Unit II (из учебника “Intelligent Business”)

1. to inspire

2. to delegate

3. subordinates

4. to use authority

5. to supervise

6. to witness

7. to lose one’s temper

8. indispensible

9. to fire/to sack

10. emotional kick

11. neurotic

12. fragile egos

13. to make a comeback

14. defeat

15. to strangle

16. apparently

17. harassment

18. an economic upswing

19. scarce

20. to shape up

21. to take a chance

22. to take a point

23. to met a deadline

24. to meet a need

25. to meet expectations

26. to meet costs

27. to make a judgment

28. to set a precedent

29. to set an objective

30. to set an example

3. Types of payment: a wage, a salary, a fee, remuneration (a severance package, a “golden parachute”, a stock option).

There are different types of payments: wages, salaries etc. A wage is paid for a manual occupation or other occupation not requiring advanced study (factory workers, shop assistants, clerks, typists, plumbers etc.). Wages are paid weekly, in cash. The wages of many workers are made up of several elements: a basic wage, overtime, perks. Salaries are paid for an occupation requiring advanced study, especially a university degree. Salaries are paid to professional people, monthly. Salaried people often have to work a certain number of hours a week but if they work extra hours they are not paid any more. Sometimes salaries are expressed as a yearly figure, e.g. & 15 000 p.a. (per annum). Some people receive basic salary plus commission, or basic salary plus bonuses. Besides, there are perks and fringe benefits. Compensation and remuneration are formal words used to talk about pay and benefits for senior managers. This may include share options or stock options. There may be performance-related bonuses if the manager reaches particular objectives for the company.

A royalty is used as a countable noun to denote a payment made by a publisher to an author, editor or composer for each copy of a musical work or by a performer or producer for each public performance of a play, musical work or film.

Types of payment: a wage, a salary, a fee, remuneration (a severance package, a “golden parachute”, a stock option).

A topical question is whether top managers and directors deserve the lavish pay packages they are awarded. This is a particularly relevant issue since the gap between executives' pay and that of factory-floor workers has widened in rich countries over the past two decades. The late 1990s saw a trend particularly in the USA, towards rewarding executives with stock options and other performance-related bonuses. This has become even more controversial since some top executives continue to receive huge rewards despite poor efforts and poor results. This has enraged shareholders in Britain and the USA, who have begun to revolt against excessive executive pay packages. For example, shareholders of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline have recently failed to approve the proposed remuneration package for the CEO. Companies are now exploring new ways to motivate their top staff. Some argue that offering employees stock options makes no sense because this only contributes to short-term thinking. Moreover, stock options are often only available to top management in a company, and are only one way of motivating a workforce. Another approach to motivating staff to stay with a company is to offer a range of flexible benefits (including extra holiday, inexpensive insurance and car leasing), which some firms have introduced.

A topical question is whether top managers and directors deserve the lavish pay packages they are awarded. This is a particularly relevant issue since the gap between executives' pay and that of factory-floor workers has widened in rich countries over the past two decades. The late 1990s saw a trend particularly in the USA, towards rewarding executives with stock options and other performance-related bonuses. This has become even more controversial since some top executives continue to receive huge rewards despite poor efforts and poor results. This has enraged shareholders in Britain and the USA, who have begun to revolt against excessive executive pay packages. For example, shareholders of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline have recently failed to approve the proposed remuneration package for the CEO. Companies are now exploring new ways to motivate their top staff. Some argue that offering employees stock options makes no sense because this only contributes to short-term thinking. Moreover, stock options are often only available to top management in a company, and are only one way of motivating a workforce. Another approach to motivating staff to stay with a company is to offer a range of flexible benefits (including extra holiday, inexpensive insurance and car leasing), which some firms have introduced.