final best business english the book (2)
TRANSCRIPT
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THE BEST INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS ENGLISH BOOK FOR ALL
COMPANY STAFF. ( 国际商务英语教程企业用书)
A “real business” study course taught in international
academic English.
国际商务英语“实战”课程)
Improve your business knowledge and improve your business English skills.
( 增加商务英语知识，提高商务英语运用技巧)
Student levels. Intermediate and higher.
Teacher and students book. (教师及学生用书)
Author.
Richard Haberkost.
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This book contains.
A “real business” study course taught in international business English.
( 国际商务英语“实战”课程)
This book contains British and American business English combined. ( 英美商务英语知识汇总)
Reading practice.( 阅读练习)
Conversation practice.( 会话练习)
Presentation in English practice.（英语演讲练习）
Role playing in English.( 英语角色扮演)
Question and answers conversation practice.( 对话练习)
Genuine useful business topics for all types of employees.
Contains a selection of “brain buster' business topics (advanced business topics) and standard
business topics. (“自我提升性”的商务课题及实用课题 )
A selection of 100% conversation units. (Last 8units) (英文会话)
The last part of the book contains Negotiation terms and meanings. (谈判条件及意义)
MINI DICTIONARY. Negotiation vocabulary, terms/meanings.（词汇表）
Teacher and students book. (教师及学生用书)
Author.
Richard Haberkost.
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Introduction.
序言 本书是一本商务英语学习教材，涵盖了许多商务类课题，适合中高级水
平者学习。依据本书的内容，教师可以根据学习者的英语水平，选择灵活的
教学方式，因人而异。 书中某些单元简单易学，单词易记，学习者只需要做大量的英语会话、
英文介绍及有意义的问答练习就可轻松掌握。而某些单元称为“脑克星单元
”，包含大量的新词汇，对于学习者来说具有挑战性。可是没有挑战就没有
进步。 本书的目的之一是加深学习者对实用商务课程的理解，另一方面培养学
习者成为知识型和实用型人才，在职场中“脱颖而出”。
商务知识不是某个人的“专属品”，它属于每一个人，代表着专业知识
和逻辑思维。因此，学习本书后，学习者不仅可以丰富自己的专业知识，还
可以提高自身的逻辑思维能力。 本书一是介绍商务知识，二是教授国际商务英语，相关内容源于互联网
非版权课程和编辑者丰富的商务常识和商务英语教学经验。
This book has been carefully designed to present business related topics which are genuinely
useful for business students.
Some of the study units are not so challenging in terms of learning the new vocabulary and in
those study units business students are required to do more practice at English language
conversation and presenting in English, forming meaningful questions and answering questions
meaningfully.
Some of the study units are called “brain buster units” these units will contain a lot of new
vocabulary and are meant to be very “challenging” for the business student. To be challenged
does confirm that the learning process is taking place.
The last eight units in this book are 100% conversation units and will require business students
to carry out extensive conversation practice.
The aim of this study course is to greatly increase the business students understanding of many
useful business related topics and thus enable the business student to “stand out” and be
positively noticed in the workplace as a more knowledgeable and useful employee.
Business knowledge is not a “copyrighted quality” but represents common sense and logical
professional thinking; therefore through studying this business course you will increase your
professional business and logical common sense business knowledge and abilities.
This is firstly a business studies course and secondly it is taught using international business
English language. Reference sources are internet non copyright sources and the authors logical,
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common sense and experience in relation to international business English.
Contents. UNIT ONE. Presentation skills in English. Practice presenting in English.
UNIT TWO. Team building at work. Tips for a successful team and how a team can fail.
UNIT THREE. Team motivation. How to motivate team workers. (Conversation practice).
UNIT FOUR. Key team players. ( Conversation workshop ).
UNIT FIVE. Dealing with stress at work. Understanding stress at work.
UNIT SIX. Accepting constructive criticism and team work. Part One. How to accept constructive advice at
work.
UNIT SEVEN. Giving constructive criticism and team work. Part Two. How to give constructive advice at work.
UNIT EIGHT. Business telephone English. Methods for using business English on the telephone and practice role playing on the telephone.
UNIT NINE. Performance indicators. How a company can measure its performance in the competitive market.
UNIT TEN. Soft Skills at work. ( Brain buster workshop ). The skills which employers require from employees.
UNIT ELEVEN. Time management at work. How to plan your working day at work.
UNIT TWELVE. Hard skills, IQ verses Soft skills EQ. Which is more important for employers?
UNIT THIRTEEN. 100% CONVERSATION REVIEW Of LESSONS. UNITS 1 TO 13.
UNIT FOURTEEN. Equal Opportunities at work. Rules and guidelines for how companies and team workers should behave towards each other.
UNIT FIFTEEN. Corporate hospitality. ( Team work role play ). Entertaining visitors.
UNIT SIXTEEN. Brain buster workshop. Advanced study. Advanced conversation.
Business English interview questions relating to team work and soft skills (interpersonal skills).
UNIT SEVENTEEN. Business Marketing. B2B and B2C. Introduction to the two main concepts of marketing.
UNIT EIGHTEEN. The Management of Change. Business process re-engineering. Introduction into how
companies can change in order to increase staff and production efficiency.
UNIT NINETEEN. Job Interview. Business English Students, role play interview practice. Sample questions for
job interviews in international English.
UNIT TWENTY. Cultural differences and international business. Do cultural differences have an impact on
how to do international business?
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UNIT TWENTY ONE. Problem solving skills for the workplace. All employers require staff to be strong with regards to problem solving skills.
UNIT TWENTY TWO. Interpersonal skills at work. How to improve them. Ten useful suggestions for improving interpersonal skills at work.
UNIT TWENTY THREE. An introduction to business Ethics. ( Brain buster unit ).
UNIT TWENTY FOUR. International business and contract laws. Brain Buster unit.
UNIT TWENTY FIVE. Negotiating in English for business.
UNIT TWENTY SIX. Negotiating in business English, Final agreements.
UNIT TWENTY SEVEN. Sub contractors. Out sourcing and business.
UNIT TWENTY EIGHT. 100% CONVERSATION REVIEW LESSONS. UNITS 14 TO 27.
UNIT TWENTY NINE. E-Commerce Business. Top Ten Do's and Don‘ts
UNIT THIRTY. Anger management and stress in the workplace.
Book note. From UNIT THIRTY. No more word translations.
UNIT THIRTY ONE. Managing a team meeting, methods for successful meetings.
UNIT THIRTY TWO. Making decisions in a business context and avoiding 'Procrastination‖.
100% conversation units.
UNIT THIRTY THREE. Persuasive speech and persuasive discussion methods. 100% conversation
practice.
UNIT THIRTY FOUR. Competition in business and business ethics. 100% conversation practice.
UNIT THIRTY FIVE. How to satisfy dissatisfied or angry customers. 100% conversation.
UNIT THIRTY SIX. A team is failing, what advice should we give to them? 100% conversation.
UNIT THIRTY SEVEN. In my opinion the top five soft skills/interpersonal skills are. 100% conversation.
UNIT THIRTY EIGHT. The problem with stress at work and our everyday lives is. 100% conversation.
UNIT THIRTY NINE. Conversation topics. 100% conversation.
UNIT FOURTY. Real persuasive presentation and conversation topics. 100% conversation.
MINI DICTIONARY. Negotiation terms and meanings. This section can also be used for additional teaching or self study.
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UNIT ONE.
Presentation skills in English.
Introduction (Reading practice).
All presentations have a common objective. People give presentations because they
want to communicate effectively:
Presentation methods can vary from culture to culture, country to country.
A successful presentation is one of the most effective ways of communicating your message. Because English is so widely used in international business, a working knowledge of the vocabulary and techniques used in an English language
presentation is a valuable asset.
K.I.S. = Keep it simple. Try to ensure your presentation is easy to understand, don’t be “over wordy” and don't be “over technical”. If you must use technical, be clear and direct; don't dwell on over wordy or technical language. Any persons
wanting more information can ask questions to you at the end of your presentation.
1. Set the stage; explain what is going to happen. Introduce and inform. For
example, introduce yourself, who you are and what you do. Briefly inform the audience about the topic title, how long the presentation will last, which presentation tools you will use, if they get a break (e.g. coffee break) or if the presentation is “straight through”. Let your audience know that they can ask questions at the end of the presentation.
2. Teach. Introduce and explain your product, idea, and concept? Remember = K.I.S.
3. Convince, persuade, sell. Explain the good points of interest about your product, idea, topic, and concept. This means mention all the good points of interest, if
possible in the case of a “product” give examples to explain why it is better. If you’re talking about an idea or concept give examples of advantages.
4. sell, every presentation sells an idea or concept.
5. Conclude, finish by briefly reviewing your main points.
6. Invite questions. (Consultation). Prior to doing a presentation it is good practice to
try to think and anticipate which types of questions you might be asked.
7. Visual aids. Many types of visual aids exist and every person has their own preference.
8. Build a relationship with your audience, e.g. appropriate humor.
Brainstorm activity. Teacher and students, how many visual aids for presentations can we
think of? Advantages and disadvantages.
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Conversation and comprehension.
In pairs take turns asking each other these questions.
Please explain to me what is the meaning of “set the stage”?
If we “conclude” a presentation what are we doing? Please explain.
What are “visual aids, please tell me some examples?
Why do people do presentations, please explain?
Is being “wordy” in a presentation a good thing? Yes or no and please explain why?
Using too much technical language in a presentation, is this a good thing? Yes or no and please explain why?
When should we invite questions from the audience and why?
Please explain to me the meaning of a “straight through” presentation?
What does K.I.S mean, please explain to me?
Think of a “meaningful” question and ask it to your conversation partner.
Presentation practice. Speaking and listening practice, asking and answering questions.
Business students take turns.
Think of any topic, product idea or concept and do a mini presentation
to the class. When you have finished invite questions from your audience
Audience takes brief notes and prepares at least one question.
Notes for presentation.
1. ______________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________
Notes.
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UNIT TWO.
TEAM BULDING AT WORK.
Two or more people working together using combined skills to achieve a common goal (shared
objective/aim/target/dead line).
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals who can work together to achieve a “shared or
common objective/aim/goal/deadline.
For the team to succeed in a business environment they need the following. The company must provide the resources and environment. Communication, the team must communicate through regular
meetings. Learning support. Team members must be willing to “learn” from other team members and
through in-house company training.
DISCUSS. Which types of skills can we teach to or learn from other team members?
Reasons for Team Building include. (Business teacher and students discuss the following).
Improving communication
Making the workplace more enjoyable
Motivating a team
Getting to know each other
Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting
Teaching the team self-regulation strategies. (e.g. time management, setting goals, effective team
meetings).
Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses)
Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members
Improving team productivity
(10). Practicing effective collaboration with team members
*Business teacher comprehension check*
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Reading, comprehension. Team work can fail if =
There might be times when you may experience failure within your business or team. There are several reasons that
team building may fail. Teams building and team work require planning and intense commitment. Don't be
discouraged if you find team building to be failing in your workplace. There are ways to overcome this setback and go
on to be even stronger than you'd anticipated. Be prepared to do a lot of work and planning. Teams cannot exist
without a reliable plan. Ineffective planning and time management often leads to team failure. Effective planning and
time management work hand in hand when it comes to keeping the team working efficiently. A team without a plan to
work together is not a team. There should be a plan in place to guide everyone as individuals and as a whole team.
Competition between team members will damage your team. Nothing is worse in a team than this. Nobody should be
made to feel that they need to be much better than everyone that they work with. That is not what being a team means.
It's about sharing skills and resources so that a common goal can be reached together, something that could not be
done otherwise. People that bring valuable skills to your team must be shown appreciation so that they do not feel
undervalued. Leaders must be chosen based on their actual abilities. A team must work as a team. Quite often teams
will conduct meetings as a group and then go off to work all week on their own, if that happens, why bother having a
team meeting? Isolated working conditions will rapidly deteriorate your team. Have people work in pairs or small
groups as part of the whole team.
In student pairs take turns asking each other questions. Choose underlined words from the above passage
and ―form‖ questions to your conversation partner. Example = Please explain to me the meaning of = on their own?
Take turns choosing and asking the following questions. First read and discuss the following ten
questions with the business teacher for understanding.
In your own words please describe what ….............................. to me.
1. Improving communication
2. Making the workplace more enjoyable
3. Motivating a team
4. Getting to know each other
5. Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting
6. Teaching the team self-regulation strategies. (E.g. time management, setting goals, effective
team meetings).
7. Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses)
8. Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members
9. Improving team productivity
10. Practicing effective collaboration with team members
Mini Presentation, speaking, listening and answering questions practice.
Prepare a mini presentation on "team work is good because . . . . " present to the class, be ready to
accept and answer questions.
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LATER. Food for thought. Can teamwork help to prevent stress at work? (Discuss).
Unit Two. Words dictionary:
1. tight knit team: some people work together in a team
紧密结合的团队
2. Competent individuals: some people who have abilities to
do sth. 有能力人
3. shared: of a person各自的
4. resource: goods and materials (money, equipments) 物资
5. environment: circumstance that affect people‘s lives 环境
6. communication: talk with each other交流
7. learning support: the source of learning 学习来源
8. in-house: inside of 内部的
9. experience failure: undergo failure 经历失败
10、team building: form a team 团队建立
11、fail: not success 失败
12、planning: arrangement of doing sth规划
13、intense commitment: serious promise 郑重的承诺
14、discouraged: lose heart 灰心的
19、reliable plan: the plan that can be believed
可靠的规划
20、Ineffective: not producing the required effects
无效的
21、time management: the management how to use
the time时间管理
22、a plan in place:
23、competition: activity in which people
compete竞争
24、damage: destroy破坏
25、made to feel: feel by oneself 自我感觉
26、common goal: the same aim共同目标
27、reached together: achieve together共同实现
28、otherwise: if not
29、valuable skills: the skills that be
useful有用的技能
30、shown appreciation: be enjoyable 赏识的
31、undervalued: not valuable 一无是处
32、based on their actual ability: according to their
abilities in work根据工作能力
33、quite often: always 常常
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15、overcome: defeat 克服
16、setback: difficult 挫折
17、go on: continuous 继续
18、anticipate: expect 期望
34、conduct meeting: hold a meeting开会
35、go off: finish结束
36、on their own: by themselves 独自地
37、Isolated working condition: condition of work
by oneself 孤立的工作环境
38、rapidly deteriorate: become worse in quality or
condition 迅速恶化
Student notes.
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UNIT THREE.
Team Motivation. How to motivate team workers.
Team motivation is an important element of team work. Being able to motivate others and being able to accept
being motivated are both very important for successful team work.
The squirrel knows that nuts do not grow during the winter months.
What is his motivation for “squirreling away nuts”?
For example, when we first become hungry, we begin to think about eating. As our hunger increases we take action and seek out food. The need related to hunger increases until we take action to satisfy it. The experts say we are "motivated" by
the need for food? 1. DISCUSSION. How can people be motivated to be successful at work and when working as
part of a team? Think about, money, success, social recognition, reward, supporting a family, career ambitions,
group recognition and acceptance., learning from others, teaching others, sharing skills. Choose one of these “topics”
and explain how you think they motivate a person.
2. QUICK TALKING PRACTICE. Each class member must think of a very strong motivating factor which they
feel “motivates” them. Tell the class about it and explain why?
3. Discuss the Chart below; Look at the chart, take turns and choose a factor and remove it, explain what effect
this would have on a person.
Maslow Herzberg
Basic food, clothing, shelter
Safety personal safety and security
Belonging need for others, affiliation
Ego need for recognition Self-Actualization
personal growth
Biological Needs food, clothing, shelter
Motivator Needs achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth, advancement
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MOTIVATION AND DE-MOTIVATION.
The conversation and learning continues.
DISCUSSION. Below shows a list of ―motivators‖ discuss with your teacher and other
business students the actual meaning of the ―motivators‖ try to think of situations in
which they apply.
Motivators.
Support is Visible and can be felt, 2. Praise and recognition, 3. Enjoyment and success, 4. Training and
sharing skills, 5. Feeling valued 6. Understandable shared objectives/aims, 7. confidence in a team,
DISCUSSION. Below shows a list of ―De - Motivators‖ discuss with your teacher and
other business students the actual meaning of the ―De - Motivators‖ try to think of situations
in which they apply.
De – Motivators.
Confusing and unclear group purpose/aims/targets, 2. Lack of training, 3. Personality
clashes, 4. Team cannot agree together, 5. Lack of support from managers, 6. Not allowed
to make decisions, 7. Bad working environment, 8. Workload too heavy, 9. No praise, 10.
Lack of recognition.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
Presenting in English, the conversation continues.
Business students ―take turns‖ presenting in English.
Tell the class three ―things‖ which motivate you and why and three things which make
you feel de-motivated and why? Use the following introduction.
Three things which motivate me are __1________because 2_______because 3______because……..
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Unit three words dictionary:
team
motivation:
团队动力
element: 要素
shelter: 庇护所
security: 安全
affiliation:
附属、关系
actual:实际的、
真实的
visible:
可见的、能注
意到的
praise: 称赞
1) success: 成功
2) feeling valued:
3) understandable: 可理解的
4) confidence: 信心
5) confusing and unclear group
purpose/aims/target:
混淆而不明确的小组目的、目标、
指标
6) personality clash: 性格不合
7) lack of support: 缺少支持
8) ambition: 抱负、雄心
9) responsibility: 责任
Student notes.
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UNIT FOUR.
Key team players. (Mini conversation workshop) Teacher’s choice.
QUICK DEFINTION. A group of individuals, working together, sharing resources and skills so
that they can achieve a “positive shared result “
Together we can achieve success.
GENERAL PRACTICE AND COMPREHENSION QUESTION AND ANSWERS. = Please
choose a number from 1 to 5 and choose a student and then ask the question.
Are you a team player? Answer = Yes I believe I am a team player because......
………………..
What is your “role” in the team? Answer = I have several roles in my team and they are...
………………..
Which skills do you contribute to the team? Answer = The types of skills which I
contribute to the team are ……………….
In which ways can you support other “team players”? Answer = The ways in which I can
support team players are ………………………….
In which ways can you get support from other “team players”? Answer = I can get help
from other team players through their skills and shared resources for example =
………………………………….
In your opinion, what can cause a team to fail or damage team working?
Why is motivation important for team working?
Tell me one example of something “de-motivating” for a worker in the workplace?
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Reading and discussion.
Team building roles are those helpful duties carried out by members, either consciously or unconsciously,
that tend to build the team's interpersonal relationships, cohesiveness, and spirit. They are vitally needed
roles that play a large part in maintaining team performance over the long term. These roles include.
Tasks and Team Building Student notes.
Team Building - The Six Team Building Roles. Alternative names for team players.
1. Encourager - praises other members' contributions to
the team
2. Harmonizer - mediates differences between other
members
3. Compromiser - offers a compromise during disagreement or conflict by
yielding position or admitting error
4. Gatekeeper -regulates the communication, particularly in meetings, by
encouraging the participation from all team players.
5. Standard Setter - expresses standards for the team regarding its operation
6. Group Observer - observes and reports back to the team on its group
dynamics
*Business teacher class discussion and vocabulary comprehension check*
Take turns speaking to the class, first student completes a sentence and then chooses the next student, the next student chooses a numbered sentence, completes the sentence and chooses next student. Continue this sequence
until every student has spoken.
1. If I were a team compromiser I would be the person who …………………… 2. If I were the team harmonizer I would be the person who …………………… 3. If I were the team standard setter I would be the person who …………………
4. If I were the team encourager I would be the person who ……………………
5. If I were the team gatekeeper I would be the person who …………………….
6. If I were the team group observer I would be the person who ………………..
I would like to say = Tell the class your strongest team work skill. Explain and give an example.
Be ready to accept and answer questions from the class.
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Unit four. Words translation:
1、positive shared result:
积极共享的结果
2、brainstorm: 群策群力
3、consciously: 自觉地
4、unconsciously: 不自觉地
5、cohesiveness: 内聚力
6、encourager: 鼓励者
7、harmonizer: 协调者
8、mediate: 调解
9、compromiser: 和解者
10、compromise: 和解
11、yield: 交出
12、admit: 承认
13、gatekeeper: 管理者
14、standard setter: 标准制定者
15、group observer: 组织评论者
16、group dynamics: 组织力
Student notes. ________________________________________________________________
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UNIT FIVE.
DEALING WITH STRESS AT WORK.
BRAIN BUSTER UNIT.
Stress = a negative ongoing action and feeling for the mind or the body, or both together.
Example. My boss is always complaining and my mind feels stressed when I hear him.
Example. I worked for 12 hours today, my body feels stressed. I love my job but I don‘t want to “die for it‖. Did you know that “stress” can ―kill people ―? *Business teacher comprehension check*
Reading practice.
Work really can kill you, according to a study providing the strongest evidence yet of how on-the-job stress
raises the risk of heart disease by disrupting the body's internal systems.
The results from a long-running study involving more than 10,000 British civil servants also suggest stress-
induced biological changes may play a more direct role than previously thought, said, an epidemiologist at
University College London.
"This is the first large-scale population study looking at the effects of stress measured from everyday working
life on heart disease. One of the problems is people have been skeptical whether work stress really affects a person biologically.
Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death. It is caused by fatty deposits that harden and block
arteries, high blood pressure which damages blood vessels, and other factors.
The researchers measured stress among the civil servants by asking questions about their job demands such as
how much control they had at work, how often they took breaks, and how pressed for time they were during the day.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
The team conducted seven surveys over a 12-year period and found chronically stressed workers -- people
determined to be under severe pressure in the first two of the surveys -- had a 68 percent higher risk of
developing heart disease.
The study showed that the link was strongest among people under 50.
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"This study adds to the evidence that the work stress-coronary heart disease association is ―causal in nature,"
the researchers wrote in the European Heart Journal.
Behavior and biological changes likely explain why stress at work causes heart disease. Stressed workers eat
unhealthy food, smoke, and drink and skip exercise-- all behaviors linked to heart disease.
In the study, stressed workers also had lowered heart rate variability -- a sign of a poorly-functioning weak heart -- and higher-than-normal levels of cortisol, a "stress" hormone that provides a burst of energy for a
fight-or-flight response.
Too much cortisol circulating in the blood stream can damage blood vessels and the heart.
"If you are constantly stressed out these biological stress systems become abnormal.
Source = (Reuters) = Tuesday Jan 22, 2008
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
Conversation and comprehension check.
Pair Work. Discuss these questions with your teacher and use the questions to ask each other questions to check your
understanding about stress at work. You can refer to the article to help you answer questions.
What is the meaning of ―long running study‖?
What type of work do ―civil servants do‖?
If I say, ―Something plays a direct role‖ what do I mean? If biological changes happen to me heart, what might cause that?
What is a ―large scale population study ―?
Tell me a sentence using the word ―skeptical‖.
Tell me an example of a ―job demand ―that might cause ―stress‖.
Is high blood pressure good for health, if not, why?
What does ―chronically stressed‖ mean?
What is cortisol and what can it cause to happen?
Please tell me a sentence using the word ―abnormal‖
Tell me two things which make you feel ―stressed‖?
Tell me two things we can do to avoid stress or reduce stress? *Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
The conversation continues. Mini presentations.
Presentation, listening and question answering practice.
In pairs, prepare a short presentation on the subject of stress and mention a few ideas on the cause of
stress and how to reduce the feeling of stress. When you are finished, Invite questions from your
audience”.
STUDENT NOTES. _______________________________________________________________
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Unit five words dictionary:
1、complain: 抱怨
2、my mind feels
stressed：我的思想有压力
3、my body feels
stressed：我的身体有压力
4、die for it：因此而消极
5、strongest evidence:强有力的证据
6、heart disease:心脏病
7、disrupt :扰乱
8、internal system:内部系统
9、long-running study:长期的研究
10、civil servant:公务员
11、stress-induced biological
change:应力诱发的生物变化
12、direct role:直接作用
13、previous:先前的
14、epidemiologist:流行病学家
15、large-scale:大规模的
16、heart disease:心脏病
17、skeptical:怀疑的
18、biologically:生物学地
19、fatty deposit:脂肪堆积
20、harden:硬化
21、block artery:阻塞
22、blood vessel:血管
23、press for time:时间紧迫
24、conduct:进行
25、chronically:长期地
26、stress-coronary:应力冠状动脉
27、causal:因果关系的
28、skip exercise:跳跃运动
29、lower the heart rate
variability:降低心率变异性
30、cortisol:皮质醇
31、hormone:激素
32、burst:释放、爆发
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UNIT SIX.
Accepting constructive criticism and team work. Part One.
Don't get stressed; constructive criticism is an important part of any job. Sometimes we
need others to tell us if we are not doing something correctly so that we can learn. This action is called
“constructive criticism”.
Team work means sharing skills and knowledge and being willing to learn to be a better worker. Other more
experienced staff can “teach skills and knowledge” to less experienced staff. To be able to teach staff more
knowledge and skills this often means that you need to tell others “which” working actions they need to
improve. This can feel like “criticism” but in fact it is “constructive criticism” and helps a person improve their
working abilities. Usually, people do not like to be criticized but in team work we need to regard helpful
criticism as useful.
1) Accept that you are not perfect. You will make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from
them.
2) Double check your work. After you've finished, and before you submit it to your supervisor or
manager, be sure you've gone over everything carefully.
3) Don't feel stressed. If your co-worker has constructive criticism for you, listen and decide 4. How
best to learn from what they have said to you.
4) Listen carefully. If you ignore constructive critical comments, you will repeat the same mistakes
again in the future.
5) Tell yourself, I can learn from this constructive criticism? When you agree with the criticism, you
become open to learning.
6) Analyze and evaluate what you've heard. You need time to process the critical information, if it's a
valid criticism, decide what you'll do to solve the problem.
7) Don't hold a grudge. Staying angry/upset about criticism can affect your future work. Put the
mistakes out of your mind and focus on doing the best job possible on the next task.
8) Accept the fact that others may see your mistakes but you don't. Even if you don't agree with the
criticism, others may be seeing something that you are not even aware of. Allow for the fact that
others may be right, and use that possibility to improve your skills.
9) Think positive. *Business teacher comprehension check*
Unconstructive criticism = Is when a person speaks critically about your personality or something that is not about helping
you improve your working ability.
Think of an example of unconstructive criticism and tell it to the class. (Listeners, you are
welcome to ask questions).
22
The conversation continues.
Discuss the meaning of the ten questions shown below with your teacher and classmates and then in pairs
practice asking the following questions and giving answers. *Business teacher comprehension check*
(a) Is constructive criticism useful for learning how to improve work skills, if yes can you tell me an
example?
(b) How should a person react when they hear constructive criticism at work?
(c) Which staff at work should be allowed to give constructive criticism?
(d) Do you think too much constructive criticism can give a worker a feeling of “stress”? Why?
(e) Would you give constructive criticism to a team member at work? If yes please tell me an
example? If no, why not?
(f) What is the reason for giving constructive criticism?
(g) What does “unconstructive criticism” mean?
(h) If criticism seems unconstructive, how would you react, what would you say or do?
(i) If you heard a team member (not a manager) giving unconstructive criticism to another team
member, what would you do and why?
(j) If you were giving constructive criticism to a team worker and they started to become angry, what
would you do?
English language presentation practice.
1...Think of a situation in which constructive criticism would be helpful for a team
member and tell the class about it and explain why? After you have spoken, invite people
to ask you a few questions.
OR.
2. Think of a situation in which unconstructive criticism might happen and explain
why? After you have spoken, invite your audience to ask you a few questions.
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UNIT SIX. Word translations.
gender: 性别
race: 种族
sexual orientation：性取向
age: 年龄
disability: 残疾
get stressed: 有压力
constructive
criticism：建设性的批评
sharing skills：分享技能
knowledge:知识
willing: 自愿、愿意
experienced staff:
经验丰富的员工
which: 哪些
working action: 工作方式
improve: 提高
criticism: 批评
in fact: 事实上
perfect: 完美的
double check your
work：再三检查你的工作
submit: 呈递
go over everything carefully:
仔细地检查每一个细节
listen carefully: 用心听、仔细听
open to learn: 主动地去学习
analyze: 分析
evaluate: 评估
process: 提炼
critical information: 重要的信息
valid: 有帮助的
solve the problem: 解决问题
don‘t hold a grudge: 不要记仇
accept the fact: 接受事实
aware of: 意识到
unconstructive criticism:
非建设性的批评
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UNIT SEVEN.
Giving constructive criticism and team work. Part two.
Remember to offer friendly constructive criticism of the person's behavior or
what they've done, not about their "personality traits," or "character."
Here are some methods to help you give team members the constructive criticism they need and want: ( Business students, discuss these methods with your business teacher. )
Take an honest look at your own feelings towards the team player ( member ). If you dislike ( have any negative feelings toward the team member), then you're probably not the best person to offer them constructive advice. ( teacher and student discussion, what to do in such a situation)?
Start and end with a compliment. First say something good to say to your team member; this will help him or her accept your constructive (criticism) advice. At the end of the conversation find something good again to say to your team member. it will help your team member to feel that they aren't a failure.
Your voice tone. The tone level of your voice should sound friendly, supportive, honest and relaxed.
Eye contact is important look at the person you're speaking to; use eye contact in a friendly supportive style. (Note – don’t stare too directly).
Choose the best time and place. Never give constructive criticism in public or in front of other team members.
Do your best to avoid hurting feelings. Use gentle suggestions, do not speak forcefully, and try to give examples to help understanding.
Talk about the behavior not the person. Feedback is not about insulting someone's behavior; it's about telling him or her how to be better.
Use gentle humor if possible. If you can deliver criticism in a light-hear ted friendly manner, it will be received in a much more positive way.
Support your team member. Suggest how you can help. This will also strengthen your positive unity as a team.
Don't keep repeating your constructive criticism. Speak clearly, give examples, be supportive and when you are finished, allow them a chance to ask any questions.
*Business teacher comprehension check*
Note = Giving constructive criticism in a positive helpful style that the person you are talking to will accept, this is a
good tool for building and leading a positive team.
Conversation practice and comprehension questions.
In pairs ask each other the following questions.
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(1) Please describe to me how you feel when you receive constructive criticism and you know you can learn from it?
(2) Do you think people can learn from receiving constructive criticism, please explain your opinion about this?
(3) How would you react? And what would you say if a team worker gave you a feeling of stress by offering too much constructive criticism?
(4) Would you prefer to hear constructive criticism or just continue making the same mistake at work? Please explain.
(5) In your own words, please explain to me the difference (if any?) between constructive criticism and advice?
(6) Listen to the following sentences and tell me which one is correct and explain why?
A = It is OK to criticize another team member about anything including their personality or
character.
B = Constructive criticism should be about helping a team member correct mistakes at work.
ROLE PLAY SCENARIO.
ROLE PLAY DEMO.
(Teacher will choose one business student and they will give a demo role play). Role play topic = (ANY).
Scenario. You are a new team player in a team and the team wants to support and help you improve your skills. The
team has noticed how often you will agree to do some action but then you often delay doing it. Example =
you were asked on Monday afternoon to answer an E mail from a client, the client is complaining because
your company is “too slow at answering E mails”. You were asked to write an E mail to that client and
explain to the client that in future all E mails from them will be answered within 24 hours. Today is
Tuesday ten thirty in the morning, your manager has now received a second E mail from the company and
they are still complaining about your company not answering E mails quickly. *Business teacher comprehension check*
Business students role play = conversation practice and comprehension.
In pairs take turns practicing the role play scenario.
Teacher will monitor and assist business student role playing.
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Unit seven. Words translation:
personality trait: 人格特质
character: 性格
method: 方法
take an honest look at your
own feelings towards the team
player：真诚地对待团队里的
队员
dislike: 不喜欢
start and end with a
compliment:
话前话后都要称赞对方
failure: 失败者
voice tone: 语气语调
voice level：声调
friendly: 友好的
supportive: 鼓励的
honest: 真诚的
relaxed: 轻松的
eye contact is important:
眼神交流是很重要的
use eye contact in a friendly
supportive style:
以一种友好的鼓励的眼神交
流
don‘t stare too directly:
不要一直盯着对方
choose the best time and place:
选择恰当的时间和地点
in public: 在公共场合
team member: 队员
do your best to avoid hurting feeling:
尽量避免伤害感情
gentle suggestion: 温和的建议
forcefully: 强迫性的
feedback: 反馈
insult: 侮辱
behavior: 行为方式
use gentle humor if possible:
尽可能地用温和的幽默
light-hearted friendly manner:
轻松愉快友好的方式
support your team member:
支持你的队员
strengthen: 加强
positive unity: 团结
don‘t keep repeating your constructive
criticism:
不要一直重复你的建议性的批评
scenario: 剧情概要
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UNIT EIGHT?
Business telephone English.
Role play telephone conversation and listening practice.
1. Business English, academic English and none formal everyday English are effective global communication
tools.
Using the telephone for communication can be challenging for non native English speakers because they do not
have visual contact with the other person.
Regional English language accents can cause difficulty for understanding during telephone conversations even for
native English speakers. (Class discussion on regional accents in China and other countries).
Tips for using the telephone.
It is not unreasonable to ask the other person on the telephone to = A. Speak slowly please, I'm having some difficulty understanding what you‘re saying.
B. Speak more clearly please, I'm having some difficulty understanding what your saying.
C. I'm not sure what word you just said, please can you spell it for me.
D. Write notes as you listen to the person, if necessary read back your notes to confirm that you understood what
they said.
E. If possible, tape the telephone conversation and re-play it to ensure you fully understood the conversation.
2. Teacher will select a business student and does an impromptu telephone role play, sitting back to back
NOTE – During DEMO ROLE PLAY TEACHER/STUDENT, other business English students must listen and take
notes to practice listening and read their notes back to the class after the demo role play.
3. Role play practice.
Choice of conversation tools or actions. Cell phones, ordinary office phones or business language students sit back
to back (so they cannot see each other).
Note = Think carefully about the main points you need to cover in each phone conversation. (Teacher and students discuss/brainstorm).
Role play telephone conversation topics.
1. Booking a hotel room for two nights for a single person, cost, how to pay etc.
2. Reserving a table for two people in an expensive restaurant.
3. Booking an air flight ticket. You want to fly from Shanghai to London.
4. Inviting a TV repair person to come to your home and fix your TV.
5. A manager phoning an employee to find out why the employee has not come to
Work today.
Business English teacher will monitor and correct language errors.
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UNIT EIGHT. Words dictionary: 1. academic: 学术性的
2. none formal: 非正式的
3. effective: 有效的
4. global: 全球的
5. communication tool: 交流工
6. challenge: 挑战
7. non native English speaker:
非英语母语者
8. visual: 视觉的
9. contact: 交流
10. regional: 地方性
11. accent: 口音
12、unreasonable: 不合理的
13、speak more clearly please: 请说清楚一点
14、read back: 读出…以供校验
15、tape the telephone conversation:
录下电话对话
16、re-play: 重放
17、select: 挑选
18、impromptu: 即兴的、即席的
19、back-to-back: 背靠背
20、demo: 示范、实例
21、brainstorm: 集体讨论
22、book: 预订（verb）
23、reserve: 预订或保留
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UNIT NINE.
Performance Indicators.
Quick definition = A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a measure of
performance , such measures are commonly used to help an organization define and evaluate how successful it is,
typically in terms of making progress towards its long-term organizational goals.
1. Key Performance Indicators in practical terms and strategy development means are objectives to be targeted and
measured that will add the value to the business
Source = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_indicator
2. The KPIs are defined as part of a hierarchical decision-making process; in everyday English this means the company
can see how well it is performing at all key (important) levels.
3. KPI = Smart criteria = this means the performance measuring has a Specific purpose for the business, the aim can be
achievable and the performance measuring lasting for a set amount of time e.g. a budget year.
4. We set performance measuring indicators against actions or services to see how effective those actions or services are.
Understanding how KPIs work. An easy to follow example is to imagine a school requires 95 percent of its students to
pass the yearly history exam. But only 70 percent of students are actually passing history exams.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
The following A to H needs to be measured for performance.
A = the school has been measuring the amount of history hours taught per week. (Are the hours enough?).
B = the amount of students which attend each class, (the classes might contain too many students).
C = the types of books used for teaching history. (Expensive quality books or cheap books etc,
Note = the school budget currently allows for purchasing medium priced books).
D = Lessons hours taught by recently qualified history teachers and lesson hours taught by long term experienced history
teachers.
E = How often teachers are absent from teaching history due to sickness, national holidays etc.
F = How often students are absent from history classes due to sickness, national holidays etc.
G = How often is home work given?
H = How often are ―mock exams‖ given?
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
3. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK. Teacher and student conversation practice and comprehension check.
In your “study pairs” present and give your opinion on one method for measuring on one of the points shown in A
to H.
Categorization of indicators
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Quantitative indicators which can be presented as a number.
Practical indicators that interface with existing company processes. Web sites.
Directional indicators specifying whether an organization is getting better or not.
Actionable indicators are sufficiently in an organization's control to effect change.
Financial indicators
Source (not copyright) = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_indicator
Student Advice. Performance indicators, methods etc represents a huge topic and you are advised to do further
reading.
Presenting in English.
Working in pairs, you are business consultants. You have been asked to suggest three types or performance
monitoring for a telesales company, you need to consider the following points and then decide which key activity
areas should be monitored for performance and for how much time? 3 months, 6 months or ………..?
It‘s a wrong number, that‘s another potential sale lost.
Points to consider, how long do sales staff talk on the telephone? how many calls do they make each day?, how
many “leads” are they given each day? Which reasons do potential customers give for not buying e.g. too expensive? Is the company making calls to potential clients during working hours to home phone numbers when
those people are not at home but actually at work? Do the staff get ongoing sales training?, is the marketing
department using good marketing methods to attract customer interest, for example, sending out e mails, advertising in magazines, on T.V, giving out leaflets on the street, are they phoning ― wrong numbers‖? What
methods are they using and could these be performance measured? E.G. web site, how many visitors each day?
Can you think of any other activities that could be monitored for performance?
You can start your presentation this way.
We would advise the telesales company to use performance indicators for ……………..
………………..because…………………………….
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Unit nine words dictionary: indicator: 指标
measure:
标准、尺度;
（verb）测量
evaluate: 评估
key performance
indicator:
关键绩效指标
strategy:
管理、政策
objective: 目标
target: 瞄准
hierarchical:
按等级划分的
hierarchical
decision-making
process:
分层决策过程
key(important)
level: 关键水平
specific purpose:
特定的目的
a set amount of
time: 固定的时间
budget year: 预算年
history: 历史
consider: 思考、考虑
discuss: 讨论
categorization: 类别
quantitative indicator: 数量指标
practical indicator: 实际指标
directional indicator: 定向指标
actionable indicator: 行为指标
financial indicator: 财政指标
leads: 角色
leaflet: 传单
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UNIT TEN.
SOFT SKILLS AT WORK. BRAIN BUSTER UNIT.
Top soft skills.
There are about 60 + plus "soft skills", which employers can seek. They are applicable to different fields of work. We will
look at "personal traits and skills that employers say are important when selecting employees for jobs of any type.
Soft skills play a vital role for professional success; they help an employee to perform well in the workplace and their importance cannot be ignored. Good soft skills -- which are in fact scarce -- in the highly competitive corporate world,
will help you be noticed among job seekers and promotion seekers. If you have good soft skills, you will be noticed by
an employer.
The most common traits, mentioned by virtually every employer, are: = Positive work ethic. ~ Good attitude. Desire to
learn and be trained. (Teacher and students discussion teach and confirm comprehension).
Conversation and comprehension = Look at the list of soft skills. We will discuss the underlined skills. The skills
which are not underlined can be studied in your free study time; you can use dictionaries and internet research to make sure
you understand the meanings.
1. Math. 2.Safety. 3. Courtesy. 4. Honesty. 5.Grammar. 6.Reliability. 7.Flexibility. 8.Team skills. 9. Eye
contact. 10.Cooperation. 11.Adaptability. 12. Follow rules. 13. Self-directed. 14 Good attitudes. 15.
Writing skills. 16. Driver's license. 17.Dependability. 18.Advanced math. 19. Self-supervising. 20.Good
references. 21.Being drug free. 22.Good attendance. 23.Personal energy. 24.Work experience. 25. Ability to
measure. 26. Personal integrity. 27.Good work history. 28.Positive work ethic. 29. Interpersonal skills. 30.
Motivational skills. 31.Valuing education. 32.Personal chemistry. 33.Willingness to learn. 34.Common
sense. 35.Critical thinking skills. 36.Knowledge of fractions. 37.Reporting to work on time. 38.Use of rulers
and calculators. 39.Good personal appearance. 40.Wanting to do a good job. 41.Basic spelling and grammar.
42.Reading and comprehension. 43.Ability to follow regulations. 44.Willingness to be accountable. 45.
Ability to fill out a job application. 46.Ability to make production quotas. 47.Basic manufacturing skills training.
48.Awareness of how business works. 49. Staying on the job until it is finished. 50.Ability to read and
follow instructions. 51.Willingness to work second and third shifts. 52.Caring about seeing the company
succeed. 53.Understanding what the world is all about. 54.Ability to listen and document what you have
heard. 55.Commitment to continued training and learning. 56.Willingness to take instruction and
responsibility. 57.Ability to relate to coworkers in a close environment. 58.Not expecting to become a
supervisor in the first six months. 59.Willingness to be a good worker and go beyond the traditional eight-hour
day. 60. Communication skills fellow employees, supervisors, and customers. 61.Motivation towards
others and self motivation. 62.Empathy. 63. Problem solver. 64. Ability to give constructive criticism without
causing stress or upset to others. 65. Ability to accept constructive criticism.
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The conversation continues. You might not fully understand all the top soft skills yet? Work with a
partner and discuss the one‘s which you do understand. Don‘t forget to do homework and research on the other
listed soft skills which you do not yet fully understand. Note- Use the internet for your research.
In pairs, take turns selecting and asking each other questions from the list of the underlined soft
skills. Use these example sentence structures to form questions.
Why is willingness to be a good worker and go beyond the traditional eight-hour day considered a good soft skill?
Understanding what the world is all about. Why this is a good soft skill?
Staying on the job until it is finished. Is this a good soft skill? Why?
Driving license, a soft skill? Why? (Think about which type of job).
Why motivational skills are considered a good soft skill?
Do you think Not expecting to become a supervisor in the first six months is a good soft skill? Why are team skills considered to be good soft skills?
Caring about seeing the company succeed. Why is this a good soft skill?
How do you feel about Personal chemistry? Is it a good soft skill? Why?
Cooperation is important as a soft skill. Why?
Why is self motivation important?
Why is the ability or skill to motivate others important?
Why is ―empathy‖ important?
Which is more important for employers ―a qualification‖ or soft skills? (Interpersonal skills).
In your own words, describe what you think is wrong with the man in the picture above?
Be creative, make up a story about him.
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Unit ten. Words translation:
1、applicable: 可适用、用于
2、field of work: 工作领域
3、personal trait: 个人特质
4、select: 选拔、挑选
5、vital: 重要的
6、role:角色
7、scarce: 难以获得的
8、corporate: 公司的
9、virtually: 几乎、实际上
10、courtesy: 礼貌、客气
11、eye contact: 眼神交流
12、adaptability: 适应性、适应力
13、follow rule: 服从规定
14、self-supervising: 自我监督
15、personal integrity: 操守
16、interpersonal skill: 人际技巧
17、willingness to learn: 学习欲望
18、common sense: 常识
19、Critical thinking skill: 批判性思维技能
20、accountable: 负责
21、commitment: 承诺
22、supervisor: 监督者
23、highlight: 强调
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Reading for practice. SOFT SKILLS.
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive
advantage, they also need to make sure their people
know how to handle themselves at work and how to
relate with their customers and peers. From showing
empathy and optimism to extreme self-awareness to
knowing what's going on around them, these vital
competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of
Emotional Intelligence (EI).
These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills,
revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The
western civilization and our traditional management
theories tend to lead us in the direction of
individualistic promotion. They display our strengths
rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These
ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership
mentality that they can be challenging to break.
We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give you good
grades once you know XYZ, but he or she will not
increase your grade for being able to deal with a
difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that you or
your employees receive deal more with the use of soft
skills to resolve the complaint.
You can read the above article for reading comprehension practice and use the right side of the page to
make any notes ―of interest‖.
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UNIT ELEVEN.
TIME MANAGEMENT AT WORK.
Time management skills are your abilities to recognize and solve personal time management problems at work.
READING COMPREHENSION.
(1) Time tracking with a time log is much more than a boring exercise in book keeping. If you approach it right, it will
become a very effective time management learning tool. A few minutes of writing and analyzing your time and activity logs will eliminate many hours of wasted time. How many different tasks do you do each day at work? In
which order should the tasks be done, are some of the tasks high priority, medium priority or low priority? Should
you create a daily work list in order of priority? If you plan your working day can this reduce stress and pressure at
work?
(2) You can reduce stress by itemizing and prioritizing tasks and giving them a place in your work and home life.
(3) Many methods exist for using time management techniques to prioritize tasks or duties at work or in everyday life.
(4) For example = Keeping a daily dairy. Write down in a dairy for five days, each task you do and how long it takes
to do, make a note of any time consuming distractions and how long those distractions last. The theory is that by doing this you learn to understand the way in which your time is used positively and which actions or distractions
use up your time in a negative way. After keeping the dairy for a five day working week you can then move to step
two. Create a daily work schedule each day when you arrive at work.
(5) Writing a self time management schedule/plan gives you a time management direction for the working day.
(6) *Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
(7) Daily work planner. Each day when you arrive at work, relax for five or ten minutes and create your daily
―anticipated‖ work schedule. This is not a perfect system but can give you a reasonable amount of possible control
over your planned working day. This system does not anticipate unexpected emergencies or problems at work. The
idea is that at the start of the working day you can prioritize your known daily duties
(8) A = high priority. B = Medium Priority. C = Low priority. (Discuss with your teacher and other business students).
Conclusion about time management.
Time management is about more than just managing our time at work or in our everyday lives.
It is about setting priorities to make us more effective at work and in our daily lives. It means
changing our habits or activities that cause us to waste time. It means being willing to try different
methods and ideas to enable you to find the best way to make maximum use of time.
37
Brainstorm activity with the business English teacher and students. Think of typical tasks at work and
discuss what level priority tasks they are.
HIGH PRIORITY. MEDIUM PRIORITY. LOW PRIORITY.
Conversation and comprehension.
Practice asking and answering the following questions about “time management at work”.
Why is ―time tracking‖ with a ―time log‖ useful for time management at work?
How can ―time management‖ reduce ―stress‖, please explain?
What can a worker learn through creating a ―daily dairy‖ please explain?
Please explain the meaning of ―time consuming distractions‖?
Why is ―writing a self time management schedule/plan‖ plan helpful for an employee?
What should an employee do when they create a daily work schedule?
MINI PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATION PRACTICE.
Take turns and give your opinion in your own words about the following =
Time management at work is important because …...........................
When you have finished speaking, invite questions.
Student notes. _________________________________________________________________________
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Unit eleven. Words dictionary:
pronunciation: 发音
listening: 听力
take turn: 轮流
meaning: 意思
time tracking with a time log:
时间跟踪
effective: 有效的
analyze: 分析
activity logs: 活动日志
eliminate: 清除、消除
10、high priority: 高度重视
11、medium priority: 一般重视
12、low priority: 不重视
13、plan your working day:
安排你的工作日
14、reduce stress and pressure at
work: 减少工作上的压力和压迫感
15、reduce stress: 减压
16、itemize: 排列
17、prioritize: 优化
18、time management technique:
时间管理技巧
19、at work: 在工作上
20、everyday life: 日常生活
21、keep a daily dairy: 记日记
22、consume: 消耗
23、distraction: 心烦意乱
24、positively: 积极地
25、use up：用尽、耗尽
26、time management direction for the
working day: 工作日时间安排指南
27、daily work planner: 每日工作计划
28、anticipated: 期望的
29、emergency: 紧急事件、情况
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UNIT TWELVE.
Hard skills, IQ verses Soft skills EQ.
*HARD SKILLS. IQ. Skills in technical subjects used to be considered most important. This means your
―direct qualification‖. Example, an engineer will have a university qualification in ―engineering‖. He or she
can prove they have a qualified ―hard skill‖ but are they a ―team player‖?
It is good to have a high IQ and a high IQ can be used to assess a persons potential with regards to a “qualified
ability”. However employers now place equal or at times more importance on EQ.
A new thinking has taken hold in the world of business and working.
*SOFT SKILLS. EQ. Can he or she work well with other people? Do they possess other useful skills
which can be useful for the employer and other employees?
SOFT SKILLS include. The personality or characteristics that you use when working with other people.
Soft skills means people working together as happy, positive and productive team players.
(a) What is IQ? IQ = Intelligence Quotient IQ is a measure of intelligence determined by a standardized test. Most people
have an IQ between 85 and 115.
(b) What is EQ? EQ (Psychology) emotional quotient, a measure of a person's adequacy in such areas as self-
awareness, empathy, and dealing sensitively with other people.
(c) An employee can have a high IQ level, but does this mean they can produce good people skills and does he or
she have acceptable ―soft skills‖?
(d) Some managers used to (and perhaps some still do) act in an authoritarian manner towards workers, rather
then discuss or politely motivate workers, they would often just dictate or order workers. Such managers
felt that they were qualified and therefore, their wishes and actions were “beyond question”? They felt no
need to ―exercise ―people skills or soft skills, as a qualified employee they expected to be respected and to
be placed in positions of management.
(e) Companies are placing more importance on “soft skills‖ extra skills and the ability to interact positively with
other staff, to be supportive, enable staff, and encourage team work and the ability to use empathy. Soft skills
include people skills, the ability to work positively with other people. Soft skills can also be additional
skills which are helpful for the company, e.g. Driving license.
40
Soft skills
Soft skills certainly involve a person having ―social working skills‖ which enable him or her to
work positively with other team members and to perform effectively as a company employee. Here are
just a few examples.
Motivation. The skill to be able to motivate a single worker or a team of workers and to also be ―self motivated‖.
Example, my manager is good at motivating me to feel ―positive‖ about my ―tasks‖ at work. He knows how to say the
right words to make me ―feel good‖.
Courtesy. To be polite, respectful and helpful to others.
Empathy. If another person feels ―depressed or unhappy‖, ―unsupported or under valued‖ ―can you ―put yourself in their
position‖ and really imagine and understand how they are feeling?
Constructive criticism. Ability to give positive constructive criticism and the ability to accept positive constructive
criticism.
Supportive. The ability to be supportive to other team players, guide, teach, assist, learn from etc.
Problem solver and logical.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
TALKING TIME. MINI PRESENTATIONS.
Working in ―pairs‖. Prepare a ―mini presentation‖ on = “Soft skills are important because”
The key points for your mini presentation are ―empathy”, (try to give an example of using empathy) is
good and how courtesy (try to give an example of using courtesy) and any other soft skills you choose to mention.
Be ready to answer questions from other business language learners after you finish speaking.
41
THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES. TEAM WORK AND SOFT SKILLS.
You must create 3 interview questions related to soft skills and then ask them to your study
partner.
Use the lines below to write down your questions.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________
Unit twelve. Words dictionary:
hard skill: 硬技能
technical subject: 技术科目
direct qualification: 直接资格
take hold:提出
soft skill: 软技能
authoritarian manner: 独裁方式
motivate: 激发
dictate: 指使
beyond question:
毫无疑问的，不用质疑的
10、additional: 附加的、外加的
11、Intelligence Quotient: 智商
12、measure: 量度
13、majority: 大多数的
14、interact: 相互合作
15、empathy: 心灵相通、移情
16、qualified ability: 资格能力
17、EQ(emotional quotient): 情商
18、Abbreviation for: 缩写
19、adequacy: 满意度
20、self-awareness: 自我意识
21、sensitively: 敏感地、神经质地
22、characteristic: 与众不同的特征
23、motivation: 激励、动力
24、courtesy: 礼貌、客气
25、mathematics: 数学
26、key point: 重点
Student notes. _________________________________________________
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UNIT THIRTEEN.
100% Conversational review of units studied so far. Units 1 to 13.
Business students will “take turns to “present in English”
So far you have completed studying 13 useful business topics. For this review unit you are required to
choose one of the units and give a reasonably but not “to wordy” short presentation on the unit subject.
When you have finished you will be asked to invite questions from the class. A minimum of five questions
must be put to you. You can select students from the audience to ask you a question.
Note = If the class has a small number of business students you will have the chance to present on two business
topics.
UNIT ONE. Presentation skills in English.
Practice presenting in English.
UNIT TWO. Team work. Key team members and how they work within a team.
UNIT THREE. Team motivation. How to motivate team workers.
UNIT FOUR. Key team players. ( Conversation workshop ).
UNIT FIVE. Dealing with stress at work. Understanding stress at work.
UNIT SIX. Accepting constructive criticism and team work. Part One. How to accept constructive advice at work.
UNIT SEVEN. Giving constructive criticism and team work. Part Two. How to give constructive advice at work.
UNIT EIGHT. Business telephone English. Methods for using business English on the telephone and practice
role playing on the telephone.
UNIT NINE. Performance indicators. How a company can measure its performance in the competitive market.
UNIT TEN. Soft Skills at work. ( Brain buster workshop ). The skills which employers require from employees.
UNIT ELEVEN. Time management at work. How to plan your working day at work.
UNIT TWELVE. Hard skills, IQ verses Soft skills EQ. Which is more important for employers?
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UNIT FOURTEEN.
Equal Opportunities at work.
It is unlawful in many countries and only unfair in some countries to discriminate, or treat unfairly,
somebody because of their gender, race, sexual orientation, age or disability.
We are all equal regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, age or disability.
1. An effectively implemented Equal Opportunities Policy can help employers:
Provide an environment conducive to the promotion of fair and equal opportunities to all staff
Avoid unlawful or unfair discrimination
Improve employment practices and staff morale
Ensure fair treatment for all job applicants and existing members of staff
Ensure fair treatment for all others with whom we have contact e.g. contractors and customers
Attract, develop and retain the good quality staff who are essential for achievement of our business objectives
Make the best possible use of our existing and potential workforce
Business teacher and class, discuss the meaning of the above sentences.
2. Equal opportunities in England. Equal opportunities impose rights and responsibilities for every member of staff. Everyone has a right to fair and
dignified treatment. This means that no-one will be discriminated against nor harassed. Every member of staff has an
obligation to ensure fair and dignified treatment. The contribution of everyone will be valued and everyone will be
treated fairly. Everyone must act fairly.
Colour
Ethnic or national origin, race
Nationality.
Sex / Gender
Transgender
Sexual orientation
Marital status
Disability
Age
Religion or religious affiliation / Beliefs in unconventional. Part-time working
Trade union membership and duties.
Teacher and students discuss the meaning of the topic list; students try to give scenario examples.
44
Conversation and comprehension.
In pairs, practice asking and answering the following ten questions.
1. Is it OK to discriminate against older people in the workplace, Yes or no, explains why?
2. Is it OK to discriminate against younger job applicants, Yes or no, explain why?
3. Should disabled people be treated equally at work by non disabled staff? Yes or no, explain
why?
4. should different race employees treat and respect each other equally, why yes or no?
5. If your co-worker disliked you because of your skin colour, how would you feel and what actions
would you do?
6. If you were refused promotion at work because you are married, what would you say to your
manager?
7. You failed to get a job at a job interview. They told you that you are too fat to work for them. Is
this discrimination? Explain your thoughts about this.
8. A big international company has 27 male managers and two female managers, do you think any
type of discrimination is happening? If yes what type of discrimination and what actions do you
feel the company should do in future?
9. A potential employer refused to accept your job application, they told you that you are too old.
What actions and response to that company do you think you should take?
10. You work with a colleague who is disabled and has to use a wheelchair, he was promoted
recently and you were refused promotion. Your manager said your promotion was refused because
the company said it wanted to show it is willing to promote disabled people into management jobs.
11. How would you feel and what actions do you think you should take in response to this
situation?
English language presentation practice.
With a student partner, does a short shared presentation about equal opportunities in the working
environment, each business student should speak for one minute only.
Consider the following; is equal opportunities a good thing? Could it be misunderstood and cause any
problems?
When you have finished presenting, invite questions from your audience.
45
UNIT FOURTEEN. Words dictionary:
1、Equal Opportunity：平等的机会
2、unlawful：非法的
3、unfair：不公平的
4、discriminate: 区别、鉴别
5、unfairly：不公平地
6、gender：性别
7、race：种族
8、sexual orientation：性取向
9、disability：残疾
10、regardless：不理会
11、effectively：有效地
12、implemented：实施
13、Policy：政策
14、Provide：提供
15、conducive：有利的
16、Avoid：避免
17、employment practices：就业的方法
18、staff morale：员工的精神状态
19、Ensure：确定
20、existing：令人兴奋的
21、whom：他们
22、contractors：承包商
23、Attract：吸引
24、develop：发展、培养
25、retain：保留
26、quality：质量、素质
27、essential：必不可少的
28、achievement：成功
29、business objectives：业务目标
31、potential workforce：潜在的劳动力
32、impose：授予
33、rights：权利
34、responsibilities：责任
35、fair：公平的
36、dignified：有尊严的
37、treatment：对待
38、nor：或者
39、harassed：骚扰
40、member：成员
41、obligation：义务
42、ensure：确保
44、contribution：贡献
45、everyone：每个人
46、valued：有价值的
47、treated：对待
49、act：尽职
51、Ethnic：民族
52、Nationality：国籍
53、Transgender：变性
54、Marital status：婚姻状况
55、Religion：信仰、宗教
56、religious：宗教的
57、affiliation / Belief：信仰、信念
58、Part-time working：兼职工作
59、Trade union membership：工会会员
61、workplace：职场
62、applicant：申请人
63、treated equally：公平地对待
64、non disabled：非残疾人士
65、treat and respect each other
equally：互相公平地对待和尊重
66、dislike：不喜欢、讨厌
67、refuse：拒绝、回绝
68、promotion：晋级、提升
69、thought：想法、看法
70、international：国际的
71、happen：发生
72、action：行为
73、potential：有潜力的
74、response：回应、回复
75、colleague：同事
76、wheelchair：轮椅
77、promote recently：最近晋级了
78、refuse promotion：拒绝提升
79、willing：愿意
81、situation：情况、状况
82、shared：分享的
83、environment：环境
84、consider：考虑
85、following：如下、下列
86、misunderstand：误解
87、cause：导致
88、problem：问题
89、finish：完成
90、present：讨论
91、invite：征求
92、audience：听众
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UNIT FIFTEEN. CORPORATE HOSPITALITY.
Team Work Role Play.
Corporate hospitality.
Definition corporate hospitality = any event for the benefit of an organization entertaining clients or staff,
or prospective clients, at the organization’s expense”.
The company will receive a mixed group of visiting business people. These business visitors will be visiting
for two days. Two German business men. 2 One Spanish business lady. 3. Three business men from Saudi Arabia.
Note = all of these business visitors can use “international business English” for professional
communication.
They are visiting because they are “interested” in the new satellite phone which your company has been
marketing for production and imminent release onto the global market. *Business teacher comprehension check*
The company CEO has an interest in introducing team work to decide methods for corporate hospitality.
He has asked a staff member from each department to suggest an idea on how to entertain the visiting business
people in the evenings and show the company factory to them in the daytime. The CEO will choose the best ideas and use
those ideas for corporate hospitality.
WARNING ABOUT EVENING ENTERTAINMENT and FOOD. Your visiting group is “mixed culture, try not to
suggest any evening activities or food which might offend some of the visitors.
(Business teacher and class, please discuss possible cultural differences and needs)
Take turns presenting your suggestions and explain why? (Business English teacher, make notes on the classroom work board)
*Visiting the factory will take place from 10.00 o’clock in the morning until 16.00 hours in the afternoon.
*Evening entertainment activities must be possible during the hours 19.30 till 22.30 and you must explain why you
suggested the activity, the benefits of the suggested activity for the visitors.
Note = If any person suggests a “bad idea” please ask the presenters for permission to speak and then explain to the
meeting your concerns” about the bad suggested hospitality idea. Every person at this meeting must present a
minimum of one “good hospitality suggestion” and explain why?
*Business teacher comprehension check*
Business English teacher will monitor and assist if any language difficulties are encountered during business
students’ ideas presentations.
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UNIT FIFTEEN. Words dictionary:
1、corporate hospitality: 商业应酬
2、definition: 定义
3、entertain: 款待
4、organization‘s expense:
组织的经费
5、mixed: 混合的
6、Spanish: 西班牙的
7、Saudi Arabia: 沙特阿拉伯
8、professional communication:
专业性的交流
9、new satellite phone:
新的卫星电话
10、imminent: 即将的
11、global market: 全球市场
12、CEO: 首席执行官
13、decide method: 做决策
14、mixed culture: 文化的综合
15、activity: 行为
16、offend: 冒犯
17、cultural differences and needs:
文化差异和需求
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UNIT SIXTEEN.
Brain buster workshop. Advanced study. Advanced conversation.
Business English interview questions relating to team work and soft skills
(interpersonal skills).
Grammar and vocabulary comprehension. Discuss the questions and answers with your business teacher.
Practice asking and answering the questions “in pairs”.
Student note, the following study contains a lot of useful vocabulary, please “feel free” to ask the business
English teacher to explain/ teach any words you do not understand. (Ongoing comprehension checks are
important).
These questions are suggested possible questions; they may or may not be asked at an interview. However,
they are worth knowing and it is important to understand them and know how to answer.
Business teacher and business students read and discuss the full meaning of following questions. THIS UNIT REQUIRES DICTIONARY USE.
1. Interview Question: Do you think it is important to promote team building among employees in the organization? What
steps do you take to ensure this?
Answer Guide: Candidate should work for good positive relations among employees and understand that good co-worker
relationships are vital to the company, the team, and that positive relations improve efficiency.
2. Interview Question: Tell me about a time when a colleague strongly disagreed with your views, ideas, or way of
working? What kind of relationship can you develop with such a person? Answer Guide: The job seeker should have
excellent interpersonal skills and that they are able to improve relations with people even in cases where they cannot agree
upon certain issues.
3. Interview Question: Do you like people? Answer Guide: Candidate should have a genuine feel for people. They
should show excellent interpersonal skills that enable the job seeker to create instant rapport with a whole range of people. Verbal responses will be evaluated: eye contact; the warmth of smile; and overall body language.
4. Interview Question: How frequently do you add contacts to your address book? Do you think it is worth building
network of contacts? Answer Guide: Job seeker should want to build and be able to build more contacts. They should
understand that more contacts can help them achieve professional/company related goals.
5. Interview Question: Describe how you get on with your work colleagues? How frequently do you seek each other for
support? How frequently do others seek and ask for support from you? Answer Guide: Job seeker should show, with
words and body language, that they feel comfortable working with people, that they like to work in a team, and that they
prefer a cooperative and supportive working environment.
6. Interview Question: What, in your view makes a person likeable?
Answer Guide: Job seekers answer should indicate that the applicant can see beyond the surface of a human. They should
not see color or be able to look beyond color. They should be understanding and non-judgmental about religion, politics and/or any physical differences.
7. Interview Question: Do you think it is worthwhile to establish new relationships? What are the consequences of building
new relationships in your professional and personal life? Answer Guide: Answer should indicate that the applicant
understands the importance and value of relationships in life; this should include both business and personal relationships.
8. Interview Question: How will you initiate a new relationship with a potential client? Do you think it is necessary?
Answer Guide: Job seeker should show that they feel comfortable meeting new people that they can develop relationships
with different types of people, but also be cautious and aware of the best interest of the company while building new client
relationships.
AIM. IN PAIRS ROLE PLAY THESE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
Business English teacher will monitor and assist.
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UNIT SIXTEEN. Words translation:
1、interpersonal skill: 人际技巧
2、comprehension: 理解
3、ongoing: 进行中的、继续的
4、team build: 团队建设
5、promote: 提升
6、genuine: 真诚的
7、instant: 片刻的
8、rapport: 融洽和谐的关系
9、verbal: 言语的
10、get on with: 与….和睦相处
11、worthwhile: 值得的
12、initiate: 开始
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UNIT SEVENTEEN.
Business Marketing. B2B and B2C.
We want to sell our product but how can we persuade buyers?
What is marketing, why is it done and to whom is it done and by whom?
Definition = Business Marketing is the practice of individuals, or organizations, including commercial
businesses, governments and institutions, facilitating the sale of their products or services to other companies or
organizations that in turn resell them, use them as components in products or services they offer, or use them to
support their operations. Also known as industrial marketing, business marketing is also called business-to-
business marketing, or B2B marketing, or B2C when a business markets directly to a client.
Source = Wikipedia, The free encyclopedia. *Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
A.* Marketing to a business trying to make a profit (Business-to-Business marketing). B2B
Three examples =
The first category includes original equipment manufacturers, such as automakers, cell
phone producers, computer manufacturers; they purchase parts to put into their
product.
Government agencies are huge purchasers of products and services which are
marketed to them.
Institutions, includes schools, hospitals and nursing homes, churches and charities.
*Business teacher illicit examples of 1, 2 and 3 from business students.
52
B. *Business to Client marketing to achieve a sale to an individual. B2C
*Business teacher illicit examples of B2C marketing/products from business students.
Developing your marketing messages.
The next marketing step is to develop your messages. There is usually a *primary message that
conveys more strongly to your customers what you do and the benefit it offers to them, supported by a
number of *secondary messages, each of which may have a number of *supporting arguments, facts
and figures.
Methods for marketing.
Conversation points.
Trade Shows/Events . Discussion and give examples.
Internet/Electronic Media. Discussion and give examples.
Promotion/Market Support. Discussion and give examples.
Magazine, newspapers advertising. Discussion and give examples.
Publicity/Public Relations. Discussion and give examples.
Direct Mail. Discussion and give examples.
Dealer/Distributor Materials. Discussion and give examples.
Market Research. Discussion and give examples.
Telemarketing . Discussion and give examples.
Directories. Discussion and give examples.
Other . Discuss and think of examples. Brainstorm examples.
Continue this lesson on the next page
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English language presentation practice.
Working with a partner you will prepare and present the following mini marketing presentation, you can write your marketing message on the ―classroom work board‖. Think of a product or service, you can choose any product or service
and then create a primary message and secondary messages and supporting arguments, facts and figures. Then do a
mini marketing presentation. You will have a maximum of one minute for doing your presentation and getting over your
marketing message.
In pairs, study this example and then prepare your own product marketing.
1. Primary message. Fortes, the car for family comfort and safety.
2. Secondary message. Advanced engineering combined with safety.
3. Supporting arguments, facts and figures.
Fortes cars are driven by 20 million satisfied customers worldwide, buy a fortes car and you buy
comfort, engineering quality and car safety at a price which is affordable.
Conversation conclusion. Discussion and writing = which of the 3 messages had the strongest impact and why?
Write your description of each message on the lines shown below.
1. The impact of the “primary” message was
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2. The impact of the “secondary” message was
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3. The impact of the “supporting arguments” message was
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UNIT SEVENTEEN. Words translation: persuade: 劝说、说服
whom: 谁、哪些人
individual: 个人
organization: 机构
commercial business: 外贸企业
government: 政府
institution: 团体
facilitate: 减少
product: 产品
10、service: 服务
11、resell: 专卖
12、component: 组成部分
13、industrial marketing: 产业市场
14、B2B:business-to-business:
企业对企业
15、business-to-business
marketing:企业对企业营销
16、category: 范畴、类别
17、original equipment
manufacturer:原始设备制造商
18、government agency: 政府机构
19、nursing home:
小型医院（通常为私立的）
20、charity: 慈善团体
21、developing your message:
完善你的信息
22、primary message: 首要的信息
23、convey: 表达
24、secondary message: 次要的信息
25、figure: 数据
26、supporting argument: 论据
27、distributor material: 材料批发商
28、get over: 完成
29、affordable: 负担得起的
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UNIT EIGHTEEN.
THE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE.
Business process re-engineering.
OLD NEW
Re-engineering production methods produces better quality products.
Re-engineering business processes improves the performance of a company and improves the quality standard of
products.
Reading practice.
Business process re-engineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs and become world-
class competitors
Business process re-engineering is one approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization's mission to reduce costs and satisfy customer needs. Re-engineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs. Basic questions are asked, such as
"Does our mission need to be redefined? Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission? Within the
framework of this basic study of mission and goals, re-engineering focuses on the organization's business
processes—the steps and procedures that govern how resources are used to create products and services that meet the needs of particular customers or markets. Re-engineering identifies, analyzes, and redesigns an
organization's core business processes with the aim of achieving dramatic improvements in cost, quality,
service, and production speed.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
Business processes are usually fragmented into sub processes and tasks that are carried out by several specialized functional areas or teams within the organization. Often, no one is responsible for the overall
performance of the entire process. Re-engineering focuses on redesigning the process as a whole in order to
achieve the best possible benefits to the company and customers.
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The main strengths of BPR are = 1. Customer satisfaction. 2. Processes, staff and managers better understand the overall production process. 3. Strategy and policies. The company better understands its purpose and
targets. 4. Less managers, more multi generic managerial skills and team work. 5. Profit. Reengineering can
produce profit through reducing on staff costs, production costs. 6. Efficiency for all company activities.
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
*Business teacher vocabulary comprehension check*
Student mini presentation task.
Listen to me talk and after I have finished speaking, please ask me questions. For 2 minutes I will
describe ―business process re-engineering and why it can be good for a company, in my own
words.
Please ask me questions.
Look at the re-engineering
diagram. Discuss the diagram
with your study partner.
What does the diagram tell
you? Can you see a process?
Where does the process start?
Ask each other questions to
help you understand.
Ask the teacher questions to
help you understand.
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UNIT EIGHTEEN. Words dictionary：
1、re-engineering: 再造工程
2、technique: 技术、技能
3、dramatically: 显著地
4、operational cost: 运营成本
5、mission: 任务、使命
6、high-level assessment: 高层次的评估
7、redefine: 重新阐明、定义
8、strategic goal: 战略目标
9、align with: 与…..一致
10、framework: 原则、思想
11、identify: 鉴别
12、analyze: 分析
13、business process: 业务流程
14、fragment: 分割
15、sub process: 子流程
16、a whole: 整体
17、overall: 全部的
18、strategy and policy: 战略和政策
19、target: 目标
20、multi generic: 各类的
21、efficiency: 效力
22、execute: 执行、实施
23、diagram: 示意图
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UNIT NINETEEN.
JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS BUSINESS ENGLISH.
Business English Students, role play interview practice.
Language level. Intermediate. Preparation for an interview is essential.
The lists of questions below are designed to serve as a guide so that you are not taken by surprise!
Note = teacher and business students, discuss how to answer these questions before starting role
playing.
In pairs, take turns interviewing each other.
1. Tell me about yourself?
2. How would you describe yourself? (Character/personality)?
3. What are your strengths/weaknesses? 4. What do you do in your free time?
5. What are your hobbies? / Do you have any hobbies?
6. Why are you interested in working for our company? 7. Why do you want to work for this company?
8. What would you like to find in this job that you didn't have in your previous job?
9. What have you got to offer us?
10. What could you contribute to our company? 11. What do you think you gained by working in your last job?
12. If you had to recruit colleagues, what qualities would you look for?
13. What does the term ―team work‖ mean? 14. Tell me what the term ―in-house‖ training means?
15. Do you prefer working alone or with other people as part of a team?
16. Are you capable of leading a team? Why? 17. Do you think you have the ability to be a team leader? Why?
18. Tell me three reasons why this company should recruit you?
19. Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
20. If you are working with a very lazy co-worker, how would you try to solve the problem?
NOW THINK OF THREE QUESTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK TO A COMPANY WHICH HAS
FINISHED INTERVIEWING YOU?
Example question. = Does this company provide any in-house training?
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UNIT TWENTY.
Cultural differences and international business.
The world is full of different cultures.
In the international scene, knowing and identifying cultural differences can make a big difference
between successful business negotiations and failure. International business English communication
plays a major role in global business and cross cultural communications.
International business English is a communication tool to ensure people
understand each other so that they can avoid misunderstandings, cultural
or other.
The following description is a cultural profile for American business people.
Discuss with the class (and teacher) the meaning of the eleven points listed below.
1. Americans value straight talking and 'getting to the point’. 2. Respect is earned
through conspicuous achievement rather than through age or background. 3. Self-
deprecation is often misunderstood by Americans as a sign of weakness. 4. Sell your plus
points. 5. Humor is frequently used in business situations but is unlikely to be appreciated
when matters become very tense. 6. Remember that time is money in the States -
wasting people's time through vagueness is lack of a sense of purpose which will not
produce good results. 7. Compromise is often sought - at the brink.
8. Do not be offended by seemingly overly personal questions. 9. You may encounter an
'American is best' view to doing things - be prepared to counter this with quantitative and
qualitative counter- arguments. 10. Gift giving is unusual in the States and many
companies have policies to restrict or forbid the acceptance of presents. 11. Despite the
seeming lack of hierarchy within an American organization, the boss is the boss and is
expected to make decisions and is held accountable for those decisions.
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The conversation continues.
Language practice comprehension.
In pairs practice asking and answering the following questions.
1. In your own words, please describe what “straight talking” means.
2. Would you offer a gift to an American business person, why yes or no? Please explain.
3. Americans respect “conspicuous achievement “, explain what this means.
4. Do most Americans like to suggest America is best? Please explain your thoughts on this.
5. In American culture, though they believe in team work, who is the final decision maker?
6. Which cultural point do you like about American business thinking and why?
7. Which cultural point do you dislike and why?
8. What does the expression “ time is money” mean?
9. Sell your plus, points, please describe what this means?
Presentation practice using international business English.
With a partner do a short presentation and identify five important points for people in your culture
when doing business. Question= do your points suggest that cultural misunderstanding could happen
between your culture and American business people. Also, talk about which cultural differences you
think cause some misunderstandings when people in your culture people do business with people from
other countries.
Student notes, five points.
1. ________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________________
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UNIT TWENTY. Words translation.
(1) In your own words: to explain (ideas opinions) by own words用自己的话去阐明（观点、想法）
straight talking：speak without reservation, speak bluntly直言不讳，直说
(2) Cultural differences：the dissimilarities between different countries in culture(e.g. custom)文化差异
(3) major role：the most important person in a TV drama主角
(4) cross cultural communications：communicate between different cultures of different countries跨文化交流
(5) tool：instrument held in the hand and used for working on sth.工具
(6) conspicuous achievement：remarkable success with effort and skill显著的成就
(7) Self-deprecation：laugh at oneself自嘲
(8) Background：part of a view, scene or description that forms a setting for the chief objects, people, etc
背景
(9) Wasting people's time：squander other people‘s time浪费他人的时间
(10) vagueness：careless, not clearly expressed含糊不清
(11) Compromise：(noun)settlement reached in this way和解；（verb.）settle a dispute解决争端
(12) Sought：look for sth.; try to find or obtain（pp. of seek）寻找，找到或得到某物，(seek的过去分词)
(13) at the brink.：final moment of a meeting before finishing 一个会议结束前的最后时刻
(14) Overly：too; excessively过分；过度
(15) Sense of purpose：strong reasons to do sth有强烈的原因去做某事
(16) Encounter：meet or find oneself faced by (sb/sth unpleasant, dangerous,
difficult)遇见或发现自己面临（令人不快的、危险的、困难的。。。。。某人/某事）
(17) to counter：to attack sb.对付
(18) Qualitative：of or concerned with quality与性质或质量有关的
(19) Quantitative：of or concerned with quantity与数量有关的
(20) Lack of hierarchy： without the grades of authority缺乏层次
(21) Accountable：required or expected to give an explanation for one‘s actions,
responsible(对自己的行为)应作解释，负责
STUDENT NOTES. ______________________________________________________________________
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UNIT TWENTY ONE.
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Problem solving skills for the workplace.
All employers require staff to be strong with regards to problem solving skills.
Imagine your attending an interview either for getting a job or getting promotion. The interviewer asks you the
following question.
Tell us why you feel you are a good problem solver? Tell us an example of a problem at work which you fixed or
solved. How would you answer this question?
(Note = Teacher invite examples of answers from students.)
Interviewers need to believe that you will be able to fix their problems and help their company achieve its
goals whilst working as a team member or individually. One of the best ways to persuade a company to
employ you is to use your career success stories. Remember examples about problems which you have
successfully fixed for a previous employer.
PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS STRATEGY.
1) Try to keep a "positive mental attitude" toward problem solving. If you think you can fix the problem
you’re probably right! If you really believe you can't fix the problem, you're probably right and you should
get help from other team players or your line manager.
2) Analyze the problem more than once; identify the source of the problem. Check to find out if this problem
has happened in the company before?
3) Write down all information about the problem.
4) Don't try to solve or fix the problem until you have made a plan, it helps to write down your plan “in
stages”.
5) Make your plan, clear, simple and effective; don't try to make a plan which is “too complicated”.
6) Collect as much information as possible about the problem from every available source.
7) Identify the source of the problem; was it human error, mechanical error or other?
8) Make a decision, can you solve this problem yourself or do you need team support or any other type of
support.
9) When you have completed a plan for solving the problem, “think through “in your mind and imagine the
possible results. By doing this you can avoid failure and identify the potential success for fixing the problem
and be sure that your actions will NOT create a new unexpected problem?
10) After solving a problem, document and keep a record of the strategies that you have used. This can then be a
future quick reference guide if the problem happens again in the future.
Conversation practice and comprehension questions.
In student pairs, ask each other the following questions.
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1. In your opinion, what should an employee do if they really believe they cannot fix a problem? Please
explain.
2. Why is problem solving an important skill? Please explain.
3. Is it a good action to research and write down a plan before fixing a problem at work? Please explain.
4. Do you think some problems need “teamwork” to solve a problem at work? Can you think of an
example?
5. When a person has solved a difficult problem at work, why is it a good idea to keep a record of how the
problem was fixed?
Conversation Workshop. Solving a problem.
Scenario In student pairs you are the manager and assistant manager for a new music School for teaching
students how to read and write music, play the piano, guitar, violin, flute, harp, trombone, and saxophone.
The problem which needs to be fixed = Your school has been open for ―six weeks‖ but you have not received any visits or inquiries from potential music
students. Your school is in a city which has 5 million people so how can this be possible? The school employs the
following staff. A manager, an assistant manager, a full time receptionist, a marketing officer, a sales officer and six
part time music teachers.
Teacher and students carry out a “brainstorm session” to identify and list ideas for fixing the schools problem.
Mini “factual “presentation. In student pairs write down a step by step plan for fixing the problem and explain (mini presentation) your problem
solving plan to the class. (Be ready to accept questions from your audience when you have finished presenting).
Plan. Ideas. ________________________________________________
1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________
6. ________________________________________________________
7. ________________________________________________________
8. ________________________________________________________
9. ________________________________________________________
10. _______________________________________________________
Notes.
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Unit twenty one. Word dictionary:
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problem solver: 调解专家
2、interviewer: 倾述者
3、achieve: 实现
4、individually: 独自地
5、persuade: 说服
6、success: 成功的
7、example: 举例说明
8、previous: 先前的
9、positive mental attitude: 积极的心态
10、line manager: 直接经理
11、analyze: 分析
12、identify: 确定
13、source: 根源
14、check: 核查
15、in stage: 一步一步地
16、effective: 有效的
17、too complicated: 太繁琐
18、human error: 人为错误
19、mechanical error: 机械错误
20、think through: 反复思考
21、imagine: 设想
22、result: 结果
23、avoid: 避免
24、potential: 可能的
25、unexpected: 无法预料的
26、document and keep a record: 做记录表
27、strategy: 对策
28、reference guide: 参考指南
Student notes. ___________________________________________________
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UNIT TWENTY TWO.
Interpersonal skills at work. How to improve them.
Interpersonal skills in the workplace are very important. Your interpersonal skills are the very ―things‖ which enable your
manager and other team workers to either appreciate and value you or ―not value you.‖
No matter how well you work or how many good ideas you may have, if you can‘t connect with the people who work
around you and help them to like and value you, your professional life will not take a positive step forward. Interpersonal
skills include ―social skills‖ and such skills are very important for team work. * TEN USEFUL SUGGESTIONS.
1. Smile often; your smile can help others feel happy. Few people want to be around someone who is always ―down in
the dumps ―. Be friendly and make positive comments to your coworkers. Your team workers will value your
presence.
2. Be appreciative towards your team workers. Find positive things about everyone you work with and tell them (but
don't over do the praise). Be generous with words of encouragement. Say thank you when someone helps you.
Make colleagues feel welcome when they call or stop by your office. If you let others know that they are
appreciated, they will value your presence.
3. Pay attention to others when they speak to you, make friendly eye contact, friendly body language.
4. Practice active listening. To actively listen is to show others that you are interested in what they want to say. It
means restating, in your own words, what the other person has said and then ―complimenting them, e.g. ―I like your
idea, it is very good‖. Your coworkers (team workers) will appreciate knowing that you really do listen to what they
have to say.
5. Treat everyone equally, and don't choose favorite coworkers and non favorite. Avoid talking about others behind
their backs.
6. Resolve conflicts. Be someone who resolves conflicts between team workers when any conflicts happen. Learn how
to be an effective mediator. By taking on such a positive role, you will earn respect and trust from those around you.
7. Communicate clearly. Think about what you say and how you say it. A clear and effective communicator avoids
misunderstandings with coworkers. Verbal clarity provides an image of intelligence and maturity, no matter what
your age.
8. Don‘t be afraid to be funny. Most people do like a person that can make them laugh. You can be funny and friendly
but not funny and stupid. Use your sense of humor as an effective tool to gain people‘s trust and friendship.
9. Use empathy this means being able to put yourself in someone else‘s shoes and understand how they feel.
10. Don't complain too much. There is nothing worse than a chronic complainer or whiner.
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SPEAK AND LET OTHERS HEAR YOU.
You have just studied a list of ten useful hints for using interpersonal skills at work.
Try to think of another example of an interpersonal social skill which can be used at work and
explain this skill to the class and say why it would be useful
(Teacher will choose students to speak and also monitor for accuracy)
Conversation and comprehension role play practice.
Working in teams of three you must role play the following scenario and three way
conversations?
Two team workers are disagreeing about some subject or topic at work. A third team member
decides to mediate. In your team of three business students, prepare your role play idea and then
do the role play for the class.
During the four to five minute role play, pay attention to the following =
Body language, being fair to coworkers (team workers), being supportive, being willing to hear
the opinions of others, listening carefully to what others say. Not complaining too much, using
empathy, being appreciative, positive, giving compliments, finding a result which makes
everyone feel happy.
Notes for role play.
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Unit twenty two. Word dictionary:
1. Interpersonal skills: the skills about how to
communicate with people 人际交际技巧
2. thing: important factor因素
3. appreciate: value highly欣赏
4. value: have a high opinion of sb评价
5. connect with: communicate 交流
6. positive step forward: success成功
7. social skills: skills used in social社交技巧
8. down in the dumps：feel distressed忧伤
9. value your presence：value highly your
performance高度评价你的表现
10、over do: too much太多的
11、generous: fervent 慷慨大方
12、stop by: visit (your office) in short time稍停片刻
13、pay attention: notice注意
14、eye contact: communication by eyes眼神交流
15、body language: behavior language身势语
16、active listening: listen carefully 倾听
17、restating: say again 重述
18、in your own words: say by your own words
用自己的话
19、complimenting: express praise or admiration of
sb(对某人)赞美
20、Treat everyone equally: treat anyone with the
same way一视同仁
21、non favorite: not have partiality to anyone不偏私
22、behind their backs: privately 私下地
23、resolve conflicts: solve problem解决争端
24、Mediator.: person who solve the conflicts调解员
25、positive role：constructive role 积极的作用
26、earn respect：earn admiration or regard赢得尊重
27、Verbal clarity: clear express表述清晰
28、image: impression印象
29、intelligence: have knowledge 有内涵
30、maturity: careful and thorough深思熟虑的
31、gain: obtain, win 赢得
32、empathy: share another person‘s feelings,
experience同感
33、put yourself in someone else‘s shoes: put yourself
in others‘ situation站在他人的角度
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_Writing practice. Write a description about interpersonal skills.
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UNIT TWENTY THREE.
An introduction to business Ethics. (Brain buster unit).
An interactive study and conversation unit.
Study and learn the vocabulary, achieve comprehension and discuss the points mentioned in this
unit.
Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines
ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of
business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and business organizations as a whole. Applied ethics is
a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions in many fields such as 1. Medical, 2. Technical, 3. Legal and 4.
Business ethics.
Discussion on ethics in business is necessary because business can become unethical.
(1) Business ethics overlaps with the philosophy of doing business. How honest should we be when we do
business with others? (2) Corporate social responsibility or CSR: an umbrella term under which the ethical rights and duties
existing between companies and society is debated.
(3) Issues regarding the moral rights and duties between a company and its clients. (Discuss and
brainstorm for examples). E.g. if the product might do harm, should clients be warned? (Alcohol, smoking, sports cars?).
(4) Ethical issues concerning relations between different companies: e.g. industrial espionage.
(5) Political influences or contributions made by corporations. (Discuss and brainstorm for examples). (6) Law reform, corporate manslaughter is a crime in several jurisdictions including England and Wales
and Hong Kong. It enables a corporation to be punished and censured for culpable conduct that leads to
a person's death. This extends beyond any compensation that might be awarded in civil litigation or any
criminal prosecution of an individual (including an employee or contractor). The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect in the UK on 6 April 2008. (Class
discussion for comprehension).
(7) The misuse of corporate ethics policies as marketing methods. Example = over claim how good a product is. (Discussion and brainstorm for examples).
(8) Medical products. Example = how to test medical products, who or what can we use for testing new
medical products? (Discuss the ethics).
Business has many different areas, for ethics purposes the following points apply to business ethics for
sales and marketing.
A) Pricing: Example = Price fixing. B) Anti-competitive practices: Example = Price wars.
C) Specific marketing strategies: Examples = viral marketing, spam marketing (electronic), pyramid
selling schemes. D) Content of advertisements: Example = subliminal messages. Is this ethical (discuss).
E) Children and marketing: Example = Marketing in schools, is this ethical? (Discuss).
F) Black market, Example = Selling stolen products or copied products at very cheap prices.
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Discussion.
Black markets exist around the world in every country. What types of things can be purchased on
the black market?
Business English role play conversation practice.
The class will be divided into two teams to debate ethics related to a multi million
dollar global business.
SMOKING.
TEAM A
Will argue for the right for companies to be allowed to market cigarettes to the public despite the fact that smoking
can cause some illnesses which can lead to death. Example ethical points, people have a right to choose what they
want to buy and do so long as their actions do not harm other people in society. Does alcohol kill more people then
smoking?
Present your argument to team B and then invite questions.
TEAM B
Will argue for the right for people in society not to be targeted for marketing to encourage people to buy and smoke
cigarettes. Think of strong ethical points as to why companies should not be allowed to market and sell tobacco and
present your argument to team A and then invite questions.
Note – Teacher will monitor, correct mistakes and act as “devils advocate “.
Student notes.
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Unit twenty three. Word dictionary:
1. business ethic：the moral principle in
business 商业道德
2. principle: guiding rule 准则
3. moral: standards of behavior行为标准
4. relevant: connected with有关的
5. conduct: behavior品行
6. a field of ethics：an except of
ethics（道德的）某个方面
7. philosophy: belief 信念
8. corporate social responsibility: social duty of a
company企业的社会责任
9. moral rights：ethical authority道德权利
10、industrial espionage: practice of spying to
obtain the information between industries
工业间谍活动
11、influence: power to affect others影响力
12、censure: criticize谴责
13、culpable conduct: behavior be illegal
有罪的行为
14、extend: involve, relate to 涉及
15、compensation: reparation 赔偿
16、civil litigation：civil lawsuit民事诉讼
17、prosecution: being prosecuted for a
criminal offense起诉
18、Price fixing: limit the price限定价格
19、Anti-competitive practices: action against
the competition 反倾销活动
20、strategy: plan 对策
21、pyramid selling schemes: sales method
from top to bottom like a pyramid
金字塔销售方案
Student notes. _____________________________________________________________
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UNIT TWENTY FOUR.
International business and contract laws. Brain Buster unit.
There is no universal contract law that applies automatically in all countries.
Each country has its own laws governing contracts.
When making an international contract, it is advisable to specify in the contract which country's laws will
apply for the contract.
The Most Common Legal Systems. Three main areas of law encountered in international business are:
(A). The Civil Law = This system is used by more people in more countries than any other legal system. The system
originated with the Roman Empire and extends across Europe, Central and South America, some parts of Asia, the
Middle East, Africa, North America, and Mexico. The international business person should always be aware of
historical connections between the legal systems of many countries and those of former major colonial powers, as this
will inform you as to the likely types of laws of the legal system and attitudes towards contracts.
( B). The Common Law = This is the system shared by Great Britain (but not Scotland), Australia, New Zealand,
United States, Canada, and other countries which were at some time colonized by the British Empire.
(C). Islamic Law = The idea of law is quite different in Islamic countries where law is seen as the outcome of the
―will of god ―. The source of law in some Islamic countries is the Quran, a religious book containing God's
ordinances, rules or commands. The effect of such rules for business contracts is usually similar to the common and
civil law systems. (Teacher and business students discuss for comprehension.)
The International Sale of Goods and Contract Law = has been in force since 1988. This has been accepted
and adopted by 57 countries since April 2000 with more countries welcome to accept and adopt. These countries
account for more than two thirds of world trade and include most European countries, the United States, Mexico,
Canada and China. This convention provides for common rules regarding contracts for the sale of goods. This law is
a mix of common and civil law. The most important point of this goods and contract law is that it applies
automatically to all contracts for the sale of goods when the parties have their places of business in different adopting
countries.
(Teacher and business students discuss for comprehension.)
General Contractual Principles = 1. A contract is formed by an "Offer" and an "Acceptance" 2. An offer may be revoked at any time before it is accepted, unless a specific commitment has been made to keep
the offer open for an agreed amount of time.
3. Performance of Contracts. If one party to the contract fails to live up to its obligations, the other party is usually entitled to damages (compensation) for breach of contract.
(Teacher and business students discuss for comprehension.)
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A Review of Basic Contract Law for International Business Students
1. Contracts Form an agreement for international business deals. A contract is the heart of the international "deal", and therefore some knowledge of contract law is essential.
2. Only Some Contracts Are Enforceable in Law
Contracts generally begin with a set of promises. Each country has its own laws governing contracts. There is no universal
contract law that applies automatically in all countries. If parties in different countries have a contractual disagreement, a
problem may arise as to whose laws apply and which county's courts will have jurisdiction.
3. Parties to International Contracts May Choose Which Country's Laws Will Apply to the Contract
When making an international contract, it is advisable to specify in the contract which country's laws will apply to the
contract.
4. General Contractual Principles
5. A contract is formed by an "Offer" and an "Acceptance" The offer contains all the ―important points‖ which will be contained in the contract, and the offer must be accepted without
any change by the person to whom the offer is made. This is what is known as the "mirror image" rule. If the acceptance
does not 'match" the original offer, it becomes a counter-offer, and no contract is formed until the other party indicates
acceptance of the revised proposition.
6. An offer may be revoked at any time before it is accepted, unless a specific commitment has been made to keep the
offer open for a specified period of time.
Revocation must always be clearly communicated to be effective.
7. An Offer should normally contain All the Essential Terms of the Contract
There may be situations where the parties have left out important terms of a contract. The more important the missing term,
the less likely it is that the parties have an enforceable contract. If the parties have provided for some agreed method of
providing the missing term, the contract may well be effective. This is quite common where price is missing and there is an established mechanism for determining the going price of a commodity or item on a specific date.
8. Performance of Contracts If one party to the contract fails to live up to its obligations, the other party is usually entitled to damages for breach
of contract. On rare occasions, a court will order the defaulting party to honor the contract by performing it. This is
known as specific performance and is rare in the common law system, although it is more common under civil law
rules. In unusual cases where the performance of a contract becomes impossible for the performing party, due to no
fault on its part, the contract is said to be frustrated and there is no liability on the part of the party that fails to
perform.
PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATION PRACTICE. BREACH OF CONTRACT.
Scenario. Your company has a contract with another company. In the contract the other company agrees to supply parts
for use in the production of your company‘s goods. Your supplier promised in the contract to always ―deliver parts in time‖
so that your production assembly line will not ―stop‖ due to late delivery of parts.
However = the supplier has so far delivered parts late five times and five times your factory production line has stopped,
each time for a whole working day.
The supplier always presents excuses which blame other parties or things e.g. the truck company which they use for delivery, too much snow on the roads etc.
Students take turns presenting your views/opinion as to what type of actions your company should do regarding this ―breach
of contract‖. Be prepared to accept and answer questions.
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Unit twenty four. Word translation.
1. universal: all-powerful 万能的
2. automatically: freely 自如地
3. govern: control, determine决定
4. advisable: sensible明智的
5. encountered: include 包含
6. originated: come from 起源于
7. extend: spread 传播
8. colonize: control 统治
9. Islamic Law: law used in Islamic countries
伊斯兰教法
10. will of god: decree of god 神的旨意
11. in force: put into effect, carry out 实施
12. adopt: accept 接纳
13. convention: law公约
14. revoke: withdraw or cancel 撤销或废除
15. live up to: order遵守
16、obligation: duty义务
17、breach of contract: break the contract违约
18、essential: necessary 必不可少的
19、jurisdiction.: authority to carry out justice裁判权
20、specify: name clearly 明确规定
21、revised: corrected 修订的
22、Revocation: revoking 废除
23、enforceable: be enforced强制执行的
24、commodity: goods 货物
25、defaulting party: the party that break the
contract违约方
26、honor: order遵守
27、frustrate: make sth useless 使..无效
28、liability: duty 责任
29、counter-offer: counter-bid 还价
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UNIT TWENTY FIVE.
NEGOTIATING IN ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS.
The process of negotiating requires both a cooperative and competitive relationship combined
with tactical thinking.
The Negotiation Process
We negotiate constantly in our daily lives, at work, at home with our families, with our friends, when
we go shopping or traveling etc.
Here are some useful hints when involved in negotiating.
1) Always try to negotiate for a reasonable amount of time. Always allow for enough time for both
parties to consider, think about and understand. The other parties (persons) offers or objections.
2) Offer to let the other party speak first. The other party may have overestimated what you are
going to ask for and might be intending to offer more than what you were going to request.
3) Always respect and listen to what the other party has to say. Always try to be friendly and calm
and do not over react to any attempts to intimidate you.
4) Acknowledge what the other party says to you. Repeat their important ideas to show that you
have understood what they say before you suggest your own perhaps stronger ideas or requirements.
5) Control your own body language and observe the other parties (persons) body language.
Note = Business teacher and business students, discuss the body language and meaning shown in the chart on the next page.
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BODY LANGUAGE AND POSSIBLE MEANINGS.
Body Language Possible meaning
Avoiding Eye Contact with
you. Lying, might be telling lies to gain an advantage.
Not interested.
Not telling the whole truth
Strong serious eye contact.
Staring directly at you for too
long.
Trying to intimidate
Showing anger
Touching the face/fidgeting
with clothing or other objects. Nervousness
Lack of confidence
Submission
Nodding head. Agreeing
Willing to compromise
Shaking the head sideways to
left and right/turning away Frustrated
In disbelief
Disagreeing with a point
Language to use to show understanding/agreement:
I agree with you on that point.
That's a fair suggestion.
So what you're saying is that you...
In other words, you feel that...
You have a strong point there.
I think we can both agree that...
I don't see any problem with/harm in that.
Language to use for objection on a point or offer:
I understand where you're coming from; however...
I'm prepared to compromise, but...
The way I look at it...
The way I see things...
If you look at it from my point of view...
I'm afraid I had something different in mind.
That's not exactly how I look at it.
From my perspective...
I'd have to disagree with you there.
I'm afraid that doesn't work for me.
Is that your best offer?
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Conversations and questions comprehension review.
In pairs practice asking and answering the following questions.
1. If people avoid eye contact during negotiating, what might this mean?
2. Should we try to negotiate quickly or slowly, why?
3. What can we do to show we are acknowledging something said by the other negotiating party?
4. What does “intimidate” mean and why would a person try this during negotiations?
5. Should we offer to allow the other party to speak first? Why yes or why no?
6 During a negotiation if a person starts shaking his/her head sideways, what does this mean?
7. The other party is staring and trying to make “strong continuous eye contact” why might this be?
8. If the other party is fidgeting, what might this mean?
9. Why should we control our own body language during a negotiation?
10. Why should we observe the body language of others during a negotiation?
Chose one of the following topics and “role play” a negotiation.
1. Buying a house. You want a 12 percent discount; the house owner wants to agree to a 4
percent discount. NEGOTIATE.
2. Asking for a pay increase from your boss/manager. (He/she does not want to increase your
pay). NEGOTIATE.
3. Buying a new cell phone and negotiating for a “discount”. You want 15 percent discount the
phone shop is offering 6 percent discount. NEGOTIATE.
4. You are a buyer for your company which produces cell phones need to buy “micro chips”
from a company which produces them. The micro chips will be assembled into your cell phones
at your factory. You want a 10 percent discount on the purchase price and they only want to
offer 7 percent. NEGOTIATE.
5. Choose a negotiation topic and “NEGOTIATE”.
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Unit twenty five. Word translation.
1. cooperative: work together 合作的
2. competitive: involving competition 竞争的
3. combine: mix together 结合
4. tactical: careful planning 善于筹划的
5. constantly: frequently 经常地
6. daily lives: everyday life日常生活
7. consider: think about 思考
8. overestimated: estimate( sth) to be higher高估
9. respect: admire sb 尊重
10、calm: quiet镇定的
11、over react: agitated or excited激动的
12、intimidate: frighten 恐吓，威胁
13、acknowledge: show that one has noticed or
recognized by nod of head,
greeting（以点头、打招呼表示已）注意到
14、repeat: say again once 重复
15、requirement: need 要求
16、body language: express meaning by behavior,
action身势语
17、submission: acceptance 接受
18、compromise: reach an agreement 和解
19、frustrated: not satisfied不满
20、disbelief: lack of belief 怀疑
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UNIT TWENTY SIX.
Negotiating in business English, Final agreements.
When workers “go on strike” negotiating can be difficult.
Reading practice. Car production workers go on strike for more pay.
Haberkost LTD is a very famous luxury sports car producer. They produce quality cars which are exported from
England to countries around the world. This year they ran into trouble with their production line workers. The
workers demanded a huge pay increase of 28 percent. Company management was still at deadlock with union
representatives after two weeks of daily negotiations and a final agreement seemed unachievable. Neither side could
agree with the other and both negotiating teams were in a type of ―stalemate‖. It did seem that the negotiators would
never reach a final agreement and the delay in production caused by the strike was putting the car company in
imminent danger of bankruptcy due to lack of production. Therefore, the longer the negotiation lasted, the more
likely that the company would not be in a position to offer any type of pay increase. The company warned union
representatives that the ―strike‖ might bankrupt the company and all workers could lose their jobs. The union reps-
accused the sports car company management of trying to use ―intimidation‖ as part of the negotiating tactics. Finally
the car company management and union reps agreed to bring in a mediator, the person chosen to mediate was a
famous business chief from another car company Mr Sydney Hadaway. His mediation between the two sides proved
to be very effective and the company avoided bankruptcy and the workers did not lose their jobs. The final
agreement reached with the help of a mediator was for a fourteen percent increase in monthly pay, half the amount
which the workers had originally demanded.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION.
Striking factory workers can actually bankrupt and possibly destroy a company if the workers demands are too
unreasonable or the strike lasts far too long. In your opinion should government law make strikes by workers legal
or illegal? Or at the very least, ―put a time limit on how long a workers strike can last for?
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Additional final negotiation agreement vocabulary.
Arbitration
noun = conflict that is addressed by using a neutral third party to make a final decision. (The two negotiating sides
decided to accept arbitration).
Compromise
verb = changing one's mind/terms slightly in order to find a resolution. (They reached a compromise).
Consensus
noun = agreement by all. (Both negotiators have reached a consensus).
Final agreement = Both negotiating parties reached a ―final agreement‖ and ended the negotiation process.
Flexible
adj = willing to change. (Both sides must be flexible so that they can reach a final agreement).
win win situations (expression). Both sides are happy gaining from the final agreement.
Trade-off
noun = terms that are offered in return for something else. (They reached a final trade off agreement, more pay for
workers but the workers get a shorter lunch break).
Ultimatum
noun = a final term that has serious consequences if not met. (The final ultimatum was ―sign the contract‖ or we will
―walk away‖. This brought about a final agreement to accept the contract terms). TERMS = agreements or
conditions written into a contract.
PRESENATION PRACTICE IN ENGLISH.
Negotiations and final agreements happen in many ways, people to people, between companies
and workers, between countries etc.
Take turns doing a mini presentation and tell the class about a negotiation that has “caught
your attention” either at work, in the newspapers, on the TV news or …...... etc. Tell us what the
negotiations were about and how they reached a final agreement or perhaps could not reach a
final agreement.
Be ready to accept questions after you have finished speaking.
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Unit twenty six. Word translation.
1. luxury: sumptuous豪华的
2. run into trouble: meet some problem遇到麻烦
3. production line workers: person who work in the production line生产线工人
4. huge: enormous高额的
5. deadlock: impasse, difficult situation僵局
6. union representatives: the representation of the labor union工会代表
7. unachievable: not be achieved无法达成
8. imminent: likely to happen very soon临近的
9. bankruptcy: go broke破产
10、lack of production: stop produce停产
11、therefore: so 因此
12、accuse: criticize 指责
13、intimidation: threat 威胁
14、tactics: method，expedient 手段，策略
15、mediator: a person who solve the problem 调解人
16、avoid: try not to talk about 极力回避
17、originally: in the beginning 原先地
18、arbitration: settling of a dispute仲裁
19、neutral: impartial 中立的
20、compromise: settle a dispute 和解
21、consensus: agreement in opinion意见一致
22、flexible: easily changed 变通的
23、trade-off: compromise 协调
24、ultimatum: final demand or statement 最后通牒
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UNIT TWENTY SEVEN.
Subcontractors, outsourcing and business.
The company subcontracted out its staff canteen services to an out side provider.
*. A subcontractor. We can do the work or provide the service for your company.
*. A subcontractor is an individual or a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the
obligations of another contract or part of the services.
(Teacher and class discuss and brainstorm for at least 5 types of subcontractors).
1. ______________________. 2. _____________________. 3. ____________________
4. ______________________. 3. _____________________.
*. Outsourcing company. We are a company, we need help to do a type of work or provide a
type of service but we want to pay others to do it for us. We need to find a ―subcontractor‖.
*. Outsourcing viewed as involving the contracting out of a business function to an external
provider - a business function which was previously performed in-house.
(Teacher and class discuss and brainstorm for examples of types of services which a company might wish to subcontract out.).
1. ______________________. 2. _____________________. 3. ____________________
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Reading and comprehension practice and gap fill.
A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a business that signs a con_ _ _ _ _ to perform part or all of
the obligations of another contract.
A sub_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is hired by a general contractor (or prime cont_ r ) to perform a specific task as part of
the overall project. While the most common concept of a subcontractor is in building works and civil
engineering, the range of opportunities for subcontractor is much wider and it is possible that the greatest
number now operate in the information tech.....logy and information sectors of business.
The incentive to h_ _ _ subcontractors is either to reduce c_ _ _ _ or to mitigate project risks. In this way the
general contractor receives the same or better service than the gen_ _ _ _ contractor could have provided by
itself, at lower overall risk. Many subcontractors do work for the same companies rather than different ones.
This allows subcontractors to further specialize their skills. Source = Wikipedia.
Conversation and comprehension review questions.
(1) Please tell me about “outsourcing”.
(2) Please explain to me what a subcontractor does and for who?
(3) Please give me four examples of the types of services which can be contracted out to a subcontractor?
(4) In your opinion can a sub contractor provide a better service?
(5) If a company sub contracts for example “staff canteen/catering services” to a sub contractor, how can
this save costs for the company? Please explain.
Descriptive writing practice. In your own words, write a short description describing what a sub
contractor is and what they do. (Be ready to read your description to other students).
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Class open discussion on subcontracting = consider and discuss the following points.
A. Can sub contractors provide a better service? WHY?
b. Can a company really save costs by giving out sub contracts? WHY?
C. Can sub contracting improve quality? WHY?
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Unit twenty seven. Word translation.
1、Subcontractor: person, company that
accepts or carries out a subcontract
分包人，分包公司
2、outsourcing: put sth out to other
person外包
3、staff canteen: canteen service for the staff
员工餐厅
4、provide: offer提供
5、obligation: duty义务
6、external: outside 外部的
7、in-house: inside of a company 公司内
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UNIT TWENTY EIGHT.
100% CONVERSATION REVIEW LESSONS. UNITS 14 TO 27.
So far you have completed studying units 14 to 27 useful business topics. For this review unit you are
required to choose one of the units and give a reasonably but not “too wordy” detailed 5-6 minutes
presentation on the unit subject. When you have finished you will be asked to invite questions from the
class. A minimum of five questions must be put to you.
Note = If the class has a small number of business students you will have the chance to present on two business
topics.
Choose a presentation review topic.
UNIT FOURTEEN. Equal opportunities at work.
UNIT FIFTEEN. Corporate hospitality. (Team work role play). Entertaining visitors.
UNIT SIXTEEN. Brain buster workshop. Advanced study. Advanced conversation.
Business English interview questions relating to team work and soft skills (interpersonal skills).
UNIT SEVENTEEN. Business Marketing. B2B and B2C. Introduction to the two main concepts of marketing.
UNIT EIGHTEEN. The Management of Change. Business process re-engineering. Introduction into how companies can
change in order to increase staff and production efficiency.
UNIT NINETEEN. Job Interview. Business English Students, role play interview practice. Sample questions for job interviews in international English.
UNIT TWENTY. Cultural differences and international business. Do cultural differences have an impact on how to do
international business?
UNIT TWENTY ONE. Problem solving skills for the workplace. All employers require staff to be strong with regards to
problem solving skills.
UNIT TWENTY TWO. Interpersonal skills at work. How to improve them. Ten useful suggestions for improving
interpersonal skills at work.
UNIT TWENTY THREE. An introduction to business Ethics. ( Brain buster unit ).
UNIT TWENTY FOUR. International business and contract laws. Brain Buster unit.
UNIT TWENTY FIVE. Negotiating in English for business.
UNIT TWENTY SIX. Negotiating in business English, Final agreements.
UNIT TWENTY SEVEN. Sub contractors. Out sourcing and business.
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UNIT TWENTY NINE.
E-Commerce Business. Top Ten Do's and Don’t s
Things to do. Discuss the following. Create a website to compliment your business.
Create a user friendly website.
Hire a professional to create your website.
Use a .com website domain name that is descriptive of your business and easy to remember.
Register your domain name. Keep your account information in a safe place.
Develop a mailing list to better connect with your visitors.
Provide updated useful content on your website in order to encourage visitors to return.
Encourage customer feedback via online forms and email.
Learn how to, and continually implement, ways to improve your placements on top search engines.
Keep your eye on your competition‘s rankings and get pointers from their sites.
Consider eBay as a means of selling your product and gaining traffic to your online store.
Things not to do. (Don’t do). Discuss the following.
Don‘t assume a website will assure you of competing favorably with large established competitors.
Don‘t turn your customers off with an unprofessional website.
Do not incorporate unusual or unique web design styles that are difficult to print or save.
Don‘t make it difficult to navigate your site.
Do not permit out-of-date content to remain on your site.
Do not rely on graphical buttons.
Do not try to create a website on your own unless you are a web designer
Do not make it difficult for people to find your contact information
Don‘t turn off your customers with unsolicited email advertising.
Do not weigh your pages down with too much graphics and media.
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Class discussion/brainstorm. Four good advantages and four disadvantages about
setting up a business via a new website.
Advantages. Disadvantages.
1_______________ 2_______________ 1_______________ 2________________
3 ______________ 4_______________ 3______________ 4________________
Conversation practice and comprehension review. Questions and answers.
1. What is a “user friendly website” please explain? 2. Should we build the website ourselves?
3. It is a good idea to use a lot of graphics/media? 4. Is navigation of a web site important?
5. Why develop a mailing list? 6. Is it OK to get ideas from competitor web sites?
7. Which search engine would you use and why? 8. Should we keep our web site “up to date' Why?
Mini Presentation.
Students take turns presenting on the following subject.
My favorite web site is ….................................explain why it is your favorite web site,
why you visit it? How often? Tell us about the design of the web site.
Be ready to accept questions from the class after you have finished speaking.
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Unit twenty nine, Word translation.
4. create: establish建立
5. compliment: propaganda宣传
6. hire: engage聘请
7. professional: person who is a expert in
some respects专家
8. domain name: a name in the website域名
9. descriptive: introduction描述
10. register: record a name in a list注册
11. account information: capital information
账户信息
12. mailing list: a list for record mail
information 邮件列表
10、updated: the newest最新的
11、content: news, information 信息
12、encourage: attract 吸引
13、feedback: offer suggestions 反馈
14、online forms: in website 网站
15、implement: carry out 实施
16、placements on top search engines: the rate of
searching 搜索率
17、ranking: tendency 趋向
18、internet traffic: the rate of reading in
website互联网流量
19、turn your customers off: lose the customers
流失客户
20、incorporate: form组建
21、unique: equal独特的
22、navigate your web site: glance over
information in your website浏览网站
23、out-of-date content: out of fashion
information 过时的信息
24、graphical button: small knob like lettering,
diagrams 图形化按键
25、unsolicited email advertising: email
advertisement that given or sent
voluntarily未经验证的电子邮件
26、weigh your pages down: judge your website
评价网页
27、graphics and media: picture and
advertisement图片和广告
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UNIT THIRTY.
Anger management and stress in the workplace.
If you feel angry you will also feel stressed, if a person is being angry towards you this will make you feel stressed.
Anger and stress are like husband and wife, they exist together.
Anger management skills can help to reduce the risk of feeling angry and stressed in the workplace. To feel free of
anger and stress at work we need to avoid feeling frustrated and accept difficult people and situations that are out of
our control. Sometimes work colleagues might be rude, offensive, annoying and insulting. Sometimes office
equipment will break down at the exact moment that you need to use it.
Here are six good ―common sense‖ suggestions for avoiding feeling angry and stressed at work.
1. Take care of your physical health and psychological health and exercise every day. When you are in
poor health or overtired it is much easier to become angry and stressed. For physical health do exercise
and eat healthy food and for psychological health, get enough sleep and find some hobbies which you
enjoy doing.
2. Make a personal plan of how you will react to situations that might make you feel angry and
stressed. For example, counting to ten slowly and quietly in your mind. Many people use this method to
allow them to ―think and calm down‖.
3. Have a close friend that you trust and can ask them for advice. Talk to them and tell them how you
feel, let them advise you. This is called ―ventilating your feelings‖. If we feel angry and stressed we
might not ―think clearly‖ and struggle to find a way to fix the problem and at such times advice is very
useful.
4. Think the situation through so that you can see the consequences of losing your temper at work.
You might lose your job or seem foolish to people watching. When angry and stressed you might say
something which you later regret saying.
5. Find something to distract you from whatever, or whoever is annoying and stressing you or make
an excuse to go outside of the office, find a private place and ―calm down‖. This method allows you to
remove yourself from the situation which is causing anger and stress.
6. Make a written list of the issues that can or might annoy and stress you. Then brainstorm solutions
and write down the advantages and disadvantages of all the options. Writing out problems can help you
to see where you can and cannot take positive anger and stress control action.
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Conversation and comprehension questions.
Take turns asking each other the following questions. Both business students must
ask and answer all six questions.
1. Why should we make a written list to help us control anger and stress feelings at work?
2. Why should we find something to distract us to help us in situations of anger and stress at
work?
3. Before reacting to a situation at work which is causing anger and stress, why should we ―think
the situation through‖?
4. Why is a close friend useful in situations of anger and stress at work?
5. What is a personal plan and why is it helpful for dealing with anger and stress?
6. What can we do to take care of our physical and psychological health?
English language conversation practice.
Speaking, listening, giving advice and accepting advice.
Business students “take turns” to do the following.
1. Think of a situation at work or in your everyday life which causes you to feel
anger/stress.
2. Tell the class about the problem and then choose a person to give you some advice. If the
advice is useful you can accept the advice. If you feel the advice is not useful, you can choose a
second person to give you advice.
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Unit thirty. Word translation.
1. angry: indignant 愤怒的
2. frustrated: discouraged, not satisfied沮丧的
3. control: ability能力
4. rude: impolite 无礼的
5. offensive: disgusting 讨厌的
6. annoying: causing slight anger or irritation
讨人烦的
7. insulting: uttering or being an insult出言不逊的
8. equipment: machine 设备
9. break down: do not work 坏了
10、exact: just 恰巧的
11、common sense: common knowledge 常识
12、physical health: the health of your body 身体健康
13、overtired: too tired 过度疲劳
14、react: respond 应对
15、close friend: the best friend 密友
16、think clearly: often think 反复思考
17、fix the problem: solve the problem 解决问题
18、consequences: result 后果
19、foolish: stupid 愚蠢的
20、regret: feel sorrow后悔
21、distract: stop sb concentrating on sth分散
22、issue: problem问题
23、advantage: benefit, profit 益处
24、disadvantage: bad aspect 坏处
25、positive: optimism乐观的
Student notes. __________________________________________________________________
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UNIT THIRTY ONE.
Managing a team meeting, methods for successful meetings.
Management meetings and team meetings involving staff at different levels within a company
can be very productive or sometimes totally none productive.
Ask yourself a question? Have you ever attended a team meeting at work and by the end of the
meeting “nothing had been achieved or decided”?
Conducting a business or team meeting is a very important skill.
(Business teacher and business students, discuss the meaning of the following ten listed ―items‖).
1. Know the goal of the meeting. Are you sharing information or seeking to get ideas/suggestions, here a
report? Start the meeting knowing exactly what you want from it.
2. Set an agenda (a plan stating what is to be discussed). List the “items “in order of priority on the
agenda and tell those staff at the meeting how much time is allocated for presentation or discussion on each
item.
3. Establish staff roles in the meeting. Most meetings have a chair person to control the meeting. It may
be necessary to also establish a time-keeper who can remind staff of time limits if discussion of any particular
item becomes lengthy. Choose a meeting secretary to write down the minutes. The minutes are the key points
mentioned in the meeting and by whom? Minutes also contain any decisions or agreements that are made.
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4. Establish the meeting rules. Break for coffee, cell phones can be on or off.
5. Create an “any other business chart”. Take a large sheet of paper and attach to the wall. Give
everyone some paper or post-it notes. If anyone wants to ask a question or bring up a comment that is not
clearly related to the meeting agenda items, ask that the question or comment be written down and placed on
the AOB chart for discussing later. Near the end of the meeting, these comments and questions can be
reviewed or distributed for any needed follow-up.
6. Review the agenda items before starting the meeting. Does anyone have any changes or suggestions to
make which will affect the business of the meeting or the outcomes of what is to be discussed?
7. Keep in mind that there are “verbal” and “visual” learners. Offer information both in writing and
oral formats. Use PowerPoint presentations, handouts, charts as well as verbal presentation.
8. Record in the minutes any decisions, who made the decision, what action will be taken and by whom,
any deadlines?
9. Keep control and ensure all those at the meeting can speak. Use a formal “go round the table” process
if needed to bring out the suggestions of quieter staff members.
10. Before ending the meeting, review the meeting and provide a summary of what was decided and what
next steps will be taken. Advise all the team at the meeting that the meeting secretary will send to each of
them, a copy of the minutes of the meeting. If appropriate you can also use this moment to set the date for the
next staff/team meeting.
Real Business Conversation practice. Hold a team meeting.
Agenda Item. Corporate hospitality.
Two business men and one business women will visit the company for three days. The day time
schedule is set for them, they will visit various departments. For your meeting you need to agree
what entertainment etc your company will ensure for the business visitors for the three
evenings? Remember cultural differences when planning your corporate hospitality.
Your visitors are = 1. One German businessman. 2. One business lady from Japan. 3. A
businessman from Saudi Arabia.
For this meeting you must all reach final agreements on what types of evening corporate
hospitality will be provided and “why”?
(Business teacher will monitor and advise.)
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UNIT THIRTY TWO.
Making decisions in a business context and avoiding 'Procrastination”.
Procrastination - the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later
time.
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. Benjamin Franklin. 1706-1790, American
Scientist, Publisher, Diplomat.
Avoiding Procrastination at work.
Reading comprehension. Ask yourself what do you procrastinate on? What activities do you turn to
when you are procrastinating? Use a notebook and, next time you notice you are procrastinating, take notes on
what you are procrastinating on and what activities you turn to in order to avoid doing a task or …..?.
For example, I used to dislike answering business E mails and so I used to procrastinate I would tell myself that
I can answer those E mails tomorrow and then I would find some other task to do so that I could forget the E
mails. I did not consider if the E mails were a priority task or not? Then tomorrow would arrive and I still had to answer the E mails from the day before, and of course new E mails had arrived today which also needed to be
answered. The result was that by the time I finally stopped procrastinating I would have too many E mails to
answer and so I would write them as quickly as possible. By writing them quickly I did not pay much attention to details and often forget to mention important points in my E mail replies. This resulted in complaints against
me which of course made my manager think that I was being unprofessional and he warned me to ―improve my
working standards‖. Through procrastination I was also causing stress for myself. My manager told me to make
an ―action plan‖ to avoid procrastination, he told me that whenever I felt like avoiding a task (procrastinating) then I should write down my feelings or reasons why? By doing this I found that my reasons were that business
E mails take a lot of time to answer because they require lots of details and explanations and I would receive on
average around six business E mails each day. Now I use a plan and time management to complete my daily business E mails. Firstly I break the E mail tasks into ―smaller time chunks‖ spread out through the day. This
mean between writing E mails I can take time to do some of my other daily duties. I prioritize E mails, I decide
which E mails is the highest priority and I reply to then during the morning. Lower priority E mails get answered in the afternoon. My action plan and time management plan is simple and might not work for some people but it
is very helpful for me and stopped me ―procrastinating‖ and reduced my feelings of stress at work. My plan
involved setting ―mini goals‖ instead of trying to answer all the E mails one after another for a few hours, I
simply allocated times throughout the day to answer my E mails in ―order of priority‖. I also identified my prime time; this is my most productive time in the working day, which for me is mornings. I have also taught myself to
―create a sense of urgency‖ about answering my daily business E mails and creating a sense of urgency is the
exact opposite of procrastination. My problem was that I did not like answering long often complicated business E mails but I know people can procrastinate for other reasons at work such as unclear working duties or targets,
changing priorities or even a lack of confidence.
(Business teacher and business students, classroom discussion about the above passage, vocabulary meanings and procrastination
at work or in daily life).
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The conversation continues.
Discuss the meaning of the following conversation questions with your business teacher and the class.
In pairs take turns asking and answering the following questions.
How to overcome procrastination when faced with unpleasant tasks. Conversation questions.
(1) Do you think procrastination can happen because workers ―put off‖ unpleasant tasks? Explain.
(2) Avoiding unpleasant tasks is one of the biggest causes of procrastination. Agree or disagree?
Why?
(3) The more unpleasant the task the farther down the 'to do' list it goes. The task could be put off
until the boss and/or customer are complaining. How can a procrastinating employee avoid
procrastination? Can you suggest one idea?
(4) The result of procrastination is increased stress and reduced working quality! Agree or
disagree? Why?
(5) Here are three suggestions to help avoid procrastination at work. Do you agree or disagree with
them, explain why?
setting a deadline for your task
breaking the task into ―time managed tasks‖
creating a daily work plan
Mini presentation and conversation.
Take turns to tell the class about something on which you have procrastinated on either at work
or in your daily life.
When you have finished speaking invite questions.
Student notes. ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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Now let’s talk more.
Let the show begin.
All units from now on are 100% conversation units.
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UNIT THIRTY THREE.
Persuasive speech and persuasive discussion methods.
100% conversation practice.
The ability to give a persuasive speech and use persuasive discussion methods cannot be taught in a
single learning session. Such ability has to be practiced and developed over a period of time.
Ask yourself: what do I want my listeners to know, do, motivate, inspire, change, or to agree with?
Here are the three main types of persuasive speech used for “presenting”
Fact claim: Persuade the public that Internet chat rooms are not safe.
Value claim: Persuade the public that animals don't belong in zoos.
Policy claim: Persuade the public that arranged marriages should be outlawed.
(Teacher and students discuss the above topics, take turns doing mini role plays and being persuasive).
Brainstorm session. Think of four useful tips for persuasive speech.
1. __________________ 2. ________________ 3. _______________ 4. __________________
When preparing to make a persuasive presentation or take part in a persuasive conversation we
should create a one sentence declarative statement, claim, or question that is clearly identifying
your message. See the examples shown below, you decide, which titles are fact statements, value
claims or policy claims?
Choose a topic and give a persuasive speech/presentation.
1. Space Exploration Benefits Everyone In Our World.
2. Poor Air Quality Threatens The Health Of Every Person In Our World.
3. The Aging Population In The World Will IN The Future Be Too Expensive To ―Care For‖.
4. Internet Chat rooms Are Not Safe for Children.
5. A persuasive presentation topic of your own choice.
THE AUDIENCE MUST LISTEN TO THE PERSUASIVE SPEECH AND THINK OF A
QUESTION TO ASK.
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MORE PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Presentation Practice.
Choose one of the topics and present it ―persuasively‖ and respond to any questions presented to you.
1. Cheating Is Unacceptable! 2. Media Violence Harms Children.
3. Animals Don't Belong In Zoos. 4. Arranged Marriages Should Be Outlawed.
5. Rich People Should Pay More Income Tax And Poor People Should Pay Less.
Student notes. _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
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UNIT THIRTY FOUR.
Competition in business and business ethics
100% percent conversation practice.
In any competition, including business competition we will see winners and losers.
Discuss the ethics of the following topics. (Teacher discuss with business students and confirm students understanding about the topics and then enable appropriate free
constant discussion).
1. It is OK for one company to copy anthers companies‘ product and produce an improved version of it
to sell on the global market. Good points and negative points please?
2. Companies have a duty towards shareholders, employees and the economy to ―make profit‖ and
should not worry about any impact which their production methods might have on the local
environment. Any serious pollution can be cleaned up or even prevented by the government and the
pollution prevention or cleaning can be funded by taxpayers that buy and use the products which
companies produce. Good points and negative points?
3. Companies should openly share new technology and new designs so that the quality of products
increases constantly and quickly. Good points and negative points?
4. Countries should not charge an import tax on imported products; it is bad for international trading.
Good points and negative points?
5. Price wars between businesses are acceptable, if a big company wants to put a small company out of
business by ―undercutting‖ the price of the competitions product or service, this is ethical and fair
competition. Good points and negative points?
6. Is it ―OK‖ for a company to have a ―monopoly‖ on a product or service? Good points and negative
points?
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7. Industrial espionage, can there ever be situations in which this is acceptable? Good points and
negative points?
8. Should certain types of business be controlled by the government if this control could benefit the
local population? Good points and negative points?
9. When an employee joins a company, should that employee expect the right to ―a job for life‖? Is it
ethical for companies to use short term renewable work contracts when they employ staff? Good points
and negative points?
10. What problems can be met when doing international business across cultures? What can business
people try to do to avoid any potential culture conflicts when doing business at an international level?
Good points and negative points?
11. Some companies/corporations become so powerful that they can influence governments, for
example, private TV companies, newspapers, radio stations, oil companies etc. Should governments
accept this or introduce laws to reasonably limit the power of big private corporations? Good points
and negative points?
Presentation and discussion topic. The ethics of employment.
Comment.
Prisons are full of offenders. Should companies be allowed to employ prisoners from prisons on a low
salary and that salary be donated to charitable causes? What are the possible positive and negative
points about this suggestion?
Please take turns and present your opinion on the positive and negative points regarding the above
comment and explain why? Be prepared to discuss with the audience and accept questions from the
audience.
You can make preparation notes on the lines provided below before you take your turn to
present/speak.
Main points to mention are =
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
4. ___________________________________
5. ___________________________________
6. ___________________________________
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UNIT THIRTY FIVE.
How to satisfy dissatisfied or angry customers. 100% conversation.
The customer is angry, it might be something your company has done to upset him/her; such as a late delivery, poor
service, a damaged product or a billing problem. Sometimes it’s something you did or didn’t do personally; however
you must now “satisfy the angry customer”
Business teacher and business students discus the following suggestion/tips for helping angry customers. Business
students discuss and take notes.
1. First, do not become defensive. When someone says, ―You caused the problem!‖ don‘t argue or start blaming others; this
will anger the customer even more. Agree and be supportive = DISCUSS
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Show the customer that you understand and are empathetic to his problem. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Show that you are listening. Most dissatisfied customers just want to know that you are listening. DISCUSS.
Notes.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Don’t avoid upset customers or their problems. You have to address their concerns and not try running away from them.
Trying to avoid their problems will only create more anger. A common example of this is when the person who takes your
call tries passing you on to someone else by transferring you to ―the department that handles these issues.‖ Only transfer a
complaining customer if this really is your only choice. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Do what you promise, on time, and always follow-up to make sure the customer is satisfied. DISCUSS.
Notes.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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6. Don’t treat this as a competition which you want to win. If you know the customer is wrong be gentle and careful as to
how you inform them. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Remember a dissatisfied customer might not buy from your company or trade with your company again. They can tell
others to avoid your company. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Customer satisfaction needs to be an attitude that all employees understand and practice. Employees will learn from any
copy the behavior and attitudes of their management. If a manager doesn‘t respect customers then the employees won‘t
either. Managers must set good examples. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
9. Share your skills for satisfying customers with your team workers or let them train you. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
10. Perform regular customer surveys to see how your customers feel about your customer service, sales people, and entire company. DISCUSS.
Notes.______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ROLE PLAYING REAL ENGLISH.
Business teacher and student will do a “quick” demo role play.
Role playing in (study pairs).
First business student is a company employee.
Second business student arrives at the company to complain.
First student does not know what the complaint will be about, the second student must “invent a
complaint about a product or service” and the first student must respond correctly.
When you have finished the role play, change roles or if you like, even change role playing partners.
Keep the conversations going and enjoy your non-stop practice.
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UNIT THIRTY SIX.
A team is failing, what advice should we give to them? 100% conversation.
Working in pairs.
You are two team building consultants. A company has contacted you; they want advice because
team work is failing within the company. Remember the units which you have studied on
team work and building in this course book and other related units. Think about the
following points and then give a mini presentation detailing what advice you would give and
why? Your presentation is “interactive” which means those listening to you can interrupt and
ask you questions.
Points to consider giving advice about.
The roles of key team workers.
Motivation.
De-motivation.
The need for understanding shared team aims.
In house training and sharing skills
Feeling valued or feeling under valued.
A team plan.
Time management.
Soft skills awareness training.
Accepting constructive criticism.
Giving constructive criticism.
Team building activities.
Team leader/ manager.
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UNIT THIRTY SEVEN.
In my opinion the top five soft skills/interpersonal skills are. 100% conversation.
We all have opinions and our opinions can create conversations.
Which soft skills/interpersonal skills do you think are most important?
In your opinion which are the top five soft skills/interpersonal skills and why?
Business students, take turns practicing presenting in English.
Make a list.
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________
Now verbally present your top five skills and tell us why you think they are very important.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION.
Business students, while you listen make a note of at least one question that you would like to ask.
You will be invited to ask your question.
My question is. ___________________________________________________
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
EACH BUSINESS STUDENT TAKES A TURN AND TELLS US ABOUT YOUR STRONGEST SOFT
SKILL/INTERPERSONAL SKILL. EXPLAIN WHY?
CLASS OPEN DISCUSSION.
Soft skills are just one of the most recent ideas that companies are looking at in order to get a better
work performance from staff. In fact soft skills/interpersonal skills have always existed; they are not a
new idea.
IS THIS STATEMENT TRUE OR FALSE? DISCUSS AND PERSUADE. THINK OF EXAMPLES.
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UNIT THIRTY EIGHT.
The problem with stress at work and in our everyday lives is.
Stress kills.
If you receive enough stress it can damage your physical or psychological health in many
different ways.
Consider the following points and then give a presentation in English. Your presentation is
“interactive”
Which means members of your audience can ask you questions during your presentation.
(1) The cause of stress. Work/outside of work.
(2) Do employers have a duty to help prevent stress on staff? Why?
(3) Signs of stress.
(4) Which types of physical illnesses can too much stress cause?
(5) Which types of psychological illnesses can too much stress cause?
(6) What actions or things you can do to help reduce the pressure of stress at work/outside work.
(7) What advice would you give to a person suffering from mild stress
(8) What advice would you give to a person suffering from serious stress? Explain why.
(9) Should companies provide in-house training classes on how to best control or avoid stress at
work? What would be the positive and negative aspects in your opinion?
NOTE = When you have finished speaking, choose two people and they will ask you a meaningful
question.
FURTHER TOPIC CHOICE OPEN DISCUSSION.
If an employee becomes very sick because his workplace/company caused him serious stress for
many years. Should he be allowed to sue the company for compensation? Give your views on this,
accept questions and discuss. What are the positive and negative aspects of this?
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UNIT THIRTY NINE.
Conversation topics. 100% conversation.
The following topics are all for open class discussion. Choose and discuss.
Unsure about the meaning of any of the topics, confirm comprehension with the classroom
business teacher.
1. Managers are ―decision makers‖ but should they allow team members to also be decision
makers? When would it be good to ―empower team members‖ to make decisions and when
would it not be appropriate?
2. Doing business between very different cultures can be difficult and even result in
misunderstandings. What useful actions can we take to try to avoid any misunderstandings?
3. In-company Training. As a result of any recession, many companies will cut back on the
language training they offer to their employees. What are the potential negative impacts for
companies?
4. Sometimes we have no choice; we have to work with a difficult, unfriendly and ―distant‖ team
member. In such a situation, what positive actions should we make or do?
5. Should international companies be made to trade in an agreed ―global currency‖? What would
be the advantages and disadvantages?
6. Many companies offer ―time limited‖ work contracts to employees. For example a one or two
year renewable employment contract? Should a law be made to force companies to offer ―open
ended‖ contracts? This means that the contract does not have a date by which the company can
decide if they want to continue employing the employee or cease employment. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of open contracts and time limited contracts?
7. Should all companies/factories be made to pay a ―global environment anti pollution tax‖? If yes
how could the money be spent and who would control this huge amount of money? If no, why
not?
8. Companies and local communities. Should companies be required to be involved in at least one
positive local community project? Here are some possible examples 1. Adventure playgrounds
for young children. 2. Local free library. 3. Social clubs for either teenagers or adults. 4. Part
time employment schemes in which a company makes it known it is willing to employ a
percentage of part time workers such as mothers or elderly people. What other useful but low
cost community projects could companies consider doing? What are the positive and negative
aspects?
9. Retirement age. Should people be allowed to choose not to retire and to continue working?
What are the possible positive and negative aspects?
10. Dangerous and dirty jobs are not popular. Should countries/governments be allowed to employ
prisoners to do such types of work? The salary earned by the prisoners donated to a charity
which helps poor people obtain a better standard of living. Prisoners cost money to feed and
keep them closely guarded in prisons. Should those long term prisoners be giving something
back to society? What are the positive and negative aspects of such a system if it was
introduced?
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UNIT FOURTY.
Real persuasive presentation and conversation topics.
100% conversation.
(Teacher carry out a comprehension check).
Choose a topic, give a mini presentation either agree with the topic or persuade us
the audience to agree. Or disagreeing and persuade us to agree with you?
If the topics do not interest you, please present a topic of your own choice.
When you have finished speaking, choose people from your audience and they “must” ask you a
meaningful question to show that they have understood what you have “presented”.
1. International business English is an international communication tool for doing business around
the world. It is not a tool for replacing the ―first language‖ in a country. What are the positive
and negative impacts of an ―international business language communication tool‖? Should the
international business language tool be changed or is the present one good enough, why yes or
no?
2. Big companies both national and international need to employ highly qualified staff and often
insist job applicants have university qualifications. Going to study for four years in university
can be an expensive and challenging experience. Should such companies be required ―by law‖
to donate a percentage of their yearly profits to universities? The donate money could be used to
provide ―scholarships‖ for students that decide to take business related study
courses/qualifications. What are the positive and negative aspects?
3. THIS TOPIC IS AN OPEN DISCUSSION TOPIC. Equal opportunities. This concept means an
equal chance for every person regardless of race, age, sex, color. Should companies be forced to
employ equal amounts of staff from the mentioned groups or just a percentage of workers from
those groups? Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages about equal opportunities at
work?
4. Top company bosses, CEO's, directors get paid far too much money. Is this correct? Should
governments ― cap their annual salary amounts‖? If yes, why? If no, why not?
5. A TOPIC OF YOUR OWN CHOICE. Present and be persuasive.
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MINI DICTIONARY.
Negotiation terms and meanings.
International business English serves as a tool for “negotiation” the following negotiation terms
can be introduced (a few or more terms) at the end of study units or as actual teaching/study
units/topics through selecting “negotiation terms” for teaching/learning and conversation
topics.
Agent: A person who acts for or in place of another individual or entity as their representative in a
negotiation with a third party. An agent, sometimes referred to as a third party agent, has full or
limited authority to act on the behalf of the party they represent.
Arbitration: A process to resolve a dispute between negotiating parties who have reached a deadlock
in their negotiation. The parties in dispute are referred to a ‗third party‘, which is one that is either
agreed upon by the parties in dispute, or as provided by legislated law. The third party renders a
judgment that is binding on the parties in dispute. Arbitration is often used in international
negotiations and in collective bargaining.
Aspiration Base: This is a realistic view of setting the highest achievable standard in terms of goals
or objectives in concluding a negotiated agreement.
Bargaining: A form of distributive negotiation. Bargaining is a simple form of negotiation process that
is both competitive and positional. Bargaining predominates in one-time negotiations and often
revolves around a single issue – usually price. One party usually attempts to gain advantage over
another to obtain the best possible agreement.
Bargaining Zone: Is the range or area in which an agreement is satisfactory to both parties involved in
the negotiation. The bargaining zone is essentially the overlap area between walk away positions in a
negotiation.
Coalitions: A temporary union between two or more individuals or groups for a common aim or goal.
A relatively common practice utilized in multi party negotiations, it is used to gain advantage in the
negotiation process.
Collective Bargaining: A negotiation process that occurs between employers (or their representatives)
and the representatives of a union to negotiate issues that consists of wages, hours of work and other
conditions of employment. Normally results in a written contract that is defined by specific time
duration – ‗life of the contract‘.
Common Ground: This term refers to the area of agreement or a basis for an understanding, which is
mutually agreed upon by all parties to a negotiation.
Concession Strategy: Your concession strategy is a plan of the goals / positions and sometimes the
underlying interests that you will be trading with the other party. Before you enter the negotiations, at
the very least you should have clarity on your and the other party's goals, and an sequence of which
goals you want to trade or exchange. Concession strategies vary in detail. 'Concession Strategy' is more
accurately called the 'Trading Plan'.
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Constituent: A constituent is someone or a group on the same side of the negotiating party but who
exerts an independent influence on the outcome through the principal negotiator, or to whom the
principal negotiator is accountable. For example, a union negotiator must have an agreement voted
upon by the union members (constituents) before it can be ratified as an agreement.
Counter Purchase: An arrangement where one company agrees to sell products to a foreign purchaser
for cash, but also simultaneously agrees to purchase specified products or services from the foreign
partner. Also known as parallel bartering and is the most commonly used form in a counter trade
agreement in international business interactions.
Counter Trade Agreement: An international trade arrangement with a foreign business partner. A
barter system whereby the parties agree to exchange, or purchase (buy back) for resale, goods or
services in exchange for another type of goods or services. Goods or services exchanged may be used
in the primary product or service being sold.
Counter-party: In a negotiation, a counter-party (counter-parties – plural) is the other
representatives(s) of the other negotiation party(s) with whom one is negotiating a potential agreement
or contract. (Counter-party)
Debt Negotiation: A negotiation process where one party negotiates the amount (debt) and other any
other applicable terms of a loan such as arrears, liability, or balance due which is owed to another party.
Distributive Negotiation: A distributive negotiation type or process that normally entails a single issue
to be negotiated. The single issue often involves price and frequently relates to the bargaining process.
Also referred to as ‗Win – Lose‘, or ‗Fixed – Pie‘ negotiation because one party generally gains at the
expense of another party. 'Win - Win' negotiation is conversely often referred to as Integrative Negotiation.
Facilitator: This is usually a mutually agreed upon neutral third party to lead a complex meeting of
two or more parties involved in a negotiation. Often employed in ‗multi party‘ negotiations. Their
purpose is to organize, aid, and offer assistance in helping the negotiating parties find their own
solutions on the issues under discussion.
Framing: A means to process and organize information. A frame provides a perspective of the
problems or issues for a decision maker. One can use a frame to understand the importance of facts or
issues in relation to each other. One can use this understanding of the facts or issues to then determine
possible outcomes and consider contingency actions to solve a problem. Using a framework can allow
you to consider all potential gains and losses and available options for any situation.
Haggling: A form of distributive negotiation. Haggling means to negotiate, argue, or barter about the
terms of a business transaction, usually focusing on the purchase or selling price of a product or
service.
Initial Public Offering (IPO): A company‘s first sale of stock to the public. The IPO is usually
tendered, but not always, by those of young, small companies attempting to locate equity capital and a
public market for their stock. An IPO may present considerable risk but also has the potential of
significant profits for investors. Investment companies (closed end funds) generally include
underwriting fees which represent a load which is then passed onto buyers.
Integrative Framework : A means of negotiation decision making to conceptualize the actions,
contingencies of all possible outcomes, options and scenarios. Applied to integrative negotiations with
the intention of incorporating the goals and aims of all the negotiating parties to create maximum value
through collaborative negotiation.
Integrative Negotiation: Integrative negotiation is often referred to as 'win-win' and typically entails
two or more issues to be negotiated. It often involves an agreement process that better integrates the
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aims and goals of all the involved negotiating parties through creative and collaborative problem
solving. Relationship is usually more important, with more complex issues being negotiated than with
Distributive Negotiation.
Interests: Interests are considered to be the motivating factor(s) and underlying reasons behind the
‗position‘ adopted by a negotiating party. They often entail some combination of economic, security,
recognition, and control issues, or the desires, concerns, aims or goals of a negotiating party in a
negotiation process.
Internal Negotiation: A process that occurs between two or more members of the same company,
organization or constituency.
Joint Venture Agreement: A contractual agreement between 2 or more business partners to assume a
common business strategy on a project. All partners generally agree to share the profits and losses
through their common shareholdings.
Litigation: A formalized legal process to resolve a dispute through legal action in the form of a
lawsuit. It often entails a contractual issue. It is the act of either bringing or challenging a lawsuit.
Lose-Lose Negotiation: A negotiation result where all parties to a negotiation leave resources or gold
on the table at the conclusion of a negotiation and fail to recognize or exploit more creative options that
would lead to a ‗win-win‘ negotiated outcome. A term also used in ‗Game Theory‘ and Economics.
Lose-Win Negotiation: This term refers to a distributive negotiation whereby one party‘s gain is
another party‘s loss. Both parties are competing to get the most value from the negotiation. Also called
the ‗fixed-pie‘ scenario in that there is only a limited amount to be distributed. A term also used in
‗Game Theory‘ and Economics. (Also known as Win - Lose Negotiation).
Majority Rule: A concept often employed in ‗Group‘ or ‗Multi Party‘ negotiations to achieve
consensus or agreement. As the term implies, a decision or agreement is reached after having been
voted upon and decided in favor by a majority of the parties present at the negotiating table.
Mediation: Mediation usually consists of a negotiation process that employs a ‗mutually agreed‘ upon
third party to settle a dispute between negotiating parties to find a compatible agreement to resolve
disputes.
Merger and Acquisition Negotiation: A negotiation process conducted for the merger or joining of
two companies into a single business entity, or the outright purchase of a company by another
company.
Multi Party Negotiation: A negotiation that involves more than two negotiating parties in a
negotiation.
Multiple Offers: A technique sometimes employed to offset the possibility of anchoring in an
integrative negotiation. Multiple offers are two or more offers or proposals of relatively equal value
that are presented simultaneously to invite greater discussion of the issues under negotiation.
Negotiation: An interactive process between two or more parties seeking to find common ground on
an issue or issues of mutual interest or dispute where the involved parties seek to make or find a
mutually acceptable agreement that will be honored by all the parties concerned.
Negotiation Agenda: A formal agreed upon list of goals to be achieved or items to be discussed in a
particular order during a meeting or negotiation. Agendas can be formal and obvious, or informal and
subtle in negotiations. A negotiation agenda can be used to control the negotiation meeting.
Negotiation Anchoring: Anchoring is an attempt to establish a reference point (anchor) around which
a negotiation will revolve and will often use this reference point to make negotiation adjustments.
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Anchoring often occurs when the first offer is presented at the beginning of a negotiation.
Negotiation Concessions: Negotiation Concessions are also sometimes referred to as ‗Trade-Offs‘
where one or more parties to a negotiation engage in conceding, yielding, or compromising on issues
under negotiation and do so either willingly or unwillingly. Negotiation Concessions often include 'log
rolling'.
Negotiation Game: Many negotiation training courses make use of negotiation games in order to teach
their delegates useful principles of negotiation, psychology or influence in a fun and interactive
environment. Some games are played between pairs, whilst others involve a room full of people. The
purpose of most negotiation games is to win or avoid losing. Most negotiation games leave the decision
of what 'winning' or 'losing' means to the players. Negotiation role play exercises should not be
confused with negotiation games.
Negotiation Logrolling: A negotiation exchange that involves making negotiation concessions or the
‗trading-off‘ of issues so as to maximize on each side‘s value. So you will offer the other side
something that they value more than you, in exchange for gaining something from them that you value
more than they do. (Also: Log Rolling)
Negotiation Meeting: Negotiation meetings are typically where most of the deal is negotiated, with
most negotiation meetings being face to face. So the proper planning and effective running of
negotiating meetings can make or break a deal. The more complexity involved, the more important
getting the negotiation meeting planned correctly becomes. Negotiation meeting factors to plan: Who
should and who shouldn't attend, how long each person need attend, team versus individual attendance,
roles and responsibilities Agenda: Who writes the agenda, what issues appear on the agenda and their
order Venue: Formal or informal, your office or theirs Length of meeting Framing of the meeting and
the main issues Style of negotiation - e.g. collaborative or competitive Staging of meetings - e.g.
relationship building may be the priority for the first meeting, and detailed products and services may
follow in a later meeting Concession Strategy to make effective trades and not lose value.
Negotiation Skills: Negotiation skills are requires to negotiate effective deals across a variety of
contexts; including different industries, products and services. Negotiation skills are learn-able, 'born
negotiators' are a myth. Effective negotiation requires a variety of skills drawn from different
disciplines. Negotiating skills include: communication, persuasion and influence, planning, strategy,
tactics, process and systems, teamwork and many others. Since negotiation requires much face to face
interaction, negotiation skills cannot be learned from a book alone. The better negotiation skills
learning programs involve a great deal of role plays and feedback discussions.
Negotiation Strategy: A predetermined approach or prepared plan of action to achieve a specific goal
or objective to potentially find and make an agreement or contract in a negotiation with another party
or parties.
Negotiation Styles: The most popular way to divide the typical negotiation styles or approaches are:
Competing (or Aggressive), Collaborating (or Cooperative), Avoiding, Compromise, Accommodating
(Conceding). Most negotiators have one or two preferred negotiation styles. Ideal is to be able to
choose to apply the most appropriate negotiation style to each type of negotiation, and to be able to
switch negotiating style depending on who you are negotiating with and other important elements of
your negotiation context.
Negotiation Tactics: Negotiation tactics are the detailed methods employed by negotiators to gain an
advantage over other parties. Tactics are often deceptive and manipulative and are used to fulfill one
party's goals and objectives - often to the detriment of the other negotiation parties. This makes most
tactics in use today 'win-lose' by nature. We would like to urge negotiators to only use ethical tactics.
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We are against using most tactics in principle, and recommend instead that you seek a more
collaborative, open and trust building approach wherever possible. It is however worth learning how to
identify and defend against tactics. Suggested Manipulative Tactics article.
Position: This is the official defined stance or standpoint which will be strongly defended by a
negotiator. A position is usually determined by the interests of a negotiating party in the negotiation
process. A position is often defined in the contract that a party puts forward or is proposing to their
counterpart.
Principal: The primary decision making authority in a negotiation. Third party agents will often
represent the interests or objectives of a principal in a negotiation.
Principled Negotiation: Principled Negotiation is an interest-based approach to negotiation that
focuses primarily on conflict management and conflict resolution. Principled negotiation uses an
integrative approach to finding a mutually shared outcome. First published in the book "Getting to
Yes", Principled Negotiation is used mostly in North America and is more popular amongst Academics
and Mediators than in Business. Principled Negotiation has become synonymous with the more popular
phrase "Win Win " - originally taken from Game Theory. Although Fisher and Ury drew from various
disciplines in their 1981 book "Getting to Yes" (including NLP), many Mediation Practitioners and
Academics have subsequently contributed in answering the challenging question: How can we best
achieve Principled Negotiation in many different contexts?
Procurement Solutions: Services provided by an internal specialist, vendors or consultants as a
service to a business. Provides training, education and input about any procurement procedure as it
relates to manufacturing and marketing. Issues of concern may include pricing, technology, cataloging,
discounting, shipping, inventory control, automation and logistics.
Purchase Order Financing: The assignment of purchase orders by a business to a third party who
accepts responsibility for billing and collecting from buyers of the company‘s 2019 products. It is a
form of expensive financing used to purchase materials required to produce products needed to fulfill a
purchase order already received from a buyer.
Rapport: When two or more parties achieve an agreement through the building of trust, establish a
friendly relationship, or have a sense of mutual understanding. A successful business client relationship
conducted through a negotiation is one example of a rapport.
Reciprocation: The act of making a similar or like exchange of something in return for something
given by one party to another party. In a negotiation, this could entail an exchange of information
and/or an exchange of concessions between the negotiating parties.
Reservation Price: The reservation price is the least favorable point at which one will accept a
negotiated agreement. For example, for a seller this means the least amount (minimum) or bottom line
they would be prepared to accept, while for a buyer it would mean the most (maximum) or bottom line
that they would be prepared to pay. It is also sometimes referred to as the ‗walk away‘ point.
Risk-Averse: A low level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in a
negotiation. A negotiator who decides to accept the "sure thing" where a result is certain to be achieved
is said to be "risk-averse", and is not willing to gamble further on a potential negotiated result.
Risk-Seeking: A high level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in
a negotiation. A negotiator who decides to gamble rather than accept the ‗sure thing‘, and who has the
expectation that they will gain more in a negotiation is said to be ‗risk-seeking‘.
Salary Negotiation: Salary negotiation is a process where one party negotiates the amount of their pay, income,
earnings, commission, salary, wages, wage remuneration, annual review, or salary raise with another party.
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Target:‘ Aspiration‘ or an aim to achieve a final result.
Trade-Off: Also sometimes referred to as a ‗Concession‘ where one or more parties to a negotiation
engage in conceding, yielding, or compromising on issues under negotiation and do so either willingly
or unwillingly.
Trading Plan: A negotiation trading plan is a table or spreadsheet that sets out which goals / positions /
tradable you are going to exchange or trade with the other party. A trading plan is an essential part of
negotiation preparation, especially for complex negotiations. Trading plans should not only identify the
goals of each party, trading plans should also rank these goals for each party and set out which goals
you want to trade together. The Negotiation Experts clients are trained to use a trading plan after having
prepared a SWOT analysis, and to plan a negotiation agenda using your trading plan. A trading plan is
often referred to by the less accurate name of a 'Concession Strategy'.
Unanimity Rule: A process often employed in ‗Group‘ or ‗Multi Party‘ negotiations to reach a
decision or agreement by the involved negotiating parties. A unanimous decision is only achieved when
all the negotiating parties are in total accord in making a decision or an agreement.
Walk Away: Walk away is the alternative that a negotiator will act on if they are not successful in a
negotiation. A walk away may be an alternative supplier or buyer, to manufacture the product or deliver
the service in-house, to wait or simply do nothing i.e. to go without. The walk away answers the
negotiation question: "What will you do if you don't agree this deal?"
Win-Lose Negotiation: This term refers to a distributive negotiation whereby one party‘s gain is
another party‘s loss. Both parties are competing to get the most value from the negotiation. Also called
the ‗fixed-pie‘ scenario in that there is only a limited amount to be distributed. A term also used in
‗Game Theory‘ and Economics. (Also known as Lose-Win Negotiation).
Win-Win Negotiation: A win-win negotiation settlement is an integrative negotiated agreement. In
theory this means the negotiating parties have reached an agreement after fully taking into account each
others' interests, such that the agreement cannot be improved upon further by any other agreement. By
definition, there are no resources or 'gold' left on the table and all creative options have been
thoroughly exploited. "Win-Win" has its roots in Economics Game Theory.
Winners Curse: Occurs when an under aspiring negotiator sets their target or aspirations (goals or
objectives) too low at the outset of a negotiation and is granted an immediate agreement by their
negotiating counterpart.
ZOPA: An acronym which means Zone of Possible Agreement. It is the range or area in which an
agreement is satisfactory to both parties involved in the negotiation process. Often referred to as the
"Contracting Zone". ZOPA or the Contracting Zone is essentially the range between each parties real
base or bottom lines, and is the overlap area in the low and high range that each party is willing to pay
or find acceptable in a negotiation.
THE END.