DEPARTAMENTUL DE LIMBI MODERNE Ș I COMUNICARE

FACULTATEA DE AUTOMATICĂ Ș I CALCULATOARE

SEMESTRUL II – SEMINAR 4-5

COMPANY PROFILE
A. WARM UP

1. Do you know the meaning of the following words? Use a dictionary if

necessary.
 Job share___________________________________
 Nine to five job______________________________
 Workload__________________________________
 Overtime __________________________________
 My opposite number_________________________
 Self-employed________________________________
 Holiday entitlement___________________________
 Company_______________________________________
 Workshop______________________________________
 Factory__________________________________________

2. Using a dictionary if necessary give one example of……

 A manual work
 An academic work
 A vocational job
 A job with great variety
 A job with irregular hours
 A job with routine task
 A job with regular deadlines
 A job with lot of paper work

3. Read the following text:

Money motivated, eager, looking for work in a dynamic or fast-moving industry?

We are looking for ambitious, dynamic sales professionals, with the talent and
drive to develop a rewarding career within the IT industry. You will work in class

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 –knit teams maintaining and developing relationships with diverse range of
clients.
Ideally, you will possess some previous IT sales experience and a serious
academic background. Most important you will have a strong desire to succeed.
If you fit to the description and are seeking, for a lucrative career in IT then
send a CV and a motivational letter.
The text has some words with similar meanings in connection with work. Find
them
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________

B. ABOUT COMPANIES

According to dictionaries a company is:

a. A voluntary association formed and organized to carry on a business. Types

of companies include sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability,
corporation, and public limited company.
A corporation is
a. Firm that meets certain legal requirements: to be recognized as having a legal
existence, as an entity separate and distinct from its owners. Corporations are
owned by their stockholders (shareholders) who share in profits and losses
generated through the firm's operations, and have three distinct characteristics
(1) Legal existence: a firm can (like a person) buy, sell, own, enter into a contract,
and sue other persons and firms, and be sued by them. It can do good and be
rewarded, and can commit offence and be punished. (2) Limited liability: a firm
and its owners are limited in their liability to the creditors and other obligors
only up to the resources of the firm, unless the owners give personal-guaranties.
b. Multinational Corporation – corporations operating in several countries, but
managed from a home country.
Corporations that derives a quarter of their revenue from operations outside of
its home country.
There are four types
1. Decentralised with strong home country presence.
2. A global centralised corporation that acquires cost advantages through
centralised production wherever cheap resources are available
3. An international company built on the parent corporation technology, R&D

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 4. A transnational enterprise that combines the previous three approaches.

A Company is different compared to a corporation

COMPANY
Structured in different ways (partnership, Exist separately from their legal owners
a sole proprietorship
Liability is assumed by owners
Liability can be limited or unlimited
Most companies are owned by one small
handful of people
CORPORATION
Liability is limited to the holding of
shares
Each shareholders own a small piece of
the large corporate structure.
Owned by thousands of different
individuals.
Shareholders share the profit and losses

4. Complete the sentence using one of the words below:

Employee flaw lack morale project resources

a. Joanna is working on a very interesting ____________________at the moment.

b. Unfortunately , there is ____________________________in your reasoning
c. What used to be called Personnel is now called Human__________________
d. The new manager is doing his best to raise___________________in the office.
e. Sadly, our new product has met with a total _________________________of consumer
interest.
f. We are extremely sorry to lose. Mattas an_______________.

5. Here is list of different aspects and practices of industrialisation. Read the

explanations carefully, then find equivalents for some of them in the text
below

EXPRESSION EXPLANATIONS
Heavy industry e.g. works, shipping, steel
Light industry Manufacturing different components, textile,
home appliances
Manufacturing industry Making different things e.g. consumer goods
Service industry Serving people; e.g banking, restaurants,
tourism
High-technology (HI-TICH) Involves advanced technology such as
computers, robots, software

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Low-technology Involves little technology
Black –market Illegal transactions
Money laundering Money from black market are artificially turn
into legal ones.
On piecework They are only paid for work they produce.
Public- private-parnership Partly state owner partly owned by private
industry or owners.
Subsidiaries Money/ grand, which enable them to stay in
profit.
Inward investment Investment from foreign companies

a. The country cannot depend only on things like restaurants and hotels. Industries
that make things have to be encouraged.
b. Nowadays there are many industries that use computers and different other
digital devices.
c. Countries, which depend on industries that don not use up-to-date technology,
manufacture good for well-developed ones.
d. Industries with big factories producing things, like steel and so on has declined,
and now we’re more dependent on industry that makes things like bicycle and
furniture.
e. The car industry receives large amount of money from the government, money,
which enable them to stay profitable.
f. Lately many companies have owners private companies and the state
g. The government tries to encourage investment from foreign companies.

6. Here are some things that people have said about business. Comment
on one of them (50-100 words)
a. It is difficult but not impossible to conduct strictly honest business. What is true
is that honesty is incompatible with amassing of a large fortune (Mahatma
Gandhi).

b. Accountants are the witch doctors of the modern world and willing to turn their
hands to any kind of magic. ((lord Justice Harman)

c. British management does not seem to understand the importance of the human
factor. (Charles Prince of Wales)

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 7. Read the following text

OMV PETROM SA (ROMANIA)

OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical
solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of
around 20,000 employees in 2019, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest
listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern
Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Middle East & Africa, the
North Sea, Russia and Asia-Pacific as further core regions. Daily average production was
487,000 boe/d in 2019. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries in Europe and
owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and Trading JV, with a total annual processing
capacity of 24.9 mn tons. Furthermore, OMV has a 36% participation in Borealis, one of
the world’s leading producers of polyolefin.

The Company operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries. OMV runs
gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH
operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2019, gas sales volumes amounted to
around 137 TWh. Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy. OMV
supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for
reducing carbon intensity and introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions.

Executive Board

The Executive Board is elected by the Supervisory Board. It manages the day-to-day
business of the company. The Executive Board consists of five members, whose current
mandates have started on April 2019

Since 2007, OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its

business strategy. During this period, the company has allocated over 66 million euro to
develop communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education,
health and local development.

The Executive Board manages the day-to-day business of the company and monitors the
activity of its group companies in accordance with the law, the Company’s Constitutive
Act, the internal rules and guidelines as well as the resolutions of the Supervisory
Board. It is elected by the Supervisory Board.

Attributions and responsibilities of the Executive Board

The Executive Board ensures that its own resolutions, the Supervisory Board's and the
General Meeting of Shareholders' resolutions, as well as the internal guidelines are
implemented and that they are in compliance with the law.

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  The Executive Board is the corporate body that runs the company and represents
it in relation with third parties. Also the Executive Board agrees on the strategic
direction of the company with the Supervisory Board and is periodically
discussing the progress made on implementing the strategy.
 The Executive Board provides the Supervisory Board periodically report on all
relevant issues of business developments including an assessment of the risks
prevalent and the risk management in place at the company level and at the
companies from the Group in which it holds the majority stake.

8. After reading the text fill in the chart with the missing information

1. Company name
2. Main line of business
3. Main markets
4. Workforce
5. Sales volumes
6. Executive board
7. Supervisory board

9. Answer the questions

a. Which should be the professional profile of a recently graduated person who
wants to run for the position of consultant in OMV-Petrom?
b. Would you like to work in such a company? Give arguments for your answers.
c. The text above describes a big company. Can you add something to that
description?

10. Decide if the following statements are true or false.

a. OMV – Petrom is a multinational company
b. OMV supports a strategy for reducing pollution, which means lower-
carbon economy and targets for reducing carbon intensity and
introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions.
c. The Executive Board is elected by the shareholders
d. The Executive Board runs the company and represents it in all
relationships.
e. Reports are provided by company managers
11.Write sentences about the text using the following structures:
In my opinion………………
As I see it…………..
That’s right because………………
That’s wrong because………………
I agree (NOT I’m agree)

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I disagree (NOT I’m disagree)

12. Explain the meaning of the phrases below. Then use some of them to write
a paragraph about the profile of the company you want to work in

1. Parent company
2. Holding
3. Core-business
4. Self-company
5. CEO
6. Gross internal product
7. R&D
8. Flow chart
9. After sales

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GRAMMAR SUPPORT – PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice is often a source of much controversy in English writing. In 1946,
English writer George Orwell said, “Never use the passive where the active is possible.”
While this is perhaps going too far, many guides to clear writing recommend that people
should use active over passive constructions wherever possible. The word corrector
does the same. Why is this? Because if a writer overuses the passive, it makes things
much more confusing. This is particularly prevalent in legal documents and official
documents. Show the students the following two texts (from a financial advisor to her
client) and ask them, which one they think is clearer.

We have been asked by your home insurers to obtain your written confirmation that all
their requirements have been completed by yourself.
Your home insurers have asked us to obtain your written confirmation that you have
completed all the documents.
Did they prefer the second one? That’s what the Oxford Guide to Plain English (1999)
also recommends (where the example was cited from).
Similarly, university students are discouraged from overusing constructions such as It
is believed that … Why? Because it could mean that they don’t know who believes it or
said it. This kind of information might be important in academic writing. Students
should be able to use the passive effectively in their own writing, but be very careful not
to overuse it.

Only the form of be changes to make the tense. The past participle stays the same.
Here are examples of the passive in its most common tenses.

Tense Example Structure

Present simple Alioli is made from oil, garlic and salt. is/are + past participle

Present is/are being + past

The hall is being painted this week.
continuous participle

John F. Kennedy was assassinated in was/were + past

Past simple
1963. participle

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 Tense Example Structure

Past was/were being + past

The signs were being put up last week.
continuous participle

Oranges have been grown here for have been + past

Present perfect
centuries. participle

When he got home, he found that his had been + past

Past perfect
flat had been burgled. participle

Future simple The work will be finished next week. will be + past participle

Choose the correct answer

1. The Egyptian pyramids ___ thousands of years ago.
a. are built b. been built c. were built
2. Your letter ___ within 28 days.
a. will be answer b. will be answered c. will answer
3. Chocolate ___ for over 4,000 years.
a. has been produce b.is been produced c. has been produced
4. I don't know who ___ my bike.
a. Stole b. is stolen c. was stolen
5. My car ___ this week, so I'm going to work by bus.
a. is being repaired b. is been repair c. is repairing
6. Not enough of our rubbish ___.
a. recycles b. is recycled c is recycle
7. The fire service still ___ the fire.
a. wasn't put out b. is put out c. haven't put out
8. The underground connection ___ when I moved into the house.
a. is still being built b. was still being built c. was still building

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References
1. Michael McCarthy, Felicity O’Dell – English Vocabulary in Use (advanced);
Cambridge University Press, 2002
2. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/private-limited-company.html
3. http://www.onestopenglish.com/esol/esol-lesson-plans/pdf-content/cambridge-
esol-skills-for-life-computers-lesson-plan/146918.article

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