Unit 2 companies and organizations

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1. Discuss these questions:

   1. Would you like to work for a big international company or a small local one? Explain why or why not.

   2. How important are the following in showing a person’s status in an organization?

• a reserved parking space

• an office with a window

• a uniform

• a personal business card

• your own office

• a company car

• your name on your door

• having a secretary

• taking holidays when you like

• the size of your desk

• more than one seat in your office

• flying business class

• a company credit card

• having fixed working hours

2. Which of the words below can describe: a) good qualities of an organization; b) bad qualities of an organization.

bureaucratic	caring	centralized	conservative
decentralized	democratic	dynamic	hierarchical
impersonal	market-driven	professional	progressive

Can you add any others?

3. Study some useful phrases.

I work for a large, multinational company.

We manufacture components for our car production plants in Europe.

The company has operation in over fifty countries.

We export to Eastern Europe and the Far East.

The domestic market accounts for about 40 per cent of our total production.

The company was founded in 1960.

We have over sixty employees.

What’s your annual turnover?

What does IABS stand for?

4. Read the dialogues and study the notes.

5. Write down the questions from the dialogues for the following responses.

Example:

Who do you sell to?

We sell mainly to domestic packaging companies.

1. ___________________________________________

An electronics company called Eurotron.

2. ___________________________________________

We design jet engines.

3. ___________________________________________

We have over 1 000 employees worldwide.

4. ____________________________________________

I work for a small, three-owner software company.

5. ____________________________________________

We manufacture machined parts to the customers’ designs and specifications.

6. ____________________________________________

Just over two million dollars a year.

6. Complete the sentences with a proposition.

1. We produce components _________ the car industry.

2. Exports account _________ 70 per cent of total sales.

3. We have factories all _______ the world.

4. We specialize _______ top-pf-the-range cars.

5. We’re trying to diversify ________ more expensive models.

6. What does IBM stand _______?