新剑桥商务英语(高级)习题集规范标准答案

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store?

Filling up the counters and doing stock orders. 5. Steve Moody says that the work of management involves ‘tailoring individuals’ needs and abilities to the operational needs of the store’. Give another word for tailoring. Fitting, matching. 6. Why does M&S also need staff who like to perform all sorts of different tasks? Because it gives them flexibility.

2b Listening

Listen to Part Two of the interview.

INTERVIEWER M&S has a very good reputation for job security and looking after its staff, with things like good perks, good canteen, that sort of thing. Do those things actually motivate people, in their work, the fact that they’re secure and well looked after, do you think?

STEVE MOODY I think it is, it is very important. When people have been working on the sales floor, and they may have been in from eight o’clock in the morning or seven o’clock in the morning, and they can come off the sales floor and they can go to the staff restaurant and obviously they can have tea, coffee, or a drink provided free of charge, and can then buy at very reduced rates a full cooked breakfast, if they want one, or a roll and cheese, in a pleasant environment, in a hygienic environment, food of the highest quality, there’s areas where they can rest and read papers, or play pool or something, yeah, that is very important because they need a break from customers. At busy times, they need to get away from it, they need to be able to relax. In terms of all the health screening programs we’ve got, that is very important, when people know that they will be having medicals, and the staff discount is another thing --- obviously there’s an amount of merchandise that they will buy which they will be able to buy at discounted rates. Christmas bonus, which I give all our general staff a 10% of their salary bonus at Christmas which is guaranteed, and the motivational effect of that, actually, at the busiest time of the year when they’re under the most pressure and working hard, is fantastic and, you know, to see their faces as you hand them the envelope with 10% of their salary in it … I believe the environment that you work in, the quality of the people that you work with, the way you are treated, with respect and dignity, and the fact that your views are listened to, even if they’re not always carried out they are listened to, and you feel you are consulted, that makes people happy in their job, it makes them satisfied in their job, it makes them get up and come to work in the morning.

1. Make a list of five or six factors that Steve Moody says motivate M&S staff. There is a restaurant where staff can get free drinks and good, low-priced meals. There is a place where they can relax during their breaks, read newspapers, play pool, and so on. They have regular medical screenings. There is a staff discount on M&S merchandise. There is a Christmas bonus of 10% of the annual (not monthly salary. Staffs are treated with respect and dignity, and are listened to and consulted. 2. What does he say is the effect of giving staff an annual bonus shortly before Christmas?

It motivates them to work hard during the busiest period of the year (and a period in which they also have extra expenses).

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2c Discussion

1. Does what Steve Moody says coincide with the views of Frederick Herzberg that you read about above? What about the views of Douglas McGregor?

Steve Moody insists that the Christmas bonus, for example, actually motivates staff, whereas Frederick Herzberg argued that good salaries and working conditions merely satisfy. But Moody’s statement that there are people who like a routine, and others who prefer a variety of interesting tasks, coincides with Douglas McGregor’s argument.

2. In your working experience, even if it is only Saturday or temporary summer holiday jobs, have your supervisors seemed to believe Theory X or Theory Y?

2d Case study: Motivation

According to what you have read and heard, how would you attempt to motivate people with the following positions? 1. A bus driver in a big city, who has to work irregular hours, including early morning, evening, and night shifts. 2. a nurse who works with seriously ill children. 3. a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company, who visits hospitals and doctors. 4. a shepherd (as in the cartoon on page 23)

1.Bus drivers probably want enough consecutive days off to compensate for working irregular hours. They might appreciate facilities at the bus depot where they could socialize with colleagues before or after work. 2. Nurses certainly do not do their job for the money. They are probably motivated by seeing their patients get better, and probably appreciate working regularly with the same patients. 3. Sales reps in general seem to be motivated by high commissions. They would also probably be motivated by the knowledge that the products they sell are in fact beneficial. 4. I have no idea how you would motivate a shepherd!

2e Vocabulary

Use the words in the box once each to complete the paragraph below. Notice that the stressed syllable changes in this group of words. Verb Nouns Adjectives produce product; production; productivity productive producer; produce unproductive

A few years ago, Harry Coe’s, a large (1) producer of tinned food (2) products, decided that some of their workers were not (3) productive enough. Much of the work of preparing fruit and vegetables was done on rows of tables rather than on a (4) production line. So they decided to introduce a piecework system, whereby workers got paid according to the amount of work they complete. The company thought that this would motivate previously (5) unproductive workers, and thereby increase (6) productivity. Yet the new pay scheme did not (7) produce the results they expected: after six months they were still processing the same amount of agricultural (8) produce, but there was a lot of dissatisfaction among the workers who were now all earning different amounts of money.

New words in this unit 04

Administration, benefits, cash register, employee, employer, incentive, job security, labour relations, labour union, motivation, pension, perks, produce, productive, reward, sick pay, skilled, store, task, threat, till, unskilled, wages, working

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conditions.

Unit 05 Management and cultural diversity

Despite the growth of global brands, and some degree of convergence of consumer tastes and habits, there remain enormous cultural differences among different countries and continents. This clearly presents a dilemma to multinational corporations: should they attempt to export their management methods to all their subsidiaries, or should they adapt their methods to the local culture in each country or continent? This unit contains a discussion on specific cultural attitudes, and a text that give specific examples of problems faced by multinational companies in different parts of the world.

1a Discussion

Multinational companies can either attempt to use similar management methods in all their foreign subsidiaries, or adapt their methods to the local culture in each country or continent. Which procedure do you think is the most efficient?

It is generally agreed that it is more efficient for multinational companies to adapt their methods to the local cultures in which their subsidiaries are situated

1b Discussion

A Dutch researcher, Fons Trompenaars, and his associates, have asked nearly 15,000 business people in over 50 countries a number of questions which reveal differing cultural beliefs and attitudes to work. Here are five of them, adapted from Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. They concern ways of working, individuals and group, rules and personal friendships, and so on. What are your answers to the questions?

1.If you had to choose, would you say that a company is (a) a system designed to perform functions and tasks in an efficient way, using machines and people, or (b) a group of people whose functioning depends on social relations and the way people work together?

In Trompenaars’ data, as reported in Riding the Waves of Culture, answers to the first question (Is a company a system or a social group?) varied widely within continents, allowing few conclusions to be drawn.

2.What is the main reason for having an organizational structure in a company? (a) So that everyone knows who has authority over whom, or (b) so that everyone knows how functions are allocated and coordinated?

Nearly all countries answered question 2 (Is an organization structure about authority or functions?) by choosing function rather than authority, with scores of between 80 and 100%. Denmark, South Africa and Malaysia, countries with somewhat different cultures, all scored 100%. Venezuela on 44% was the only country below 50%.

3.Will (a) the quality of an individual’s life improve if he or she has as much freedom as possible and the maximum opportunity to develop personally, or (b)

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the quality of life for everyone improve if individuals are continuously taking care of their fellow human beings, even if this limits individual freedom and development?

For question 3 (individual freedom versus taking care of other people), most countries were spread between 50 and 70% for individual freedom. The lowest percentages came from Nepal, Kuwait, Egypt, East Germany and France – again, a varied bunch. The USA and Canada had the top scores for individual freedom – 79%. At last a stereotype appears to be fulfilled!

4.A defect is discovered in a production facility. It was caused by negligence by one of the members of a team. Would you say that (a) the person causing the defect by negligence is the one responsible, or (b) because he or she is working in a team the responsibility should be carried by the whole group?

For question 4 (individual versus group responsibility) most scores for individual responsibility were between 30 and 50%. Indonesia was the most collectivist, with only 13% choosing individual responsibility, and Russia the most individualist, at 68%.

5.Imagine that you are a passenger in a car driven by a close friend who hits and quite seriously injures a pedestrian while driving at least 25 kilometers an hour too fast in town. There are no other witnesses. Your friend’s lawyer says that it will help him a lot if you testify that he was driving within the speed limit. Should your friend expect you to do this?

For question 5 (the car and the pedestrian), most northern European countries, along with Canada and Australia, scored over 90% for thinking that a friend should not expect you to lie. The lowest score here was 26% for South Korea. Russia was on 42%, and Japan on 67%

2a Discussion

What nationalities could the managers below typically be?

According to the text, the illustrated managers would be: a) American; b) Italian; c) Latin, or specifically French; d) and e) Asian or Southern European or Latin American

2c Comprehension

1. How would you explain the concept of ‘glocalizaion’? ‘Glocalization’ means operating all over the world while taking account of local cultural habits, beliefs and principles in each country or market. 2. Why might a 50-year-old Japanese manager be offended it he had to negotiate with or report to a well-educated but inexperienced 30-year-old American? Japanese companies have a policy of prootion by seniority, so a 50-year-old manager should automatically be granted much more status and respect than a 30-year-old one. -*

3. Whyu was the American concept of pay-for-performance unpopular in Italy, and in Asia, in Trompenaars’ example? The Italian salesman did not want to earn more (i.e. show himself to be a better salesman) than his colleagues, or earn as much as hjis boss. The Singaporean and Indonesian managers did not approve of a system that might cause salesmen to encourage customers to buy products they didn’t need. 4. Why do universalists disapprove of particularists, and vice versa? Universalists believe that rules are extremely important, and distrust particularists because they break rules to help their friends, while particularists believe that personal relationships should take precedence, and distrust universalists because they won’t even help a friend.

2d Vocabulary

Find words in the text which mean the following.

1. the use of reasoning rather than emotions or beliefs rationality 2. understanding or knowing without consciously using reason intuition 3. respect, prestige or importance given to someone status 4. having a higher rank because one is older seniority 5. to have hurt feelings because someone is being disrespectful (to be) offended 6. money or something else given in recognition of good work rewards 7. additional money given for better work or increase productivity bonus 8. a feeling of shame and loss of dignity or self-esteem humiliation 9. to give up a job or position to resign 10. according to accepted moral standards ethically