Corporate Identity: the Executive Uniform

An expensive advertising campaign can attract you … a company, its impressive building will make you glad you came, but if the first person you deal … is wearing a purple tank top and flared trousers, are you really going to take them seriously? A uniform is the most personal manifestation … a company’s corporate identity, so companies specializing … “executive careerwear” are putting white collar workers and professionals … “corporate suits”.

There is often a certain amount … choice available … terms … style and color, so not everyone ends up dressed identically. But together, the effect remains co-ordinated. … the Abbey National not only are corporate suits provided, but the corporate identity is carried … maternity wear and … the special requirements … ethnic groups. The majority … people who wear corporate clothing are those who deal directly … the public, and the response … customers has been very positive.

But who … the professionals would wear company colors, and how are they persuaded to do so? The most recent newcomers … corporate dressing are financial services such as banks, and building societies and the challenge is to find a look that pleases everyone.

There will always be those who consider that being asked to wear a uniform is a dubious privilege. A senior employee … a leading estate agency says: “When the clothes were introduced, we were all … the phone … our lawyers because we just didn’t want to wear them. Some people even left their jobs”.

8. Match the halves.

1. Business history books are full of a) culture would be strangled

entrepreneurial by GM’s bureaucracy.

2. EDS has turned its relationships with b) firms that failed to survive

General Motors to advantage despite for long after their found-

initial concerns that its entrepreneurial ers’ departure.

Initial concerns that its entrepreneurial

3. His company, Soria Natural SA, has c) flair of the founder of the

become an entrepreneurial organization Michael

Wood.

4. It was his entrepreneurial d) role in which he had a big

financial stake in his own

efforts. “I’d rather build a

company than run one”.

5. Most governments now believe self- e) skills and is a vital source of

employment is something to be new jobs, they claim.

promoted and encouraged with tax-

payers’ money. It releases people’s

entrepreneurial

6. Mr. Azoff was eager to return to a f) spirit which took him from

more entrepreneurial being a waiter at the Savoy

to riches beyond most

people’s dreams.

7. The nature of the company and its g) success story and one of

success since its start-up were closely the area’s leading

influenced by the entrepreneurial employers.

9. Match the items in A to their synonyms in B.

A B

1. effort a) purpose/aim

2. amount of b) revenue/profit

3. shareholders c) stockholders

4. goal d) controlling company

5. affiliated company e) subsidiary company

6. liability f) sum

7. proprietor g) property

8. holding company h) attempt

9. income i) responsibility

10. ownership j) owner

11. aid k) assistance

10. Complete the following table.

Noun Verb Adjective

organization --- ---

--- to manage ---

--- --- general

--- to coordinate ---

establishment --- ---

--- --- successful

--- to prosper ---

economy --- ---

--- --- dependent

diversification --- ---

--- --- beneficial

--- to employ ---

11. Match the definitions to the words given below.

a franchise; entrepreneur; board of directors; private corporation; a conglomerate; a holding company; property; multinationals; partnership; takeover

1. Large companies operating in many countries. 2. A company that holds stakes in one or more subsidiaries. 3. A group containing a lot of different companies in different businesses. 4. Someone who builds up a company from nothing. 5. People who are legally responsible for a company. 6. Association of two or more persons carrying on business together for the purpose of making a profit. 7. Any thing that has value and can be owned, including things having substance, such as land, money, etc. 8. An arrangement by which a monopoly producer gives another producer or trader by formal license the right to manufacture or sell the products in a certain area. 9. A corporation whose stock is not available to the general public. 10. When one company accumulates enough of another company’s shares to take over control and ownership.

12. Read the following extracts. In each case, decide whether they

refer to: a joint venture b) a merger c) an acquisition

1. The biggest deal of the year was carried off by Phillip Morris of the US, which bought the Swiss chocolate and coffee group Jacobs Suchard for $2.2 billion.

2. Asea AB of Sweden and Brown Boveri and Company of Switzerland, together have formed the world’s largest electrical engineering group with combined sales of $18.6 billion.

3. Two American car makers, General Motors and Chrysler, are combining two of their transmission plants in a new company called “New Venture Year”.

4. AEG, and Deutsche Aerospace, two Daimler Benz subsidiaries, have formed a new group based in Stuttgart. The new project will employ 20,000 workers.

5. The National Australia Bank announced its purchase of Yorkshire Bank UK for $1.9 billion.

13. Read the passage carefully. Some of the lines are correct and some has a word which should not be there. Find these words and cross them out.

For the most part, British companies fall in within the private sector. In any case, government policy has brought about a very decrease in the number of state-owned the companies as telecommunications, water, gas and electricity have in turn be been through the privatization program. Companies in the private sector consist of the two basic types, confusingly called the public and private. Public companies in general are too large-scale operations such as banks, insurance companies, and of course that the privatized companies. However, public companies remain the fewer in number than private companies which, that on the whole, are smaller or family-run businesses. The difference between the two, on paper at least, can to be found in their names. The word limited (Ltd) after a company name shows that it is one’s private. On the other hand, the status of a public company is shown by the many letters plc after its name (public limited company). In practice, however, the real difference in between the two arises from the fact of that private companies cannot raise money by which selling shares to the public, in contrast to public companies, which can to do so by issuing shares and bonds to be offered for sale on the Stock Exchange. In the theory, there is no reason why a private company cannot “go public” but as if it ever does come up to it, nine times out of ten this is to do with growth, in conjunction with the need to raise a substantial amount of the capital.

14. Underline the correct tense form.

As the company marks an important anniversary, Canon President pauses to reflect on how his company has grown/has been growing since its start in August 1937 as a manufacturer of high-quality cameras. In a way, Fujio Mitari observes/is observing, it was lucky that Canon’s products were at the time relatively expensive for most Japanese consumers. “This forced/as forced us to look overseas for sales,” he notes. “It forced/has forced us to stand up to criticism and competition, and to make our products better and better” Mitari divides/is dividing the company’s past into two periods. Camera production was mastered in the first period, he says, and a new era began/has begun in 1967 when it was decided Canon would be a “two-handed company”, with “cameras on the right hand and business machine on the left”. The ensuing 30 years have seen/have been seeing the company turn out new products. “But all along”, Mitari says, “our goals have been/were to globalize and diversify”. Canon now has 140 sales subsidiaries in 33 countries, plus 30 different production sites outside Japan, and has opened/has been opening 8 separate R&D facilities in different countries. Consolidated sales rose/has risen 18% last year and the number of employees has increased/has been increasing rapidly to over 75,000. Recently, Mitari has also pushed/has also been pushing Canon to play an increasingly active role in digital technology. Turning back to talk of his workforce, Mitari repeats “Our employees have always been/always were our greatest strength”. A new health and fitness center has just been built/was just built , and for the last few days cranes have pulled/have been pulling down an old building to make room for a garden.

15. Underline the correct item.

1. The shareholders own the company. The shareholders are usually family members of the persons who/which set up the business. 2. The chairperson of the board of directors is often also the managing director which/who carries out the policy day by day. 3. In practice, therefore, the people who/which started the business actually own the company and control it. 4. Unlike the sole proprietor, which/who has unlimited liability for his or her Debts, a company has only limited liability. 5. A company is legally a separate entity, distinct from the persons who/which run it, which/that means that it has certain rights that are recognized by the courts. 6. A company’s shares can be bought and sold. Unlike a sole proprietor business, which/that ends with the death of the owner, a company can carry on after the person which/who started it has sold it or died. 7. A big company’s accounts must be audited, that/which means that it has to employ an auditor as well as an accountant. 8. A company is less flexible in some ways than a sole proprietor business, as it is governed by two documents who/which state the nature of the business, the amount of capital and how the business should be run. 9. A sole proprietor has to fill in an income tax return for the Inland Revenue who/which collect income tax, recording the profits of the business. 10. The sole business doesn’t have to publish any which/what could be seen by the general public or other businesses. 11. The affairs of the partnership can be kept private because only the tax authorities need to be told how much the partners are earning and what/which is the profit of the business. 12. Co-operatives were originally founded to serve the needs of consumers. Profit was to be given back to customers which/who were members of the society as a dividend.

16. Turn the following dialogues into Reported Speech.

a)

• Hi, Alec. I thought if you could give me a piece of advice.

• Hi, John. Sure, if I can.

• You know, I want to start my own business.

• What are you going to produce?

• Sleeping bags. We’ve decided that my brother will keep accounts and my friend will be a sales manager.

• If you go into business alone you can start or stop it whenever you wish. And you take all decisions yourself. Besides you needn’t share your profit with anyone else.

• But, there, certainly must be some drawbacks and risks.

• Definitely. Since you have a small number of employees your financial resources are quite limited.

• I see. Thank you very much. I’ll think it over again.

b)

• (Susan) Can you give me a picture of the structure of your company?

• (Greg) Yes.

• You are part of the Peterson organization, the main activities of which used to be in newspapers.

• Yes, the basic holding company is Australian, an Australian owned private company well, I mean owned - majority share ownership of the Peterson family. The British company is the International Peterson Organization, and that has three main activities: oil, travel, and publishing, of which newspapers is the major part.

• I see.

• The Travel group, called Peterson Travel, has four companies: an airline, a retail travel agency, who owns about eight shops up and down the country, a small hotel company, and the Peterson Holidays and a sister company called Mortimer Holidays, which is a direct-sell company.

• And all of these are run as independent businesses?

• Well, no, they have a fair bit of contact. But they are run as independent profit centers.

17. Fill in the gaps with the correct article.

Origins of corporations. The first corporations were towns, universities and monastic orders in … Middle Ages. They differed from partnerships in that they existed independently of any particular membership, and all assets and holdings belonged to … corporation itself. … unique feature of corporate ownership was spelled out by … English courts during … 15^th century in … legal principle called limited liability. This means that what is owed to … corporation is not owed to … individuals in … the group that make up … corporation; and what … group owes is not owed by … individuals that make it up. Hence, if … corporation goes bankrupt and is sued by its creditors for recovery of debts, … individual members of … corporation are not individually liable. In… United States this feature was further refined by … 1886 ruling of … Supreme Court, in … case of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, in which … court ruled that … corporation is to be regarded as … person. … modern corporation is chartered by … state or nation and owned by individuals or institutions who have purchased shares representing fractions of … firm’s holdings. Such holdings, called assets, include cash and other securities, equipment, real estate, and any unsold goods manufactured by … corporation. Thus, someone owns part of … corporation only so long as he possesses shares in it. Some corporations are closely held, meaning that all … shares are in … hands of … specific individual or small group and are not traded to … public.