Английский для менеджеров

be a senior person who has the credibility, authority, and courage to make decisions fast, without time-consuming, widespread consultation. Establish an effective communications network to enable the fast flow of information both internally and externally.

4.Form a small but dedicated multi-disciplinary crisis team, including advisers, communications specialists, lawyers, risk managers, technical specialists, and seasoned hands. Bring in an experienced crisis/ reputation management adviser to provide objectivity and an external perspective.

5.Conduct a very fast SWOT analysis of the problem. Your analysis will be key to how you go forward, possibly for years ahead. A prerequisite of crisis management is brutal honesty with yourselves; if you are less than open with each other, the crisis will control you. It is important to avoid apportioning blame. Accept that you are accountable as a firm, and take collective responsibility Try to keep in mind that the media is not the problem: be cooperative and don't he distracted by the clamour.

6.Formulate your key messages quickly, and stick to them. Make the case clearly and simply, ensuring that it is understood both inside and outside the firm and that everyone is singing from the same songsheet. Look to identify positive messages as well as responses to the negatives.

7.Handle the media sensitively, professionally, and with an understanding of their agenda. The media will have three questions: What happened? Why? And, what are you doing about it? Don't allow a communications vacuum to occur. Nature abhors a vacuum and so does the media. If you don't tell them anything, there are plenty of others who will fill the void, and you can be sure they will not be on your side.

8.Listen to your stakeholders and the public. Research what people are really thinking about your firm. Don't base your strategy solely on what the media are saying, but find out what impact the crisis is having on clients, employees, and other key audiences. Then, craft your tactics to get the real messages through to the people that matter.

Continue to monitor and measure public perceptions long after the immediate crisis has passed.

9.Use direct communications with your stakeholders. The media has the widest impact but it is uncontrolled. Take advantage of your "narrow cast" channels to get specific messages to identifiable audiences.

10.Never lie! Outright untruths - as well as lies by omission - can only serve to exacerbate your problem. Great crisis management is a critical part of great reputation management. The leadership of a professional services firm, and the partners in it, must manage their reputation as aggressively as they manage costs or any other management responsibility.

1.What advice would you give to senior managers on how to avoid a potentially damaging public crisis?

2.Decide whether the following statements are true or false according to the text:

a)During the crisis it is advisable for senior management to follow standard consultation procedures when making decisions.

b)It is a good idea to employ the services of outside consultants to advise you on how to manage the crisis.

c)It is essential for the management of a company in crisis to be absolutely honest with themselves.

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We endorse a political model of crisis management versus the more conventional public relations approach. The fundamental difference is that the political model, which is practiced in our hometown of Washington, D.C., assumes the threat of motivated adversaries while the public relations model tends to view crises as organic and resolvable through good communications. In real crises there are often opponents - a mirror image of your own crisis management team -- that want to torpedo you. That opposing team consists of competitors, plaintiffs‘ lawyers, the news media, politicians and regulators, short-sellers, multimillion dollar non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporate stalkers, whistleblowers and bloggers. These opponents don't care whether you "do the right thing"; they care about defeating you.

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UNIT 2

BILL GATE'S COLUMN TEN ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD EMPLOYEE

I'm often asked how to be a good manager, a topic I've taken on this column more than once. Less often does anybody ask an equally important question: What makes a good employee? Here are 10 of the qualities I find in the "best and brightest" employees, the people companies should attract and retain.

If you have all of these attributes, you're probably a terrific employee. First, it's important to have a fundamental curiosity about the product or products of your company or group. You have to use the products yourself.

This can't be stressed enough in the computer world. It also carries special weight in other knowledge-based fields where technology and practices are advancing so fast that's it's very hard to keep up. If you don't have a fascination with the products, you can get out of date - and become ineffective - pretty quickly.

Second, you need a genuine interest in engaging customers in discussions about how they use products - what they like, what they don't like. You have to be a bit of an evangelist with customers, and yet be realistic about where your company's products are falling short and could be better.

Third, once you understand your customer's needs, you have to enjoy thinking through how a product can help. If you work in the software industry, for example, you might ask: "How can this product make work more interesting? How can it make learning more interesting? How can it be used in the home in more interesting ways?"

Fourth, you as an individual employee should maintain the same type of longterm approach that a good company does. Employees need to focus on lifelong goals such as developing their own skills and those of the people they work with. This kind of selfmotivation requires discipline, but it can be quite rewarding.

Management can also encourage motivation, of course. If you're in sales, quotas are important tools for measuring performance, and it's great when employees beat a quota. But if beating your sales quota or maximizing your next bonus or salary increase is all that motivates you, you're likely to miss out on the kind of teamwork and development that create success in the long term.

Fifth, you need to have specialized knowledge or skills while maintaining a broad perspective. Big companies, in particular, need employees who can learn specialties quickly. No one should assume that the expertise they have today will suffice tomorrow, so a willingness to learn is critical.

Sixth, you have to be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that can give you perspective. At Microsoft, we try to offer a person lots of different jobs through the course of a career. Anyone interested in joining management is encouraged to work in different customers units, even if it means moving laterally within the organization or relocating to a different part of the world.

We try to move people from our product groups out into the field and move field people into the products groups. We have many people in our U.S. subsidiary from other countries and we have many U.S. employees who work for subsidiaries in other nations. This helps us better understand world markets, and while we do a pretty good job of cross-pollination, there's still not quite as much of it as I would like.

Seventh, a good employee will want to learn the economics of the business. Why does a company do what it does? What are its business models? How does it make money?

I'm always surprised to learn of a company that doesn't educate its employees in

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the fundamental financial realities of its industry. Employees need to understand the "make or break" aspects of their industry so that they know what it is about their own job that really counts. Of course, employees have to be willing students who direct attention to the areas where it makes the biggest difference.

Eighth, you must focus on competitors. I like employees who think about what's going on in the marketplace. What are our competitors doing, that's smart? What can we learn from them? How can we avoid their mistakes?

Ninth, you've got to use your head. Analyze problems but don't fall prey to "analysis paralysis" Understand the implications of potential tradeoffs of all kinds, including the tradeoff between acting sooner with less information and later with more.

Use your head in practical ways, too. Prioritize your time effectively. Think about how to give advice crisply to all groups.

Finally, don't overlook the obvious essentials such as being honest, ethical and hardworking. These attributes are critical and go without saying.

A REAL BUSINESSMAN

A good businessman is a notion that consists of many parts and depends on businessman's qualities. A good businessman is quick to size up the situation, sew up a favorable contract and turn to at once. He always covers up his feelings and glosses over the defects of the production. He is rather wise to pay off his debts, not to foul up his business and dish up a suitable opinion. If he can't come up with a bright idea, he will hold on to his people's or settle for not so bright but suitable one. If he can't make anything of a problem, he will bone on it and get around to its solving just not to lag behind. He will answer for his actions and won't chicken out of any trouble. If a businessman possesses such qualities, we can put him down as a real one.

EXERCISE 1

Find English equivalents in the text and make up sentences of your own.

Считать кого-либо кем-либо, струсить, нести ответственность, отстать, приступить к чему-либо, повторять пройденный материал, остановить свой выбор, ухватиться, придумать, высказывать мнение, испортить, выплачивать, сглаживать, скрывать, сделать что-либо в конце концов, обеспечить, разобраться в ситуации , зависеть.

EXERCISE 2

Fill in the blanks.

1.It ... on how you'll behave.

2.We can ... him down as a complete fool.

3.Don't ... out of the fight. It's not manlike.

4.Everyone should … for his deeds and ... off his debts.

5.John cut many classes and finally ... behind.

6.It takes Sally years to ... around to visiting her aunt.

7.You should ... on the subject before the exam.

8.I can ...nothing of it.

9.We wanted a red one, but ... for a blue one,

10.That's a nice thought. Bob. ... on it.

11.If you can not ... up with any idea and ... up a contract, you'll be fired.

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12.He seems to ... up his opinion rather freely.

13.Don't ... up this work.

14.Neil ... up the situation and ... up his feelings.

15.You should ... over the defects of your work.

16.It's time to ... to.

HOW TO DEAL WITH A DIFFICULT BOSS

Donna Brown Hogarty

Harvey Gittler knew his new boss was high-strung - the two had worked together on the factory floor. But Gittler was not prepared for his co-worker's personality change when the man was promoted to plant manager.

Just two days later, the boss angrily ordered a standing desk removed because he'd seen a worker leaning on it to look up an order. He routinely dressed down employees at the top of his lungs. At one time or another he threatened to fire almost everyone in the plant. And after employees went home, he searched through trash cans for evidence of treason.

For many workers, Girder's experience is frighteningly familiar. Millions of Americans have temperamental bosses. In a 1984 Center for Creative Leadership study of corporate executives, nearly 75 percent of the subjects reported having had at least one intolerable boss.

"Virtually all bosses are problem bosses, in one way or another," says psychologist Mardy Grothe, co-author with Peter Wylie of Problem Bosses: who they are and how to deal with them. The reason, he said, lies in lack of training. Most bosses were promoted to management because they exceiled at earlier jobs - not because they have experience motivating others.

Uncertain economic times worsen the bad-boss syndrome. "There is an acceptance of getting results at any price," says Stanley Bing, a business executive and author of Crazy Bosses. "As a result, the people corporations select to be bosses are the most rigid and demanding, and the least able to roll with the punches."

Bad bosses often have a recognizable modus operandi. Harry Levinson, a management psychologist in Waltham. Massachusetts, has catalogued problem bosses, from the bully to the jellyfish to the disapproving perfectionist. If you're suffering from a bad boss, chances are he or she combines several of these traits and can be dealt with effectively if you use the right strategy.

The Bully

During his first week on the job, a new account manager at a small Pennsylvania advertising agency agreed to return some materials to a client. When he mentioned this at a staff meeting, the boss turned beet red, his lips began to quiver and he shouted that the new employee should call his client and confess he didn't know anything about the advertising business, and would not be returning the materials.

Over the next few months, as the account manager watched co-workers cower under the boss's browbeating, he realized that the tyrant fed on fear. Employees who tried hardest to avoid his ire were most likely to catch it. "He was like a schoolyard bully," the manager recalls, "and I've known since childhood that, when confronted, most bullies back down."

Armed with new-found confidence and growing knowledge of the ad business, he matched his boss's behavior. "If he raised his voice. I'd raise mine," the manager recalls. True the type, the boss started to treat him with grudging respect. Eventually, the young man moved up the ranks and was rarely subjected to his boss's outbursts.

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Although standing up to the bully often works, it could make matters worse. Mardy Grothe recommends a different strategy: reasoning with him after he's calmed down. "Some bosses have had a problem with temper control all their lives, and are not pleased with this aspect of their personality," he explains. Want a litmus test? If the boss attempts to compensate for his outburst by overreacting and trying to "make nice" the next day, says Grothe, he or she feels guilty about yesterday's bad behavior.

Grothe suggests explaining to your boss how his temper affects you. For instance, you might say. "I know you're trying to improve my performance, but yelling makes me less productive because it upsets me."

Whatever strategy you choose, deal with the bully as soon as possible, because "once a dominant/ subservient relationship is established, it becomes difficult to loosen," warns industrial psychologist James Fisher. Fisher also suggests confronting your boss behind closed doors whenever possible, to avoid being disrespectful. If your boss continues to be overbearing, try these strategies from psychologist Leonard Felder, author of Does someone at work treat you badly?

■To keep your composure while the boss is screaming, repeat a calming phrase to yourself, such as "Ignore the anger. It isn't yours."

■Focus on a humorous aspect of your boss's appearance. If she's got a double chin, watch her flesh shake while she's yammering. "By realizing that even the most intimidating people are vulnerable, you can more easily relax," explains Felder.

■Wait for your boss to take a breath, then try this comeback line: "I want to hear what you're saying. You've got to slow down."

Finally, never relax with an abusive boss, no matter how charming he or she can be, says Stanley Bing. "The bully will worm his or her way into your heart as a way of positioning your face under his foot."

The Workaholic

"Some bosses don't know the difference between work and play," says Nancy Ahlrichs, vice president of client services at the Indianapolis office of Right Associates, an international outplacement firm. "If you want to reach them at night or on a Saturday, just call the office." Worse, such a boss invades your every waking hour, making it all but impossible to separate your own home life from the office.

Ahlrichs advises setting limits on your availability. Make sure the boss knows you can be reached in a crisis, but as a matter of practice go home at a set time. If he responds angrily, reassure him that you will tackle any project first thing in the morning. Get him to set the priorities, so you can decide which tasks can wait.

If you have good rapport with the boss, says Mardy Grothe, consider discussing the problem openly. Your goal is to convince him that just as he needs to meet deadlines, you have personal responsibilities that are equally important.

The Jellyfish

"My boss hires people with the assumption that we all know our jobs," says a woman who works for a small firm in New England. "Unfortunately, he hates conflict. If someone makes a mistake, we have to tiptoe around instead of moving to correct it, so we don't hurt anyone's feelings."

Her boss is a jellyfish. He has refused to establish even a basic pecking order in his office. As a result, a secretary sat on important correspondence for over a month, risking a client's tax write-offs. Because no one supervises the firm's support staff, the secretary never received a reprimand, and nobody was able to prevent such mishaps from recurring. The jellyfish simply can't take charge because he's afraid of creating conflicts.

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So "you must take charge," suggests Lee Colby, a Minneapolis-based management consultant. "Tell the jellyfish: This is what I think I ought to be doing. What do you think?' You are taking the first step, without stepping on your boss's toes."

Building an indecisive supervisor's confidence is another good strategy. For example, if you can supply hard facts and figures, you can then use them to justify any course you recommend - and gently ease the jellyfish into taking a firmer position.

The Perfectionist

When Nancy Ahlrichs was fresh out of college, she landed her first full-time job, supervising the advertising design and layout of a small-town newspaper. On deadline day, the paper's irritable general manager would suddenly appear over her shoulder, inspecting her work for errors. Then he'd ask a barrage of questions, ending with the one Ahlrichs dreaded most: "Are you sure you'll make deadline?"

"I never missed a single deadline," Ahlrichs says, "yet every week he'd ask that same question. I felt belittled by his lack of confidence in me."

Ironically, the general manager was lowering the staff's productivity. To paraphrase Voltaire, the perfect is the enemy of the good. According to psychiatrist Allan Mallinger, co-author with Jeannette DeWyze of Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control, "the perfectionist's overconcern for thoroughness slows down everyone's work. When everything has to be done perfectly, tasks loom larger." The nit-picking boss who is behind schedule becomes even more difficult, making subordinates ever more miserable.

"Remember," says Leonard Felder, "the perfectionist needs to find something to worry about." To improve your lot with a perfectionist boss, get her to focus on the big picture. If she demands that you redo a task you've just completed, mention your other assignments, and ask her to prioritize. Often, a boss will let the work you've completed stand - especially when she realizes another project may be put on hold. If your boss is nervous about a particular project, offer regular reports. By keeping the perfectionist posted, you might circumvent constant supervision.

Finally, protect yourself emotionally. "You can't depend on the perfectionist for encouragement," says Mallinger. "You owe it to yourself to get a second opinion of your work by asking others."

The Aloof Boss

When Gene Bergoffen, now CEO of the National Private Truck Council, worked for another trade association and asked to be included in the decision-making process, his boss was brusque and inattentive. The boss, made decisions alone, and very quickly. 'We used to call him 'Ready, Fire, Aim," says Bergoffen. Many workers feel frozen out by their boss in subtle ways. Perhaps he doesn't invite them to key meetings or he might never be available to discuss projects. "At the core of every good boss is the ability to communicate expectations clearly," says Gerard Roche, chairman of Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm. "Employees should never have to wonder what's on a boss's mind."

If your boss fails to give you direction, Roche says, the worst thing you can do is nothing. Determine the best course of action, then say to your boss: "Unless I hear otherwise, here's what I'm going to do."

Other strategies: When your boss does not invite you to meetings or include you in decision making, speak up. "Tell her you have information that might prove to be valuable," suggests Lee Colby. If that approach doesn't work, find an intermediary who respects your work and can persuade the boss to listen to your views.

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To understand your boss's inability to communicate, it's vital to examine his work style. "Some like hard data, logically arranged in writing," says Colby. "Others prefer face-to-face meetings. Find out what makes your boss tick - and speak in his or her language."

Understanding your boss can make your job more bearable in a number of ways. For instance, try offering the boss two solutions to a problem - one that will make him happy, and one that will help you to reach your goals. Even the most difficult boss will usually allow you to solve problems in your own way - as long as he's convinced of your loyalty to him.

No matter which type of bad boss you have, think twice before going over his head. Try forming a committee with your colleagues and approaching the boss all together. The difficult boss is usually unaware of the problem and often is eager to make amends.

Before embarking on any course of action, engage in some self-analysis. Chances are, no matter how difficult your boss is, you are also contributing to the conflict. "Talk to people who know you both, and get some honest feedback," suggests Mardy Grothe. "If you can fix the ways in which you're contributing to the problem, you'll be more likely to get your boss to change."

Even if you can't, there's a silver lining: the worst bosses often have the most to teach you. Bullies, for example, are frequently masters at reaching difficult goals. Perfectionists can often prod you into exceeding your own expectations.

VOCABULARY

sitcoms = situation comedies - комедии ситуаций challenging situation - сложная неординарная ситуация high-strung - нервный

a standing desk - постоянно стоявший стол look up smth - искать что-либо

dress down smb at the top of one's lungs - громко распекать, давать нагоняй evidence of treason - доказательство измены

excell (at work) - отличаться (на работе) / преуспевать roll with the punches - справляться с неожиданностями

modus operandi - определенный стиль работы

deal with - разобраться с, рассмотреть (напр., свои отношения с)

ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Here's how to tell if you've got what it takes. Victor Kiam Con-densedfrom "Going For It! How To Succeed As An Entrepreneur".

When I was eight, the streetcar named Desire ran only four blocks from my home in New Orleans. But the Sound of eager Desire racing through the night did not inspire me - as it did Tennessee Williams - to spin a passionate taie. Instead, it invited the entrepreneurial muse to whisper the suggestions that guided me to the path l'm still traveling.

That summer I noticed that people getting off the streetcar at the end of the day looked as if they would pass out if they had to go another step without a cool drink. I didn't realize it then, but I had responded to the first precept of an entrepreneur: I had recognized a need.

My grandfather staked me to five dollars to buy 100 bottles of Coke. But before I could take my first step into the world of high finance, I had to set a priée for my goods.

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With naive boldness, I settled on a markup of 100 percent!

Business was brisk the first day and got better as the week progressed. You would have thought I was a pint-size John D. Rockefeller. My grandfather was of that opinion. So you can imagine his shock when, having sold my entire stock, I had only four dollars to show for my efforts.

Few of my customers could afford to pay ten cents for a bottle of soda. Many couldn't even afford the nickel I needed to break even. It was so hot that I couldn't bear to let anyone go away empty-handed, so I trampled my bottom line by giving away my merchandise. My first business was a financial failure, but it sure built up a lot of good will.

Entrepreneurs can be found everywhere - from fellows with outdoor lunch wagons to people within the corporate mainstream. Their common bond is that they are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or put their reputations on the line in support of an idea or a project. They're following their own visions, and have decided to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve success.

In 1968, after 18 years at Lever Brothers and Playtex, I left my job. I had long thought of doing something on my own, but it was talking with friends and attending a seminar on entrepreneurship that gave me the push I needed. I bought into the Benrus Corporation. Then in 1979 I acquired the Remington Company.

Thirty-five years of experience has given me a good idea of the entrepreneur's profile. To find out if you have the right stuff, ask yourself:

1.Do I have enough self-confidence? Before the start of the 1985 baseball season, Pete Rose was asked how many times at bat it would take to get the 95 hits lie needed to break Ту Cobb's record. Rose responded, "Ninety-five. I expect to get a hit every time up."

You must believe in yourself. In a corporation, you want the people working under you to follow your lead; you want your superiors to respect your judgment. If you're running your own business, you want investors to place their money and trust behind you. You want your clients to catch your enthusiasm and to believe in your product or service. How can you inspire them if you don't believe in yourself?

If you lack self-confidence, find some. Lack of confidence isn't a disease, it's a symptom. Self-perceived negatives can rob you of a healthy ego.

Every six months, to deal with mine, I do a personal balance sheet. I make a list of my pluses and my minuses. For example, I was once a procrastinator. Confronting tins in black and white helped me to overcome it. I started making it a point to tackle distasteful jobs first. In a short time, procrastination disappeared from my list of minuses. Facing my negatives, I developed a more positive sense of myself. There is nothing on ту list I can't overcome if I make the effort. Try a balance sheet of your own.

2.Do I have confidence in ту venture? l've been asked, "When you make an investment, are you backing the idea or the people behind it?" Both. No entrepreneur is a miracle worker. You can labor 16 hours a day, seven days a week, but if your product is lousy, you've wasted your time.

A friend of mine is a terrific shoe salesman. When management of the business changed, the quality of the stock dropped-off. A customer complained that the expensive shoe she was about to buy was too snug. Не offered to stretch it. "I gripped the shoe and pulled," he told me. "It tore in half. What had been a finely crafted shoe was now a piece of junk. I told the customer the truth, then I resigned."

The lesson is simple: You can't sell anything you wouldn't buy.

3.Am I willing to make sacrifices? Body builders have a saying, "No pain, no gain." It should be the credo of every entrepreneur. Forget the clock. Nine-to-five doesn't

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