книги / Business English for Students of Technical Universities

нанимать и увольнять (to fire) руководителей высшего звена. Директоров избирают акционеры.

Главный исполнительный директор управляет фирмой и несет ответственность за ее работу перед советом директоров и акционерами.

Text С. Large Corporations

Task 1. Read the Text C without a dictionary and discuss the question: “What advantages do large corporations have over small and medium-sized ones?”

The following words will help you understand the text:

•vast – огромный, крупный

•consumer – потребитель

•overhead costs – накладные расходы

•brand name – торговое название или фирменная марка (товара)

•competitiveness – конкурентоспособность

•decline – понижаться, снижаться

Large Corporations

Although there are many small – and medium – size corporations, bigger business units are needed to perform certain services in the vast American economy.

Large corporations can supply goods and services to a greater number of people across a wider geographic area than small businesses. They serve consumers across the nation and across the world. Corporate products tend to cost less because of the large volume and small overhead costs per unit sold. Moreover, consumers benefit from the availability of corporate “brand names” which they recognize as guaranteeing a certain level of quality wherever purchased. Large corporations also have the financial strength to research, develop and produce new goods. Their scientific know-how, innovation and technical capability are critical to maintaining the nation’s competitiveness and productivity.

Some 500 major corporations occupy an important role in American business, although in some respect it has been a declining one.

Task 2. Find the key words and word combinations in the Text C. Give a summary of the text in Russian.

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Text D. Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporations

Task 1. Learn new words from the Vocabulary:

•liquid – легко реализуемый, ликвидный

•liquidity – ликвидность (превращаемость в наличные (деньги)

•cash – наличные деньги, наличность

•entity – юридическое лицо

•legal entity – физическое или юридическое лицо

•incorporation – регистрация в качестве юридического лица; корпорация

•disclosure – предoставление компанией сведений о своей деятельности

Task 2. Read the text and be ready to do the exercises below.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporations

The corporate form of business is a more flexible instrument for large-scale economic activity than the sole proprietorship or partnership.

First, because the corporation itself has legal standing, it safeguards its owners, relieving them of individual legal responsibility when they act as agents of the business.

Second, the owners of shares of stock have limited liability: they are liable only to the limit of their investment; they are not responsible for corporate debts. If a shareholder paid $100 for 10 shares of stock and the corporation goes bankrupt, he or she can only lose the $100 invested.

Third, corporate stock is liquid that is investment in a publicly held corporation can easily be converted to cash.

Fourth, corporations have unlimited life span. The corporation is not damaged by the death or disinterest of a particular person. An owner of stock can sell his or her holdings at any time or pass the stock along to heirs.

Yet the corporate business organization has drawbacks as well as benefits. One disadvantage relates to taxation. As a separate legal entity, the

corporation must pay taxes. The federal corporate tax rate taxes corporations at a higher rate than unincorporated businesses. Unlike the treatment of interest on bonds, dividends paid to shareholders are not a tax-deductible business expense for the corporation. When the corporation passes along profits to individuals in the form of dividends, the individuals are taxed again on these dividends. This is known as “double taxation”.

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Another drawback results from the fact that ownership becomes separated from management. While this makes management easier, some managers are tempted to act more in their own interests than those of the stockholders.

Other disadvantages include the public disclosure requirements, whereby corporations must make some types of financial information public and the cost of incorporation and the cost of making a public stock offering (for a public corporation)

Task 3. Are the following statements True or False? Correct the wrong ones.

1)Compared to other forms of business organizations, corporation is a more flexible instrument for large-scale economic activity.

2)A corporation is an artificial person with a limited life span.

3)Limited liability is not a characteristic of corporations.

4)Corporations are taxed more heavily than unincorporated businesses.

5)An owner of stock can neither sell his or her holdings nor pass the stock along to heirs.

6)Corporate stock in a privately held corporation is liquid.

7)That ownership becomes separated from management makes the latter easier.

8)Corporations must report their financial condition to the public.

Task 4. Find out some advantages and disadvantages of corporate form of business in the Text D and fill in the table:

With a partner, discuss the advantages and disadvantages mentioned in the table using the following expressions:

On the one hand …, but on the other hand …; Although …; When it comes to …; As for … .

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Work in small groups and prepare a report about a company using the following prompts:

•Choose one of the largest or most important companies in your region (or country)

•Identify the sector of industry or product group it belongs to.

•Name the products it produces or the services it provides.

•Find out the approximate number of people employed by the company.

•Would you like to work in this company and why?

•What department of this company would you choose and why?

PART 3. STRUCTURE OF A COMPANY

AND OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY SPHERES

Text A. Defining Organizational Structure

Task 1. Learn new words from the Vocabulary:

•major – основной

•to undergo – подвергаться, испытывать

•to re-evaluate – переоценивать

•approach – подход

•efficiency – эффективность

•efficiently – результативно

•flexibility – гибкость

•to be defined as – определяться как …

•to divide – делить(ся), разделять(ся)

•to be engaged in – участвовать в …, заниматься

•to involve – включать, вовлекать

•departmentalization – департаментализация, выделение (разделение организации на отделы, выделение групп)

•span of control – диапазон, сферы контроля

•to contribute to – способствовать

•productivity – производительность

•to apply – применить

•assembly line – сборочный конвейер

•to be assigned – назначить

•essence – сущность, суть

•entire – весь, вся

•to implement – осуществить, выполнять, претворять

•boredom – скука

•fatigue – усталость

•absenteeism – прогул

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•offset – компенсация

•breadth – широта, ширина

Task 2. Read and translate the verbs and their derivatives:

•to organise – organizational – organizing – organized

•to evaluate – evaluation – re-evaluate – evaluated – unevaluated – devaluate

•to serve – service – servant – served – server – servery – serving

•to effect – effect (n.) – effected – effects – ineffectible – effective – to effectuate

•to manage – manager – management – manageable – unmanaged

•to specialise – specialization – specialized – specialiser – special – specially

•to identify – identified – identifier – unidentified – identification – identifiable

•to divide – divide (n.) – undivided – divider – division – divided – subdivision

Task 3. Read the text and be ready to describe a traditional way of structuring a company. What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Defining Organizational Structure

What are the major elements of organizational structure?

No other topic in management has undergone as much change in the past few years as that of organizing and organizational structure. Managers are questioning and re-evaluating traditional approaches to organizing work in their search for organizational structures that can achieve efficiency but also have the flexibility necessary for success in today’s dynamic environment. Organizing is defined as the process of creating an organization’s structure. That process is important and serves many purposes (see Figure 1, page 57). The challenge for managers is to design an organizational structure that allows employees to work effectively and efficiently.

Just what is organizational structure? It is how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated within an organization. When managers develop or change the structure, they are engaged in organizational design, a process that involves decisions about six key elements: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.

Work Specialization

Adam Smith first identified division of labour and concluded that it contributed to increased employee productivity. Early in the twentieth century, Henry Ford applied this concept in an assembly line, where every Ford employee was assigned a specific, repetitive task.

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Today we use the term work specialization to describe the degree to which tasks in an organization are subdivided into separate jobs. The essence of work specialization is that an entire job is not done by one individual but instead is broken down into steps, and each step is completed by a different person. Individual employees specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity. When work specialization was implemented in the early twentieth century, employee productivity rose initially, but when used to extreme, human diseconomies from work specialization – boredom, fatigue, stress, poor quality, increased absenteeism, and higher turnover – more than offset the economic advantages. Most managers today see work specialization as an important organizing mechanism but not as a source of ever-increasing productivity. McDonald’s uses high work specialization to efficiently make and sell its products, and employees have precisely defined roles and standardized work processes. However, other organizations, such as Bolton, Ontario-based Husky Injection Molding Systems and Ford Australia, have successfully increased job breadth and reduced work specialization. Still, specialization has its place in some organizations. No hockey team has anyone play both goalie and centre positions. Rather, players tend to specialize in their positions.

Key Terms:

•Organizing: A management function that involves determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

•Organizational structure: How job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated within an organization.

•Organizational design: The process of developing or changing an organization’s structure.

•Work specialization: The degree to which tasks in an organization are subdivided into separate jobs; also known as division of labour.

Task 4. Read the article “Traditional Vs. Contemporary Organizational Structure” at https://smallbusiness.chron.com/traditional-vs-contemporary- organizational-structure-60243.html

Make a comparison of traditional and contemporary organisational structures, concentrating on their peculiarities, pros and cons. Make some notes on the aspects mentioned in the form of a table or a scheme.

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Purposes of Organizing

Allocates and deploys organizational resources

Figure 1. Purposes of Organizational Structuring

Task 5. Give some comments on Figure 1. What do you think the main and secondary purposes are?

Task 6. Look through the text “Defining Organizational Structure” (Task 3) again and find equivalents for the following Russian sentences:

a)Суть специализации в работе состоит не в том, что вся работа выполняется однимитемжечеловеком, автом, чтоонараспределенанаотдельныеэтапы.

b)Задачей менеджеров является создать такую организационную структуру, которая позволяет работникам эффективно и результативно выполнять свою работу.

c)Процесс совершенствования или изменения структуры организации.

d)Большинство менеджеров считают, что специализация в работе является важным организационным механизмом, но не источником постоянно растущей производительности труда.

e)Устройство организации – это процесс, который включает решения по шести ключевым элементам: рабочая специализация, департаментализация, порядок субординации (субординационная цепочка), сфера контроля, централизация, децентрализацияи формализация.

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Text B. Departmentalization

Task 1. Learn new words from the Vocabulary:

•affairs – дела

•financial aid – финансовая помощь

•to perform – выполнять, исполнять

•to reflect – отражать, отображать

•authority – власть (власти)

•to be responsible for – отвечать за …

•distinct – отдельный (самостоятельный)

•customer flow – поток клиентов

•separate employees – отдельные сотрудники

•cross-functional – многофункциональный

•to enable – делать возможным, разрешать

•respond faster to – быстрее реагировать на

•casualty insurance group – группа страхования от несчастных случаев

•policyholder – держатель страхового полиса

•internal communication – внутренняя связь

•external communication – внешняя связь

•tracking – отслеживание

•vendors – поставщики

Task 2. Read the text and be ready to do the exercises below.

Departmentalization

Does your college or university have an office of student affairs? A financial aid or student housing department? Once jobs have been divided up through work specialization, they have to be grouped back together so that common tasks can be coordinated. The basis on which jobs are grouped together is called departmentalization. Every organization will have its own specific way of classifying and grouping work activities. Figure 2 shows the five common forms of departmentalization.

Functional departmentalization groups jobs by functions performed. This approach can be used in all types of organizations, although the functions change to reflect the organization’s purpose and work. Product departmentalization groups jobs by product line. In this approach, each major product area is placed under the authority of a manager who is responsible for everything having to do with that product line. For example, Estée Lauder sells lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, and a variety of other cosmetics represented by different product lines. The company’s lines include Clinique and Origins, in addition to Canadian created

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MAC Cosmetics and its own original line of Estée Lauder products, each of which operates as a distinct company.

Geographical departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of territory or geography, such as the East Coast, Western Canada, or Central Ontario, or maybe by US, European, Latin American, and Asia-Pacific regions. Process departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of product or customer flow. In this approach, work activities follow a natural processing flow of products or even of customers. For example, many beauty salons have separate employees for shampooing, colouring, and cutting hair, all different processes for having one’s hair styled. Finally, customer departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of customers who have common needs or problems that can best be met by having specialists for each. There are some advantages of matching departmentalization to customer needs.

Large organizations often combine different forms of departmentalization. For example, a major Canadian photonics firm organizes each of its divisions along functional lines: its manufacturing units around processes, its sales units around seven geographic regions, and its sales regions into four customer groupings. Two popular trends in departmentalization are the use of customer departmentalization and the use of cross-functional teams. Toronto-based Dell Canada is organized around four customer-oriented business units: home and home office; small business; medium and large business; and government, education, and health care. Customer-oriented structures enable companies to better understand their customers and to respond faster to their needs.

Managers use cross-functional teams – teams made up of groups of individuals who are experts in various specialties and who work together – to increase knowledge and understanding for some organizational tasks. Scarborough, Ontario-based Aviva Canada, a leading property and casualty insurance group, puts together cross-functional catastrophe teams, with trained representatives from all relevant departments, to help policyholders more quickly when a crisis occurs. During summer wildfires, the catastrophe team work on both local and corporate issues, including managing information technology, internal and external communication, tracking, resourcing, and vendors. This type of organization makes it easier to meet the needs of policyholders as quickly as possible.

Key Terms:

•Departmentalization: The basis on which jobs are grouped together.

•Functional departmentalization: Grouping jobs by functions performed.

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•Product departmentalization: Grouping jobs by product line.

•Geographical departmentalization: Grouping jobs on the basis of territory or geography.

•Process departmentalization: Grouping jobs on the basis of product or customer flow.

•Customer departmentalization: Grouping jobs on the basis of customers who have common needs or problems.

•Cross-functional teams: Work teams made up of individuals who are experts in various functional specialties.

Task 3. Look through the Text B (Task 2) and find the English equivalents for the following phrases:

a)отстранить руководителей;

b)главный руководящий орган;

c)стали довольно влиятельными;

d)выбрать независимого квалифицированного бухгалтера;

e)состав и роль совета директоров;

f)должностные лица внутри корпорации;

g)принимаются главные стратегические решения;

h)реальная власть лежит на главном исполнительном директоре;

i)до тех пор, пока главный исполнительный директор пользуется доверием совета директоров;

j)такие программы часто контролируют крупные пакеты акций.

Task 4. Do scan reading of the text and study Figure 2 to make a short report on the main forms of Departmentalization. Include some advantages and disadvantages of the forms mentioned. What sphere of business is described in the Figure 2? Why do you think so?

Tips: Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some questions. Underline the important information while reading the text (dates, numbers, names etc.). When you read the question, identify the key word and scan the text for it. This way you’ll find the answer more quickly.

Skimming means quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. To skim effectively, you need to read only a part of the material. Read the first paragraph attentively to get an idea of what will be discussed in the text. Read the first (and sometimes the second) sentence of each paragraph - they give the main idea of the paragraph. After you have read the first sentences, your eyes should drop down to the end of the paragraph, looking for important pieces of information, such as dates and names. Read the last paragraph attentively as it may contain the summary.

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