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solved by increasing significantly the amount of delegation of authority from the top managers.

Stage 3 Delegation / Control

It is difficult for top managers who were previously successful at directing the company to quit responsibility. It is also a problem for lower-level managers to take responsibility and make their own decisions. They have worked as specialists, but not decision makers. As a result, many organizations struggle during this phase, while lower-level employees become dissatisfied.

When an organization gets to the growth stage of delegation, it usually begins to develop a decentralized organization structure, which increases motivation at the lower levels. On the other hand, the next crisis begins as the top managers think that they are increasingly losing control and do not have enough power. This crisis of control often results in a return to centralization, which is now inappropriate and practically disliked by lower-level managers who had autonomy.

Stage 4 Coordination / Red tape

The coordination stage is the next stage. This period sees the use of formal systems for achieving greater coordination, with top management as the supervisor. A decentralized model motivates workers at lower levels.

Yet most coordination systems eventually go too far and result in the next revolutionary period – the crisis of red tape. This crisis most often occurs when the organization has become too large and complex to be managed through formal systems.

Stage 5 Collaboration

To overcome the crisis of red tape, the organization must move to the next evolutionary period – the phase of collaboration. While the coordination phase was managed through formal systems and procedures, the collaboration phase leads to more freedom for management through teams and solving personal differences. Social control and self-discipline take over formal control.

Language focus

1.Look through the text and find the appropriate word parnerships corresponding to the Russian ones given below.

сплачивать организацию; брать ответственность за управление компанией;

передача полномочий; успешно руководить компанией; отказываться от

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быть неприемлемым (не подходить); контролёр (инспектор); но (однако); преодолеть кризис; эволюционный период; принимать на себя (заменять собой).

2.Read the article and find out crisis corresponding to each of the stage.

1.Stage 1 – crisis of ….

2.Stage 2 –

3.Stage 3 –

4.Stage 4 –

5.Stage 5 –

3.Read the article again and decide which stage (1 – 5) the following sentences refer to.

1.This phase can lead to too much bureaucracy.

2.Lower-level workers are likely to want to give up their job.

3.A new manager comes in and has a lot of control in the company.

4.The management focuses on developing a new product and market.

5.There is most likely to be a lot of teamwork during this phase.

4.Complete the table with the correct form of the word.

5.Use the correct forms of the words from exercise 4 to complete the sentences. Each sentence has two words from the same word family.

1.When you put together a project involving different people and international teams the ____ of all the separate parts is very important, to make them work together. It means that very motivated and detail-oriented ____ have to be involved in it.

2.We have some new products which demonstrate true ____ thanks to our team of ____ product developers (two possibilities).

3.It would be really interesting to ____ with you on the project and I think our

____ would produce great results.

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4.I have to say that our board of ____ is really outstanding and provides the company with a clear idea of the ____ they plan to take.

5.Good managers know how to ____ work to other people in their department, and know that without ____ they would have too much work.

6.If you want to create something unique, you have to possess creative and

____ skills. Creativity and ____ are the inseparable parts of a company’s success.

6.Complete the sentences using the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use one past simple and one present perfect form.

1.Three years ago we ____ a number of people and most of them ____

with us for all these years rather successfully. (recruit / work)

2.She ____ to Europe six years ago and ____ here for the past five years. (come / live)

3.Each of these traders ____ a stall in the new market which ____ last month. (take / open)

4.They ____ the number of organic products since they ____ to sell them in 2010. (increase / begin)

5.People ____ trust in our company after the bad publicity in the 1990s and our sales figures____ since then. (lose / go down)

6.Our clientele ____ a lot since we ____ our operations in 2005. (change / start)

7.Translate the following sentences from Russian into English. Pay attention to using the correct tense of the verbs. Use the information given below.

1995 – founding of company

1997 – hiring more staff

1998 – setting up departments

1999 – reorganization of responsibilities

2003 – conflicts between departments

2005 – restructuring centralization

2008 – top management gets more control

2010 – creation of teams

1.Наша компания была создана в 1995 году, таким образом, мы занимаемся бизнесом уже более десяти лет (found / be).

2.Учредители приняли на работу много людей, так как компания значительно выросла за первые два года. И сегодня в компании есть сотрудники, которые работают в компании с её первых дней существования (recruit / grow / be / work).

3.Расширение компании продолжалось и в 1998 году мы создали ряд отделов (continue / create).

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4.В 1999 году произошла значительная реорганизация обязанностей отделов и их руководителей. Это привело к конфликтам между отделами в 2003 году (take place / lead).

5.В 2005 году совет директоров принял решение о полной реструктуризации организации. В результате этого решения мы централизовали наши операции, и руководство высшего звена получило больший контроль над повседневным управлением компанией (decide / centralize / gain).

6.C 2010 большая часть компании достаточно успешно работает в командах. Мы надеемся, что изменения, которые мы произвели, позволят нам быть более успешными в будущем (work / make / be).

Skills: Making recommendations

I suggest that we should recruit people who are already employed in the sector …

I suggest that we recruit people who are already employed in the sector ….

Why don’t we recruit people who are already employed in the sector… ?

We could recruit people who are already employed in the sector …

Write recommendations using the ideas given below.

1.Find premises close to the airport.

2.Design our own building.

3.Contact our major supplier.

4.Advertize for staff in science magazine.

Management practice: Modernizing a company

There are a number of reasons why organizations develop in the way that they do.

BMW transforms its Cowley plant

When BMW took over Cowley plant in Oxford, the plant’s low productivity was a major concern. The outdated factory machinery meant that the manufacturing process was extremely expensive. Many of the car parts were imported from abroad, which was both impractical and expensive. The work force at Cowley had spent many years fighting to keep their jobs, and so relations with management were poor. Finally, one of the plant’s main brands, the MINI, could no longer meet the needs of the customers regarding safety, noise, and environmental concerns. For the Cowley car plant to continue production, radical change was necessary.