5. Express your point of view in writing (10 sentences).

Wal-Mart's corporate culture 'has become a legend in retailing'. It includes such things as employees chanting the Wal-Mart cheer each day before the store opens. How well do you think Wal-Mart's corporate culture would 'travel' across national cultures, especially in Eastern Europe? Would you feel comfortable with it?

5. Read the article about globalisation and international standards and write a summary. 'Corporate culture trumps national culture'

As high-performing global companies implement transnational strategy and strive to achieve competitive advantage, decision making by those firms and their individual managers seems to rise above national influences and toward a commonality shared by other top firms in the international arena.

In their study of the software industry in India, HBS professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu detect signs that globalization in the product and labour markets can, in some cases, cause corporate governance to draw closer to international standards as well. Klianna and Palepu stress, however, that national influences and systems remain powerful and distinct. With that caveat, Palepu observes, "In general, world-class companies facing global competition do appear to benchmark themselves with global best practices and performance standards." He defines those aspired-to benchmarks as sound corporate governance, transparency, an orientation to quality, and a performance-driven, high-standards organizational culture.

As the best international companies exhibit similarities in certain standards and practices, managers within these firms, despite national and cultural differences, are finding common ground where they can work together. "In a truly multicultural corporate environment, people strive to strike a balance between their own cultural core and being open to other value systems, communication styles, and decision-making processes," observes Irina Gaida, BCG (Boston Consulting Group, Moscow). "People are willing to adjust their behaviour to facilitate teamwork, but they expect others to make a similar effort," Gaida notes. "This mutual adjustment eventually becomes the norm within an organization."

At Philip Morris International's Beijing office, Andy Klump says, "There is an emerging international business style, but it varies dramatically by company. While Dell China's organization had American attributes, and while higher-level management interaction with international departments was common, its day-to-day management style was localized and gave limited international exposure to some managers. By contrast, at Philip Morris International, a Switzerland-based company, there is a high degree of regional and international interactions which, by default, require employees at many different levels to have an understanding of different styles and ways of conducting business. My management team members, from six different countries and a variety of educational experiences, have adopted a similar style that allows them to coexist with colleagues from vastly different backgrounds."

Mary Moses, an American who works for VASC, a state-owned Vietnamese telecom and media company, says: "The people who manage business well in a foreign environment do create a new style of doing business that blends the best of both Western and local practices. Unfortunately, this is more the exception than the norm. Far too many try to enforce a Western style upon the local culture or, even worse, adopt the most convenient, and often the worst, of both cultures."

Global standards for the workplace

Having spent time previously in several countries as a Monitor and McKinsey consultant, Aaron Pempel has lived full time in Mexico for nearly two years as a Nike executive. "I absolutely believe there are emerging global universal standards for work, driven to a great extent by the large multinationals," says Pempel. For evidence of that, he need look no farther than his own place of employment. For its operations in Mexico, where the tradition of the two-hour lunch is still strong in many places, Nike switched to a one-hour lunch break. For some Mexican employees, the decision significantly altered lifestyles and custom. Working mothers, for example, could no longer use the extra hour to pick up children from school and share a meal with the entire family. Yet a majority of the company's employees voted to make the change. In moving closer to the international standard, Nike's corporate culture, in effect, trumped an element of national culture.

In the end, says John Quelch, "The integration of the global economy is such that no one anywhere is insulated. And one naturally wants to take what seems to be the best from wherever one can find it. That is what a multinational does—it leverages its status as an international corporation by taking the best ideas from everywhere it has a presence and implementing them worldwide throughout its entire system."

Rohit Deshpande, HBS also sees local context as integral to the global big picture, "If an innovative, entrepreneurial culture benefits customers wherever they are in the world, it's important to remember that one can be innovative in very different ways in Brazil, or Japan, or India, or the United States," he declares. "In my view, globalization is not forcing an American model across the world. What globalization is doing is creating a successful business-practice model."

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS Does culture affect business?

ft ..

How important are the following things when doing business in Ukraine? Are they: a) important, b) not important, c) best avoided?

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КУРС ДІЛОВОЇ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ для магістрів 1

2. Find in texts above words or phrases with the following meanings. „ 10

3. Decide in which phase of the organisational life cycle the following happens: 11

4. Read Aesop’s Fable and comment on its moral: A Soldier and His Horse 12

5. Read this extract from Nestle Management report and note how the information is organised. Underline the key words. 14

6. Write or search for a short management report about a Ukrainian well-known company. 14

7. Read the newspaper article about the different ways in which companies are organised and do the tasks that follow: Efficient management structures are vital for success 14

D. Match these collocations as they occur in the text and then complete each sentence below. 16

E Match the terms in the box with their definitions below. 16

8. Complete the second sentence so that it means more or less the same as the first: 19

19. Use ‘find’ with ‘it’ and a variety of adjectives from this list to ^ : express your feelings on each of the matters mentioned below. _; 23

Complex Object with the Infinitive and Participle /, r 25

Complex Subject with the Infinitive and Participle r 25

20. Translate into Ukrainian paying attention to the infinitives. 25

21. Rephrase the following sentences using Complex Object: 25

22. Rephrase the following sentences into sentences with Complex Subject. 26

23. Check whether you know the definition of the following key terms from Unit 1. Use them in the sentences of your own. 29

Questions for discussion: 35

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS Questioning styles 35

Closed questions 35

a) Using the information in the text above make questions for these answers. 39

9. Read the text about the factors that play a major role in determining the structure of tomorrow's companies and answer the questions that follow. A matter of choice 39

Questions: 40

10. Match the key terms and their definitions: 40

11. Complete the sentences with the correct options: 41

,s 42

Signposting 43

13. Choose one of the ‘signpost’ expressions from the box above for the following situations: 43

Outline talk 46

Present main part divided into points 46

Introduce your first point 46

Giving a presentation 16. Read the following tips and till in the gaps with an appropriate word or phrase from the box: 51

17. Find in the recommendations above the words that mean: 51

22. Decide whether you agree or disagree with the following statements. Make comments. 54

23. Pair work. The questioner asks about a company using the prompts below. The presenter answers the questions using appropriate comments. 54

Verbs instead of noun phrases 25. Rewrite these sentences changing the noun phrases to verbs where possible. Make any other necessary changes. 59

The words in italic below are unnecessary. Eliminate them from your writing. 59

28. Read the suggested answer and compare it with yours: 61

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT 1. a) What are the noun forms for these adjectives? Complete it without a dictionary, then check your answers in the dictionary. 63

b) Write three mini-dialogues using the adjectives and nouns above together. 63

2. Choose the appropriate preposition to complete the sentences: 63

5. By altering the scope of their activities 67

Mergers and acquisitions 68

Г 88

A 116

Соф. 118

A ' 134

я 181

«і 187

o 214

КУРС ДІЛОВОЇ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ мови для магістрів 298

• being direct (saying exactly what you think)

• patience

5. Immersing yourself in a different culture takes courage but it is one ' of the best ways to develop independence and experience a new international perspective.

КУРС ДІЛОВОЇ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ для магістрів 1

2. Find in texts above words or phrases with the following meanings. „ 10

3. Decide in which phase of the organisational life cycle the following happens: 11

4. Read Aesop’s Fable and comment on its moral: A Soldier and His Horse 12

5. Read this extract from Nestle Management report and note how the information is organised. Underline the key words. 14

6. Write or search for a short management report about a Ukrainian well-known company. 14

7. Read the newspaper article about the different ways in which companies are organised and do the tasks that follow: Efficient management structures are vital for success 14

D. Match these collocations as they occur in the text and then complete each sentence below. 16

E Match the terms in the box with their definitions below. 16

8. Complete the second sentence so that it means more or less the same as the first: 19

19. Use ‘find’ with ‘it’ and a variety of adjectives from this list to ^ : express your feelings on each of the matters mentioned below. _; 23

Complex Object with the Infinitive and Participle /, r 25

Complex Subject with the Infinitive and Participle r 25

20. Translate into Ukrainian paying attention to the infinitives. 25

21. Rephrase the following sentences using Complex Object: 25

22. Rephrase the following sentences into sentences with Complex Subject. 26

23. Check whether you know the definition of the following key terms from Unit 1. Use them in the sentences of your own. 29

Questions for discussion: 35

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS Questioning styles 35

Closed questions 35

a) Using the information in the text above make questions for these answers. 39

9. Read the text about the factors that play a major role in determining the structure of tomorrow's companies and answer the questions that follow. A matter of choice 39

Questions: 40

10. Match the key terms and their definitions: 40

11. Complete the sentences with the correct options: 41

,s 42

Signposting 43

13. Choose one of the ‘signpost’ expressions from the box above for the following situations: 43

Outline talk 46

Present main part divided into points 46

Introduce your first point 46

Giving a presentation 16. Read the following tips and till in the gaps with an appropriate word or phrase from the box: 51

17. Find in the recommendations above the words that mean: 51

22. Decide whether you agree or disagree with the following statements. Make comments. 54

23. Pair work. The questioner asks about a company using the prompts below. The presenter answers the questions using appropriate comments. 54

Verbs instead of noun phrases 25. Rewrite these sentences changing the noun phrases to verbs where possible. Make any other necessary changes. 59

The words in italic below are unnecessary. Eliminate them from your writing. 59

28. Read the suggested answer and compare it with yours: 61

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT 1. a) What are the noun forms for these adjectives? Complete it without a dictionary, then check your answers in the dictionary. 63

b) Write three mini-dialogues using the adjectives and nouns above together. 63

2. Choose the appropriate preposition to complete the sentences: 63

5. By altering the scope of their activities 67

Mergers and acquisitions 68

Г 88

A 116

Соф. 118

A ' 134

я 181

«і 187

o 214

КУРС ДІЛОВОЇ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ мови для магістрів 298