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World business newspaper.
0Which of the following groups of companies have the largest percentage of reports covering environmental, social and ethical issues?
a) FTSE250 (British)
b) US Standard and Poor's Top 50 (American)
c) 50 largest companies (European)
фWhy are companies in countries such as Russia, Poland and Turkey becoming more interested in corporate responsibility?
фCheck you know the meanings of the following words from the article. Use a good dictionary to help you. Then use the words to complete the text below.
| controversial | corruption | transparency threats |
| responsibility | regulation | peer pressure |
Companies in the oil and mining sector have been taking the issue of
corporate....................... 1 much more seriously recently. They are worried about
...................... 2 to their reputations due to rumours of............................ 3 and bribery.
Government....................... 4 and.......................... 5 from other companies has
resulted in more........................ 6 in the industry and less secrecy. The aviation
industry has also received attention. Senior managers have been criticised for 7 decisions regarding payments to secure contracts.
Discuss the question.
What can a) consumers, b) shareholders and c) employees do to try to change the behaviour of businesses that are behaving unethically?
011.1 Andy Hammerton works for the Co-operative Bank in Manchester, England. The bank is well-known for its policy of ethical investment. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer these questions.
1How was the bank's ethical policy developed?
2How does the bank check that its policy is in touch with customers' views?
3What example does Andy give of a business the bank will not invest in?
4What kinds of businesses does the bank like?
011.2 Listen to the second part of the interview. Are the following statements true or false, according to Andy?
1Business activity does not necessarily affect the environment and society.
2It is easy to see how the financial services sector can affect society.
3The bank has been actively involved in the following areas:
a) landmine removal b) human rights c) fair trade
011.3 Listen to the next part of the interview and complete these extracts.
1The only truly successful businesses will be those that achieve a
............................................. between their own interests and those of society
and..........................................................................
2Our position has enabled us to.................................................. develop our brand
and have a................................................... on the bank's bottom line.
3Higher trust creates................................................ First, because customers trust
you, they are less likely to................................................ in the first place. Second,
| Listening The Co-operative Bank |
Andy Hammerton
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if you do make a mistake, they are more likely to....................................................
The sentences below describe stages in an unsuccessful product launch. Put them in a logical order.
a)The newspapers asked questions.
b)We recalled the product.
c)The company lost a lot of money.
d)We launched the product.
e)The R&D department tested the product.
f)The number of complaints doubled.
g)People started to complain.
h)The product sold well.
011.4 Now listen to this conversation and check your answers.
Answer these questions about the product launch.
1What was the product?
2What was the problem?
We can use different tenses to narrate a story.
Past simple The newspapers heard about it.
Past continuous It was going really well.
Past perfect We'd tested it for over six months, and there'd been no bad reaction to it.
Present perfect Since then, we've kept away from skin-care products. Which tense is normally used for:
1setting the scene and providing background information?
2events which happen before the story begins?
3events in the story?
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4saying what the present results of the story are? ^^ page 155
J
ф 011.4 Listen to the conversation again. Follow the audio script on page 166. Note down examples of each of these tenses:
a)past simple c) past perfect
b)past continuous d) present perfect
0Complete this text about a pharmaceutical company with the correct tenses.
We like to think we are an ethical company, but we........................... 1 (have) a
problem last year when we.............................. 2 (launch) our new product.
Let me give you the background to the problem. The new product......................... 3
(sell) very well and we........................ 4 (get) good feedback, and sales
..................... 5 (increase) month by month. Everyone was happy.
Then it all....................... 6 (go) wrong. In August we.......................... 7 (start) to get
complaints from some doctors about one of our salesmen. They.............................. s
(complain) about the methods that the salesman........................... 9 (use) to
persuade them to endorse the product. He.......................... 10 (offer) them
expensive gifts and........................ 11 (take) them to expensive restaurants. The
doctors....................... 12 (feel) under pressure to promote the product.
By the end of the year we........................ 13 (receive) over 30 complaints about
that particular salesman. In December articles............................ 14 (start) to appear
in the press about our unethical sales methods. In the end we.............................. 15
(fire) the salesman. As a result of this, we........................... 16 (recently issue)
| Language review |
| Narrative tenses |
| О о |
guidelines to all sales staff about appropriate gifts.
0Tell a story about any of these ideas.
1A significant news event you remember well.
2An ethical problem you know about.
3A memorable event in your life (good or bad).
4An unusual or memorable experience while you were travelling abroad.
| Problem-solving] |
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| d) Considering less obvious options We could try ... e) Discussing possible effects If we do this, then ... f) Making a decision The best way forward is to ... g) Stating future action The next thing to do is ... |
5Your first or last day in a job or organisation.
A S t 11.5 Listen to two directors talking about the problem of staff taking too many days of sick leave. Then answer these questions.
1What are the first three solutions proposed by one of the directors to solve the problem of absenteeism?
2What do the directors finally decide to do?
QMatch the comments below to the correct headings in the Useful language box.
1Let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
2My solution, then, is to ...
3We have a number of options.
4Let's look at this a different way.
5Let's think about the consequences of...
6It might be worth considering ...
7What we've got to do now is ...
Useful language |
Stating options
There are several ways we could deal with this.
Balancing arguments
Let's look at the pros and cons. On the one hand ... On the other hand ...
Changing your approach
Let's look at this from another angle.
0 011,5 Listen again. Tick the expressions from the Useful language box that you hear.
QRole play this situation.
You are senior managers at a hi-fi manufacturer. Your company is losing market share. You strongly suspect your main rival is using unfair methods to promote its products. For example, you are almost sure that your rival has been:
a) making cash payments to main dealers;
b) offering expensive gifts to important customers.
Hold a meeting to consider how to solve the problem.
с ига птамшпигокг
jjMikos Takakis
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Background
Nikos Takakis is the CEO of Livewire, an Australian manufacturer of electrical appliances. During the last three years, his General Manager, Carl Thomson, has turned Livewire round from being a loss-making company into a highly-profitable organisation with an exciting range of new products. Both men want the company to grow as fast as possible.
Problems
Recently a number of problems have arisen involving Carl Thomson.
• About three months ago, Bob Dexter, a senior
manager, spoke to Nikos Takakis in the staff restaurant and gave him some worrying information about Carl.
• О 11.6 Listen to their conversation and note down what they say.
• A few weeks later, Nikos Takakis found out by chance that Carl had advised a friend to buy shares in Livewire just before it announced some excellent annual results (profits had risen by almost 40%). Livewire's share price rocketed and the friend made a quick profit.
| read a report in Business Weekly about new products. Rochester Electronics have put a new can opener on the market. It's electronically operated and looks just like our DC01. Yesterday, I took a look at it in a local store. Its design is very similar to ours, with just a few modifications to make it look different. Their can opener will affect sales of our DC01. Do you think someone is leaking information to Rochester Electronics? Is this industrial espionage? Or have we just been unlucky? What action do you think we should take? |
• Last week, Joan Knight, Livewire's Marketing Director, sent Nikos an e-mail about an electrically operated can opener, code-named DC01, which Livewire is about to launch.
• This morning Nikos Takakis received the following e-mail from Valerie Harper, Personal Assistant to Carl Thomson. Valerie joined Livewire just over a year ago. In the beginning, she seemed to be an outstanding employee, but more recently she has been having difficulties working with Carl.
| To... | Nikos Takakis |
| From... | Valerie Harper |
| Subject: | Complaint about Carl Thomson |
I would like to make a formal complaint about Carl Thomson.
1 As you know, I became his PA about a year ago. In the beginning our business relationship was very good. However, he wanted to have a personal relationship with me as well. It seems he was lonely following his divorce. I told him I was not interested in such an arrangement.
2 After I refused him, he completely changed his attitude towards me. He gave me orders rather than polite instructions. He criticised me if I made the smallest mistake and never praised me for good work. He also expected me to do hours of unpaid overtime. I felt constantly under pressure.
3 Because I no longer enjoyed my work, I applied for a vacancy in Accounts. Even though I am well-qualified in this area, I was not short-listed for interview.
4 I believe my application was unsuccessful because Carl Thomson wrote an unfavourable report on my work. He seems to have no integrity.
5 If I do not get a promotion in Livewire very soon, I will have to leave the company.
Please let me know what you will do to improve my situation.
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You are members of Livewire's board of directors.
1Hold a meeting to discuss what action to take on the following issues:
a) Carl's relationship with Monica Kaminsky, Design Manager for a rival company.
b) his advice to a friend to buy shares in Livewire.
c) the possible leak of information concerning the can opener.
d) Valerie Harper's e-mail.
2011-7 After finishing your meeting, listen to a conversation between Carl Thomson and Monica Kaminsky and make notes. Does it affect your decisions about any of the issues above?
Writing
Write a letter to Carl Thomson informing him of any action you are going to take concerning him, together with your reasons.
Writing file page 132
12 Leadership
Vocabulary
Adjectives of character Listening
Leadership qualities Reading
The founder of Ikea Language review
Relative clauses Skills
Decision-making Case study
Orbit Records
We all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.
Michael Caine, British film actor (in the film The Italian Job)
QDiscuss these questions.
1 Which modern or historical leaders do you most admire? Which do you admire the least? Why?
2 What makes a great leader? Write down a list of characteristics. Compare your list with other groups.
3 Are there differences between men and women as leaders? Why have most great leaders been men?
4 Are people who were leaders at school more likely to be leaders later in life?
5 What makes a bad leader? Draw up a profile of factors.
6 What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
QIn groups, think of someone in a powerful position. List three positive
| Starting up |
qualities and three negative qualities about this person. Then compare your ideas.