Unit 3 Organisation

Unit 3 OrganisationUnit 3 OrganisationUnit 3 OrganisationUnit 3 OrganisationHow many people work in your office?How many people work in your office?

About half.About half.

Anonymous Anonymous

A. Discuss these questions.1. Would you like to work in the

building in the photo on page 22? Explain why or why not?

2. Which people in your organisation have their own office? Do they have their own office because ofa) Seniorityb) A need for confidentialityc) The type of work they do?

Starting up

B. How important are the following in showing a person’s status in an organisation? Give each one a score from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important).

• a reserved parking space

Starting up


• an office with a window

Starting up


• a uniform

Starting up


• a personal business card

Starting up


• your own office

Starting up


• a company car

Starting up


• your name on your door

Starting up


• having a secretary

Starting up


• taking holidays when you like

Starting up


• the size of your desk

Starting up


• more than one seat in your office

Starting up


• flying business class

Starting up


• a company credit card

Starting up

Starting up


• having fixed working hours

A. Match the words and phrases to the correct place on the diagram.

• subsidiary

• factory / plant

• call centre

• service centre

• head office

• distribution centre

• warehouse

• branches / outlets

8

6

5

7

1

3

4

2

Vocabulary – Company structure

B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AStock levels have been low for two weeks Stock levels have been low for two weeks now. now.

- warehouse

1


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise ACan you e-mail these sales figures through to Can you e-mail these sales figures through to head office as soon as possible?head office as soon as possible?

- Branches / Outlets

2


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AHold on a minute, please. I’ll transfer you to a Hold on a minute, please. I’ll transfer you to a supervisor.supervisor.

- Call centre

3


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AWe need to deliver this consignment on We need to deliver this consignment on Friday.Friday.

- Distribution Centre

4


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AThe production line is operating at full The production line is operating at full capacity.capacity.

- Factory / Plant

5


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AThe Board of Directors have fixed the Annual The Board of Directors have fixed the Annual General Meeting for Tuesday the second.General Meeting for Tuesday the second.

- Head office

6


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AWhy do we always have to check with the Why do we always have to check with the parent company before making decisions?parent company before making decisions?

- subsidiary

7


B. 3.1 Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise AAll our engineers are out working on repairs at All our engineers are out working on repairs at the moment.the moment.

- Service centre

8


C. Think about the organisation you work for, or one you know well. How is it organised? – How many departments / divisions are there? What are they?


D. Discuss these questions.1 Which of the words below can describe:

a) good qualities of an organisation? b) bad qualities of an organisation?


Bureaucratic

Decentralised

Impersonal

Caring

Democratic

Market-driven

Centralised

Dynamic

Professional

Conservative

Hierarchical

Progressive

2 Can you add any other?


efficientForward-looking

inefficient

leanresponsive

unresponsive

3 Which of the words describe your own organisation or an organisation you know well?


A Read paragraph 1 of the article and answer these questions.

1 Where is SOL located?

Reading – A successful organisation

Helsinki (Finland)


2 What is unusual about the company?


It feels like you’ve entered a playground, the office explodes with colour, creativity and chaos , people are walking round talking on yellow mobile phones.


3 What does SOL do?


It’s a cleaning company.

B Read the article and match the headings below to paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

A People set their own targetsB Hard work has to be funC Loose organisations need tight systemsD Great service requires cutting edge technologyE There are no low-skill jobs


Paragraph 4

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 5

Paragraph 6Paragraph 3

C Which of these statements are true? Correct the false ones.

1 Everyone has their own office.

2 Lisa Joronen believes cleaners can feel good about their job.


√

XNo one


3 At the end of the training course there is an exam.

4 The training course takes 28 months to complete.


√

√


5 At SOL giving responsibility to employees is important.

6 SOL thinks measuring performance restricts freedom.


√

X

Lisa Joronen believes in autonomy, but she’s keen on accountability.


7 Every month Lisa Joronen measures each team’s performance.

8 All the information is stored in filing cabinets.


X

on the company’s intranet

X

the customer rates

D Match these phrases from paragraph 5 of the article to their meanings.

1 keen on accountability

2 fanatical about measuring performance


c) interested in people being responsible for what they do

b) Extremely interested in judging achievement

E Discuss these questions.

1 Would you like to work in a company like SOL? Explain why or why not.

2 Would Lisa Joronen’s ideas work in your own company or organisation?


We can combine two or more nouns in several ways.

1 ‘s possessive e.g. Julia’s desk2 one noun used as an adjective e.g.

head office3 phrases with of e.g. Director of

Communications4 compound nouns forming one word

e.g. boardroom

Language review – Noun combinations

Match these examples from the article on page 24 with the categories above.

a) customer satisfaction = one noun used as an adjective

b) way of life = phrases with ofc) SOL’s logo = ‘s possessive d) Salesperson = compound nouns

forming one word


A Find noun combinations in the article on page 24. Write them under these four headings:


‘s possessive


one of northern Europe’s most admired companies (lines 1-2)

SOL’s competitive formula (lines 9-10)

the company’s upbeat image (line 15)

SOL’s logo (line 16)

the company’s budget reports (line 17)

SOL’s training programme (line 22)

the new customer’s site (line 40)

the team’s performance (lines43)

One noun used as an adjective


SOL City (line 1)

business playground (line 3)

film studio (line 4)

Cleaning Service (line 8)

key ingredients (line 10)

status symbols (line 21)

time management (line 26)

people skills (line 27)

power players (line 30)

customer satisfaction (line 38)

performance benchmarks (line 42)

budget documents (lines 49-50)

performance reports (line 50)

training schedules (line 51)

Company news (line 52)

Phrases with of


headquarters of one of northern Europe’s most admired companies (lines 1-2)

the heart of Helsinki (line 4)

the rules and regulations of conventional corporate life (lines 18-19)

hours of work (line 20)

a limited number of ways (lines 24-25)

way of life (line 29)

the real power players of the company (line 30)

a team of up to 50 cleaners (lines 31-32)

Compound nouns forming one word


headquarters (line 1)

playground (line 3)

jumpsuits (line 15)

salesperson (line 39)

benchmarks (line 42)

laptops (line 46)

Cell-phones (line 46)

B Underline the most suitable noun combination in each group.


1 a) the meeting of today

b) today’s meeting

c) today meeting

2 a) a letter of credit

b) a credit’s letter

c) a letter’s credit

B Underline the most suitable noun combination in each group.


3 a) a business card

b) a card of business

c) a business’s card

4 a) a data’s base

b) a base of data

c) a database

C Nouns used as numerical adjectives are singular. For example, a plan which lasts for 10 years = a ten-year plan. Change the following phrases in the same way.


1 a hotel with five stars

2 a budget worth 3 million dollars

3 a presentation that lasts 20 minutes

a five-star hotel

a 3-million-dollar budget

a 20-minute presentation

C Nouns used as numerical adjectives are singular. For example, a plan which lasts for 10 years = a ten-year plan. Change the following phrases in the same way.


4 a contract worth 200,000 pounds

5 an industrial empire which is 150 years old

a 200,000-pound contract

a 150-year-old industrial empire

D Match each noun in column 1 to two of the nouns in column 2 to make word partnerships.


1 business

2 management

3 sales

4 labour

5 company

a)virus

a) style

a)campaign

a) force

a)house

b) cards

b) technology

b) department

b) technology

b) headquarters

c) plan

c) policy

c) trade

c) market

c) logo

D Match each noun in column 1 to two of the nouns in column 2 to make word partnerships.


6 trade

7 consumer

8 research

9 information

10computer

a)union

a) goods

a)project

a) technology

a)union

b) technology

b) logos

b) findings

b) force

b) program

c) fair

c) awareness

c) knowledge

c) desk

c) virus

GreetingsHello……. Nice to see

you again.Hi … …. How are you?How’s everything going?

Useful language

Introducing yourselfI’m from…/ I’m with … / I work

forI’m in sales / finance /

marketing.I’m in charge of…I’m responsible for…

Introducing someone elseI’d like you to meet Miriam.Can I introduce you to Miriam?Robert, have you met Vladimir?

Talking about your companyThe company was founded in…We make / manufacture / sell /

distribute…We have subsidiaries /

factories / branches in…We have a workforce of 2,000.Our main competitors are…

Useful language

RespondingFine, thanks.Not too bad,

thanks.Nice / Pleased to

meet you.It’s a pleasure.

Talking about common interestsYou and Heinz have something in

common.You both like / enjoy / are interested in

…

NetworkingWe’re very interested in …Do you know anyone who could help us?Could you let me have their contact

details?Could I call him and mention your name?Let me give you my business card.

Useful language

A 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 Listen to the three conversations. Choose the correct description from the list for each one.

Greeting someone and talking about the past

Introducing another person

Introducing yourself and giving information about your company

Skills – Socialising: introductions and networking

Conversation 1

Conversation 3

Conversation 2

B 3.5 Listen to the first conversation again and answer these questions.

1 Which of these expressions do you hear in the dialogue?

a) Nice to see you again. d) How about you?b) Fine, thanks. e) I changed my job last

yearc) Wonderful! f) I’m in banking now.


B 3.5 Listen to the first conversation again and answer these questions.

2 Who is head of data processing?

3 Who now works in marketing?


Marcus

Louise

C 3.6 Listen to the second conversation again and complete the chart below.


Name

Dan Larsen

Erika Koeng

CompanyCompany

Atsource Solutions

Company

Atsource Solutions

MCB

Activity

Outsourcing various services including payroll, IT services and Human resourcesFinancial services

D 3.6 Listen again and complete this extract from the second conversation.


Don Well, we’re basically an ……………………….. business. We supply large companies with various services including payroll, …………, …………… and human resources.

Erika Is Atsource Solutions a new company?

Don No, we’re well established. The company was ……………………. In 1978. It’s organised into three ……………………. We have over 6,000 ………………………; we’ve got our ……………………………in Frankfurt and …………………in over 20 countries – we’re pretty big.

outsourcing

IT services

foundeddivisions

employeesheadquarter

soffices

E 3.7 Listen to the third conversation again and answer these questions.


1 What expression does John use to introduce Miriam?

2 Why could Miriam be helpful to Heinz in his work?

3 What interest do they share?

‘Heinz, I’d like you to meet Miriam.’

She speaks fluent Italian, so she could be very useful when dealing with his Italian customers

Skiing

Documents

Unit 3 Organisation