Company structure

LESSON 2

In this Lesson:

· Language Focus:

The Present Simple and the Present Continuous; the Passive Voice (Simple);

· Skills Development

Reading: Company Structure; The Branch Office.

Listening: Four Major Companies; IKEA.

Speaking: Company Structure; Responsibilities.

Business Writing: Formal Letters.

Quiz: Business Letter Vocabulary.

Ex.1. Work in small groups. Agree on three most important factors from those listed below that can make a company successful.

· focusing on how to increase market share

· having a strong company culture

· having user-friendly packaging

· having good designers who also understand production

· responding to the needs of the workforce

· starting with a simple business idea that is easy to understand

& Reading 1

Ex.2. Read the text about company structure and translate into Ukrainian. Retell the text.

Speaking about company structure, we should say that most companies are made up of three groups of people: the shareholders (who provide the capital), the management and the workforce.

At the top of the company hierarchy is the Board of Directors (or the Board) headed by the Chairman/Chairperson (Br. English) or President ( Am. English ) whois the nominal head of the company and does not supervise the day-to-day running of the company. The Board is accountable to the shareholders reporting to them at the annual shareholder’s meeting. The Board is responsible for the policy decisions and strategy. It will appoint a Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is directly responsible for the running of the business. The Board will also appoint the most senior managers/senior executives or company officers who head and are in charge of the various departments within the company.

The number of executive departments may vary, depending on the company and its activity, but some that are found most frequently are:

- Production

- Marketing

- Public Relations

- Finance

- Personnel or Human Resources

- Research and Development or R&D

- Information Technology or IT.

Department heads are called directors or managers, and they are accountable to and supervised by vice-presidents. Departments, in turn, may be subdivided into sections or sectors. For instance, the Marketing Department may have a Market Research sector, a Sales sector, and an Advertising and Promotions sector. The Finance Department may be divided into Financial Management sector and Accounting Sector, with the Chief Accountant at the head of the latter. Directors are assisted or supported by the employees in their departments.

Vocabulary notes:

to be accountable to	· бути підзвітним
to be in charge of	· відповідати за
to be supervised by	· бути під контролем
to be assisted/supported by	· отримувати допомогу/підтримку від
to be responsible for running the company	· відповідати за правління компанією
Board	· правління
R&D (Research and Development) Department	· науково-дослідний відділ
vice-president	· віце-президент

Ex.3. Fill in the blanks with:

to be responsible for, to be accountable to, to be in charge of, to be assisted by.

1. The Managing Director _________ to the Board and __________ for running the company.

2. The Export Sales Department is __________ the Board.

3. The Managing Director ____________ three executive departments.

4. Human Resources Department ____________ personnel, training and management development.

5. Finance Department __________ corporate finance and accounting.

6. Regional Managers __________ day-to-day management of a territory.

Ex.4. Read, translate into Ukrainian and memorize the following hierarchy.

1. The company is headed by the Managing Director (MD).

2. The Sales Director reports to the MD.

3. The Sales Director is accountable to the MD.

4. The Sales Director is supported by a Sales team.

5. The Sales Director is assisted by a Sales Assistant.

Ex.5. Read and translate into Ukrainian.

1. Purchasing Manager buys all the things that the company needs.

2. Sales Director is in charge of the people who sell the products of the company.

3. Sales Manager is responsible for supplying goods to customers.

4. The head of the accounts department is responsible for all the money in the company, handles payments from customers and wages for staff.

5. The person who greets a visitor and tells him or her how to get to the right office is the receptionist.

6. Accountants are the employees who check company's financial affairs.

7. Clerks are the employees responsible for carrying out general office duties, filling in forms and keeping statistics.

8. Administration Manager is in charge of personnel.

Speaking 1: Company Structure

Ex.6. Look at the structure of the company and identify the responsibilities of each position in it.

Responsibility · … is responsible for the day-to-day running of… · … is in charge of the … Department · … heads the … Department

Job · … deals with new customers · … looks after the machinery · … takes care of special accounts · … sees to repairs

Position · Over him there are… · There are … under her · He reports to… · She is accountable to · He is responsible to…

& Reading 2

Ex.7. Read the text ‘The Branch Office’ and say if the following statements are true or false.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-24