What helped Steve Brown to survive in the business world?
Steve Brown is the managing director of a metal fabricating company. It was started by his grandfather as a blacksmith’s business. Today it is a factory producing accessories for large trailers and trucks. It was set up as a family business by Steve’s father 30 years ago. It now employs 130 employees in three divisions: design and sales, production and administration.
Steve is continually required to make decisions on different matters, such as which product lines are worth manufacturing, which new lines are worth developing, which product should be dropped. His accountant produces regular costings of the materials used, the labor required and all the other expences for each product being made. The sales and design section produces weekly sales analysis reports and projects on a monthly basis, expected sales.
From this information Steve is able to get an idea of how the business is performing. The accountant also prepares a number of reports which are used for future planning.
These documents are keys to good management.
Exercise 10. Look through the organizational chart and make a presentation of the company. Use in your presentation the expressions:
to be headed by – возглавляться (кем-то);
to be under – находиться под управлением;
to report to – докладывать;
to deal with – иметь дело с …;
to be responsible for – отвечать за …
e.g. The Managing Director runs the company and is accountable to the Board of Directors.
The Finance Manager reports to the Managing Director.
The Accounts Manager is under the Finance Manager.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman
MANAGING DIRECTOR
PRODUCTION Mngr.
FINANCE Mngr.
MARKETING Mngr.
ADMINISTRATION Mngr.
Planning Mngr.
R & D Mngr.
Accounts Mngr.
Financial Mngr.
Sales Mngr.
Personnel Mngr.
Advertising Mngr.
Public Relations Mngr.
Training Mngr.
Keys
Exercise 2. Financial, general, managerial, technical; practical;
definition, function, organization, production, transition;
motivate.
2. Business environment
Exercise 1. Expand on the statement
1. Better bend than break (Proverb).
2. A small debt produces a debtor; a large one an enemy. (Syrus).
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. (Montaigne).
Exercise 2. Look through the text and find in it the words which you can understand without translation.
Exercise 3. Read the words with the suffixes – er. Try to guess the meaning which it gives:
1) risk-takers; 2) greater; 3) shareholder; 4) manager; 5) supplier; 6) customer, 7) wholesaler; 8) retailer; 9) manufacturer; 10) wider.
Exercise 4. Choose from the text all the predicates in the Passive Voice, translate them into Russian.
Exercise 5. Read the title of the text and try to predict the contents of the text.
Exercise 6. Read the text and find out:
What are the main variables which influence business operation?
How can the owners be characterized?
Where can the companies borrow funds?
What are the main groups of suppliers?
Who looks after employees’ interests?
What is consumer?
How are links between government and businesses realized?
What are the main characteristics of competitors?