Week 2 : Speaking about your company READING A personal presentation. Let me introduce myself. My name is Fred Smith and I am the Quality Manager, here, at the Birmingham plant. I am 45 years old and I am married with 6 children. My wife is Japanese and we live in the suburbs of Birmingham where we have a lovely cottage. I travel to work every day on the train. As a quality manager, I coordinate the activities required to meet quality standards. This means that I monitor and supervise the quality management system, and produce data about performance, which is measured against set indicators or benchmarks. I work with everyone in the company to make sure the QA (Quality Assurance) system is working well and if necessary give advice for changes and their implementation. I make sure the training, tools and techniques for overall quality are available to all the staff. 1° Crosswords : Find the words from the text corresponding to the definitions

2° Right or wrong : justify with a quote from the text : The man works in a place where they grow plants. Right/ Wrong ___________________________________________________________________________________ He lives outside the centre of town. Right/ Wrong ___________________________________________________________________________________ The family lives in a house. Right/ Wrong ___________________________________________________________________________________ The Quality Manager marks the results on a bench. Right/ Wrong ___________________________________________________________________________________ Only the top management can have the right tools and techniques. Right/ Wrong ___________________________________________________________________________________

3° complete the words : I would like to in___________________ you to my colleague, John Jones. It's important to tr__________________ new employees on work ethics. The HR assistant mo_______________ staff internet use on a daily basis. Project management to______________ can be used to run a project more efficiently. It's important to me_______________ customer needs and expectations. 4° Choose the correct answer : Each member of the workforce is allowed computer ____. a) training b) formation c) stages

Fred Smith has a ____ commute to work : He is a commuter. a) each day b) daily c) dayly

I _______ 28 years old. a) have b) is c) am

Enter valid___ or get GIGO errors (garbage in-garbage out). a) data b) doner c) donnees The___ cost was much more than we had planned for. a) globale b) hole c) overall

LISTENING 1° Listening 1 : Answer the comprehension questions : What was the first thing Bill learnt? a) to wake up punctually b) to go to bed c) to make his bed He also learnt to : a) make a start on his work b) get to work on time c) relate well to his colleagues The aim of the company is to convince young people that their drinks are : a) full of alcohol b) free and chilled c) not dangerous and fashionable

The office is : a) in Japan b) open-plan c) badly organised The marketing strategy is based on the four : a) Ps b)Ds c)Ts The person responsible for the department : a) Bob b) Brenda c) Bill Brenda is : a) reassuring b) always lying c) very frightening What has Bill got left to do ? a) do a drawing b) write a full record of his internship c) shut the door

2° Listening 2 : Listen to the description of the company and fill in the following table 1. type of company 2. location of headquarters 3. number of employees 4. turnover 2010 5. main business activities 6. number of stores overseas 7. flaghip store 8. brand name 9. company values 10. target for 2010-2013

VOCABULARY 1° Types of firms Link the English expression to their French equivalent Sole trader

SARL

Partnership Ordinary partnership/ Limited partnership

SA

Private limited company Private shareholders

société

Public limited company Public shareholders

Entrepreneur individuel

Corporation

Entreprise publique

Society non-profit making organisation

partenariat

Small to medium-sized enterprise

Association 1901

State-owned/nationalised industry

PME

Which type of company do these short forms correspond to ? Ltd (GB)/Inc (US) :______________________________ Corp :_____________________________________ SME :_______________________________________ Plc(GB)/Inc (US) :_____________________________ 2°) Complete this text using the workds listed below : performance-tasks-grievances-aware-overall-skills-assess-duties-delegate-requirements-briefing-link A « manager » could be described as the ___________ between corporate objectives and the hard work of the employees, showing employees how their department and they as individuals are part of the ________ corporate structure. A good manager can assess the _________ and know-how of the people he works with, and therefore assign_________ and responsibilities to the right team member. Managers have to _________ tasks and assign resources, as well as cope with handling_____________ and solving problems in the workplace. Added to this, are the day-to-day report writing, meetings and_____________ other executives. The best managers are_________ that everyone has a role to play within the company and that it is important to work « with » people to encourage and motivate them. Here are some of the key ___________ of a manager :  Explain company policies, procedures and ethics to new employees.  Provide a clear view of the job to be done and _________________ expectations.  Delegate work to others appropriately.  ___________ performance six-monthly or yearly.  Give feedback about the subordinates' performance.  Identify training_____________________ for individual development. 3° Sort out the letters to find one word to replace the definition Definition Recording an entry which has been placed

RROED

NRTEY

Following the state of the order

RTCIGANK

O_____________________ E_____________________ T______________________

A request for information

NRUQIEY

E______________________

A grievance about defects, etc...

MAONITLPC

C______________________

To look after/ deal with

DAENLH

H______________________

Information back from customers

SEUMROTC EABFCDKE

C______________________ F______________________

Read something attentively

ERDA HRGUTHO

R__________ T__________

Keep to a set a rules

PCYLMO ITWH

C___________ W_________

SPEAKING SKILLS 1° Work with a partner and create a company. Remember to include all the key vocabulary in your discussion. Start by saying.... The company was founded in.... Our annual turnover in ….reached.... The headquarters are located in..... There are …. people on the payroll/ we have …. employees Our main customers are / target market is.... The company is divided into ….. different departments. 2° Think of the department you would like to work in most – marketing, sales, accounting..., and present the department. If you have had any work experience you can talk about that. Start by saying.... There are … people in the department … is responsible for …. ... is in charge of the department ….. reports to...... TRANSLATION Je suis d'accord avec votre analyse de la situation financière._________________________________________ Il existe encore des sociétés qui n'ont pas de site internet. ___________________________________________ Tout le monde pense que nous avons un fort potentiel. ______________________________________________ Combien de fois par semaine ont-ils des réunions ? ________________________________________________ Pourquoi ne pas essayer de demander conseil à l'avocat ? ___________________________________________ Où pensez-vous que nous allons trouver un nouveau fournisseur ? ____________________________________ Pensez-vous qu'un audit annuel est nécessaire ? Oui, je le pense. ______________________________________ D'où vient cette nouvelle idée ? ________________________________________________________________ Ce n'est pas très rentable, n'est-ce pas ? __________________________________________________________ Nous devons pouvoir dépasser leur position sur le marché. __________________________________________