BUSINESS AND BUSINESSMAN

Exercise 1. Read the text about business and answer the questions below:

Business is an organized approach to providing customers with the goods and services they
want. The word business also refers to an organization that provides these goods and services.
Most businesses seek to make a profit - that is, they aim to achieve revenues that exceed the
costs of operating the business. Prominent examples of for-profit businesses include Mitsubishi
Group, General Motors Corporation, and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. However, some businesses
only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs. Commonly called nonprofits, these
organizations are primarily nongovernmental service providers. Examples of nonprofit
businesses include such organizations as social service agencies, foundations, advocacy groups,
and many hospitals.
Business Operations
A variety of operations keep businesses, especially large corporations, running efficiently and
effectively. Common business operation divisions include (1) production, (2) marketing, (3)
finance, and (4) human resource management.
Production includes those activities involved in conceptualizing, designing, and creating
products and services. In recent years there have been dramatic changes in the way goods are
produced. Today, computers help monitor, control, and even perform work.
Flexible, high-tech machines can do in minutes what it used to take people hours to accomplish.
Another important development has been the trend toward just-in-time inventory. The word
inventory refers to the amount of goods a business keeps available for wholesale or retail. In
just-in-time inventory, the firm stocks only what it needs for the next day or two. Many
businesses rely on fast, global computer communications to allow them to respond quickly to
changes in consumer demand. Inventories are thus minimized and businesses can invest more in
product research, development, and marketing.
Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that consumers need and want
and providing those goods and services at the right price, place, and time. Businesses develop
marketing strategies by conducting research to determine what products and services potential
customers think they would like to be able to purchase. Firms also promote their products and
services through such techniques as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to inform
potential customers and motivate them to purchase. Firms that market products for which there is
always some demand, such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they face
competition from other firms marketing similar products. Such products rarely need to be sold
face-to-face. On the other hand, firms that market products and services that buyers will want to
see, use, or better understand before buying, often rely on personalized sales. Expensive and
durable goods - such as automobiles, electronics, or furniture - benefit from personalized sales,
as do legal, financial, and accounting services.
Finance involves the management of money. All businesses must have enough capital on
hand to pay their bills, and for-profit businesses seek extra capital to expand their operations. In
some cases, they raise long-term capital by selling ownership in the company. Other common
financial activities include granting, monitoring, and collecting on credit or loans and ensuring
that customers pay bills on time. The financial division of any business must also establish a
good working relationship with a bank. This is particularly important when a business wants to
obtain a loan.
 Businesses rely on effective human resource management (HRM) to ensure that they hire and
keep good employees and that they are able to respond to conflicts between workers and
management. HRM specialists initially determine the number and type of employees that a
business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then responsible for recruiting
new employees to replace those who leave and for filling newly created positions. A business’s
HRM division also trains or arranges for the training of its staff to encourage worker
productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction, and to promote the overall success of the business.
Finally, human resource managers create workers’ compensation plans and benefit packages for
employees.

Question
1. Give definition to the word ‘business”.
2. What is the difference between for-profit and non-profit organizations? Support your
answer with relevant examples.
3. What is production?
4. Specify the notion of ‘just-in-time inventory’.
5. What is marketing?
6. Define such business operation as finance.
7. What does the HRM involve?

Exercise 2: How would you generally feel happy or unhappy, if you were in the following
situations. Use the words in italics to help you decide:

1. The company you work for is well-known for its job security.
2. You were suddenly made redundant.
3. You received a promotion.
4. You were given an increment.
5. You worked unsociable hours.
6. You had a steady job.
7. You had adverse working conditions.
8. You suddenly found yourself unemployed.
9. You took time off work because of repetitive strain injury.
10. The office where you work has sick building syndrome.
11. You receive regular perks as part of your job.
12. Somebody called you a workaholic.
13. Your company doesn’t give you many incentives.
14. Your boss announces that there is going to be some downsizing of the workforce.
15. Your work didn’t offer much job satisfaction.
16. Your company has a generous incentive scheme.
17. You receive a commission for the work you have done.
18. You receive support from a union.
19. You were under stress.
20. You were forced to resign.
21. You received a cut in your salary.
22. Your company gave you sickness benefit.
23. You found your job very demanding.
Exercise 3: Match sentences 1-6 in the first box with one of the sentences A-F in the second.
Use the words in italics to help you:

1. Samantha is the assistant manager of a bank and she works from 8.30 to 5.30 every day.
2. Tracy works on the production line of a factory which makes cars. She uses a machine to
spray paint onto the finished car parts.
3. Jane works for herself. She is a photographer. She works every day for about eight or
nine hours.
4. Jeanette is a cleaner for a company in Birmingham, but she only works there for about
three or four hours a day.
5. Claire has a powerful job in the personnel office of a large multinational company. She is
responsible for employing new people and getting rid of those that the company doesn’t
want to employ anymore.
6. Marie works in the finance department of an international college in Oxford.

A. She is a semi-skilled blue-collar worker in a manufacturing industry.

Exercise 4: Now read this essay and complete the gaps with one of the words or expressions
from Exercise 2 and 3. You may need to change the form of some of the words:

‘Some people live to work, and others work to live. In most cases, this depends on the job they
have and the conditions under which they are employed. In your opinion, what are the
elements that make a job worthwhile?’
In answering this question, I would like to look first at the elements that combine to make a job
undesirable. By avoiding such factors, potential 1)__________ are more likely to find a job that
is more worthwhile, and by doing so, hope to achieve happiness in their work.
First of all, it doesn’t matter if you are an 2)____________ worker cleaning the floor, a
3)_______________ 4)______________ worker on a production line in one of the
5)____________, or a 6)____________ worker in a bank, shop or one of the other
7)_____________ : if you lack 8)_____________, with the knowledge that you might lose your
job at any time, you will never feel happy. Everybody would like a 9)____________ in which
he or she is guaranteed work. Nowadays, however, companies have a high turnover of staff,
10)____________ new staff and 11)____________ others on a weekly basis. Such companies
are not popular with their workers.
The same can be said of a job in which you are put under a lot of 12)___________ and worry, a
job which is so 13)____________ that it takes over your life, a job where you work
14)____________ and so never get to see your family or friends, or a physical job in which you
do the same thing every day and end up with the industrial disease that is always in the papers
nowadays – 15)_______________ .
With all these negative factors, it would be difficult to believe that there are any elements that
make a job worthwhile. Money is, of course, the prime motivator, and everybody wants a good
16)____________ .But of course that is not all. The chance of 17)____________, of being given
a better position in a company, is a motivating factor.
Likewise, 18)___________ such as a free lunch or a company car, an 19)____________scheme
to make you work hard such as a regular 20)___________ above the rate of inflation,
21)___________ in case you fall ill and a company 22)_____________ scheme so that you have
some money when you retire all combine to make a job worthwhile.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find all of these. There is, however, an alternative. Forget
the office and the factory floor and become 23)___________ and work for yourself. Your future
may not be secure, but at least you will be happy.

Exercise 4
Give your opinion about the following picture!