Hire talent

Andrew Carnegie attributed his success to other whom he had the good sense to hire. He composed the following epitaph for himself: “Here lies one who knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself.”

Robert Townsend, in his “Guerrilla Guide” at the back of his bestseller, “Up the Organization”, advises executives to hire the best people available. He says that whenever he hired anybody he’d ask himself: “How would I like to work for him – or her – some day?’ He also quotes Leo Rosten: “First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire second-rate people.”

B. Read the following anecdote and 1) describe the way of testing the secretary’s independence of mind and express your opinion about it; 2) describe other ways of testing employees revealed in the text and express your opinion about them; 3) retell the anecdote in Indirect Speech.

Perfection

John H. Patterson, despite his many innovations for the welfare of his employees, ruled National Cash Register with an iron fist. He particularly hayed yes-men executives and complacent employees. One incident recounted in Isaac Marcosson’s book about the company, Whenever Men Trade, how Patterson called his secretary into his office. When J. H. Barringer came in, Patterson asked him to join him at the window:

“Do you see that dog in the snow?”

“No,” the secretary replied truthfully.

“Are you sure you don’t see a dog there?” Patterson insisted.

“I am sure,” said Barringer.

This was Patterson’s way of testing whether his secretary had the independence of mind to become an executive. Barringer passed, and later was made vice president.

On the other hand, Patterson fired people at the drop of a hat. He never wanted to hear that something could not be done: this alone could provide grounds for instant dismissal. One of his foremen once reported that everything within his department was functioning smoothly, with 100 percent efficiency.

“Then you are perfectly satisfied?” asked Patterson. The man replied in the affirmative.

“All right,” said the boss, “you are fired.” Although he wanted perfectionists, he thought that perfection itself would only breed complacency.

C. Read the following anecdote and 1) give its summary; 2) express your opinion about Sam Cherr’s way of getting the best work out of the people he managed.

How to Get Good Reports

Sam Cherr, one of the three founders of Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency, had a simple way of getting the best work out of the people he managed. All marketing plans had to be put into writing, and some of these detailed reports often ran to 200 pages. Stanley Arnold recalls bringing such a report to Cherr, who said nothing for a few days, until its author could stand it no longer and asked what he thought of it. Cherr simply asked: “Is that the best you can do?’

Well, of course, everything always can be improved, the report had been done under deadline pressure, and Stanley readily conceded that he could probably do better. He took back the plan, rewrote the 200 pages, and resubmitted it. Again, there was no reaction, until the writer dropped by to ask: “How did you like my marketing report, Mr. Cherr?” And Mr. Cherr asked again the same question: “Is that the best you can do?”

Arnold now had several days in the interval to think about the report’s shortcomings, so he conceded again that he could do better. Sending the entire weekend to rewrite it, the tired executive brought back a wholly rewritten report on Monday morning. By Wednesday, he could hardly stand it and simply had to know whether Sam Cherr had liked the report. And Cherr asked the third time: “Is that the best you can do?”

And when the author finally replied, with some degree of truthfulness: “Yes, Mr. Cherr, that’s the best I can do,” Sam Cherr replied: “In that case, I’ll read it.”

Developing Interpretation Skills

A. Render the text in English.

Функции менеджмента (англ. management functions, нем. Funktionen des Manage­ments) – относительно обособленные направления деятельности менеджера, позволяющие осуществить управляющее воздействие. В основе их реализации лежат циклически повторяющиеся процессы получения и переработки управленческой инфор­мации, принятия решения и доведения его до исполнителя.

Различают следующие функции управления: целеполагание, организацию, стимулирование, планирование, учет, контроль, регулирование.

Целеполагание – определение целей деятель­ности объекта управления. К целям относят обычно наиболее важные результаты, сформули­рованные в достаточно общем виде, в отличие от задач, являющихся более конкретными результатами, выраженными часто количественно. Цель, которую никогда нельзя достичь, но к которой можно стремиться приблизиться, называется идеалом.

Организация – размещение элементов объекта управления, определение их функций, связей (материально-вещественных и информационных) между собой, а также с объектами внешней среды.

Стимулирование – поощрение и наказание работников в зависимости от результатов их трудо­вой деятельности. Стимулирование осуществляется различными способами (методами) управления.

Планирование – определение будущего желаемого состояния объекта управления и тех действий (мероприятий), которые необходимо осуществить, чтобы перейти из нынешнего состоя­ния в желаемое. Осуществляется в два этапа: сначала определяется желаемое состояние объекта, выражен­ное в количественных значениях основных показателей его деятельности, затем разрабаты­ваются мероприятия, выполнение которых обеспечит достижение этих показателей.

B. Translate into Russian

Managers who take effective action (those who make difficult – even seemingly impossible – things happen) rely on a combination of two traits: focus and energy.

Think of focus as concentrated attention –the ability to zero in on a goal and see the task through to completion. Focused managers aren’t in reactive mode, they choose not to respond immediately to every issue that comes their way or get sidetracked from their goals by distractions like e-mail, meetings, setbacks and unforeseen demands. Because they have a clear understanding of what they want to accomplish, they carefully weigh their opinions before selecting a course of action. Moreover, because they commit to only one or two key projects, they can devote their full attention to the projects they believe in.

Think of the second characteristic – energy – as the vigor that is fueled in intense personal commitment. Energy is what pushes managers to go the extra mile when tackling heavy workloads and meeting tight deadlines.

While both focus and energy are positive traits, neither alone is sufficient to produce the kind of purposeful action organizations need most from their managers. Focus without energy devolves into listless execution or leads to burnout. Energy without focus dissipates into purposeless business or, in its most destructive form, a serious of wasteful failures.

Writing

Task. Write a short paragraph on one of the key points of the Unit.

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