main responsibilities is to make sure that new model designs are finished on rime. I'm also in charge of design budgets. I deal with a lot of different people in the company. I'm responsible for co-ordination between design and production: I work with managers at our manufacturing plants.' Note: in charge of responsible for noun verb + -ing responsibility + infinitive or -ing One of my responsibilities is to make sure . One of my responsibilities is making sure .. You can't say I'm a rcoponoiblo. Word combinations with 'work' If you work or have work, you have a job. But you don't say that someone has o work. Work is also the place where you do your job. Here are some phrases with 'work': Hi, I'm Frank. I work in a bank in New York City. I leave for work at 7.30 every morning. I go to work by train and subway. I get to / arrive at work at about nine. I'm usually at work till six. Luckily, I don't get ill very much so I'm not often off work. The economy is growing fast and more people are in work than ever before. The percentage of people out of work has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years. You don't say, for example, Pm-atthe work or I'm going to the wot k Types of job and types of work A full-time job is for the whole of the normal working week; a part-time job is for less time than that. You say that someone works full-time or part-time. A permanent job does not finish after a fixed period; a temporary job finishes after a fixed period. You talk about temporary work and permanent work. Business Vocabulary in Use 1,1 Pierre is talking about his work. Correct what he says. I work for a French supermarket company. {1} I work about the development of new supermarkets. {2} In fact, I running the development department and (3) I am manage for a team looking at the possibilities in different countries. It's very interesting. (4) One of my main is to make sure that new supermarkets open on time. (5) I'm also charged with financial reporting. (6) I deal at a lot of different organizations in my work. (7) I'm responsible of planning projects from start to finish. (8) I work closely near our foreign partners, and so I travel a lot. 1.2 Complete the text with one of the prepositions from B opposite. Rebecca lives in London and works in public relations. She leaves home for work at 7.30 am. She drives (1).......................work. The traffic is often bad and she worries about getting (2).......................work late, but she usually arrives (3).......................work at around nine. She finishes work quite late, at about eight. 'Luckily, I'm never ill,' she says. 'I could never take the time (4).......................work.' She loves what she does and is glad to be (5)....................... work. Some of her friends are not so lucky: they are (6).......................work. 1.3 Write about each person using words from C opposite, and the words in brackets. The first one has been done for you. 1 I'm Alicia. I work in a public library in the afternoons from two until six. (1/job) I have, a par+-+«ttd. job. 2 My husband works in an office from 9 am to 5.30 pm. (he/job) 3 Our daughter works in a bank from eight till five every day. (she/work) 4 I'm David and I work in a café from 8 pm until midnight. (I/work) 5 My wife works in local government and she can have this job for as long as she wants it. (she/job) 6 Our son is working on a farm for four weeks, (he/job) 7 Our daughter is working in an office for three weeks, (she/work) If you work ... What do you do.' What arc you in charge of? What arc your responsibilities.' What lime do you leave Tor work? How long does it take you to get Id work? What time do you arrive at work? Do you lake a lot of time off work.' If you don I work .. What sort of job would you like to do? What routine would you likt to have? Business Vocabulary in Use 11 Ways of working Old and new ways I'm an office worker in an insurance company. It's a nine-to-five job with regular working hours. The work isn't very interesting, but I like to be able to go home at a reasonable time. We all have to clock in and clock out every day. In this company, even the managers have to, which is unusual! Note: You also say clock on and clock off. I'm in computer programming. There's a system or flexitime in my company, which means we can work when we want, within certain limits. We can start at any time before eleven, and finish as early as three, as long as we do enough hours each month. It's ideal for me as I have two young children. BrE: flexitime AmE: flextime Clocking in I work in a car plant. I work in shifts. I may be on the day shirt one week and the night shift the next week. It's difficult changing from one shift to another. When I change shifts, I have problems changing to a new routine for sleeping and eating. I'm a commercial artist in an advertising agency. I work in a big city, but I prefer living in the country, so I commute to work every day, like thousands of other commuters. Working from home using a computer and the Internet is becoming more and more popular and the agency is introducing this: it's called teleworkuig or telecommuting. But I like going into the office and working with other people around me. Nice work if you can get it All these words are used in front of 'job' and 'work': WE satisfying, stimulating, fascinating, exciting: the work is interesting and gives you positive feelings. ■ dull, boring, uninteresting, unstimulating: the work is not interesting. ■ repetitive, routine: the work involves doing the same things again and again. ■ tiring, tough, hard, demanding: the work is difficult and makes you tired. Nature of work My work involves .. + noun human contact long hours team work + -ing solving problems travelling a lot dealing with customers Business Vocabulary in Use Which person (1-5) is most likely to do each of the five things (a-e)? 1 A software designer in an Internet company. Has to be in the office. 2 An office worker in a large, traditional manufacturing company. 3 A manager in a department store in a large city. Lives in the country. 4 A construction worker on a building site where work goes on 24 hours a day. 5 A technical writer for a city computer company. Lives in the country. a work in shifts b work under a flexitime system c telecommute d commute to work e clock on and off at the same time every day Look at the words and expressions in B and C opposite. Five people talk about their jobs. Match the jobs (1-5) to the people (a-e) and put the words in brackets into the correct grammatical forms. 1 accountant 2 postwoman 3 flight attendant 4 software developer 5 teacher a Obviously, my work involves.....................................(travel) a lot. It can be quite physically.....................................(tire), but I enjoy.....................................(deal) with customers, except when they become violent. Luckily this doesn't happen often, b I like............(work) with figures, but my job is much less.....................................(bore) and routine than people think. The work.....................................(involve) a lot of human contact and teamwork, working with other managers. c Of course, it involves getting up quite early in the morning. But I like .....................................(be) out in the open air. And I get a lot of exercise! d You've got to think in a very logical way. The work can be mentally .....................................(tire), but it's very satisfying to write a program that works. e I love my job. It's very.....................................(stimulate) and not at all .....................................(repeat): no two days are the same. It's good to see the children learn and develop. If you work ... Do you have a nine-to-five job? Do you have to clouk on and off? Is there a flexitime system in your organization? Are there people who do shiftwork in your company? Could you do your job working from home? If so, would you like to? If you don t work ... What sort of working hours would you like to have if you worked? Would you like to work from home? Business Vocabulary in Use 13 Recruitment and selection Recruitment The process of finding people for particular jobs is recruitment or, especially in American English, hiring. Someone who has been recruited is a recruit or, in American English, a hire. The company employs or hires them; they join the company. A company may recruit employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies or employment agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work for. This process is called headhunting. Applying for a job Fred is a van driver, but he was fed up with long trips. He looked in the situations vacant pages of his local newspaper, where a local supermarket was advertising for van drivers for a new delivery service. He applied for the job by completing an application form and sending it in. Harry is a building engineer. He saw a job in the appointments pages of one of the national papers. He made an application, sending in his CV (curriculum vitae -the 'story' of his working life) and a covering letter explaining why he wanted the job and why he was the right person for it. Note: Situation, post and position are formal words often used in job advertisements and applications. BrE: CV; AmE: resume or resume BrE: covering letter; AmE: cover letter Selection procedures Dagmar Schmidt is the head of recruitment at a German telecommunications company. She talks about the selection process, the methods that the company uses to recruit people: 'We advertise in national newspapers. We look at the backgrounds of applicants: their experience of different jobs and their educational qualifications. We don't ask for handwritten letters of application as people usually apply by email; handwriting analysis belongs to the 19th century. We invite the most interesting candidates to a group discussion. Then we have individual interviews with each candidate. We also ask the candidates to do written psychometric tests to assess their intelligence and personality. A job interview After this, we shortlist three or four candidates. We check their references by writing to their referees: previous employers or teachers that candidates have named in their applications. If the references are OK, we ask the candidates to come back for more interviews. Finally, we offer the job to someone, and if they turn it down we have to think again. If they accept it, we hire them. We only appoint someone if we find the right person.' Business Vocabulary in Use 3.1 Complete the crossword. Use appropriate forms of words from A, B and C opposite. 1 1 i 1 5 6 7 5 Across Down 5 I phoned to check on my 1 and 2 I hope she................, application, but they said because if she................ they'd already................ the job, we'll have to start someone. (9) looking again. (7,5,4) 6 This job is so important, I 3 That last applicant was very think we need to................ strong, but I understand someone. (8) he's had two other 8 The selection process has ................already. (6) lasted three months, but 4 They've finally................a we're going to................ new receptionist. (5) someone next week. (7) 7 Computer programmers wanted. Only those with UNIX experience should \ ........................(5) 3.2 Now divide the words in 3.1 into two groups: 1 what a company personnel department does. 2 what a person looking for work does. 3.3 Replace the underlined phrases with correct forms of words and expressions from A, B and C opposite. Fred had already fl) refused two job offers when he went for (2) a discussion to see if he was suitable for the job. They looked at his driving licence and contacted (3) previous employers Fred had mentioned in his application. A few days later, the supermarket (4) asked him if he would like the job and Fred (5) said yes. Harry didn't hear anything for six weeks, so he phoned the company. They told him that they had received a lot of (6) requests for the job. After looking at the (7) life stories of the (8) people asking for the job and looking at (9) what exams they had passed during their education, the company (10) had chosen six people to interview, done tests on their personality and intelligence and they had then given someone the job. Over +o lApu If you work ... How did you get your job? Was it advertised? Were you interviewed for it? Was the selection process very long? If you don't work .. Have you applied for any jobs? Wert' you interviewed? How did it go? What's the usual process for getting your first jot) in your country? Business Vocabulary in Use 15 Skills and qualifications Education and training Graduates In AmE, you also say that someone graduates from high school (the school that people usually leave when they are 18). Margareta: The trouble with graduates, people who've just left university, is that their paper qualifications are good, but they have no work experience. They just don't know how business works. Nils; I disagree. Education should teach people how to think, not prepate them for a particular job. One of last year's recruits had graduated from Oxford in philosophy and she's doing very well! Margarera: Philosophy's an interesting subject, but for our company, it's more useful if you train as a scientist and qualify as a biologist or chemist - training for a specific job is better. Nils: Yes, but we don't just need scientists. We also need good managers, which we can achieve through in-house training courses within the company. You know we have put a lot of money into management development and management training because they are very important. You need to have some management experience for that. It's not the sort of thing you can learn when you're 20! Skilled and unskilled A skill is the ability to do something well, especially because you have learned how to do it and pracrised it. Jobs, and the people who do them, can be described as: highly skilled skilled semi-skilled unskilled (e.g. car designer) (e.g. car production manager) (e.g. taxi driver) (e.g. car cleaner) You can say that someone is: skilled at, or skilled in + noun customer care electronics computer software You can also say that someone is: computers + -ing communicating using PCs working with large groups good with ... figures people The right person These words are often used in job advertisements. Companies look for people who are: ■ self-starters, proactive, self-motivated, or self-driven: good at working on their own. ■ methodical, systematic and organized: can work in a planned, orderly way. ■ computer-literate: good with computers. ■ numerate: good with numbers. ■ motivated: very keen to do well in their job. ■ talented: naturally very good at what they do. ■ team players: people who work well with other people. 16 4.1 Correct these sentences about Ravi, using words from A opposite. One word is wrong in each item. 1 At 18, Ravi decided to stay in full-time training and went to Mumbai University. 2 Ravi qualified three years later with a degree in philosophy and politics. 3 He taught for a while, but didn't like it. He decided to educate as an accountant at evening classes. 4 He qualified for an accountant and joined a big accountancy firm in its Mumbai office. 5 When he started, he needed to develop other skills, which would come through experiments. 6 He received managers' training to help him develop these skills. 4.2 Are these jobs generally considered to be highly skilled, skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled? Each expression is used twice. 1 teacher 5 office cleaner 2 brain surgeon 6 labourer (someone doing basic work on a building site) 3 car worker on a production line 7 bus driver 4 airline pilot 8 office manager 4.3 Complete these extracts from job advertisements using words from C opposite. You'll need to be--------------------,as you'll be working on financial budgets. As part of our sales team, you'll be working independently, so you have to be self---------------------and self---------------- We're looking for someone who can work on ten projects at once. You must be------------------------------------------------------- and------------------------------ We need-----------------journalists who are very good at their job and extremely--------------------to find out as much as they can. You'll be researching developments on the Internet, so you have to be____________- ------------------You must be--------------------, able to work on your own initiative, and a ---------------------------. But as part of a team of researchers, you need to be a good---------- -------------too. Over +o upu ^i! If you work ... Whnt sort of peopfe does your organization look for in its recruitment? What sort of person arc you? If you don't work . . Does your educational institution prepari' people for specific jobs? Business Vocabulary in Use 17 Pay and benefits Wages, salary and benefits My name's Luigi and I'm a hotel manager in Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In summer we're very busy, so we work a lot of extra hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel, we also get nice perks, for example free meals! I'm Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don't earn very much: I get paid wages every week by the restautant. We get the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed by law. But we also get tips, money that customers leave for us in addition to the bill. Some tourists are very generous! V I'm Catherine and I'm a saleswoman based in Paris. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a percentage on everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a yeat, I also get extra money - a bonus, which is nice. There are some good fringe benefits with this job: I get a company car, and they make payments for my pension, money that I'll get regularly after I stop working. AH that makes a good benefits package. Compensation 1 My name's Alan. I'm a specialist in pay and benefits. Compensation and remuneration are formal words used to talk about pay and benefits, especially those of senior managers. Compensation package and remuneration package are used especially in the US to talk about all the pay and benefits that employees receive. For a senior executive, this may include share options (BrE) or stock options (AmE): the right to buy the company's shares at low prices. (See Unit 36} There may be performance-related bonuses if the manager reaches particular objectives for the company. 18 Compensation 2 Compensation is also used to talk about money and other benefits that a senior manager (or any employee) receives if they are forced to leave the organization, perhaps after a boardroom row. This money is in the form of a compensation payment, or severance payment. If the manager also receives benefits, the payment and the benefits form a severance package. In Britain, executives with very high pay and good benefits may be referred to as fat cats, implying that they do not deserve this level of remuneration. Business Vocabulary in Use 5.1 Xavier and Yvonne are talking about Xavier's new job as a photocopier salesman. Complete the conversation, using words from A opposite. 1 X: I get paid every month. Y: I see. You get a aalrWTj, not wages. 2 X: I usually have to work late: I don't get paid for it, but I get a percentage for every photocopier I sell. Y: So you don't get..........................., but you do get............................That's good. 3 X: The people in production get a...........................if they reach their targets. Y: Oh right. They get an extra payment for producing a certain amount. 4 X: The company pays for medical treatment too, and the company restaurant is fantastic. Y: Wow! The......................................................sound very nice. 5 X: And they've given me a......................................................to go and visit clients. Y: So you don't have to buy a car, then. 6 X: What's more, the company pays in money for us to get when we don't work any more. Y: Yes, it's important to get a good............................ 7 X: The total......................................................is brilliant. Y: Yes, all that extra stuff is really worth having. 5.2 Which expressions from B and C opposite could be used to continue each of these newspaper extracts? FAILED AIRLINE BOSS GETS MASSIVE^PAYOUT Shareholders are angry that despite very poor results, Blighty Airlines' CEO, Mr Rob Herring, is leaving with £3 million in his pocket. They say it is ridiculous to 'reward' bad performance with this sort of... (2 possible expressions) MEGAFONE CEO GETS £10 MILLION THANK YOU' AFTER TAKEOVER The directors of Megafone, the worlds largest mobile phone company, yesterday voted to give Mr Chris Ladyman, its chief executive, a special payment of £ 10 mil- lion for negotiating the company's takeover of Minnemann. The directors referred to this as a ... (1 possible expression) MULTILEVERS EXECUTIVE PAY It was today revealed lhal Mr Carl Lang, head of consumer foods giant Multilever, earns a basic salary of $22 million with slock options potentially worth an additional $10 million. Other payments bring to $35 million his lotal ... (2 possible expressions) ANGRY SHAREHOLDERS ATTACK EXECUTIVE PAY National Energy's shareholders yesterday attacked the directors of the company for paying themselves too much. Profits fell by 30 per cent last year, but directors are being paid 30 per cent more. "They should be paid 30 per cent less,' said one shareholder. These people are just...' (1 possible expression) Do you think top executives are too highly paid? Or do they deserve what they earn? Business Vocabulary irr Use 19 People and workplaces Employees and management Si *****1f white-collar workers N. manual/blue-collar workers |in ~ifih H'ifi'n h -ilfFrT supervisor shopfloor / ,/——labour The people who work for a company, all the people on its payroll, are its employees, personnel, staff, workers or workforce. But these words can mean just the people carrying out the work of a company, rather than those leading it and organizing it: the management. Note: Workforce, work-force and work force are all possible. Management and administration A company's activities may be spread over different sites. A company's most senior managers ^usually work in its head office or headquarters (HQ). Some managers have their own individual offices, but in many businesses, most employees work in open-plan offices: large areas where many people work together. Administration or, informally, admin, the everyday work supporting a company's activities, is often done in offices like these by administrative staff or support staff. For example, those giving technical help to buyers of the company's products are in technical support. An open-plan office Labour Labour is spelled labor in AmE. Labor unions, organizations defending the interests of workers {AmE) are called trade unions in BrE. When workers are not happy with pay or conditions, they may take industrial action: ■ a strike, stoppage or walk-out: workers stop working for a time. ■ a go-slow: workers continue to work, but more slowly than usual. ■ an overtime ban: workers refuse to work more than the normal number of hours. Personnel and human resources In larger organizations there is a human resources department (HRD) that deals with pay, recruitment, etc. This area is called human resources (HR) or human resource management (HRM). Another name for this department is the personnel department. 20 Business Vocabulary in Use Look at A, B and C opposite to find the answers to the crossword. Across 2 and 17 Office workers may wear this. (5,6) 5 All the people working for a company. (5) 7............ workers use their hands. (6) 8 When people stop working to protest. (6) 10 One of the people working for an organization. (8) 11 Occasions when workers stop working to protest: walk-............(4) 13 Another name for the human resources department. (9) 14 Wotkers seen as a group. (6) 18 and 15 down Various forms of protest at work. (10,6) 1 2 3 4 J S '1 10 11 12 13 14 15 l(i 17 13 Down 1 Everyone working for a company is on this. (7) 2 Everyone, or everyone except top managers. (9) 3 These are trade in the UK and labor in the US. (6) 4 and 17 across Manual workers may wear this. (4,6) 5 The place in a factory where the production lines ate. (4, 5) 9 When people stop work to complain about something. (8) 16 and 12 When workers intentionally produce less. (2,4) Manuel Ortiz is the founder of a Spanish computer sales company. Use the words in B and D opposite to complete what he says about it. I founded Computadoras Creativas 20 years ago. We started with a small (1)_________in Madrid. Our (2)________________,our(3)__________________ is still here, but now we have sites all over Spain, with about 500 employees. Many of the offices are (4)______-______: everyone works together, from managers to (5)______________________________, as well as people selling over the phone, and people in technical (6)__________giving help to customers over the phone. Recruitment is taken care of in Madrid, by the (7)______________________ _______________or(8)___. Over -ro upu Think about the company you work for or one you would like to work Tor. Where is iti head office? How many sites does the company have? How many employees? Is it belter to have everyone on one site or to have different sites with different activities? Do people have their own offices or are there open-plan offices? Which type do you / would you prefer to work in? Business Vocabulary in Use 21 The career ladder A job for life Many people used to work for the same organization until they reached retirement: the age at which people retire, or end their working life. Career paths were clear: you could work your way up the career ladder, getting promotion to jobs that were more senior, with greater responsibility. You would probably not be demoted: moved to a less senior job. To leave the company, you could resign or hand in your notice. A job for now Modco has downsized and delayered. The number of management levels in the company hierarchy has been reduced from five to three, and many managers have lost their jobs. Modco has reorganized and restructured in order to become flatter (with fewer layers of management) and leaner (with fewer, more productive employees). They did this to reduce costs, and increase efficiency and profits. Employees said the company used words like 'restructure' to make the situation sound positive and acceptable. In-house staff or freelancers? Modco has outsourced many jobs previously done by in-house personnel: outside companies clean the offices, transport goods and collect money from customers. This allows Modco to concentrate on its main business activities. Modco uses more freelancers, independent people who may work for several different companies, and they employ people for short periods on temporary contracts. Modco expects flexibility, with people moving to different jobs when necessary, but for many employees, this means job insecurity, the feeling that they may not be in their job for long. The way that they are doing their job is discussed at performance reviews: regular meetings with theit manager. Note: You say freelancers or freelances. Modco before ft ftftft *ft* ft** ift* ftftftft ft*ft* ftftft* ftftftft ft**ft i i i i i ftfttfftft fttft*ft *ftftft* ftWft ft*ftíft tfftfti Modco after ft X X 1 1 ftftft ftftt ftfft *ft* P*^ 7>^ ^x^ i i i i i ftftkft tun *ftkft ftitft** fttft** *ftfti Losing your job If you do something wrong, you are ... ■ dismissed ■ fired ■ sacked ■ terminated Employees who are made redundant may get advice about finding another job, retraining, etc. This is called outplacement advice. If you've done nothing wrong, you are ... ■ laid off ■ made redundant ■ offered early retirement Business Vocabulary in Use 7.1 Complete the tables with forms of words from A, B and C opposite. You may wish to refer to a dictionary. 7.2 Noun Verb Noun Adjective retire seniority demotion freelance lay-off redundancy dismiss insecure terminate flexible Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings (a-e). The sentences all contain words from A and B opposite. 1 Career paths aren't what they used to be; 2 He worked his way up from 3 The new management have delayered the company, 4 We used to do printing in-house, 5 Workers are afraid their organizations will be downsized a and they will be replaced by temporary workers. b companies won't take care of us for life any more. c but now we outsource it. d factory worker to factory manager. e reducing five management levels to three. 7.3 Carla used to work for an Italian magazine publishing company. She talks about how she lost her job. Choose the correct form of the words in brackets to complete the text. Edizione Fenice is a big magazine publishing company, and a very nice company to work for. I was director of a magazine called Casa e Giardino. Then, Fenice was bought by an international publishing group. We had to have regular performance (1)...............(review/reviews/reviewer) with one of the new managers. After a few months they started laying staff (2)...............(off/on/out). Our own journalists were put on temporary (3)...............(contracts/contractual/contracting) or replaced by (4)...............(freelancer/freelancers/freelanced). Then they started (5)...............(laid/lying/laying) off more senior people like me.The new owners said they wanted to make the company (6)...............(flat/flatter/flatten) and (7)...............(lean/leant/leaner). So I was made (8)............... (redundant/redundancies/redundancy). They offered to help me to find another job with (9)...............(outplacement/outplaced/outplacing) advice, but I refused. ..ř*-i,.» ^—...^MT^,--. W^ Over +o upu ^ If you work ... Do you h;wc performance reviews? What arc the advantages and disadvantages? lias your organization been restructured? What aspects of the business does your company outsource? "—*•#**■~n "^'-"•■T^fI*T^»-Mi-'n^k'M.,v,w^fl^'v™rti ^Vf--. ^1J_rffl!rtr- -f*X—*?"*»"•*-'" If you don't work .. Would you prefer a job for life or a more flexible career? Would you like regular performance reviews? Business Vocabulary in Use 23 Problems at work Health and safety Here are some health and safety issues for people at work. a temperature b passive c repetitive strain d dangerous e hazardous smoking injury or RSI machinery substances All these things contribute to a bad working environment. The government sends officials called health and safety inspectors to make sure that factories and offices are safe places to work. They check what companies are doing about things like: g heating and h first aid i fire precautions air-conditioning Bullying and harassment If someone such as a manager bullies an employee, they use their position of power to hurt or threaten them, for example verbally. Someone who does this is a bully. Sexual harassment is when an employee behaves sexually towards another in a way that they find unwelcome and unacceptable. The related verb is harass. Discrimination If people are treated differently from others in an unfair way, they are discriminated against. If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman, she is a victim of sex discrimination. In many organizations, women complain about the glass ceiling that allows them to get to a particular level but no further. If someone is treated unfairly because of their race, they are a victim of racial discrimination or racism. Offensive remarks about someone's race are racist and the person making them is a racist. In the US, affirmative action is when help is given in education and employment to groups who were previously discriminated against. In Britain, affirmative action is known as equal opportunities. Some companies have a dignity at work policy covering all the issues described in B and C. Business Vocabulary in Use 8.1 i Match the employees' complaints (1-6) to the health and safety issues (a-f) in A opposite. 4 1 f My doctor says there's something■ \ í wrong with my lungs, but I've never j V^^ smoked. ...... y\ í I do a lot of data entry, and I've started \getting really bad pains in my wrists. 3 fit's either too cold and we freeze, or too hot and we all fall asleep. There's all this waste paper but there are~ no fire extinguishers in the building. The containers are leaking - one day someone is going to get acid burns. ^L "NT 6 / There are no safety guards on the I machines; you could easily get your V hand caught....... 8.2 Complete these headlines and articles with the correct form of words from B and C opposite. One expression is used twice. OFFICE MANAGER ACCUSED OF............ A court heard today how an office worker was almost driven to suicide by a bullying office manager. James Blenkinsop, 27, told how boss Nigel Kemp victimized him by shouting at him, criticizing his work in front of others, tearing up his work and telling him to do it again ... SHOP MANAGERESS IN............................CASE A clothing shop's half-Burmese manageress, 24-year-old Marion Brown, claims her boss continually made.............. remarks, and sacked her from her £ 110-a-week job when she objected. She claims that the company that owns the shop has racially.............. against her .„ NATIONAL RESTAURANT CHAIN FACES..................CLAIMS '■ Four waitresses claim they were repeatedly........... 1 by male bosses in a branch of a well-known national • restaurant chain. All four waitresses said they were ; subjected to sexist remarks at the restaurant... ., ■ Japanese women break through........................ Naomi Tanaka, 23, last year started working on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a trader. She complained about........................andsaidshedidnotwantto be a 'counter lady' answering phones and serving tea at a Japanese bank. Instead she got a job as a trader at Paribas, a French firm ... .......................ABOLISHED AT TEXAS LAW SCHOOL A court made affirmative action at the University of Texas law school illegal last year, and supporters of.......................... say it has been 'a disaster'. Last year the law school admitted a class that was 5.9 per cent black and 6.3 per cent Hispanic. This year the black percentage stands at 0.7 and the Hispanic at 2.3 ... Over +o upu ^ What arc the main health and iafety issues in your jot), or a job that you would hke to du? Business Vocabulary in Use 25 Managers, executives and directors Managers and executives: UK Fun and Sun Holidays management organigram non-executive directors chairman/chairwoman chief executive/managing director senior executives / top executives / executive directors middle managers chief financial officer/finance director X marketing director accounts department manager human resources director IT director research director sales manager customer services manager line managers (in travel agency branches) All the directors together are the board. They meet in the boardroom. Non-executive directors are not managers of the company; they are outsiders, often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas. The marketing director is the head of marketing, the IT director is the head of IT, etc. These people head or head up their departments. Informally, the head of an activity, a department or an organization is its boss. An executive or, informally, an exec, is usually a manager at quite a high level (for example, a senior executive). But 'executive' can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury, as in 'executive coach' and 'executive home', even for things that are not actually used by executives. Managers and executives: US president chief executive officer (CEO) chief operating officer (COO) n on-executive directors chief financial officer (CFO) vice president fVP) marketing vice president (VP) human resources vice president (VP) research senior executives / top executives / executive directors In the US, the top position may be that of chairman, chairwoman or president. This job is often combined with the position of chief executive officer or CEO. Some companies have a chief operating officer to take care of the day-to-day running of the company. The finance director may be called the chief financial officer. In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice presidents (VPs). 26 Business Vocabulary in Use Look at the managers listed in A opposite. Match each task {1-6) to the manager most likely to be responsible for doing it. 1 Meet with advertising agency to discuss new advertisements for the company's holidays. 2 Study possible new holiday destinations in detail. 3 See the research director to discuss new holiday destinations. 4 Contact newspapers to advertise new jobs. 5 Deal with complaints from customers. 6 Discuss sales figures with sales team. Who's who on this company board? Look at B opposite and complete the diagram. My name's Montebello and I'm president and CEO. We have some excellent people on our board, including two who are not involved in the day-to-day running of the company: Gomi and Jones. My name's Smith and it's my job to look after the accounts and balance the books. I work closely with Chang and Roberts, as they tell me what their departments need for marketing and research, and I allocate them an annual budget. My name's Dawes and I head up personnel, on the same level in the company as Chang and Roberts. y \\on-eM£c&VN&. dir&cAor MoH+e-beAto DŕwK-S If you work ... Draw an organigram of your arqsniiation. If you don't work ... Who arc the most famous bosses in your country? Which companies do they head? Business Vocabulary in Use 27 28 Businesspeople and business leaders Businesspeople and entrepreneurs A businessman, businesswoman or businessperson is someone who works in their own business or as a manager in an organization. Note: The plural of businessperson is businesspeopk. Businessperson and businesspeople can also be spelled as two words: business person, business people. An entrepreneur is someone who starts or founds or establishes their own company. Someone who starts a company is its founder. An entrepreneur may found a series of companies or start-ups. Entrepreneurial is used in a positive way to describe the risk-taking people who do this, and their activities. Some entrepreneurs leave the companies they found, perhaps going on to found more companies. Others may stay to develop and grow their businesses. Note: Found is a regular verb. Past tense and past participle: founded. Establishment can also describe an action (e.g. the establishment of a successful business was his main aim in life}. Some English speakers believe it is not correct to use grow as a transitive verb in this context. Leaders and leadership A large company mainly owned by one person or family is a business empire. Successful businesspeople, especially heads of large organizations, are business leaders or, in journalistic terms, captains of industry. There is a lot of discussion about whether people like this are born property with leadership skills, or whether such skills can be learned. Magnates, moguls and tycoons People in charge of big business empires may be referred to, especially by journalists, as magnates, moguls or tycoons. These words often occur in combinations such as these: press media press shipping oil magnate movie media shipping mogul property 1 software j t>'coon Business Vocabulary in Use shipping 10.1 Use words from A and B opposite to complete this text. The big place at the moment for (1)___________________is, of course, the Internet. Take John Pace. 'After an engineering degree at Stanford and an MBA at Harvard, I worked for a while in a computer games company. But I always felt I was an (2)_______________________ kind of guy. In 1997,1 (3)__________an Internet site for cheap travel: flights, hotels, renting cars and so on. I obtained money for investment in the (4)_______-___from friends.' Now the site has 300,000 customers, and Pace is very rich, with a big apartment in Manhattan and a house in the Bahamas. 'I don't want to sell the company,' he says. 'I've had offeis from some big companies, but I want to stay independent. I want to (5)______the business and do things my way. Unlike many entrepreneurs, I think I have the (6)_______________skills to lead and inspire a large organization. I can see the day when I'm in charge of a large business (7)_________.' 10.2 Who are (or were) these famous businesspeople? Use the expressions in C opposite to describe them. a Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) b Masayoshi Son (b. 1957) c Rupert Murdoch (b. 1931) d Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975) e J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) f Donald Trump (b. 1946) Over +o upu Who arc your country's most famous t'nlreprcni'urs? What are they famous fori1 In your opinion, arc business leaders born or made? Business Vocabulary in Use 29 Organizations 1 Business and businesses Business is the activity of producing, buying and selling goods and services. A business, company, firm or more formally, a concern, sells goods or services. Large companies considered together are referred to as big business. A company may be called an enterprise, especially to emphasize its risk-taking nature. Businesses vary in size, from the self-employed person working alone, through the small or medium enterprise (SME) to the large multinational with activities in several countries. A large company, especially in the US, is a corporation. The adjective, corporate, is often used in these combinations: ■ corporate culture ■ corporate headquarters ■ corporate image ■ corporate ladder m corporate logo ■ corporate profits Commerce Commerce is used to refer to business: ■ in relation to other fields: 'literature, politics and commerce'. ■ in relation to government departments that deal with business: the US Department of Commerce. ■ in the names of organizations which help business: chambers of commerce. ■ on the Internet: electronic commerce or e-commerce. The adjective commercial describes money-making business activities: ■ commercial airline H commercial artist ■ commercial television ■ commercial disaster ■ commercial land You can't say a commerce. Enterprise In 1970s Britain, there were state-owned or government-owned companies in many different industries such as car manufacturing and air travel. Some industries had been nationalized and were entirely state-owned, such as coal, electricity and telephone services. In the 1980s, the government believed that nationalized companies were bureaucratic and inefficient, and many of them were privatized and sold to investors. Enterprise is used in a positive way to talk about business, emphasizing the use of money to take risks. Word combinations with 'enterprise' business activity owned by individuals, enterprise .11 1 rather than the state free private enterprise culture an atmosphere which encourages people to make money through their own activities and not rely on the government economy an economy where there is an enterprise culture zone part of a country where business is encouraged because there are fewer laws, lower taxes, etc. Business Vocabulary in Use 11.1 Correct the mistakes using words and expressions from A opposite. 1 Before we employ people, we like to put them in job situations to see how they do the work and fit into the corporate ladder. 2 The company has built a grand corporate logo as a permanent symbol of its power. 3 Our stylish new corporate culture shows our wish to be seen as a more international airline. 4 The economy is growing and corporate headquarters are rising. 5 The rules were introduced to protect women working in factories, but today they make it harder for women to climb the corporate image. 6 Companies hit by computer crime are not talking about it because they fear the publicity will harm their corporate profits. 11.2 Someone is talking about the word combinations in B opposite. Which are they referring to each time? 1 It carries passengers and goods, it's not military. 2 It's going to be used for offices and factories, not houses. 3 It receives no money from the state to make its programmes. 4 He does advertisements: you can't find his work in art galleries. 5 It was an artistic success, but unfortunately it lost a lot of money. 11.3 Use expressions from D opposite to complete this text. Margaret Thatcher often talked about the benefits of (1}.................................................... or (2).....................................................She said that her achievement was to establish an (3)....................................................in Britain, an economy where people were encouraged to start their own companies and where it was acceptable to get rich through business: an (4)..................................................... In some areas, the government reduced the number of laws and regulations to encourage businesses to move there. Businesses were encouraged to set up in the London Docklands, for example. The Docklands were an (5).......................... Over +o ipu "itf Is the public sector in your country very big? Do people who work in it have good working conditions cum pa red to those in the private sector? in your country, which of these industries are in the public sector, and which are in the private sector? Which have been privatized? • bus transport • electricity supply • postal services • rail transport • telephone services • water supply Business Vocabulary in Use 3 I Organizations 2 Sole owner and sole proprietor are also used both in BrE and AmE. Sole trader is not used in the US. Self-employed people and partnerships I'm a freelance graphic designer, a freelancer. That means I work for myself - I'm self-employed. To use the official term, I'm a sole trader. Note: You usually describe people such as designers and journalists as freelancers, and people such as builders and plumbers as self-employed. (See Unit 7) We have set up our own architecture partnership. There are no shareholders in the organization apart from us, the partners. A lot of professional people like lawyers, accountants and so on, work in partnerships. Limited liability I'm the managing director and main shareholder of a small electronics company in Scotland called Advanced Components Ltd. 'Ltd' means limited company. The other shareholders and I have limited liability: we do not have to use our personal property, such as a house or car, to pay the company's debts. I'm the chief executive of a British company called Megaco PLC. 'PLC means public limited company, so anybody can buy and sell shares in Megaco on the stock market. (See Unit 36) I'm CEO of Bigbucks Inc. 'Inc' stands for Incorporated. This shows that we are a corporation, a term used especially in the US for companies with limited liability. Mutuals Some companies, like certain life insurance companies, are mutuals. When you buy insurance with the company you become a member. Profits are theoretically owned by the members, so there are no shareholders, In Britain, another kind of mutual is building societies, which lend money to people who want to buy a house. But a lot of building societies have demutualized: they have become public limited companies with shareholders. This process is demutualization. Non-profit organizations Organizations with 'social' aims such as helping those who are sick or poor, or encouraging artistic activity, are non-profit organizations (BrE) or not-for-profit organizations (AmE}. They are also called charities, and form the voluntary sector, as they rely heavily on volunteers (unpaid workers). They are usually managed by paid professionals, and they put a lot of effort into fund-raising, getting people to donate money to the organization in the form of donations. Business Vocabulary in Use 12.1 12.2 12.3 Look at the words in A and B opposite. What type of organization is each of these? 1 A group of engineers who work together to provide consultancy and design services. There are no outside shareholders. 2 A large British engineering company with 30,000 employees. Its shares are bought and sold on the stock market. 3 An American engineering company with outside shareholders. 4 An engineer who works by herself providing consultancy. She works from home and visits clients in their offices. 5 An independent British engineering company with 20 employees. It was founded by three engineers, who are shareholders and directors of the company. There are five other shareholders who do not work for the company. Complete this newspaper article with the correct form of the words from C opposite. One expression is used twice. ANGRY SCENES AS MEMBERS REJECT (1)...................... There were angry scenes at the Suffolk (2) .................... .................... *s annual meeting as the society's (3) .................... rejected by two to one a recommendation from its board that the society be (4)................... Members had travelled from all over the country to attend the meeting in London. The Suffolk's chief executive, Mr Andrew Davies, said This is a sad day for the Suffolk. We need to (5)....................to bring the society forward into the 21st century. Our own resources are not enough and we need capital from outside shareholders.' Gwen Armstrong, who has saved with the Suffolk for 32 years said, 'Keeping (6).................... status is a great victory. Profits should stay with us, and not go to outside shareholders.' ■ ._...— —---------^»-— -™„r^" Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings (a-e). The sentences all contain expressions from D opposite. 1 British companies donate around £500 million a year to charities 2 She organized fund-raising 3 Voluntary sector employees earn five to ten per cent 4 Non-profit organizations are not to be confused 5 Research shows that volunteers give the best service a with loss-making companies! b in cash and, increasingly, as goods, services and time. c parties for the charity, d when they are helping people in their own social class, e less than they would in the private sector. Over ko ipu ^%i lb self-employment cunimon mi your country? Docs t h ľ qovemment encouraqc it? I\l;i m c sonic niutii.il companies. Whiit sort ul reputation do they have? Arc charities important? Which arc the most active i ti your country? Business Vocabulary in Use 33