Company and Job (1)

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lingua houseInnovation in Learning

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A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

lingua houseInnovation in Learning

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A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Company and jobLesson code: I1TJ-218B-FZZ1-4 INTERMEDIATE

1 Key words

Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right:

1. founder a. a company that is owned by a larger company

2. annual turnover b. a large company that does business in several different countries

3. shareholding c. a part of the ownership of a company

4. subsidiary d. a person who establishes an organisation

5. just-in-time e. goods

6. flagship f. producing only what is needed at a particular time and therefore notwasting money on producing more goods than is necessary

7. merchandise g. the amount of business that a company does in one year

8. multinational corporation h. the most important product, idea, store, etc. that a company owns

2 Describing a company

Listen to a description of the Toyota Motor Corporation and complete the profile below.

Company Toyota Motor Corporation

Headquarters

Founder Kiichiro Toyoda

Year founded

Year of expansion to US

Employees

Subsidiaries

Turnover (2008)

Brands owned Lexus, Scion

Shareholdings Daihatsu Motors, Isuzu Motors and Yamaha Motors

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 1/4Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

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Company and job lingua houseInnovation in Learning

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A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS


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Now listen to a description of Inditex SA and complete the profile:

Company Inditex SA

Headquarters Spain

Founder Amancio Ortega Gaona

Year founded

Employees

Number of stores

Brands owned Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho and Stradivarius

Flagship store

Profit (2007)

Which innovative business practices have allowed Toyota and Inditex to achieve their success?

3 Useful expressions

Study the following expressions used for describing a company. Listen to the recordings again andtick the ones that you hear:

Headquarters...is headquartered in... ...is based in...

History...was founded in/by... ...was established in...

Employees... has a workforce of ... people ... employs ... people

Size... operates ... subsidiaries...has shareholdings in ...... has a ... per cent stake in ......runs ... stores worldwide

Market position...is currently the world’s largest......is one of the largest ... in the world...has a ... per cent market share

Financial results...achieved an annual turnover of... ...made a profit of...

StrategyAn important factor in ...’s success has been ... This is made possible through...


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Study some more expressions for describing a company:

CompetitorsOur main competitors are...

Customers/clientsProducts: Our main customers are/include...Services: Our main clients are/include...

ProductsWe produce/manufacture ...

ServicesWe provide/offer ...

Now describe your company, providing information about head office location, products/services,number of employees, customers/clients, competitors, financial information.

4 Describing your job

Video

Now listen to three employees of an IT distribution company called Xcel Systems describing their jobs.Complete their profiles below.

Anthony Smart Daniel Goldman Susan Clarke

Position: Managing director

Responsibilities:

Enjoys:

Doesn’t enjoy


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5 Useful expressions

Complete the sentences from the recordings:

charge enjoy find job mostpart quite responsibilities responsible what

I’m for cash flow/credit control/managing projects..

I’m in of developing the company’s long-term strategy.

My include recruiting new employees and organising training for company staff..

It’s also my to improve the company’s working conditions.

On the whole, I my work.

What I like about my work is the responsibility, the challenge and of course the salary.

I my work very interesting.

One task I don’t like is chasing money from late payers.

The I don’t really like is the long hours.

I don’t like so much is when I have to deal with a difficult employee.

Work in pairs. Describe your job to your partner using vocabulary from this lesson.

6 Flashcard review

Don’t forget what you learned in this lesson! Go to www.linguahouse.com, click ‘Learning English’ andenter Lesson code: I1TJ-218B-FZZ1-4.


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Company and job - Transcripts lingua houseInnovation in Learning

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2- Describing a company

ToyotaToyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan and is currently theworld’s largest automaker, achieving an annual turnover of over $260 billion in 2008. In 1937,Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda as an independent company dedicated to the production ofautomobiles. In 1957, the automaker exported the first Japanese car to the United States, andestablished American and Brazilian divisions. The company began to expand in the 1960s with anew research and development facility and established a worldwide presence by the 1970s. Today,the company owns the brands Lexus and Scion and has shareholdings in Daihatsu Motors, IsuzuMotors and Yamaha Motors. It operates 522 subsidiaries and has a workforce of over 316,000people. An important factor in Toyota’s success has been its just-in-time production system whichavoids overproduction.


InditexInditex, founded in Spain in 1975, is one of the largest fashion groups in the world and ownswell-known brands such as Zara (it’s flagship store), Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho andStradivarius. The group runs 4270 retail stores worldwide and employs over 79,000 people. Itschairman and founder, Amancio Ortega Gaona, is the richest man in Spain. Inditex designs andmanufactures almost everything by itself and new designs are dispatched twice a week to Zarastores. This is made possible through the innovative use of information technology, whichdrastically decreases the time it takes to get new merchandise from the design stage to the in-storestage. In 2007, Inditex made a profit of e1.25 billion.

4- Describing your job

Anthony SmartMy name’s Anthony Smart. I’m the chief accountant for Xcel Systems. I’m responsible for cashflow, credit control, preparing financial statements, accounting reports and so on. On the whole, Ienjoy my work - I’ve always enjoyed working with numbers. I also like the company culture and thepeople here at Xcel - it’s a very friendly and supportive work environment. One task I don’t quite likeis chasing money from late payers. That can be rather unpleasant sometimes.

Daniel GoldmanMy name’s Daniel Goldman and I’m the managing director of Xcel Systems. I’m responsible for theday-to-day running of the business including managing projects, organising people’s work, dealingwith suppliers and important customers. I’m also in charge of developing the company’s long-termstrategy. What I like most about my work is the responsibility, the challenge and of course thesalary. I also really enjoy motivating and inspiring other people to achieve their goals and developthe company. The part I don’t really like is the long hours. It’s not uncommon for me to spend 12hours in the office, which doesn’t leave me much time for my family. On top of that, my job can getpretty stressful at times, especially when we have problems with our suppliers.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex iReview your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

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Susan ClarkeMy name’s Susan Clarke. I work for Xcel Systems as a human resources manager. Myresponsibilities include recruiting new employees and organising training for company staff. It’salso my job to improve the company’s working conditions. I find my work very interesting mainlybecause I enjoy working with people. It’s also very satisfying to see employees improve anddevelop their skills because of initiatives that I have put into practice. What I don’t like so much iswhen I have to deal with a difficult employee - for example, somebody who is habitually late, takestoo many days off or doesn’t meet deadlines. That can be rather stressful. But luckily, it doesn’thappen too often.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex iiReview your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

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Company and job - Key lingua houseInnovation in Learning

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1- Key words

1. d 2. g 3. c 4. a 5. f 6. h 7. e 8. b


Play the audio files or use your mobile device to scan the QR codes (make sure you have installed a QR codereader app and can access the Internet on your device).

ToyotaHeadquarters: JapanYear founded: 1937Year of expansion to US: 1957Employees: 316,000Subsidiaries: 522Turnover (2008): $260 billion

InditexYear founded: 1975Number of stores: 4270Employees: 79,000Flagship store: ZaraProfit (2007): e1.25 billion

Innovative business practices: Just-in-time production (Toyota) and information technology(Inditex)

3- Useful expressions

...was founded in/by...

...is headquartered in...

... has a workforce of ... people

... employs ... people

... operates ... subsidiaries

...has shareholdings in ...

...runs ... stores worldwide

...is currently the world’s largest...

...is one of the largest ... in the world

...achieved an annual turnover of...

...made a profit of..An important factor in ...’s success has been ...This is made possible through...

4- Describing your job

Play the audio files or use your mobile device to scan the QR codes. Pre-teach difficult vocabulary from therecordings, e.g. credit control, chasing money, challenge, long hours, initiatives.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex iReview your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

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Anthony SmartPosition: chief accountantResponsibilities: cash flow, preparing financial statements, credit controlEnjoys: working with numbers, company culture, people, work environmentDoesn’t enjoy: chasing money from late payersDaniel GoldmanPosition: managing directorResponsibilities: day-to-day running of the business, managing projects, organising work, dealingwith suppliers and important customers, developing the company’s long-term strategyEnjoys: responsibility, challenge, salary, motivating/inspiring peopleDoesn’t enjoy: long hours, stress

Susan ClarkePosition: HR managerResponsibilities: recruiting, organising training, improving company working conditionsEnjoys: working with people, seeing employees improve and develop their skillsDoesn’t enjoy: dealing with difficult employees

5- Useful expressions

responsible charge responsibilities job enjoymost find quite part what

6- Flashcard review

For a state-of-the-art blended learning system, encourage your students to register on our website and review thematerial from this lesson in their spare time using our unique flashcard application, Expemo. The material fromthe worksheet is broken down into specially-designed multimedia flashcards, which are displayed at optimallyscheduled intervals (spaced repetition). Students should try to review their flashcards on a regular basis in orderto remember all the material from your lessons. Visit www.linguahouse.com/expemo.php for more information.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex iiReview your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

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Company and Job (1)