3. Answer the questions below.

• What information does case study content include?

• How can you define the case method?

• What should a case study research contain?

• How many basic steps are there in case writing?

Reading and Speaking (2)

1. What do good business relationships depend on?

2. What “little things” influence the business relationships?

Business Relationships

Growing, vital businesses are built on grand strategies. But having a grand strategy is just not enough. Most grand strategies boil down to relationships and relationships depend on the interaction between people – one-to-one.

There are many relationships, both internal and external in a business setting. Respect, ease of communication, more pleasant working conditions, faster flow of information, and easier negotiations all result from strengthened relationships. It is easier to implement the grand strategy when people have strong, positive relationships inside and outside the company.

These one-to-one relationships depend on many “little things”. It is a birthday card to a member of the staff, a congratulatory phone call to the salesperson who won a key account, a “welcome to our company” message to the new hire, a pizza party to a department that far exceeded its goals.

“Little things” are like individual bricks that are joined with many other little bricks to create a wall. When the walls are joined with other walls, a strong structure is created. Use “little things” in the same manner – join them, brick-by-brick, into a culture that shows respect and caring. When those little bricks become walls that then become structures, the grand strategy becomes much more attainable. And it’s all built on “little things” but don’t forget the mortar between bricks – the mortar is a smile – and that’s a “big thing”.

Post-Reading

1. Explain the following.

1. a grand strategy

2. interaction between people

3. one-to-one relationships

4. a congratulatory phone call

5. caring

2. Answer the questions below.

• What does it mean a grand strategy?

• What do relationships between people depend on?

• What factors make business relationships stronger?

Language Work (1)

1. Read the passage below and memorise how to say it.

Politeness

In business, as in life, you might have to say things that the other party does not want to hear. This is particularly true in negotiations. However, when we need to say difficult things, we need to be polite about it. We can “soften” utterances in the following ways:

• Using WOULD, COULD, MIGHT

1. That is beyond our budget. – That would be beyond our budget.

2. We need more time to think it over. – We might need more time to think it over.

3. This is a difficult situation for us. – This could be a difficult situation for us.

2. Now try to soften these sentences using would, could, might:

1. The Director needs the meeting to begin at 5 pm.

2. We want you to sign the contract before the end of the month.

3. She expects you to give them a bulk discount.