Problems at work Health and safety Here are some health and safety issues for people at work. a temperature b passive c repetitive strain d dangerous e hazardous smoking injury or RSI machinery substances All these things contribute ro a bad working environment. The government sends officials called health and safety inspectors to make sure that factories and offices are safe places to work. They check what companies are doing about things like: g heating and h first aid i fire precautions air-conditioning Bullying and harassment If someone such as a manager bullies an employee, they use their position of power to hurt or threaten them, for example verbally. Someone who does this is a bully. Sexual harassment is when an employee behaves sexually towards another in a way that they find unwelcome and unacceptable. The related verb is harass. Discrimination If people are treated differently from others in an unfair way, they are discriminated against. If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman, she is a victim of sex discrimination. In many organizations, women complain about the glass ceiling that allows them to get to a particular level bur no further. If someone is treated unfairly because of their race, they are a victim of racial discrimination or racism. Offensive remarks about someone's race are racist and the person making them is a racist. In rhe US, affirmative action is when help is given in education and employment to groups who were previously discriminated against. In Britain, affirmative action is known as equal opportunities. Some companies have a dignity at work policy covering all the issues described in B and C. business Vocabulary in Use 8.1 .Match the employees' complaints (1-6) to the health and safety issues (a-f) in A opposite. 1 My doctor says there's something wrong with my lungs, but I've never smoked....... 1 do a lot of data entry, and I've started getting really bad pains in my ivrists. - f It's either too cold and we freeze, or \too hot and we all fall asleep. .. 4 {There's all this waste paper but there are V no \ire extinguishers in the building. The containers are leaking - one day someone is going to get acid burns...... Z^Z^Z- There are no safety guards on the machines; you could easily get your hand caught....... 8.2 Complete these headlines and articles with the correct form of words from B and C opposite. One expression is used twice. OFFICE MANAGER ACCUSED OF............ V court heard tedaj how an office worker was almost driven to suicide bv n bullying offu e manager, James Blenkinsop, 27, lokl how boss Nigel Kemp victimized linn In shouting al him, criticizing bis work in front of others, tearing up lus work and telling him to do it again ... SHOP MANAGERESS IN.... .... CASE A cloi hing shop's half-Burmese manageress, 24 pear old Mai < Brown, claims her bus-; continually made.............. remarks, and sacked her rum her El I O-a-week job when she K it. Shi' claims that rhe company awns flic shog) has rai laHv........... igainsi her NATIONAL RESTAURANT CHAIN FACES..................CLAIMS Four waitresses claim they were repeatedly........... by male bosses in a branch of a well-known national restaurant chain. All four waitresses said they were subjected to sexist remarks at the restaurant... Japanese women break through........................ Naomi Tanaka, 23, last year started working on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a trader. She complained about........................and said she did not want to be a 'counter lady' answering phones and serving tea at a Japanese bank. Instead she got a job as a trader at Paribas. a French firm ... .......................ABOLISHED AT TEXAS LAW SCHOOL A court made affirmative action at the university of Texas law school illegal last year, and supporters of .......................... say it has been 'a disaster'. Last year the law school admitted a class that was 5.9 per cent black and 6.3 per cent Hispanic. This year the black percentage stands at 0.7 and the Hispanic at 2.3 Over +o tpu What are the main health and safety issues in your job, or a job that you would like to do? Business Vocabulary in Use 25 Managersf executives and directors Managers and executives: UK Fun and Sun Holidays management organigram non-executive directors chairman/chairwoman chief executive/managing director senior executives / top executives / executive directors middle managers chief financial officer/finance director marketing director accounts department manager human resources director IT director research director sales manager customer services manager line managers (in travel agency branches) All the directors together are the board. They meet in the boardroom. Non-executive directors are nor managers of the company; they are outsiders, often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas. The marketing director is the head of marketing, the IT director is the head of IT, etc. These people head or head up their departments. Informally, the head of an activity, a department or an organization is its boss. An executive or, informally, an exec, is usually a manager at quite a high level (for example, a senior executive). But "executive' can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury, as in 'executive coach' and 'executive home', even for tilings that are not actually used by executives. Managers and executives: US president chief executive officer (CEO) chief operating officer (COO) non-executive directors chief financial officer (CFO) vice president (VP) marketing vice president (VP) human resources vice president (VP) research senior executives / top executives / executive directors In the US, the top position may be that of chairman, chairwoman or president. This job is often combined with the position of chief executive officer or CEO. Some companies have a chief operating officer to take care of the day-to-day running of the company. The finance director may be called the chief financial officer. In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice presidents (VPsi. 26 Business Vocabulary in Use 9.1 Look at the managers listed in A opposite. Match each task (1-6) to the manager most likely to be responsible for doing it. 1 Meet with advertising agency to discuss new adverrisemenrs for the company's holidays. 2 Study possible new holiday destinations in detail. 3 See the research director to discuss new holiday destinations. 4 Contact newspapers to advertise new jobs. 5 Deal with complaints from customers. 6 Discuss sales figures with sales team. Who's who on this company board? Look at R opposite and complete the diagram. 9.2 f My name's Montebello and I'm president and CEO. We have some excellent people on our board, including two who are not involved in the day-to-day running of the company: V Gomi and Jones^j* f My name's Smith and it's my job to look after the accounts and balance the books. I work closely with Chang and Roberts, as they tell me what their departments need for V marketing and research, and 1 allocate them an annual budget. My name's Dawes and I head up personnel, on the same level in the company as Chang and Roberts. 1^ Mon-r&b&uo I>Ío»i-«./äcí4+/v«. dr'rac-for Vauses If you work ... Draw an organigram of your organization. If you don t work ... Who arc the most famous bosses in your country? Which companies do they head? Business Vocabulary in Use 27 Businesspeople and business leaders Businesspeople and entrepreneurs A businessman, businesswoman or businessperson is someone who works in their own business or as a manager in an organization. Note: The plural of businessperson is businesspeople. Businessperson and businesspeople can also be spelled as two words: business person, business people. An entrepreneur is someone who starts or founds or establishes their own company. Someone who starts a company is its founder. An entrepreneur may found a series of companies or start-ups. Entrepreneurial is used in a positive way ro describe the risk-taking people who do this, and their activities. Some entrepreneurs leave the companies they found, perhaps going on to found more companies. Others may stay to develop and grow their businesses. Note: Found is a regular verb. Past tense and past participle: founded. Establishment can also describe an action (e.g. the establishment of a successful business was his main aim in life). Some English speakers believe it is not correct to use grow as a transitive verb in this context. Leaders and leadership A large company mainly owned by one person or family is a business empire. Successful businesspeople, especially heads of large organizations, are business leaders or, in journalistic terms, captains of industry. There is a lot of discussion about whether people like this are born with leadership skills, or whether such skills can be learned. Magnates, moguls and tycoons People in charge of big business empires may be referred to. especially by journalists, as magnates, moguls or tycoons. These words often occur in combinations such as these: media press shipping oil magnate movie media shipping mogul property I software í V™00 shipping Business Vocabulary in Use 10.1 Use words from A and B opposite to complete this text. The big place at the moment for (1)____________________is. of course, the Internet. Take John Pace. 'After an engineering degree at Stanford and an MBA at Harvard, 1 worked for a while in a computer games company. But I always felt I was an (2)_______________________ kind ot guy. In 1997, I (3)__________an Internet site for cheap travel: flights, hotels, renting cars and soon, [obtained money for investment in the (4)_______-___from friends.' Now the site has 300,000 customers, and Pace is very rich, with a hig apartment in Manhattan and a house in the Bahamas. 'I don't want to sell the company,' he says. 'I've had offers from some big companies, but 1 want to stay independent. 1 want to (5)______the business and do things my way. Unlike many entrepreneurs, I think I have the (6)_______________skills to lead and inspire a large organization. 1 can see the day when I'm in charge of a large business (7)_________.' 10.2 Who are (or were) these famous businesspeople? Use the expressions in C opposite to describe them. ■a Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) b Masayoshi Son (b. 1957) c Rupert Murdoch (b. 1931) d Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975) e J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) f Donald Trump (b. 1946) Who are your country's most famous entrepreneurs? What are they famous for? In your opinion, are business leaders born or made? Business Vocabulary in Use Organizations 1 Business and businesses Business is the activity of producing, buying and selling goods and services. A business, company, firm or moru formally, a concern, sells goods or services. Large companies considered together are referred to as big business. A company may be called an enterprise, especially to emphasize its risk-taking nature. Businesses vary in si/.e, from the self-employed person working alone, through the small or medium enterprise (SME) to the large multinational with activities in several countries. A large company, especially in the US, is a corporation. The adjective, corporate, is often used in these combinations: ■ corporate culture ■ corporate headquarters ■ corporate image ■ corporate ladder ■ corporate logo ■ corporate profits Commerce Commerce is used to refer to business: ■ in relation to other fields: 'literature, politics and commerce'. ■ in relation to government departments that deal with business: the US Department of Commerce. ■ in the names of organizations which help business: chambers of commerce. ■ on the Internet: electronic commerce or e-commercc. The adjective commercial describes money-making business activities: ■ commercial airline ■ commercial artist ■ commercial television ■ commercial disaster ■ commercial land You can't say a commerce. Enterprise In 1970s Britain, there were state-owned or government-owned companies in many different industries such as car manufacturing and air travel. Some industries had been nationalized and were entirely state-owned, such as coal, electricity and telephone services. In the 1980s, the government believed that nationalized companies were bureaucratic and inefficient, and many of them were privatized and sold to investors. Enterprise is used in a positive way to talk about business, emphasizing the use of money to take risks. Word combinations with 'enterprise' free private enterprise business activity owned by individuals, rather than the state culture enterprise / an atmosphere which encourages people to make money through their own activities and not rely on the government economy an economy where there is an enterprise culture zone parr of a country where business is encouraged because there are fewer laws, lower taxes, etc. business Vocabulary in Use 11.1 Correct the mistakes using words and expressions from A opposite. 1 Before we employ people, we like to put them in job situations to see how they do the work and fit into the corporate ladder. 2 The company has built a grand corporate logo as a permanent symbol of its power. 3 Our stylish new corporate culture shows our wish to be seen ,is a more international airline. 4 The economy is growing and corporate headquarters are rising. B The rules were introduced to protect women working m factories, bur today they make it harder for women to climb the corporate image. 6 Companies hit by computer crime are not talking about it because they fear the publicity will harm their corporate profits. 11.2 Someone is calking about the word combinations in B opposite. Which are they referring to each time? 1 It carries passengers and goods, it's not military. 2 Irs going to be used for offices and factories, not houses. 3 It receives no money from the state to make its programmes. 4 He does advertisements: you can't find his work in art galleries. 5 It was an artistic success, but unfortunately it lost a lot of money. 11.3 Use expressions from D opposite to complete this text. Margaret [batcher often talked about the benefits of (1).................................................... or (2).....................................................She said that her achievement was fo establish an (.3)....................................................in Britain, an economy where people were encouraged to start their own companies and where it was acceptable to get rich through business: an (4)..................................................... In some areas, the government reduced the number of laws and regulations to encourage businesses to move there. Businesses were encouraged to set up in the London Docklands, for example. The Docklands were an (5).......................... Is the public sector in your country very big? Do people who work in it have good working conditions compared to those in the private sector? In your country, which of these industries are in the public sector, and which are in the private sector? Which have been privatized? • bus transport • electricity supply • postal services • rail transport • telephone services • water supply Business Vocabulary in Use 31 Organizations 2 Sole owner and sole proprietor are also used both in BrE and AmE, Sole trader is not used in the US. Self-employed people and partnerships I'm a freelance graphic designer, a freelancer. That means I work for myself — I'm self-employed. To use the official term, I'm a sole trader. Note: You usually describe people such as designers and journalists as freelancers, and people such as builders and plumbers as self-employed. (See Unit 7) We have scr up our own architecture partnership. There are no shareholders in the organization apart from us, the partners. A lot of professional people like lawyers, accountants and so on, work in partnerships. Limited liability I'm the managing director and main shareholder of a small electronics company in Scotland called Advanced Components Ltd. 'Ltd' means limited company. The other shareholders and I have limited liability: we do not have to use our personal property, such as a house or car, to pay the company's debts. I'm the chief executive of a Bricish company called Megaco PLC. 'PLC; means public limited company, so anybody can buy and sell shares in Megaco on the stock market. (See Unit 36) ., A I'm CEO of Bigbucks Inc. 'Inc' stands for Incorporated. This shows that we are a corporation, a term used especially in the US for companies with limited liability. Mutuals Some companies, like certain life insurance companies, are mutuals. When you buy insurance with the company you become a member. Profits are rheoretically owned by the members, so there are no shareholders. In Britain, another kind of mutual is building societies, which lend money to people who want to buy a house. But a lor of building societies have demutualized: they have become public limited companies with shareholders. This process is demutualization. Non-profit organizations Organizations with 'social' aims such as helping those who are sick or poor, or encouraging artistic activity, are non-profit organizations (BrE) or not-for-profit organizations (AmE). They are also called charities, and form the voluntary sector, as they rely heavily on volunteers (unpaid workers). They are usually managed by paid professionals, and they put a lot of effort into fund-raising, getting people to donate money to the organization in the form of donations. Business Vocabulary in Use 12.1 12.2 Look ar the words in A and R opposite. What type of organization is each of these? 1 A group of engineers who work together to provide consultancy and design services. There are no outside shareholders. 2 A large Brirish engineering company with 30,000 employees. Its shares are bought and sold on the stock marker. 3 An American engineering company with outside shareholders. 4 An engineer who works by herseli providing consultancy. She works from home and visits clients in their offices. 5 An independent Brirish engineering company with 20 employees. It was founded by three engineers, who are shareholders and directors of the company. There are five other shareholders who do not work for the company. Complete this newspaper article with the correct form of the words from C opposite. One expression is used twice. ANGRY SCENES AS MEMBERS REJECT (1)...................... There were angry scenes at the Suffolk 12) '.................... .................... \ animal meeting as the society's (3) .................... rejected by two to one a recommendation from its board that Ihe society be (4i................... Members had travelled trom all over the country to aliend the meeting in London. The Suffolk's chief executive. Mr Andrew Davies. said This is a sad day for the Suffolk. We need to p) .................... to bring the society forward into the 2 Ki century. Our own resources are not enough and we need capital from outside shareholders.' Gwen Armstrong, who lias saved with the Suffolk for 32 years said. Keeping (6).................... status is a great victory. Profits should stay with us. and not go to outside shareholders." ■ 1 2.3 March the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings The sentences all contain expressions from D opposirc. a-e) 1 British companies donate around £500 million a year to charities 2 She organized fund-raising 3 Voluntary sector employees earn five to ten per cent 4 Non-profit organizarions are not to be confused 5 Research shows that volunteers give the best service a with loss-making companies! b in cash and, increasingly, as goods, services and time. c parries for the charity. d when they are helping people in their own social class. e less than they would in the private sector. Over ko upu. ľ^s Is self-employment common in your country? Does the government encourage it? Name some mutual companies. What sort of reputation do they have? Are charities important? Which are the most active in your country? Business Vocabulary in Use 33 Manufacturing and services Industry Industry (uncountable) is the production of materials and goods. The related adjective is industrial. An industry (countable) is a particular type of business activity, not necessarily production. Manufacturing ... ... and services Here are some of the manufacturing industries Here are some of the services or service that make up the manufacturing sector: industries that make up the service sector: aerospace planes and space vehicles cars (Brill automobiles (AmE) cars computer hardware computers, printers, etc. construction buildings defence (BrE) defense (AmE) arms, weapons food processing canned, frozen foods, etc. household goods washing machines, refrigerators, etc. pharmaceuticals medicines steel a stronger, more useful metal than iron textiles cloth and clothes catering restaurants, bars, etc. computer software programs for computers financial services banking, insurance, etc. healthcare medical care leisure sport, theme parks, etc. media books, newspapers, film, television property (BrE) real estate (AmE) buying, selling and managing buildings retail shops telecommunications phone, Internet services tourism travel and holidays Note: You use all these words in front of 'industry' to talk about particular industries, but you usuall drop the 's' from 'cars', 'automobiles', 'pharmaceuticals' and 'textiles': 'the automobile industry'. Countries and their industries Here is how industry has developed in South Korea: 1980s and 90s In 1950, South Korea was a poor country, with most people living and working on the land. The government decided to industrialize, and the new emerging industries were textiles, and heavy industries like steel and shipbuilding. Then South Korea turned more and more to light industries like electronics, making electrical goods such as televisions cheaply. It also started producing cars. South Korea moved into specialized electronics in the 80s. This was the one of the growth industries of the 1990s: making specialized parts for computers and telecommunications equipment. 34 Business Vocabulary in Use Companies in particular industries need to avoid particular problems. Match each problem to one of the industries in B opposite. 1 Buying a new building and being unable to rind people to rent it. 2 Causing public anger by building mobile phone masts in beautiful countryside. 3 Making vehicles whose tyres burst at high speed. 4 Holidaymakers arriving to find that their hotel is not finished. 5 Lending to someone who cannot repay the loan. 6 Selling weapons to governments that people do not approve of. 7 Buying players who do nor score goals. 8 Making drugs that poor countries cannot afford. 9 Rejecting a book that is then brought out by another publisher and sells 30 million copies. 10 Removing the wrong leg in an operation. Use words from A, B and C opposite to complete the crossword. i _ J 4 * (• • > ll> ti L> 13 1-------- 1---- 1---- Across 1 Plane and rocket industry. (9) 3 Metal industry. (5) 4 Any industry that doesn't sell goods. (7) 6 Making things. (13) 8 Television, music, the Internet. (5) 9 Related to industry or industries. (10) I I Describing a new industry. (8) 12 Describing an industry that is getting bigger. (6) 13 Ma king drugs. (15) Down 1 Making cars in the US: the............ industry. (10) 2 Making arms (BrE). (7) 5 Serving food and drink, rather than making them. (8) 7 Keeping people well:............care. (6) 10 Making televisions rather than steel: ............industry. (5) Is your organization, or one you would like to work for, in manufacturing or services or a combination of both? Where are industries in your country based? Are companies in different industries grouped in different areas? Business Vocabulary in Use 35