UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION INTO BUSINESS ENGLISH
Exercise 1. Explain the following words and make up sentences with
either of them:
1. To mind one’s own business; avoid taking
interest into someone else’s matter .
I know how to deal with my problems. You better mind your own
business.
2. Bad business; anything displeasing
I think he got into some bad business last night.
3. Dirty business; Criminal acts
You don't want to be in a dirty business.
4. Personal business; personal things, personal finance
I am fine with my own business.
5. Business hours; the hours when businesses is open
You can call during business hours for help.
6. Monkey (funny) business; silly act
Do not get involved in monkey business over the internet.
7. Annual business; a year business
I earn enough in that annual business.
8. To be in business; to be involved in business
activities
I need to be in business, I want to earn money.
9. To be out of business; not take part
in different activities
Now I am out of business because I don’t have time.
10. Booming business; the company is doing very well
Since we started business has been booming.
11. To build up business; To increase
something gradually.
I've been putting $50 aside every month in an attempt to build up
my business.
12. Business competition; rivalry among
the companies selling similar products
The business competition is very strong this time.
13. Business-corporation: A business
that is owned by its shareholder
Today corporations are the highest organizational form.
Exercise
2: Choose Three words which you consider the most important ones in any
business from the list below. Explain your answer:
Money- Business – Promotion - Customer - Challenge - Result
- Respect - Profit - Team spirit- prestige
1. Money
The need for money is quite clear to everyone as it has the
capacity to fulfill the different needs. All organizations need money to be
sustainable, and achieve their vision and objectives. So the importance of
money in organizations is quite important as it is used as a motivational tool
for Performance of the Employees.
2. Promotion
Promotion allows businesses to reach out to consumers in the most
effective way. Promotional activities can be carried out using various forms of
media, by applying different marketing strategies to capture customers’
attention. Without promotions, your brand or service would not be able to
garner the attention of the customers.
3. Customer
Without customers, companies cannot exist; the customer is always
the key part of business .A Company exists to serve their customers. If there is
not customer, business does not have money and cannot exist.
Exercise
4. Discuss the following questions:
1. Give definition to the word ‘Business’.
Business is an organized approach to providing customers with the
goods and services they want. The word business also refers to an organization
that provides these goods and services
2. What is the difference between for-profit and non-profit
organizations? Support your answer with relevant examples.
Profit organizations, achieve revenues that exceed the costs of
operating the business such as Mitsubishi Group, General Motors Corporation,
and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. However, Non profit businesses seek to earn enough
to cover their operating costs, such as social service agencies, foundations,
and many hospitals.
3. What is production?
Production includes activities involved in conceptualizing,
designing, and creating products and services.
4. Specify the notion of ‘just-in-time inventory’.
The word inventory refers to the amount of goods a business keeps
available for wholesale or retail.
In just-in-time inventory, the firm
stocks only what it needs for the next day or two.
5. What is marketing?
Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that
consumers need and want and providing those goods and services at the right
price, place, and time.
6. Define such business operation as finance.
Finance involves the management of money. All businesses must have
enough capital on hand to pay their bills. In some cases, they raise long-term
capital by selling ownership in the company. Other common financial activities
include granting, monitoring, and collecting on credit or loans and ensuring
that customers pay bills on time.
7. What does the HRM (eixh AR EM) involve?
(HRM) ensure that business hire and keep good employees, and that
they are able to respond to conflicts between workers and management. HRM
specialists initially determine the number and type of employees that a
business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then
responsible for recruiting new employees to replace those who leave and for
filling newly created positions.
Exercise
8: Match sentences 1-6 in the first box with one of the sentences A-F in the second.
Use the words in italics to help you:
1. Samantha is the assistant manager of a bank and she works from
8.30 to 5.30 every day.
=> E. She is a full time white collar worker in a service
industry
2. Tracy works on the production line of a factory which makes
cars. She uses a machine to spray paint onto the finished car parts.
=> A. She is a semi-skilled blue collar worker in a
manufacturing industry
3. Jane works for herself. She is a photographer. She works every
day for about eight or nine hours.
=> B. She is a self-employed and works full-time. She likes to
describe herself as freelance.
4. Jeanette is a cleaner for a company in Birmingham, but she only
works there for about three or four hours a day.
=> F. She is an unskilled part-time employee.
5. Claire has a powerful job in the personnel office of a large
multinational company. She is responsible for employing new people and getting
rid of those that the company doesn’t want to employ anymore
=> C. She is responsible for hiring and firing
6. Marie works in the finance department of an international
college in Oxford.
=> D. She calculates the wages, salaries, pension contributions
and medical insurance contributions of all the staff
Exercise
9: Now read this essay and complete the gaps with one of the words or expressions
from Exercise 7 and 8. You may need to change the form of some of the words:
‘Some people
live to work, and others work to live. In most cases, this depends on the job they
have and the conditions under which they are employed. In your opinion, what
are the elements that make a job worthwhile?’
In answering this question, I would like to look first at the
elements that combine to make a job undesirable. By avoiding such factors,
potential 1) employees are more likely to find a job that is more
worthwhile, and by doing so, hope to achieve happiness in their work. First of
all, it doesn’t matter if you are an 2) unskilled worker cleaning the
floor, a 3) Semi skilled 4) Blue-collar worker on a production
line in one of the 5) manufacturing industries or a 6) White-collar
worker in a bank, shop or one of the other 7) Service industries: if you
lack 8) job security, with the knowledge that you might lose your job at
any time, you will never feel happy. Everybody would like a 9) Steady job
in which he or she is guaranteed work. Nowadays, however, companies have a high
turnover of staff, 10) Hire new staff and 11) Fire others on a
weekly basis. Such companies are not popular with their workers. The same can
be said of a job in which you are put under a lot of 12) Stress and
worry, a job which is so 13) Demanding that it takes over your life, a
job where you work 14) unsociable and so never get to see your family or
friends, or a physical job in which you do the same thing every day and end up
with the industrial disease that is always in the papers nowadays – 15)
Repetitive strain injury . With all these negative factors, it would be
difficult to believe that there are any elements that make a job worthwhile.
Money is, of course, the prime motivator, and everybody wants a good 16)
Salary .But of course that is not all. The chance of 17) Promotion,
of being given a better position in a company, is a motivating factor.
Likewise, 18) Parks such as a free lunch or a company car, an 19) incentive
scheme to make you work hard such as a regular 20) Increment above
the rate of inflation, 21) Sickness benefit in case you fall ill and a
company 22) Pension scheme so that you have some money when you retire
all combine to make a job worthwhile. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to
find all of these. There is, however, an alternative. Forget the office and the
factory floor and become 23) Self-employed and work for yourself. Your
future may not be secure, but at least you will be happy.
