Vocabulary Focus

1. Match the words with their definitions.

1. corporate culture	a. the existing state of affairs.
2. staff	b. a person’s social class, education, training, or experience.
3. background	c. a set of key values and beliefs shared by members of an organization.
4. status quo	d. systematic investigation to establish facts or principles, or to collect information on a subject.
5. research	e. a group of people employed by a company.

2. Use the words from the list of Useful Vocabulary to complete the sentences.

1. We use the term ….. to speak about a system of shared values that distinguish this organization from other ones.

a. corporate culture

b. background

c. status quo

2. ….. are required to follow rules and regulations in this firm.

a. researchers

b. governments

c. employees

3. They have their own interest in maintaining the ….. .

a. accuracy

b. perception

c. status quo

4. She joined the ….. as an accountant.

a. corporate culture

b. staff

c. research

5. Nothing will change my ….. in a promising future of our company.

a. believe

b. belief

c. perceive

6. Mr. Black has the right ….. for this position.

a. background

b. perception

c. behavior

3. Give the English equivalents to the following expressions.

- система ценностей

- решить проблему

- иметь разное происхождение

- сущность корпоративной культуры

- быть конкурентоспособным

- поддерживать статус-кво

Talking Points

1. Give your arguments for or against the following statements.

1. Corporate culture is especially important for top managers.

2. Corporate culture helps to improve quality management (управление качеством).

3. It’s impossible to change an organization’s culture.

2. Imagine you have got your own company. Describe an effective corporate culture you would like to have in it.

3. Finish the phrase.

- A strong corporate culture helps ….. .

Summary Points

1. Read the passage and divide it into 3 paragraphs.

Although all organizations have their own cultures, not all cultures have an equal influence on employees. Organizations where the key values are widely shared have strong cultures. The more employees accept the organization’s key values, the stronger the culture is. Employees in firms with strong cultures are more committed to their firms than employees in firms with weak cultures. Moreover, strong cultures are associated with high performance of organizations. Whether an organization’s culture is strong, weak, or somewhere in between, depends on the intensity with which the culture was originated. It is necessary to remember that organizations where the key values are intensely held and widely shared have strong corporate cultures.

2. Choose from the list A-D the sentence which best summarizes each paragraph (1-3) of the passage. There is one extra sentence which you don’t need to use.

A. The main characteristics of strong cultures are: shared key values, employees’ commitment to their firm and high performance of the organization.

B. Any organization has its own corporate culture.

C. The cultures of some organizations encourage employees to take risks.

D. The intensity with which the culture was originated plays the most important role.

3. Summarize the passage, basing on the sentences from Task 2.