Unit I.Building Business Administration Language

Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology
College of Management and Business Technology
UNIT I.BUILDING BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION LANGUAGE
Overview
This unit gives you an idea on how business administration language develops through
time. This will help you apply business communication strategies and principles to prepare
effective communication for domestic and international business situations.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the unit, I am able to:
1. identify the importance of grammar in communication through writing and speaking; and
2. understand the parallelism in the sentence and types of sentence.
Setting up
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Course/Year/Section: _____________________
Motivation:
Directions: Read a simple conversation below about “Using Language to Build a Global Company”.
Kindly answer the questions that follow below.
In her new book The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley describes Japanese tech
giant Rakuten's five-year effort to adopt English as its lingua franca of business.
A Company's Five-Year Effort to Globalize

(Interview by: Sean Silverthorne)
Imagine reporting to work next Monday and being told to attend an all-staff meeting in the
cafeteria for an address by the CEO. Once the meeting begins, the news is disturbing, at best.
“Beginning almost immediately,” the chief executive says, “we will no longer conduct business in
English, but rather in Japanese. By the end of the month, I personally will be talking almost
exclusively in the new language. We will train you, but if you aren’t proficient in two years, you will
likely be out of a job. Welcome to our transition to a global company!”
This actually happened, but it was a Japanese company where employees were told they
would be learning English. Increasingly, multinationals are adopting a lingua franca in which to
conduct their business, the better to globalize operations, be better understood by their customers,
and to better communicate with colleagues spread around the globe.
English for Business Administrators

Building Business Administration Language Page 1
But, as Harvard Business School Associate Professor Tsedal Neeley has documented over
the years, learning a new language is just the start of challenges that can confront workers in this
situation. For example, they must also come to terms with cultural changes, and must learn how to
prove themselves all over again in their new language. They become “expats” even while living and
working in their own country.
In her new book The Language of Global Business, Neeley follows the five-year effort of
Japanese high-tech giant Rakuten to make the transition to English. In the end, the companywide
initiative proves very good for business, but its achievements and stumbles both offer guidance to
companies attempting the same goal.
Sean Silverthorne: Who will benefit most by reading The Language of Global Success?
Tsedal Neeley: The Language of Global Success covers the entire spectrum of a global organization's
transition from a mostly domestic company to a truly integrated global company. When I wrote this
book, I had top leaders, managers, and employees of global organizations in mind. Leaders have to
devise their globalization strategy and make a decision about how their cross-borders employees,
suppliers, and partners will communicate. Managers, for their part, need to understand the hurdles
employees will face in the globalization process, from learning a new culture to learning a new
language and operating through a common corporate culture effectively. Those employees need to
understand the trajectory of the development that they need to go through, and will gain clear
insights on what that adaptation process is like through reading this book.
Silverthorne: Why was Rakuten such an ideal company to be the subject of the book?
Neeley: I started to study the Rakuten organization early in its language and globalization journey.
This is a true privilege and rare opportunity to capture, in detail, five years of the company’s
aggressive global expansion, using a language strategy as a vehicle to standardize and integrate the
firm. For that reason, Rakuten was an ideal and unique opportunity to study what it takes to
transform a global force. This was possible because CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, a celebrity figure, a
maverick of culture change, and truly a global leader, gave me unprecedented access to the
company throughout this transformation process. The book covers the nitty gritty, uncensored joys
and struggles of employees and global expansion performance of the firm over time.
Silverthorne: Can you explain what the “expat perspective” is, and why it’s important toward
understanding what employees face in learning a new lingua franca for business?
Neeley: The expat perspective that I advance in this book is the idea that globalization renders
global employees into expats while living and working in their own country. This is an important
point because when you're dealing with globalization, people have to detach from their native
languages and cultures in order to move into this third space, so to speak. The expat perspective is
the experience that says, "You cannot hold on to your identity. You need to migrate to a global
identity, whether you're an expat in your own country linguistically, culturally, or both.”
Detachment and adaptation is why the expat perspective is crucial for global organizations. In a

sense, what this book shows us is that for a company to be truly global, it has to become an expat
corporation with employees who are able to walk into their native country sites and operate as if
they're expats in their own country.
Silverthorne: For companies that decide to promote a one-language culture, what are some of the
implementation challenges most overlooked?
Neeley: A language strategy is a full-in, full-on undertaking that should be regarded as a radical
change. Overlooking the change management work that is required—like encouraging buy-in and
sustaining employees’ belief in their capacity to acquire the new language, culture, or both—is
crucial. Tactics that help people feel more confident and motivated include continual messaging,
internal marketing, and branding the organization as global. Finally, this type of globalization work
is a multi-year journey. But, I am convinced now more than ever that a one-language culture is not a
nice-to-have feature of a global company, it is increasingly a must for some or all parts of
globalizing firms.
Silverthorne: What’s your advice to employees who suddenly find themselves in a Rakuten-like
situation?
Neeley: Developing language or cross-cultural fluency in the course of globalization is difficult.

Employees have to climb steep learning curves. They will also be exposed to differences at work, an
inevitable outgrowth that comes with globalization. The most successful global employees in
climbing the learning and culture curve exhibited what I call Global Work Orientation, which
consists of five attitudes and behaviors:
 Positive indifference is the ability to overlook cultural differences as being not especially
important or worthy of attention, while remaining optimistic about the process of engaging
the culture seen as foreign.
 Seeking commonality between cultures enables employees to draw closer to a foreign
culture and become receptive to its differences.
 Identifying with the global organization’s values and goals, rather than those of a local
office.
 Initiating cross-border interactions as much as possible develops trust and shared
vision among international coworkers. Interactions are also vital for sharing knowledge
across sites.
 Aspiring for a global career is also important, because people who envision a globally
expansive professional advancement make decisions that reinforce their competencies.
Silverthorne: Did adopting English as its business language help Rakuten in the end? What were
their wins and losses?
Neeley: I have personally witnessed the change in the make-up of Rakuten’s human capital over the
last five years. I walked through the department workspaces and the cafeteria pre and post this
language strategy and the contrast was visually striking. A very diverse workforce today has

replaced a largely homogenous one. Everyone is speaking English to one another. For example, 80
percent of new engineers to be hired into their Japanese offices last year were non-Japanese
engineers. That's a significant change.
Their global investments and acquisitions have been significant. For example, Rakuten is the
largest shareholder of Lyft and has invested significantly in Pinterest. They have acquired Ebates,
Viber, and many more companies. As of this year, they are the primary sponsor of [soccer team] FC
Barcelona. Instead of seeing Qatar Air on the jerseys of Messi and other soccer superstars, we now
see Rakuten. You go to any airport in the world, millions of people now see Rakuten. I am firmly
convinced that their global activities and move to become a global innovation company would not
have been possible without this full-on, full-in language change and cultural change approach that
they launched in 2010. I have absolutely no doubt about that. Those are a lot of their wins. In fact, I
devote an entire chapter on the wins.
As far as their losses, they had to overcome a sustained period of being an anxious
organization with the threat of losing excellent engineers. Growing pains were real. Employees had
to stretch daily. But, as I mentioned earlier, their current evolution on the global stage is
formidable, and I think their globalization story will continue to evolve.
Motive Questions:
Answer the following questions:
1. What is Business English? Why do you need to learn it based from the conversation above?
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2. What do you mean by a language-strategy? Is it necessary to adopt in all the business

undertakings, why? What’s your advice to employees who suddenly find themselves in a
Rakuten-like situation?
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3. If you were about to ask this question, how would you come up with your own answer, “Can
you explain what the “expat perspective” is, and why it’s important toward understanding
what employees face in learning a new lingua franca for business?”
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4. Does adopting English as its business language really help business establishments to
achieve success? Why?
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5. Dealing with communication and globalization, what is your stand based regarding this
idea, “"You cannot hold on to your identity. You need to migrate to a global identity,
whether you're an expat in your own country linguistically, culturally, or both.”
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Reference:
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/making-english-the-international-language-of-business-success

Lesson Proper
What is Business Administration? Business Administration is the process of managing

workers and allocating resources efficiently and effectively by applying microeconomic principles.
The goal is to achieve stability, growth, and profitability for a business. Business administration is a
function of organizational structure, the desired system of task allocation, coordination and
supervision. Some businesses choose to have a hierarchical structure, in which stockholders, a
board of directors, an executive committee and managers work together through a system of
checks and balances to achieve desired objectives. Depending on the organizational structure, some
or all of these business administrators work together to apply business principles such as
accounting, marketing, finance, and management to effectively work toward their common goals.
How did current management theories develop?
People have been managing work for hundreds of years, and one can trace formal
management ideas to the 1700s. But the most significant developments in management theory
emerged in the 20th century. We owe much of our understanding of managerial practices to the
many theorists of this period, who tried to understand how best to conduct business. One of the
earliest of these theorists was Frederick Winslow Taylor. He started the Scientific Management
movement, and he and his associates were the first people to study the work process scientifically.
They studies how work was performed, and they looked at how this affected workers productivity.
Taylor’s philosophy focused on the belief that making people work as hard as they could
was not as efficient as optimizing the way the work was done. Taylor believed that all workers were
motivated by money, so promoted the idea of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” In other words,
if a worker did not achieve enough in a day, he did not deserve to be paid as much as another
worker who was highly productive. For example, selecting the right people for the job was an
important part of workplace efficiency. Taking what he learned from workplace experiments,
Taylor developed four principles of scientific management. These principles are also known simply
as “Taylorism”.
1. Taylor’s Four working by “rule of thumb,” or simple habit and common sense, and instead
use the scientific method to study work and determine the most efficient way to perform
specific tasks.
2. Rather than simply assign workers to just any job, match workers to their jobs based on
capability and motivation, and train them to work at maximum efficiency.
3. Monitor worker performance, and provide instructions and supervisions to ensure that they
are using the most efficient ways of working.
4. Allocate the work between managers and workers so that the managers spend their time
planning and training, allowing the workers to perform their tasks efficiently.

Fayol’s Management Principles
Henri Fayol (1841-1925) developed another general theory of business administration. His
management theory called Fayolism, consists of 14 principles.
 DIVISION OF WORK: Work should be divided among individuals and groups to ensure that
effort and attention are focused on special portions of the task. Fayol presented work
specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.
 AUTHORITY: The concepts of authority and responsibility are closely related. Authority
was defined by Fayol as the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.
Responsibility involves being accountable, and is therefore naturally associated with
authority. Whoever assumes authority, also assumes responsibility.
 DISCIPLINE: A successful organization requires the common effort of workers. Penalties

should be applied judiciously to encourage this common effort.
 UNITY OF COMMAND: Workers should receive orders from only one manager.
 UNITY OF DIRECTION: The entire organization should be moving towards a common

objective in a common direction.
 SUBORDIANTION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO THE GENERAL INTERESTS: The

interests of one person should not take priority over the interests of the organization as a
whole.
 REMUNERATION: Many variables, such as cost of living, supply of qualified personnel,

general business conditions, and success of the business, should be considered in
determining a worker’s rate of pay.
 CENTRALIZATION: The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be

adopted depends on the specific organization in which the manager is working.
 SCALAR CHAIN: Mangers in hierarchies are part of a chain like authority scale. Each
manager, from the first line supervisor to the President, possesses certain amounts of
authority. The President possesses the most authority, the first line supervisor the least.
Lower level managers should always keep upper level managers informed of their work
activities.
 ORDER: For the sake of efficiency and coordination, all materials and people related to a
specific kind of work should be treated as equally as possible.
 EQUITY: All employees should be treated as equally as possible.
 STABILITY OF TENURE OF PERSONNEL: Retaining productive employees should always

be a high priority of management. Recruitment and Selection Costs, as well as increased
product-reject rates are usually associated with hiring new workers.

 INITIATIVE: Management should take steps to encourage worker initiative, which is

defined as new or additional work activity undertaken through self-direction.
 ESPRIT DE CORPS: Management should encourage harmony and general good feelings
among employees.

Lesson 1 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: WRITING AND SPEAKING TIPS
Business writing is any written communication used in a professional setting, including

emails, memos, and reports. It’s direct, clear, and designed to be read quickly. In any form of written
business communication, clarity is paramount. Once you’ve written something, look it over before
you send it to anyone. Ensure that it says what you intend for it to say. Make sure your facts are
accurate, and ensure that you’re being respectful.
Why does one actually write? The common answer to the question is that one writes
because one wants to convey something to other people (to inform, to express emotions, to control,
and others). It is this type of writing – the communicative type – that is the main focus of business
communication in Writing and Speaking. But it is important to be clear that writing can also have
other functions. To be able to achieve a good communicative text, one is required to have thought in
depth about the subject to be dealt with in the text, about the various elements to be included, and
the grammar and styles. Buckley, et al. pointed out that the language communication between
headquarter and subsidiaries. Consequently, high-level personnel with language skills are
becoming more and more necessary to corporate efficiency.
“I have undertaken to write a grammar of English,” says John Wallis in the preface to his
Grammar of the English language, ‘because there is clearly a great demand for it from foreigners,
who want to be able to understand the various important works which are written in our tongue.’
And he goes on: ‘all kinds of literature are widely available in English editions, and, without
boasting, it can be said that there is scarcely any worthwhile body of knowledge which has not been
recorded today, adequately at least, in the English language’
In order to be organized, one should pay attention in to the used of words and look after
how it used. In business world communication is important as it foster a good relationship.
Personal talks, meetings, conferences, memos, documents, proposals etc. are common in the
industry, thus, writer should strive to write in correct but also comprehensible language, at the
same time, as expressing themselves as clearly as possible. If the text is incomprehensible or
difficult to read, the reader will put it down; the obstacles will quite simply be too great.
If, on the other hand, the writer helps the reader by being clear and coherent, by keeping an
even and appropriate style, and in following the accepted rules of writing, this will facilitate the
reading considerably. One must be meticulous in grammar which provides the rules for common
use of both spoken and written language so the writer and the reader can more easily understand
each other.

Stop and think about how many emails you write each day at work. According to a study
conducted by Carleton University, professionals spend one-third of their time at work reading
and answering emails. You might spend more than this, or less, but chances are, a significant
portion of your day is spent writing something.
Now think about how much time you’ve wasted trying to decipher an email or report
that’s poorly written. Not only is it frustrating and annoying to read, but bad writing can also
lead to serious miscommunications, lost opportunities, or even workplace accidents.
The point here is that good writing skills are valuable in a number of ways. And, taking
time to improve yours could pay significant dividends throughout your career. Let’s look at
several techniques you can use to improve your business writing skills.
The Value of Solid Writing Skills
Good writing is essential in the workforce for a number of reasons.
First, being a good writer helps you stand out from the crowd and improves your chances
for a promotion or raise. It can help convince your boss to take action on projects and ideas
you’re passionate about. Good writing makes you appear more intelligent, credible, and
professional. It helps avoid confusion and misinterpretation, build trust and rapport with
colleagues, and win clients.
Good writing is especially important because of our increased use of social media. We’ve
all seen professionals on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook misspell words or use a word
incorrectly. Not only is this embarrassing when it happens to you, but it can also affect your
reputation and credibility in the future.
Your writing is one of the primary mediums in which you will be judged throughout your
life. The emails, texts, and reports you send on a daily basis are a physical representation, and
record, of you. Over time, these representations build your reputation and impact the
relationships you need to thrive in your career.
Your writing communicates your thoughts, and it’s important that those thoughts are
conveyed in the clearest, most eloquent way possible.
Kurt Vonnegut said, “Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of
improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you’re writing.”
Whether you’re an entrepreneur who needs to write a great press release, a manager
writing daily emails to a busy team, or someone searching for a new job who needs to write a
winning cover letter, good communication skills are a must. Words matter in life, and you’ll
benefit greatly from knowing how to use them effectively.

How to Improve Your Writing Skills
Great writing takes time and practice. As iconic businessman David Ogilvy said, “Good
writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well.”
There are several ways you can quickly make improvements to your own writing.
1. Think before You Start Writing
Before you start writing anything, stop and think about what you want and need to say.
Ask yourself, “What does this person need to know or understand after reading this email?”
You can also use the “5 Ws + H” that all journalists use when crafting their work:
Who: Who is my audience?
What: What do they need to know?
When: When does this apply, when did this happen, or when do they need to know it by?
Where: Where is this happening?
Why: Why do they need this information?
How: How should they use this information?
You also need to ask yourself, “Do I really need to send this email?”
Professionals in every sector are inundated with emails every day, many of which are
unnecessary. Save yourself and your reader time by making sure that each email you send is
truly necessary and relevant.
2. Keep It Short
Once you’ve identified what you need to say, get to the point quickly. People are always
pressed for time, and they will appreciate your brevity.
Need more convincing? Stop and think about how frustrated you feel after reading an
email that’s three times longer than it needs to be, with the main points buried way at the
bottom. It’s a waste of time and energy, right?
Don’t make your audience go through this – be brief.
It can help to think about how people read. Novelist Elmore Leonard offers some
succinct but great advice when he says, “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

Generally, this means long paragraphs that have more to do with what you want to say than
what the reader needs to hear. Always keep your reader in mind.
If you find that you can’t write an email that’s less than half a page long, then email isn’t
the best way to communicate this information. Instead, call the person and talk to them directly.
3. Avoid Pretentious Words
In writing, your goal is to be clear and direct. If your reader has to use Google to decipher
what you’re trying to say, they’re going to feel alienated and annoyed.
Mark Twain once said, “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.”
Avoid the temptation to use flowery, pretentious words to sound smarter. Stick with the fifty -
cent words.
In the same vein, avoid jargon whenever possible. Jargon often makes you sound
pretentious, and it can further alienate your reader. Instead, write the way you talk. Keep it
natural and direct.
4. Use the Active Voice
Active sentences are direct, bold, and more interesting than passive sentences. Passive
sentences are weak and wordy; they’re like a limp handshake. Your writing will improve
dramatically if you strive to use active sentences whenever possible.
For example, look at the two sentences below:
a. The cat scratched the woman.
b. The woman was scratched by the cat.
The first sentence is written in the active voice. It’s clear and direct. The second sentence
is passive.
In an active sentence, the subject performs the action of the verb. In a passive sentence,
the subject is letting the action happen to them. Here’s another simple example:
c. The golfer hit the ball.
d. The ball was hit by the golfer.
In the first sentence, the subject (the golfer) performs the action (hit the ball). In the
second sentence, the subject (the golfer) comes after the verb; it’s receiving the action.

To spot the passive voice, look for forms of the verb “to be,” such as “will” or “was,” in
front of a verb. For example, “The meeting will be held at 8pm,” is passive. Instead, say, “The
meeting is at 8pm.”
5. Always Be Professional
Sometimes it’s tempting to throw in a joke or include some office gossip in an email.
However, these add-ins don’t contribute to your message and can negatively affect your
reputation. They’re also easily misunderstood.
Yes, you need to be authentic and to let your voice shine through in your writing. But you
also need to stay professional; it’s a balancing act. A good way to check the appropriateness of
your content is to ask, “Would I be comfortable with this if it was on the front page of the
newspaper tomorrow morning?” If this makes you cringe, do some editing.
6. Clarify Your Call to Action
Your business communications are sent with a purpose; it’s rare that you’ll write an
email that’s purely informational. Chances are, you need your reader to do something: call you
back, give you more information, and confirm their presence at a meeting, and so on.
Don’t leave it up to your reader to figure out what you want them to do with this
information. Spell it out, and be specific. For example:
a. Please send back any edits by 5pm Tuesday.
b. Please call this client back by Friday to resolve the issue.
Be clear about what you want and you’ll probably find you get better results from your
readers.
7. Use Your Email Subject Line Appropriately
Your email’s subject line is a powerful tool; think of it as the headline for your email. A
headline’s job is to make sure the body gets read. To do this, headlines need to be short, direct,
powerful, and specific.
For example, look at the two email subject lines below:
a. Monday’s Meeting
b. Attending Monday, Oct. 14’s 2pm Quarterly Reports Meeting
The first subject line is vague and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Which Monday
meeting? What is the meeting about? Do I even need to know about this meeting?

The second subject line is much more specific, and thus more likely to be opened and
read quickly. It communicates which meeting the author is talking about, when it is, and what
you might need when attending this particular meeting.
Never leave your email subject line blank. Email filters often categorize blank subject
lines as spam, so fill it out to avoid having your email missed.
8. Stick to One Topic in Emails
Keep your emails focused on one specific point or idea whenever possible. If you need to
address another topic, write a separate email. Focusing on one topic per email gives your reader
time to process what you’re saying and respond directly. It also helps them organize their emails
more efficiently and find archived emails faster.
Do your readers a favor and make things as easy as possible for them. Keep it simple
with one topic per email.
9. Never Use Email to Deliver Bad News
Never use email to deliver bad news. If you need to lay off someone on your team, or
provide feedback that will sound less than rosy, do it in person. It’s easy for misunderstandings
to occur through email, a prospect that’s amplified when you use email to deliver bad ne ws. In
person, you can communicate with compassion and empathy, and you can use your body
language and vocal tone to further convey your sincerity and intentions. This is something you
just can’t do through email.
10. Proofread
Grammar and spelling mistakes are embarrassing, and they hurt your credibility. Sure,
you can rely on spell check tools, but they don’t catch everything, especially words that are used
out of context.
Once you’re finished writing, proofread it immediately. And, whenever possible, put it
away and read it again a few hours (or a few days) later. Giving yourself some distance from the
writing will help you spot mistakes you might have missed on the first read -through.
10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business Speaking Skills
Public speaking is a great way to market your business and become known as an expert in
your industry. But it rarely comes naturally and takes some practice. To help you on your way to
public speaking success, here are ten tips and tools to help you learn to embrace your nerves,
deliver great content and motivate your audience.

1. Plan Your Public Speaking Opportunity
If you’re planning a public speaking event, it’s a good idea to start small. Look for
opportunities to be a guest speaker on a webcast or join a panel discussion at an industry event.
This will help take the pressure off you a little and give you an opportunity to practice.
Have goals for your talk – consider the market you want to reach and how you’ll find your audience
(is it at an industry or conference or at local business meeting?). Then you’ll need to determine
what topic will be relevant to your target customers and also serve your business. You’ll also
benefit from understanding who will be attending (this will ensure your content and delivery
relates to your audience, more on this below).
2. Focus on Your Audience Needs, Not What You Think They Need
Try to put yourself in your audience’s shoes so that you can cater your talk to them. Who is
in your audience? What are they hoping to learn? Each audience is unique, do your research and try
to relate to them. What challenges do they have? What demographic are they? Where do you fit in
their day?
Limit content overload by anchoring your talk around the feeling and emotion that you
want your audience to take away with them. For example, if you run a real estate business and are
delivering a talk on how prospective home sellers can get their property ready for sale, you want
your audience to walk away empowered and excited to implement your tips. That’s the key
takeaway of your presentation.
3. Know and Love Your Content
Public speaking is so much easier if you know your material. When you give your
presentations choose topics that you know masterfully – this will make it so much easier to speak
fluidly, communicate its intricacies, answer questions and connect with the audience.
4. Keep it Short and Simple
Following on from the point above, aim to keep your talk or presentation short and simple.
Stick to 5-10 slides at most and use anecdotes and examples to elaborate your points. The
information you deliver should be easy for your audience to take notes on and remember.
5. Spice Up or Go Beyond PowerPoint
The slides you present matter. Use images, talk around your image, limit your bullets, add
color and so on. Tools like Prezi (part PowerPoint and part whiteboard), Keynote (for Apple
users), and Projeqt (lets you pull material from multiple sources including the web) can help make
your presentations more polished, engaging and memorable.

6. BeEnergetic
People attend events, conferences, and webinars because they want to learn, but they also
want to be inspired and energized about a topic. This comes down to you, not your topic. Practice
your presentation or talk in front of a camera in private, do it at least three times (in full) and study
your playbacks each time observing and adjusting your body language, tone, and overall delivery.
7. Moderate Your Speech
Conversational speech is fast, add in a dose of public speaking nerves, and it gets even
faster. Try and slow down to half your normal talking speed and add plenty of pauses (have a sip of
water). Keep reminding yourself throughout the presentation to slow down.
Of course, you want to balance moderation with energy. Practice and find a flow that works
for you. Perhaps you start pumped up and then moderate, and then come back with energy as you
dive into anecdotes or trivia. Look to your audience too, how are they responding to different
elements of your talk?
8. Be Interactive
Use surveys, take Q&As in the middle of your speech, whatever it takes to add interactivity
to your talk. People want to be engaged. Use trivia about your topic, the industry or even your
audience to break the ice and get people warmed up before you go into your talk and give out token
rewards for interaction.
9. Tell Stories
Telling stories is a great way to engage and make your talk memorable. This could be your
personal story (if it’s inspiring and matters) or an anecdote about your business or customers.
10. Have Fun and Be Yourself
Don’t stick to or hide behind your script or PowerPoint. The best public speakers don’t try
to be someone else; they let their individual personality shine through. Practicing and starting small
will help you find ways to insert your personality into your presentation. Whether you’re the fun,
lively person in the room or the data guru in command of the facts, don’t be afraid to inject who you
are into the presentation.
References:
https://blog.talaera.com/learn-business-englishhttps://www.moneycrashers.com/improve-
business-writing-skills/

Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 1
Directions: Make your own write-up regarding the topics listed below. Your write-up should
contain 3 parts such as (Introduction, Body and Conclusion).
Topics:
1. Communication and Globalization

2. Business World of Today’s Generation
________________________________________________________
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________________________
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Lesson 2 SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT
An effective speaker or writer should know the basic principles on agreement of subjects
and verb.Agreement means being in unison or concord. Thus, when a subject agrees with its verb,
both subject and verb are alike in having the same person (first, second, third) and number
(singular and plural).
All verbs, except for be show difference between singular and plural only in the third person
and only in the present tense. The third person singular present form ends in s.
PLURAL SINGULAR
I He
You She
We speak It Speaks
They
Below are the basic rules on the correct agreement of subject and verb.
1. A third person singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject and the pronouns I
and you take a plural verb.
Examples:
She dances.
I dance.
You dance.
2. Indefinite pronouns such as each, either, neither, one, everybody, no one, nobody, anyone,
anybody, someone, somebody are singular and they require singular verbs.
Examples:
Each child needs love.

Someone is at the door.
Neither of the boys likes to go.
3. There is/was is followed by singular noun; there are/were is followed by plural noun.
Examples:
There are eight apples in the box.

There is a letter for you in the mail box.

4. The words few, many, both, several, take plural verbs.
Examples:
Several girls love to dance.

Both Jerry and Jake are my classmates.
5. Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning such as Physics, ethics, news, series,
Mathematics, politics, measles, Statistics take singular verbs.
Examples:
Measles is a contagious disease.

The news I heard is bad.
6. The expression a number takes a plural verb, the number takes a singular verb.
Examples:
A number of participants come from the province.

The number of delegates is given awards.
7. Intervening words like together with, in addition to, along with, as well as, including, and
similar construction following the subject doesn’t affect the number of the subject.
Examples:
The teachers, as long as the students give donations.

Rufino, together with his classmates, joins the singing contest.
8. Agreement with a compound subject.
a. A compound subject connected by and generally takes plural verb.
Example: Erika and Josie are moderators in the seminar.
b. Compound subject that are closely related of that refer to the person or thing take a singular
verb.
Examples: My cousin and classmate eats lunch with me.
Bread and butter was served to the visitor.
c. A compound subject introduced by each and every takes a singular verb.

Example: Each actor and actress was given good roles in the movies.
d. Compound subject joined by either….or neither… nor take singular or plural verb. The verb
agrees to the nearest subject.
Examples: Either the student or the teacher participates in the fund-raising programs.
Either the teacher or the students participate in the fund-raising programs.
9. Words or phrases expressing periods of time, unit of measurement, weight, unit of volume
and amount of money are usually regarded as singular.
Examples:
Twenty million pesos was what I won in the lottery. (money)

Three yards is enough to make a new dress. (measurement)
Five Years of engagement period is long. (time)
10. Collective nouns take singular verbs when they are used to donate a unit; they take plural
verbs when used to refer to individual members of the group.
Examples:
The family plans to go on a vacation at Baguio.

The family are discussing their plans.
11. Fraction may take singular or plural verbs depending on the of-phrase.
Examples:
One fourth of the apple is rotten.

One fourth of the apples are for you.
12. The verb agrees with the subject not with the predicate noun.
Examples:
The bus carries twenty people.

Twenty people are in the bus.
13. The title of a book, story or article and a name of an establishment even when plural in form
take a singular verb.
Example: “Starwars” is a very entertaining film.

14. Adjectives used as subject take plural verbs.
Examples:
The old are respected.

The poor deserve understanding and love.
15. Arithmetical operations take singular verbs.
Example: Eight times nine equals seventy-two.
16. If one subject is used affirmatively and the other negatively, the verb agrees with the subject
that is used affirmatively.
Examples:
She, not you, is to blame for her failure.

The president, not the senators, visits the calamity.
17. A verb in a relative clause agrees in number and person with the relative pronoun serving
as subject of the clause.
Examples:
He who has nothing must be given a share of the blessings.

Mr. Cruz is one of the men who were with us in the province.
18. Singular nouns that denote pairs and have no singular form take plural verbs. Such nouns
are pliers, scissors, glasses or spectacles, tongs, pants, trousers, tweezers.
Examples:
Where are my trousers?

The scissors aren’t sharp.
The spectacles belong to my grandmother.
19. The infinite pronoun none may either be singular or plural depending on the content and
meaning that the sentence suggests.
Examples:
None of the guests was disappointed.

None but the relatives are invited to their wedding.

20. The indefinite pronoun many is plural. When used as subject of the sentence, it requires
plural verb. However, when it is follows by A, coming out as many a, it is singular.
Examples:
Many are called but few are chosen.

Many a father acts as Santa Claus on Christmas.
21. Some, all, and most are plural when they refer to number but when they refer to quantity,
they are singular.
Examples:
Some of the cake was not eaten.

Some of the tickets were returned.
All of the medicine was spilled.
All of the officers were here.
All she need is love and understanding.

Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 1
Direction: Give the correct form of the verb in the parenthesis.
1. This pen _________ (do) not write well.
2. Jose _________ (do) not like it.
3. The mayor ________ (give) donations.
4. My brother and his friend_________ (want) to attend party.
5. The basket of fruits and basket of vegetables________ (be) on the table.
6. The elephant _________ (jump) high.
7. Neither Gerry nor Ferdinand ________ (attend) the party .
8. Some of the instructions________(be) confusing.
9. The sea and the sky________ (be) blue.
10. The mayor, as well as the city councilors, __________ (find) fulfilment in serving the people.
11. These fruits _________ (be) good enough for me.
12. My cousin and friend_________ (be) always ready to lend a helping hand.
13. A part of the food _________ (taste) delicious.
14. The cause of most failures________ (be) laziness.
15. My mother, with her friends, __________ (enjoy) planting hanging plants.

Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 2
Directions: Write a comprehensive essay about “ The Economic Impact Of Covid-19 In Our
Country”. Apply the correct subject-verb agreement on your writing.

Lesson 3 TYPES OF SENTENCES
In writing and speaking it is important to know the use of sentence types, its importance
specifically in writing because , if you're using only one type of sentence, your writing becomes very
bland, very boring, very hard to follow, because it's a little bit monotone. So what you need to do is
you need to vary... You need a variety of sentence structures in your writing to give it a little bit
more life.
Simple Sentences
- A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb.
- A simple sentence contains one main clause.
- It expresses a single complete thought that can stand on its own.
Examples:
The baby cried for food.

The plane flew over the stadium.
Professor Maple’s intelligent students completed and turned in their homework.
A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be short. It can have adjectives. In this case,
there are two verbs, completed and turned in. However, the sentence expresses one complete
thought and therefore is a simple sentence.
Mike and Raymart ate too much and felt sick.
A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be short. It can have adjectives. In this case,
there are two verbs, completed and turned in. However, the sentence expresses one complete
thought and therefore is a simple sentence. Although there are two subjects and two verbs, it is still
a simple sentence because both verbs share the same subjects and express one complete thought.
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence has two independent clauses. An independent clause is a part of a

sentence that can stand alone because it contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete
thought. Basically, a compound contains two simple sentences.
These independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
Examples:
The bus stopped, and we got out.

The shoplifter had stolen clothes, so he ran once he saw the police.
Both sides of the conjunction “so” are complete sentences. “The shoplifter had stolen
clothes” can stand alone and so can “he ran once he saw the police.” Therefore, this is a compound
sentence.
They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.
This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction to separate two individual clauses.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A

dependent clause either lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject and a verb that does not
express a complete thought.
A complex sentence always has a subordinator (as, because, since, after, although, when) or
relative pronouns (who, that, which).
Examples:
After eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Ferdie went to the gym to exercise.
The independent clause is “Ferdie went to the gym to exercise.” The subordinating clause
before it is dependent on the main, independent clause. If one were to say “after eating lunch at The
Cheesecake Factory,” it would be an incomplete thought.
Opinionated women are given disadvantages in societies that privilege male

accomplishments.
The subject is “opinionated women” and the verb is “are given.” The first part of the
sentence “opinionated women are given disadvantages in societies” is an independent clause that
expresses a complete thought. The following “that privilege male accomplishments” is a relative
clause that describes which types of societies.
Compound-Complex Sentences
A compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause.

Examples:
After the two soccer players lost their game, they joined their other teammates for lunch,
and they went to the movies.
If we remove the dependent clause “after the two soccer players lost their game,” we have a
compound sentence. The dependent clause makes this sentence compound-complex.
 The man believed in the system, and he knew that justice would prevail after the murderer
was sent to jail.

Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 1
Directions: Check whether the following are complete sentences. Write C if the sentence is
complete and INC if it is incomplete.
1. The greatest danger that a species faces in a rapidly coevolving ecosystem ____
2. Diversity has become a strategic imperative for corporations ____
3. Her Maori name, Maata Mahupuku, inscribed on her headstone ___
4. As profits fell and the government reduced internal prices to realign with export prices ___
5. Taste, or personal food preference, is another strong determinant of demand ___
Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 2
Directions: Identify whether the sentences are simple, complex, compound or compound-complex.
Underline dependent clauses where it applies.
_______________ 1. The costume designer released her new fashion on Tuesday.
_______________ 2. The student wiped the white board that was filthy with last week’s notes.
_______________ 3. Vampires Dairies is my favorite television show, but I also love True Blood.
_______________ 4. Trina and Harvey went to a bar in Manila to celebrate their anniversary.
_______________ 5. Wicked Regina cast a spell on the entire city, so the citizens decided to rebel.

Lesson 4 PARALLEL SENTENCE
PARALLELISM
Parallelism or parallel construction means the use of the same pattern of words for two or
more ideas that have the same level of importance. When a sentence or passage lacks parallel
construction, it is likely to seem disorganized. The reader may have to reread it to grasp the
meaning or may misunderstand the relationship among ideas.
In addition, Parallelism is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By

making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you
create a parallel construction.
Example: The scientist collected, dried, and weighed the samples.
When Parallel Structure is Required?
 For items in a list.
 For words or phrases joined by a coordinating conjunction: and, but, yet, or, nor, for, so.
 For words or phrases that follow each half of a correlative conjunction such as both/and, not
only/but also, (n)either/(n)or, whether/or.
 For words or phrases introduced by a comparison word, usually than, or as.
Put structurally equivalent words of phrases in the same part of speech.
Not parallel: The position required experience, friendly, and get up early.
Parallel (all nouns): The position required experience, friendliness, and a willingness to get up
early.
Parallel (all adjectives): They wanted someone who was experienced, friendly, and willing to get
up early.
Parallel (all verbs): They wanted someone who had experience, was friendly, and liked to get up
early.
Parallel structure means using the same form for words that have the same level of
importance in a sentence or for a list of items that are joined by a coordinating conjunction, such as
and or or.

Assessing Learning
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

Activity 1
Directions: Read the following sentences for errors in parallel structure. Correct the sentence by
rewriting it. Not all sentences are incorrect. Answers may vary.
1. I like to bake, read, sing, and drawing cartoon characters.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. The employer is looking for an applicant who is organized, responsible and going to
cooperate well with the team.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Jeremy likes to read historical, realistic and speculative fiction.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The members of the group learned how to socialize, coordinate and working efficiently for
better results.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
5. His main duties were, filing records, answering calls and accepting payments.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Ana planned to collect data by either phone interviews or conducting online surveys.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Sally needs a new stove, dishwasher and knives for her kitchen.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. My first grade teacher taught me how to write, read and play tic-tac-toe.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. The girl prefers going to night parties over watching movies at home.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. He spent the whole day cleaning the house, cooking nice foods, and baked sweet cookies.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Unit I.Building Business Administration Language

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Unit I.Building Business Administration Language

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Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology

College of Management and Business Technology

UNIT I.BUILDING BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION LANGUAGE

At the end of the unit, I am able to:

2. understand the parallelism in the sentence and types of sentence.

Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________________

A Company's Five-Year Effort to Globalize

English for Business Administrators

English for Business Administrators

Neeley: Developing language or cross-cultural fluency in the course of globalization is difficult.

English for Business Administrators

Answer the following questions:

2. What do you mean by a language-strategy? Is it necessary to adopt in all the business

English for Business Administrators

English for Business Administrators

What is Business Administration? Business Administration is the process of managing

How did current management theories develop?

English for Business Administrators

Fayol’s Management Principles

 DISCIPLINE: A successful organization requires the common effort of workers. Penalties

 UNITY OF DIRECTION: The entire organization should be moving towards a common

 SUBORDIANTION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO THE GENERAL INTERESTS: The

 REMUNERATION: Many variables, such as cost of living, supply of qualified personnel,

 CENTRALIZATION: The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be

 EQUITY: All employees should be treated as equally as possible.

 STABILITY OF TENURE OF PERSONNEL: Retaining productive employees should always

English for Business Administrators

 INITIATIVE: Management should take steps to encourage worker initiative, which is

English for Business Administrators

Lesson 1 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: WRITING AND SPEAKING TIPS

Business writing is any written communication used in a professional setting, including

English for Business Administrators

The Value of Solid Writing Skills

Good writing is essential in the workforce for a number of reasons.

English for Business Administrators

How to Improve Your Writing Skills

1. Think before You Start Writing

Who: Who is my audience?

What: What do they need to know?

Where: Where is this happening?

Why: Why do they need this information?

How: How should they use this information?

Don’t make your audience go through this – be brief.

English for Business Administrators

3. Avoid Pretentious Words

4. Use the Active Voice

For example, look at the two sentences below:

a. The cat scratched the woman.

b. The woman was scratched by the cat.

c. The golfer hit the ball.

d. The ball was hit by the golfer.

English for Business Administrators

6. Clarify Your Call to Action

a. Please send back any edits by 5pm Tuesday.

b. Please call this client back by Friday to resolve the issue.

7. Use Your Email Subject Line Appropriately

For example, look at the two email subject lines below:

b. Attending Monday, Oct. 14’s 2pm Quarterly Reports Meeting

English for Business Administrators

8. Stick to One Topic in Emails

9. Never Use Email to Deliver Bad News

10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business Speaking Skills

English for Business Administrators

Name: ____________ Date:

Name: ____________ Date:

Name: ____________ Date:

Name: ____________ Date: