UNIT 3 AND 4

The two important things to take into account when advising businesses is, first of all, help
them understand what does success look like – what are they going to change, how are they
going to measure that change, and how will they know they've been successful? And I think
the second key point is to make sure people are fully engaged in the change, that they feel this
is something they are doing for themselves and not something which is being done to them.

(I = Interviewer, AD = Anne Deering)

I:What are the typical problems that businesses face when they're going through change?

AD: Change is a very difficult PROCESS. There are many problems, but I would say the two,
perhaps most important, ones are, first of all, what we think of as change FATIGUE.
Organisations have often faced wave after wave of change, programme after programme.
Organisations become very CYNICAL about programmes' ability to deliver real change and
change that's SUSTAINED over time, so it can be very hard to bring people along and create
passion, enthusiasm around change when they've seen it again and again. And the second big
area that I see is the ability to get leaders engaged and ALIGNED around the change, so that
leadership speaks with one voice, leadership provides a ROLE model for the organisation, and
very importantly, helps the organisation stay FOCUSED on the change throughout what is
sometimes a long and difficult process.

ANNE DEERING INTERVIEW: B

Head of Transformation Practice at international management consultants AT Kearney

Watch part two of the interview and find expressions in relation to change to replace the
expressions in italics.

QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS

1the complete series of steps involved to make change happen process

2feeling tired when there is too much change fatigue

3not believing in its benefits cynical about

4doing it so that its benefits are continued sustained

5strong positive feelings about it passion and enthusiasm

6getting managers all to feel the same way about it aligned

7providing an example of how to do it role model

8getting people to keep concentrated on it focused

Use the verbs in the box in their correct form to complete the sentences.

In this activity you are graded on capitalization (lowercase and UPPERCASE).

Example: i think james isn't fun. I think James isn't fun.

11/11

100%

upgrade decentralise reassess relocate retrain redevelop relaunch reorganise restructure

update deregulate downsize
Example:

1If our company says it's going to

downsize

, I think that means we're out of a job.

2Could you please Correct answer: updateupdate us on how the project is progressing?

3Lots of companies say they would like to Correct answer: decentralisedecentralise

responsibility and authority.

4Nobody knows what will happen to the company because it has not been Correct answer:
restructuredrestructured since the last recession.

5Our company is about to Correct answer: relocaterelocate its head office to India.

6Owing to political unrest in the north of the country, many companies began to Correct
answer: reassessreassess the risk of doing business there.

7Sales will increase if we Correct answer: relaunchrelaunch the product under a different
name.

8In May, the Chinese government announced its plan to Correct answer: reorganisereorganise
the telecoms sector into three operators, each with wireless and fixed-line services.

9The local council has plans to Correct answer: redevelopredevelop the whole area north of
our headquarters.

10We bought the new software and then realised we would need to Correct answer:
retrainretrain the staff to use it.

11We want to use the money to Correct answer: upgradeupgrade all our computers with more
powerful processors.

12Our government might Correct answer: deregulatederegulate all internal flights to make the
industry more competitive.
ANGUAGE REVIEW A

Past simple or present perfect? Use the correct form of the verbs given in brackets to complete
the conversation.

In this activity you are graded on capitalization (lowercase and UPPERCASE).

Example: i think james isn't fun. I think James isn't fun.

14/14

100%
René:Alex! What a surprise! I (1)

haven't seen

(see) you for months. Last time we (2) Correct answer: metmet (meet), you (3)Correct answer:
werewere(be) about to go to Italy.

Alex:That's right, yeah. I (4) Correct answer: wentwent(go) there to retrain the sales staff at our
main subsidiary.

René:Mm. What was that like?

Alex:Interesting, but tough. I'm not sure I (5) Correct answer: have recoveredhave recovered
(recover) from the experience yet.

René:Really? What (6) Correct answer: happenedhappened (happen)?

Alex:Well, one of the guys in the team (7) Correct answer: rejectedrejected(reject) anything
that (8)Correct answer: lookedlooked(look) like a new idea.

René:I suppose that's what you call 'resistance to change'.

Alex:Yeah, exactly. And now to make things worse he (9) Correct answer: has dropped outhas
dropped out (drop out) of the team.

René:Well, not a big loss, from what you're saying.

Alex:Mm, you're probably right. Anyway. What about you? I've no idea what you (10) Correct
answer: have beenhave been (be) up to.

René:Guess what! I (11) Correct answer: have changedhave changed (change) my job!

Alex:What? You (12) Correct answer: have quithave quit (quit) Klintel? I don't believe you!

René:Yep! I (13) Correct answer: have beenhave been (be) with Orseca since January.

Alex:Oh, I know Orseca. Everyone says it's the place to be.

René:I certainly don't regret my decision. Since I (14) Correct answer: startedstarted (start)
working for them, I feel a lot better. And I (15) Correct answer: have taken uphave taken up
(take up) skydiving!

SURVIVAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

ASKING FOR REPETITION A

Listen to how Speaker B asks for the piece of information that is underlined to be repeated.
Notice how the voice keeps rising from the beginning of the question to the end. Practise
saying the sentences yourself and try to match the intonation.

Play

00:00

-00:35

Mute

Settings

1A:They complained that the work schedule was too tight.

B:I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that. What did you say they complained about?

2A:The interviews will be carried out at our headquarters.

B:Sorry, where will the interviews be carried out, did you say?

3A:The job sounded so interesting that 340 people applied for it.

B:Sorry, I didn't get that. How many people did you say applied for the job?

1A:Out of the five short-listed candidates, Pierre Meyer seems to be the most suitable.

B:Sorry, I Correct answer: didn'tdidn't get that. Who did you say seems to be the most suitable
candidate?

2A:He's worked in Bulgaria for three years.

B:Sorry, how long has he worked in Bulgaria for, Correct answer: diddid you say?

3A:He graduated from Imperial College London.

B:I'm afraid I didn't that. Where did he graduate from?

4A:He's training staff from the ministry of finance.

B:Sorry, I didn't Who did you say he was training?

5A:The project he's working on finishes at the end of August.

B:I'm I didn't quite catch that. When does the project finish?
RICHARD RAWLINSON INTERVIEW: A

Vice-President of the management consultants Booz & Co.

(I = Interviewer, RR = Richard Rawlinson)

I:How do you analyse a company's organisation?

RR:Well, we take a fairly broad view of organisation. We start with the formal structure of lines
and boxes – who reports to who, what their official responsibilities are. But it's mu-, very
important to go beyond that and think first about their decision rights – what does the position
actually have the authority to decide? Who do they need to consult, who do they need to keep
informed, who do they need to have approvals? Third area is information flows. If you want to
understand how a company works, you need to know who knows what, so we look at
communications, information, the sort of data that is provided and who gets it. And then the
final area is the rewards, the performance management – not just who gets bonuses and what
they're based on, but how do you get promoted and how do people get rewarded in all the
other ways that provide incentives in an organisation? We put all those four things together –
the formal organisation, the decision rights, the information flows and the incentives – and we
call that the 'organisational DNA'. So we put a lot of emphasis on understanding that.

Play
 00:00
-01:16
Mute
Settings
Enter fullscreen
Play
 1
Looking at an organisation's formal structure is enough to understand it fully.
True False

 2
Looking at decision rights involves looking at what each manager has the authority to decide.
True False

 3
Looking at these rights also means looking at who is kept informed and who approves the decisions.
True False

 4
Looking at information flows means looking at the way communications, information and data flow
around the organisation, and who has access to them.
True False

 5
Looking at incentives means just looking at bonuses.
True False

 6
Looking at all of the above gives you understanding of a company's DNA.
True False

Play

00:00

-01:16

Mute

Settings

Enter fullscreen
Play

1Looking at an organisation's formal structure is enough to understand it fully.

True

False

2Looking at decision rights involves looking at what each manager has the authority to decide.

True

False

3Looking at these rights also means looking at who is kept informed and who approves the
decisions.

True
False

4Looking at information flows means looking at the way communications, information and data
flow around the organisation, and who has access to them.

True

False

5Looking at incentives means just looking at bonuses.

True

False

6Looking at all of the above gives you understanding of a company's DNA.

True

False