- •Unit 8. Performance
- •1. Read the text about the pursuit of happiness at work. Enumerate advantages of providing happiness for employees. Elaborate on every advantage.
- •2. Explain how leadership is connected with employees’ happiness.
- •3. Find the questions, define their types and function.
- •Успешные люди родом из счастливого детства
- •Unit 9. Resources
- •Strategy: Resources of a Business.
- •Intangible Resources and Sustainability of Performance Differences.
- •Acquiring and Managing Financial Resources.
- •Obtaining financial resources. There is an almost universal reaction of managers when it comes to money, namely, they do not have enough of it. They need and want more.
- •Vocabulary task
- •Unit 11. Values
- •Putting your Values to the Test
- •1. Now read the rest of the text. Complete sentences about the text with answer a, b, or c.
- •2 Discuss these questions with you partner.
- •3 Work with a partner. Without looking at the text, work together to summarize the main points. You must include all the words and phrases below in your summary.
- •4 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word in brackets. You will find the answers in the text.
- •Companies turn to ethics for competitive advantage
- •1 Read the extract from the 2011 kpmg Business Ethics Survey. What did the ceOs consider the three most important features of an ethical organisation?
- •2010 Kpmg Business Ethics Survey: Managing for Ethical Practice Executive Briefing
- •2 Look at the report and find examples of the following:
- •3 Read the extract again. Are the following statements true or false?
- •In search of the good company
- •1 Look at the words in bold in the text and try to get meaning of the words. Circle the correct definitions.
- •Социальная ответственность бизнеса
- •Социальная ответственность бизнеса и корпоративное управление
- •Unit 12. Persuaision
- •How To Make Your Advertising Really Work
Unit 9. Resources
TEXT 1
Read the text below and develop the scheme for annotating all the information given.
Strategy: Resources of a Business.
Jerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes' definition states that "Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations".
So, what are these "resources" that a business needs to put in place to pursue its chosen strategy?
Business resources can usefully be grouped under several categories:
Financial Resources.
Financial resources concern the ability of the business to "finance" its chosen strategy. For example, a strategy that requires significant investment in new products, distribution channels, production capacity and working capital will place great strain on the business finances. Such a strategy needs to be very carefully managed from a finance point-of-view. An audit of financial resources would include assessment of the following factors:
Existing finance funds
|
- Cash balances - Bank overdraft - Bank and other loans - Shareholders' capital - Working capital (e.g. stocks, debtors) already invested in the business - Creditors (suppliers, government) |
Ability to raise new funds
|
- Strength and reputation of the management team and the overall business - Strength of relationships with existing investors and lenders - Attractiveness of the market in which the business operates (i.e. is it a market that is attracting investment generally?) - Listing on a quoted Stock Exchange? If not, is this a realistic possibility? |
Human Resources
The heart of the issue with Human Resources is the skills-base of the business. What skills does the business already possess? Are they sufficient to meet the needs of the chosen strategy? Could the skills-base be flexed / stretched to meet the new requirements? An audit of human resources would include assessment of the following factors:
Existing staffing resources
|
- Numbers of staff by function, location, grade, experience, qualification, remuneration - Existing rate of staff loss ("natural wastage") - Overall standard of training and specific training standards in key roles - Assessment of key "intangibles" - e.g. morale, business culture |
Changes required to resources
|
- What changes to the organization of the business are included in the strategy (e.g. change of location, new locations, new products)? - What incremental human resources are required? - How should they be sourced? (alternatives include employment, outsourcing, joint ventures etc.) |
Physical Resources
The category of physical resources covers wide range of operational resources concerned with the physical capability to deliver a strategy. These include:
Production facilities |
- Location of existing production facilities; capacity; investment and maintenance requirements - Current production processes - quality; method & organization - Extent to which production requirements of the strategy can be delivered by existing facilities |
Marketing facilities |
- Marketing management process - Distribution channels |
Information technology |
- IT systems - Integration with customers and suppliers |
Intangible Resources
It is easy to ignore the intangible resources of a business when assessing how to deliver a strategy - but they can be crucial. Intangibles include:
Goodwill |
The difference between the value of the tangible assets of the business and the actual value of the business (what someone would be prepared to pay for it) |
Reputation |
Does the business have a track record of delivering on its strategic objectives? If so, this could help gather the necessary support from employees and suppliers |
Brands |
Strong brands are often the key factor in whether a growth strategy is a success or failure |
Intellectual Property |
Key commercial rights protected by patents and trademarks may be an important factor in the strategy. |
TEXT 2
Read the following article on intangible resources and for each question below (1-3) mark one letter (A, B or C).