General Education Office

1. General Education Office BUSINESS ENGLISH LA.231/LA.331/LA.3501 Unit 9: Companies

2. Objectives By the end of this class you will be able to… • Use the present continuous tense and present simple • Describe companies and their operations • Use common terms for presentations

3. Company brands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

4. Companies Quiz Work with a partner to answer the following questions: Which company: • Began in 1865 as a forestry and power business? a) Ericsson b) Nokia c) Motorola • Produces the most successful toy in history a) Disney b) Fisher-Price c) Mattel • Has it’s head office in San Francisco a) Levi-Strauss b) Nike c) Calvin Klein • Buys more sugar than any other company in the world? a) Nestle b) Coca-Cola c) Suchard 5 Employs more people than any other company? a) Wal-Mart b) Siemens c) General Motors 6 Has the largest factory in the world? a) Boeing b) Ford c) Sony • Was started by Ray A. Kroc in 1955? a) Burger King b) Kentucky Fried Chicken c) McDonald’s What famous companies come from your country? What do they do or make?

5. Listening • The Unipart Group of Companies (UGC) is a service provider for clients likeVodafone, Jaguar, Airbus and HP. It is one of the largest private companies inthe UK. • A) John M. Neill CBE is Group Chief Executive of UGC. Listen to the first part of the interview and complete these notes about the company’s values. • The company’s values are: • a clear guiding philosophy: to understand the real and perceived _______ of ourcustomers better than anyone else, and __________ them better than anyone else; • a corporate _______ that requires us to deliver outstanding personal customer • ________ to all of our customers; • a very strong _________ which demands that we, as individuals at every level of • the company work very hard to inspire all our stakeholders, to want to have • a lifetime ______ with our company.

6. Listening B) Now listen to the second part of the interview and answer these questions. 1 What was Peter Drucker’s warning? 2 When did UGC build it’s own company university? 3 What is the university’s mission? 4 Why does UGC to help employees reskill themselves?

7. Language Focus Language Focus – Present Continuous Tense We use the present continuous tense to talk about temporary actions and situations that are happening now. The factory is working seven days a week. We are selling in 72 different countries. What is Jackie doing? She is talking to a customer. The present continuous tense is formed with be and – ing form of the verb.

8. Language Focus Language Focus – Present Continuous Tense • Complete these sentences with the present continuous form of the verbs in brackets. • BMW is selling (sell) Minis in China now. • People _________ (work) in the factory 51 weeks a year. • I _________ (call) about a problem. • Many Chinese people _________ (learn) English. • She is _________ (attend) a course on presentations. • He _________ (not work) in the office today. • They _________ (entertain) some foreign guests.

9. Language Focus Language Focus – Present Continuous Tense • Complete the article below about the food group Pret A Manager. • Use the present continuous form of the verbs in the box. • The number of Pret A Manager (PAM) shops _________1 not only in London, but also in other parts of th UK. At present, PAM _________2 its • overseas business, particularly in China. Currently it _________3 its • Advertising material into Chinese. PAM _________4 its winning formula • to Hong Kong and Japan. PAM _________ 5 to open new shops in New York. increase export plan expand translate

10. Describing Companies A) These sentences describe two companies. Autotech and Green Fingers. Choose pairs of sentences which describe similar things and match them with the correct company. John Smith started Autotech in 1960. It has a workforce of 2500. Autotech exports to over 12 countries. It manufactures car parts. It introduces one or two new components each year. 6. It employs about 35 people. • Green Fingers sells some of it’s products abroad. • It makes garden products. • George and James Hawkings began GF in the 1920s • It makes garden products. • It launches 12 new products a year. • Autotech provides components for the car industry. B) Now underline the verbs which mean the same thing in each pair of sentences.

11. Describing Companies C) Use verbs from Exercise A which you underline to complete this company profile. GKS Services GKS Services _______ 1 in 1989 when Dieter Norland left his job as an engineer an the computer industry. The company __________ 2 high-tech security alarmsand __________3 its produces all over the world. It __________ 4 150 people at its factory near Rotterdam, although the company’s head office and __________5 a staff of 20. The company __________ 6 a number of new products each year. GKS Services __________ 7 products to the security industry and __________ 8 domestic alarms for the general public.

12. Reading - Natura • In small groups, discuss these questions. • What kind of products are often described as “natural”? • In your country, what is important for people when they buy cosmetics and things like soap, shampoo or toothpaste? • Nowadays, many companies want to be ‘ethical’ i.e., to behave • in a morally right way. What do you think that means in practice?

13. Reading - Natura • B) Before you read the article, match the words (1-6) to their meaning (a-f).

14. Reading - Natura • C) Look through the article and complete this fact file. • Answer these questions. • Where does Natura sell its products? • What is the company’s target for the next five years? • Where does the company get the ingredients for its products? • What makes Natura an ethical company? • Why did Natura choose France to find out how successful it could expand abroad?

15. Reading - Natura • Match the words (1-5) to the nouns (a-e) to make word partnerships used in the article. • 1 a fast growing a) values • 2 chief b) ingredients • 3 corporate c) lotion • 4 skin-care d) executive • 5 natural e) company

16. Language Focus – Present simple or continuous • Complete the rules with present simpleor present continuous. • We use the __________ to describe permanent situations, one which won’t change. • I work in Paris. • We use the ____________ to describe temporary situations, ones which happen for a short time. • I’mworking in Paris.

17. Language Focus – Present simple or continuous • Underline the present simple or the present continuous form of the verb to complete these sentences. • I stay / am staying at the Ritz every time I’m in New York. I stay / am staying at the Ritz at the moment. • She works / is working at home today. She works / is working at home every day. • She often calls / is calling Russia. At the moment she calls / is calling a customer in Moscow. • I don’t usually deal /dealing with the paperwork. I deal / am dealing with all the paperwork while Susan is away. • It normally takes / is taking about two months. But this delivery takes / is taking longer than usual. • We normally use / are using a London firm. This time, we use / are using a different company.

18. Language Focus – Present simple or continuous • Complete this article with the present simple or the present continuous form of the verbs in brackets. The Inditex group owns1 (own) six fashion chains including Zara. It __________ 2 (have) around 1500 stores worldwide. It __________ 3 (operate) in 44 countries. Inditex __________ 4 (employ) 27000 people and __________ 5 (have) more than 200 fashion designers. Currently, the fashion designers __________6 (work) on next year’s designs. The Inditex group __________ 7(do) very well at the moment, and it __________8 (try) to become a global fashion leader. Amancio Ortega, the founder of Inditex, also __________ 9 (invest) in property and hotels. Most of this year’s investment __________10 (stay) in Spain.

19. Pairwork – Describe your company • Work in pairs. Role play this situation. Student A works at the EBB Bank. • Student B works at the Goldcrest Hotel. Take it in turns to show each • other around your company. Say what happens in each area and what • is happening now. • Use the company information on Page 83 of your text book.

20. Skills – Starting a Presentation • Listen to the start of a presentation. Number these items (a-e) • in the order you hear them. • There are three parts to my presentation. Firstly… • By the end of my presentation you will understand • clearly our future plans. • d) Good afternoon, everyone. My name’s Richard Valdes. • e) I’d like to talk to about our new marketing strategy. • f) Finally the details of the costs.    1   • Listen again. Match the heading (1-4) to the items (a – e) in Exercise A. • 1 Topic of the talk 3 Greeting the audience • 2 Aim 4 Plan of the talk

21. Skills – Starting a Presentation • Useful language • Greeting Plan • Good morning / afternoon. I’m… There are three parts to my presentation. • Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again. My presentation is in three section. • Hi, I’m…. Good to see you all. Firstly,… • Secondly,…. • Topic Aims • My subject today is….. By the end of my presentation, you • I’d like to talk to you about…. Will have a clear idea of… • I’m going to talk about…. By the end of my talk, you will • The subject of my presentation is… understand how / why…..

22. Summary During this class you have… Used the present continuous tense and present simple Described companies and their operations Used common terms for presentations