IV. Reading

Corporate culture n. the values, beliefs and traditions in a company which influence the behaviour of its staff. It is important for job-seekers to know about the culture of an organization before accepting a job.

(2) Work in pairs and discuss the following.

How do you think cultures might be different in different companies? Consider:

• the relationship between staff and management

• the relationship between colleagues

• company traditions

• how the staff dress

• how the office space is organized.

(3) Discuss your ideas in pairs.

Add up your scores for sections A, B and C.

SCORES

Section A

1 A=1 2 A=1 3 A=0 4 A=0 5 A=1

D=0 D=0 D=1 D=1 D=0

Questions 1 to 5 are about your relationship with colleagues. A score of higher than 2 suggests that you like to work for a company where employees are friends and can talk about personal matters. A score of 2 or less means that you prefer to keep your work life separate from your personal life.

Section B

6 A=1 7 A=0 8 A=0 9 A=1 10 A=0

D=0 D=1 D=1 D=0 D=1

Questions 6 to 10 are about your relationship with your managers. A score of higher than 2 suggests you like to work in a company where roles between managers and staff are flexible. A score of 2 or less means that you like to work in a company where people have clearly defined roles and there is more distance between staff and managers.

Section C

11 A=1 12 A=1 13 A=0 14A=0 15A=0

D=0 D=0 D=1 D=1 D=1

Questions 11 to 15 are about your attitude to tradition. A score of higher than 2 means you like to work in a company which values new ideas and takes serious risks. A score of less than 2 means you prefer the security of a company with strong traditions.

3 Compare your scores with a partner to see if you would like to work in the same sort of organization.

Vocabulary

When recording vocabulary, it is not always enough to write down single words. It is much more useful to record which words are often used together. These are called collocations. Usually the words are from different parts of speech.

Verb-noun collocations like these are very useful:

reach a target launch a product

1 Look at the questions in the corporate culture quiz again. Find verb-noun collocations with these meanings.

1 talk informally have a chat

2 make an appointment _______

3 change things to be

modern _______

4 agree to do something

difficult _______

5 decide the way to do

something in the future _______

There are other types of collocations like these:

adjective-noun noun verb

We only use high Sales increase in the quality materials summer

We offer a wide range The market is

of services. expanding quickly

verb-adverb

Staff are allowed to dress casually.

I have to work closely with my colleagues.

2 Find adjective-noun collocations in the quiz with these meanings.

1 the normal way of doing something ________

2 (in the scores analysis) big danger _________

Sometimes you may want to record more than two words. For example, you might add the verbs that often go before adjective-noun collocations. The collocation wide range is often preceded by the verbs offer or provide.

What verbs would commonly come before the two adjective-noun collocations you found for questions 1 and 2? Look in the quiz to find out.

3 Now use these verbs (1-7) and nouns (a-g) to make common collocations. You can use some of the words more than once. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1 pay a a proposal

2 create b a meeting

3 pool c our ideas

4 put forward d a solution

5 hold e attention (to smth)

6 reach f an opportunity

7 come up g your full potential

with

4 Do the same with these adjectives (1-6) and nouns (a-f). Again, you can use the adjectives more than once.

1 challenging a atmosphere

2 rewarding b work

3 close c resource

4 friendly d partnership

5 competitive e contact

6 valuable i price

People talk a lot about corporate culture these days but at Olympus we really pay attention to it. We aim to offer people challenging and rewarding work in a pleasant environment. Employees dress casually on days when there is no customer contact and this helps to create a friendly atmosphere.

Developing and maintaining close partnerships with our customers is one of the keys to our success. Our customers appreciate that we offer high quality products at competitive prices and a high level of customer care. They rely on us to come up with solutions for their needs. And of course, customer care is not just about external customers. It is also about how we relate to each other and work together to pool our ideas.

We also work in close contact with other Olympus employees around the worked. This interaction creates many opportunities to travel and to learn from other offices. We realize that our most valuable resource is our employees. This is why we strongly support the professional and personal development of our staff through workshops, classes and short courses. We aim to help all our employees reach their full potential.

Our management style is open door and staff have access to management at all levels at all times. We pride ourselves on our good communication. We hold quarterly meetings where employees can put forward any new proposals and we have regular communication meetings to inform employees about all company activities.

In short, Olympus is a great place to work.

Business in Finland

1 Texts are easier to read if you think about the content first. The following text is from a guidebook about doing business in Finland. Work with a partner and make a list of what you already know about Finland, thinking about the following.

• Country and climate

• Leisure activities

• Famous companies (hint: mobile phones!)

2 Skim each section of the text quickly and choose the correct heading (a-g) from the list below. There is one heading that you don’t need. Write the correct heading in each gap (1-6)

3 Now write some similar pieces of advice about doing business in your country, using at least three of the headings (a-g).

1 Level of familiarity

Most Finnish people will introduce themselves officially and give their first and last name as they shake hands. After this, they are likely to be informal and use your first name.

2 ____________________

Business meetings and negotiations in Finland tend to be direct and to the point. Not much time is spent on small talk or building personal relationships, so Finnish business people may feel impatient if overseas clients spend a long time on this. Negotiations are generally held in offices, not in restaurants.

3 ____________________

Finnish people tend to be very punctual and also expect it of others. Visitors should avoid arriving late, as this is considered impolite.

4 ____________________

They usually speak directly and clearly. Unlike in some cultures, ‘yes’ and ‘no’. they are also not embarrassed by silence and do not necessarily feel the need to fill a gap in a conversation.

5 ____________________

People in Finland are generally comfortable with silence so there does not always have to be conversation. However, safe topics would be the weather, sport, travel and hobbies.

6 _______________

Visitors are normally taken to restaurants, although in business life, long lunches are not common. Finnish hosts may also invite their guests to the sauna (men and women go separately) and it is polite to accept.

V. Grammar exercises

Second Conditional

To talk about an unreal/imaginary/ hypothetical situation and its consequences, use:

If + Past Simple + would(‘d)/ wouldn’t

If I had a car, I would drive to work.

I’d live in Jamaica if I could live anywhere.

The ‘if clause’ cam come first or second in the sentence. If it is first, there is a comma before the result clause.

We can use would, could or might in the result clause.

If he had a change of heart, I might forgive him.

When the subject is / and the verb is to be, we can say if I was or if / were.

If I were you, I wouldn’t wear that dress again!

! Use the First Conditional to talk about possible/real situations (if + Present Simple + will(‘ll)/won’t).

If I go to France, I will visit the Louvre.

Third Conditional (for unreal past situations)

Use this form to talk hypothetically about past situations, and imagine different consequences.

If there hadn’t been so much traffic on the motorway, I would have got to the meeting on time.

Form: If + past perfect + would have + past participle

To indicate possibility, rather than certainty, we can use might have/could have instead of would have.

If she had studied harder, she might have passed her exams.

These unreal past situations have unreal past results.

If I had studied Art I would have been happier.

If she hadn’t left work early she might have finished the report.

Would you have been happier if you had stayed in England?

Sometimes the hypothetical past situation has a present result.

If I had finished my university degree, I would be an architect now. (If + Past Perfect + would + verb).

Read the sentences and answer the questions.

If I had stayed at work, I wouldn’t have spent time with Jack when he really needed me.

1 Did Roger stay at work?

2 Did he spend time with Jack?

I wouldn’t have met Nancy if I hadn’t come to France!

3 Did Tunde come to France?

4 Did he meet Nancy?

b Look at the Active grammar box and choose the correct alternative to complete the rule.

Write Third Conditional sentences using the prompts.

I didn’t know Mary was ill.

I didn’t send her any flowers.

If I had known Mary was ill, I would have sent her flowers.

1 Taxis were very expensive.

We didn’t take one.

2 They didn’t ask anyone for directions. They got lost.

3 The weather wasn’t very good. We didn’t enjoy the holiday very much.

4 It was raining. They crashed the car.

5 I didn’t see you when you passed me in the street. I didn’t say ‘hello’.

6 I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t eat lunch.

7 I didn’t know that Eva had to get up early. I didn’t wake her.

8 I didn’t like my History teacher. I gave up History.

Speaking

Draw two large circles in your notebook and label one of them ‘Now’ and the other ‘Ten years ago’. Read the questions and write short answers in the ‘Now’ circle.

1 Where are you living?

2 Who is your closest friend?

3 What do you do?

4 How do you spend your time?

5 Do you spend much time with your family?

6 Are you studying?

7 Do you play any sports?

8 What music do you enjoy?

9 What are your dreams/ambitions?

Change the questions in Ex. to make questions in the past. Write short answers for these questions anywhere in the ‘Ten years ago’ circle.

Show your circles to a partner. Tell them about how much your life has changed in the past ten years. Ask questions to find out as much information as possible.

Discuss.

1 What have been the important turning points (important moments or events which have changed things) in your life?

2 How might your life have changed if these turning points had been different?

3 Do you think you have always made the right decisions?

Writing

Write a paragraph describing an important turning point in your life and the effect this had. Think about what happened before/after the event, and how things might have been different.

Key vocabulary

Expressions with change

change (your) mind/clothes/hairstyle/career/ password change an arrangement/some money/ the subject it’s time for a change makes a change have a change of heart (do something) for a change

Global issues

Developed/developing countries security/crime lifestyle/standard of living famine/starvation war/peace disease/cure problems/solutions the environment/pollution

Life decisions

Choose subjects leave school/home/your country go to university buy/sell a house/flat have a baby/start a family start/change your career start your own business retire/give up work take up/give up a hobby/sport leave a job

Prefixes and suffixes

Overcook underdeveloped dishonest inhuman creation civilization intelligence ignorance movement darkness education employment accommodation treatment punishment importance independence government direction difference