144 Audio scripts Unit 1 ll 1 Kimberley So, on my frst day here, it wasat {the afternoon meeting and was introduced tomy colleagues. they were pleasant enough, but it was kind of annoying atthe beginning, and, well, pompous. guess I could have been ‘more open-minded. I was too quick to judge twat jst ciferent to what | was used to, bout with time I think my impression probably changed. Ex the baling teal ein thie out ‘of-the-way, purpose-built industrial zone, as ‘hey call it here. In fact, i’s pretty upmarket and I think thas pretty much everyting you ‘could ak fr. One thing found very time: ‘coreg was te conatend roting we ‘wishing people farewell. an appreciate the ‘ed for formality, butt got kind of tecons, all that kissing and shaking hand every day, 2 Igor yenen youre working ner, you nave take into account the wide varity of carl fluences Is quite amazing to me. eal. say i'ss0 upcoming invest pouring in rom everywhere And it really melon por cular, so asinens tends beemore formal which, personally thinks rotabad hing Pople deme manly and they ae confident, you know selacured and outspoken. Where lcome fom many fringe are outdated and in some cases te rardown, bt overere fs the oppnite Foorything enw and ate of that suppose a predictable outcome ofthis diference in clare is that communication ‘egotations and busines deals Sowhat Ippon that engage nd coco got Simplified, which can eed to meetings hate, eat kno, utrothe l= quite dll weal. 3 Ho Lee Pat When you arive in New Zeal eae say on gy take onboard Alot nev information to process Bat New Zealanders ae ver down torah people and very easygoing was surprise at fit but ike it Coming fom & Ugly gues sot supa New Zeal estes more lowes es, this helps to make itrelasing, but there are times when can fe quite a lene place One of the mest unexpected things fr me was hove “erin cs poop ng Joking are very much pat of the cltre, and {esniceat work sometimes when people are ‘ols serious Ithelp ta cheer me up 12 Part 1 Johanna Hi, Peter, how are you? How was ‘your tip? Peter Not bad at all: hada been before 20 definitely interesting, thanks Johanna I've had a look through what you've ‘ent me 0 far and well tall sounds very promising. Peter Good, Iwas ooking forward to hearing, ‘what you'd have tosay: And the experience as gated lots of elp an Vm really pretty excited about what law Johanna OK, well, before you stat, can Tjust fill you in on what the cient has Said hile gerne? Johanna Will, the thing is, because ‘such an up-and-coming pace, they've told ‘as that thay dafintely want the ite tobe ‘somewhere in that area. So, do you think ‘a abe? Peter I don't see why not Krakow isa fantastic place Infact, I started off my researc trip inthe city centre, which | have to say is absolutely beautiful and Ducal wil ie There's me anadrgoings ‘on there and there's a great vibe. Less, ‘According to the local tourist office, they're really investing in developing the area; [however from what I could sce, there are slealy nutes tes ate fo the business market. But I gathered fom the locals Imet that there could be several interesting sites worth considering inthe ‘mountains outside the ity Jonanna OF; ihe where? Peter Well cant pronounce ther! But they ‘wrote the names down fr me and Feat my ‘layin Krakow short and headed forthe hills Jonanna anc what a you tna? 13 Pasta Jehanna £6, hove did you fo about the ‘mountain ste? What wast called again? Peter Zakopane, yes, that’ tight. To be fle, it coald have been worse as location absolutely breathtaking scenery, but then that’s not everyting, No, I've got to say that have my doubts. Johanna Oh, Why'sthat? fasta gut feeling? eter Maybe, dificltto ny, but Fast not 100% coewinced. [found ito be more of faski resort than a business centre Plenty’ ff sport=loads for guests todo skiing, ‘walking saunas plenty ofthat kind of thing, im not eying that's bad thing, is jst that no really an ideal location for this type of hotel -and isnot even. ‘especially close tothe airport atleast a ‘couple of hours’ drive, Noa inal leant belp feeling that that wptic woudl be abit mote complicate than we anticipated Johanna Yeah, I take your point. So are we ‘Saying this ie stil a serious contender, or ot? ‘Peter Well ts lt ny Lie Lao i's got ‘ot going for it realy, but I think we can probably do better. Basically. 'm happy to So sit mare research int the tea you still intresed, but Ican't promise anything. Jota Toee, OK eo Hel ay ae potential pital of locating there? What's Your impression of theloal workforce, for Peter Well, wouldn't gose far as to say ‘Ua ney dow ech Enns tall bu 1 did run intoa couple of problems with ‘commiication which makes me abit wary. So that's another reason why fm a bitreluctant to recommend the ste at this stage. Bul, look, ely dont yout come out snd see for yoursel? Johanna Wha abou the thin ite? Tndesand you went back io Krakow atthe dt your tp vit a potential ation cmthe edge ofthe city? voice Yoo afar Te never nen Snyhee quit eit ve pot oy hat Tmeonvinged tat wecan make something butolit=it hast about everything you could ack ior, elaann Nate pineg eter The major advatage that he nastics ley npc. Fm sre Youogretat the focal ites ae ist Gan Tbyen sto pbenlokarthe rece Johanna sh, sure term,’ you mention that fan abandoned eter Yo t's thsold brewery which Confident our cnt can ace ant eft Baal got lt gin for nel he pros dente outweigh eco. Johanna Im not sn hethr the ches budget wil seth hat far eter No, OK. bt ay thit snot aeason te daa: Lok end you my proto figures You sce tat the puch value cf the csasd factory detintelymakesit So craeba Keates, rally not with the way property ales a neg. Angee teaghapefd be impressed, cd ike ost ups meting vith the vnc Jonanna Bat we have tae the gues through neta ye Peter Yb that nv’ ap tring ron tic reine brik. fs only a preliminary meting Johanna Vel OK but tn weed ae pained dr ny ther poten thom tor thst dont we? eter Fm proty sre Fe covered everything in my ara. be wring everyting ip ine this week Johanna OK bul og me ally on board per retype ere ely call Caneince me ther an maybe we connie free 15 4 Asyou'l se from my projected figures, the purchase value ofthe disused lactory cfiitcly males it worth considcring, Pm ‘sre you'll agree thatthe lal fies re first class. 1b Basically im happy todo. bit more research f you're sill interested, but ant promise anything. Van abi reluctant to recommend the sit at this stage. But, look, why don't you come out and see for yourslP «€ 'venever seen anywhere quite lke it I've got trsay that Fn totally soviowea that we fan make something out of t— it has just, about everything you could ask for. 4. Tmjust not 100% convinced. edocs have absolutly breathtaking scenery, but then ‘ha’ na even ng16 1 Hi, my name's Holly Cheng.’ from the Singapore ocean well) accourvable foreverything that goes on in Production Planning. I'm pleased to say that aftr to years in the job I've now managed to get on {op of things and can see ways of further improving our ablty te deliver on time. Lately, I've been concentrating on local pradhction, but with the worldwide tatogy sathering speed, its becoming more and more Important o look atthe global picture. What's the point of me being here today guess ready to take on board anything can about Tene bate ene fee hehcorn -my team ad our counterparts aroun the ‘world. [de havea tendency to talk to fast 0, please slow me doven! Ur stop me t you can't Understand what I'm saying! ello. For those of you who don’t know ‘me already, am Elke Sefried from Graz in Austria My responsibilities include ‘optimizing the quality asurance procures at (Str plant eve teneune sat we Guly prlace parts of the highest standard. I'm empowered to etison any sub-standard products and have the task of working out what went song. Td like to point out that over the years, have ber coialy imposing proc, sid hope toshare some of my ideas with you here Hi there. As most of you will know, im Harvey Benson from Atlanta, What can say? Well it _might surprise you to know that we've few reat yearsand we’ just ling the stl (t.The polnt by wee Finding Healy tough to keepontopof demand, but, wel, you gotta sive the customer what they want. Basically, -ny roles tocordinate what happensbetween departments, making sue that communication ineptimel_ thinentoilye lot oftalking, mailing, setting on people’seases, and soon =o [might ‘othe everyore's favouriteperson! You'llbe happy to know thatwe'vebeen selected 3 benchmark fr best practice, due to the process thet developed. Toget othe point we want tohelp outall hesitesaround the world in ‘optimizing their communication processes ~1 hn twaitto share our expertise With you and tohelp you embrace the changes you'llbe facing over the next few month. Unit 2 21 Interviewer .. and tay I'm joined by Susan ‘Whitaker who's a carer caach ~. Susan, tore and more peopl eer to be exploring {ess tnditiona sarees options Realistically what are the altematives ta traditional career? ‘Susan Well yes, prople are beginning to realize that if you want to move forward yout mee fo la ceoponoily fox your ‘wen capeer development. And if you want to make a real change, you have to bbe prepared to take someriche, Talking yourself into that promotion, and climbing se ung ne ena Ges ler ‘may not necessarily be righ for you. IF that’s thecase, then You have to take a serous ook at your options ask around few vice anal are whed gent con dahon follwing less conventional paths. Interviewer So what kind of options ‘are people looking tor whe they're contemplating a change? Susan Well, there are several ways of approaching the issue. For example, you ‘may want stayin your current fed, but vitha change of role. Some people opt or ‘lateral move, [mean moving across or Frionnfaly itn rn ml theca level youre currently at so that you can jain more experience in a similar position, ‘owing back or down i also possible t0 explore anew direction, open up new ‘oppertinitinr x incwncingly tte, 0 resce tress. Or You might like to consider an exploratory, often temporary move #9 another lation or department, just to give Yourself a taste of what else is out there Datel cours, something se to materber 's that, overtime, you will grow into your role, ind then you can develop it on your ‘own terms, Interviewer Does this relly work for people looking fora change any change~ because they're just a bit bored? ‘Susan Yes, that’s right, there are times wher we reach a stage in our carers when sei fal eka sre Which ‘rection we should be moving in. Within a conventional organization, its really upto ‘managers to laok out forthe waming sighs that people are looking to mave.on and to slcctos the options sth then They nocd te focus on the positives of being sssigned to other departments or project teams. It ‘edit men you're being sideined — your horizons are simply being broadened ‘Thetoact of opprench Interviewer And what f the changes suggested by your manager don't match youirexpectatons? ‘Susan. Well then there's the ultimate step ‘of moving on compltcy. You went te {go beyond the scope of your current jo, there's nothing suitable where you ae, 40 yourstart looking around for an interesting position in another organization, Interviewer And ise manager cverHkely to fncourage this? ‘Susan Well, you and your manager can see when you've looked at all the options and the fitjust sot there: Maybe your sills don't match hoe relied fo the ob, pethape your career gosls are unrealistic within the organization, In such cases, the manager may just have tolet you go, andthe move is done well, you can end tap beliy he Det edhe fis i. organization after you leave Interviewer OK, can we just go back to Your [point about the move downwards oF backwards? How is that supposed to bea prngeasive step Suey ants find that demotivating? ‘Susan Good question. know thiscan seem ke some kind of voluntary demotion, but that’s not necessary the case. I's dificult ‘expla enaly, Dt sunt, at onder tomove fonvand you need to ake a step backwards to put yourself in a better positon forthe nest move. Interviewer OK, well, may have to take your 2.2 Extract 1 Heidi. Right, everyone's here now, so ket's get started, shall we? Emaaid we dont have that much time. Now, as you know, the purpose of today’s meeting is to look tour current crtment problems. ve ska Arun to analyse the underlying ‘causes ofthe ditfictes we te currently texperiencing in erating the right people. Soon perhape Aman, yo like ote through some of your findings. ‘Arun Certainly Well this isan issue that has een aecing Coben Walst or some time row. Ive been following up on why's0 trany candies have pried ja fers ‘And basicaly there's no getting away fom, it—we face serious competition from the larger, betterknown accountancy tems. ‘Top graduates know how much they're prestigious, higher-paying firms. Rachel Could just say something here, Heidi? Heidi Yes, gosh. Bechet Vows pork sc Tike thie, “Analy, but [think thatthe obviows solution to this problem must be to increase the initial salary package were oering. really think we should consider doing so Andy Lin eer, but I don't think a'r in ' positon todo tha, Rachel. Apert fom anything es, it would mean we'd have to increase all slaries bythe same amount to ‘retain motivation in our current staf point about salaries a bit later on, Rachel? Andy Agreed, Anyway rather investigate other options betes we ge down tat ‘oute-I'd be interested to hear about your suggestion Heid before make any Heidt Yes, ofcourse. Il get onto that in ‘moment Arun, did you want to tallsabout Sa retention issues a8 well? ‘Arun Yes, well, as you know, we're also experiencing a high turnaver of staf, again, primarily among our younger cmplayecs, Raced on what they say tn tele tut interviews, thre seems tobe a general feeling that we're a bit specialist and they progress faster inthe careers by moving, ‘Sompanies. They don’t seem to fel any particular loyalty fous. Ard Rachel If could just come in here fr ‘moment, Arun? What makes you 0 sure ‘team issue that only atfects our company? rd aay i'sthe attitude inal industries these ays poop simply don't tay withone ‘company for dat long any more Andy Of course you'e absolutly right, but ‘Ne cat just ignore this problem. {know you'renot keen on i Rachel but leally think we should hear about Hci’ schoo! leavers planOT et 23 Extract Heidi OK, given the current situation, Ym ste youll understand the need to improve ‘our choice of candidates ‘Andy Absolutely yes, rid. Now, fm not sure what your feelings ate about this, but we think we need to ‘move out focus away from university sracluats, We were wondering i we could ‘anor targtingschontlenversinaiad offering them an appreaticeship with ‘Coben Walsh and paying for them to study tor thei professional quaications whulst gaining on-the-job experience Ann Fe Heidi oon this he the right ‘moment to mention the conditions of ‘employment? Heidi On, yes thanks, Arun, Wel bastaly, the new retuits could combine work and ctney be Fon yaa daring which they, ‘would receive a moderate salary. After five years they should then get thee full profesional qualitiction, Rachel But surly the best stadents will want agren fetinuersty? Anal wrn' ther he ‘ua feeling if we then recruit a graduate ata higher poston witha higher salary? Heidi Now, is interesting you should say that, because actually Ithink the trend i= damnging Alot of good cules ant really worried about the cost of going, toniversity, andthe prospect of being. indebtIteould be that they would be really happy totake a secure employment opportunity inated. [Andy Wed have ta demand very high grades from the school leavers, you knew, to make ste we get the best candidates, Hild Yes, quite: Now, coming back to the ieee of graduates —they haveto complete thee yeas of training once they join us imany case. That means that effectively they'llonly be two years ahead ofthe school eavers, and since we're paying for five years of education I don’t think the scheolleavers will complain about thelt ‘comparatively ow salary Rachel: Mim, Tsuppose so. But do you rally think school leavers wil beable tomake such big decisions about thi arcor a he age of 18? Given that we need employees who are committe to the profession, ‘wouldn't be better to fects on way so improving ou graduate intake? ‘Anan Well thinks lt of eighteen yoar olds “doalready have clear idea of what they want todo. Er... something else we've ben thinking abouts the introduction of anentry exam 24 ‘Arun Iso gad [finally had a face-to-face ‘meeting with he pariners— I haven’ hac ‘much contact with them sofa, and atleast now they know who Lam, Heidt Yes, 1s yustas wel Lough you ‘along, Arun'—as you'r the one who's real tring tn have tall with Any and Rach if edo goahead with the changes Md thought about it could have brought one ‘ofthe recruitment consultants We use 35 wel, but there's always next time. It wuld have ben good if we'd made a bit more ogress today ‘Ann Yes, if only Fl known how Rachel ‘would feat 1 the schoobeavers proposal. ‘eta Well, we should have antcipted really ~we already knew she was quite resistant othe idea. Conversation 2 [Rachel All can says, 'm till not convinced this isthe right move, Andy. [might have ben abit too forthright, but Ineed tobe ue ay le gt fr Une cpa Weare partners bere afterall ‘Andy Well itcould have been awful ifwe'd ust gone round in circles Atleast we ‘managed to have some kind of discussion. ‘Rachel Te. Dut upp Had oe the to present the other side of the argument? What would have happened i Thad’t suggested improving our graduate intake? ‘And Ist dont think Arun brought much tothe dscusson tly heres Hei ‘Andy Yes. but i's good thing he came to the meeting, though Itsounds like we're ging tobe working quite closely with him from as Conversation 1 ‘A Go, what would you do ifane of your key members of staff was off sickon the day of an important presentation? 1B Um, well. would ithelp if gave you an ‘example? A Mes. Coon 'B I mean, something like this happened to me inmy previousob Conversation 2 {A Blais tOK if we make some changes to tose plans you sent trough? 1B The ones attached with the proposal? 1 ght they all eon pened A. Noy Iwas actually referring othe ones drawn up for internal purposes, Especially theone on page four it ooks abi odd 19 ‘A Well if you look at the eae atthe bottom, ofthe page, you'llsce what I mean. Surely thatean't be right? Conversation 3 [A Sorry, Fm not really sure Fv undersoo Does everybody nee tobe informed? B Sony? ‘A Yes, sory lel me rephrase tht. Am supposed to notify everybody inthe ‘epremanteach time Let eof Se proposal? B No.of course not, you won't have time to dd that, What Fm saying that's worth ‘ering it to the people responsible for that ‘Parmicular region. | know Alex s ooking, for new contacts, and sos Thcery. In other word. there's no point in itsiting in your invteay forthe next few weeks, Conversation 4 ‘A Wel the ast year has obviously had its ups snd downs fr you, but lok, the fact of improvement in your performance aver the ext sic months, 1B Butit'sbeen so difficult with all the change Tiere onic appre we fare factors which are out of my contol. [A Yes, Tundestand that. W'sbeen dificult for everyboay inthe group. But the point Ym trying to make slike to see more evidence of how you deal with these challenges Conversation 5 [A Tot some useful feedback from the morning session. Overall seems they (fel well ors alate pal 1B Really? But don’t we keep them informed with our newsletter? A Yes, but what mean by “sell informesd” fs, they'd have liked to be more involved ivi ie praduct fone cae anes Look... to putit another way, coulda’t we ‘consider leting them tril the products in their own marks fis, so that they fel their views count? Unit 3 a1 Interviewer OK.Can you tell mea lite bit about the company? aki Yes, well, our constancy, BICG, was ‘setup in 1999, Principally, we do research fn he eld of new way OF werk el fsa fusion of several diferent disiplines related tothe organizational aspects of a ‘company. So we focus the infeastnicre ~ the information and communication technologies ape he workplace We look at the physical environment, architecture and the se of space. the way office should be built and laid out ‘And moce generally, we deal with the ‘slural aspects ot & company, ike working practices. Interviewer Why does the professional world ‘ced nev office and workplace concepts? ‘Maki Wel think it's more lke the end ‘ofa process, you know. Basically, We hhelp companies to move with the tines. Tan, the business world has been valving rapidly over the lst few decades, ddueto new technologies. Things have ‘hanged and is tne for physic spaces to accommodate the new needs anc teativements of the woe of wrk. Interviewer OK. What kind of advantages are ‘here rom a management point of view? Is ‘tus purely a money-saving exeraser ‘Maki No,not exclusively: Imean, cost “caving i cevainy ane ofthe rele youtean achieve, but isnot the most Important, What i essential is being more productive and having more ettcient and effective processes, and teams and sweeking ractions Then, alan having meer tivated people Interviewer Mm. So, limagine you make ‘quite a few changes to the working environment. How do the people who are problems do you have t anticipate? ‘Maki Wel, actually one of the core focuses ‘of our work is to facitate cultural change ‘within companies, People react iferenty Normally the people a the betlom are quite happy to get something new a mone open and eretive environment. Those a the top‘of companies, senior managernent, they are ihesclormpiten te atmo re es concepts Bt middle management tends t0 be very resistant othiskind of change, so we have to expla the tenets or them as i's important to generate enthusiasm for these changes Interviewer Yeah How do you se this situation developing inthe future? Are {here going tobe any more major changes? Orisitmore ofan ongoing process? process for acuple of decades We're setting more mobile and technology is Betting smaller and smarter, and ths isa frend that s making us more flexible, more td tee icdepentent cl pace So the lofi wont be the pace where you have to jo every day and work eight hours. Work willbe something that you can do wherever you are and, really, you'lleome tothe fice meet people unl cehenge oLomniiee: and knoe. So that will probably be the trend in the neo future Interviewer Buti people aren't coming into the oie, wont there be a problem with aki” Min! Definitely, finitely! mean, this ‘is something you have fo ake account o, terse that people will communicate in the right way and wall still ave this "we" feeling -bsing pat of tam, You have to distinguish between the work you can do individually wherever youae, and the kind of work where you need to exchange information ideas with your colleagues, and therefore you go to the offic, Interviewer Mm. Arid how do you assess yur progress? How do you knove whether ‘not the work you've danehas been successful? Thal Since we deal very often with oo called “sof factor, its no that eaey to measure he succes ofthese kinds of projets. Nevertheless there ar other ways t0 measure sccess Obviously, you can check the motivation of the peopl in a company. You'can also check measurable aspects, like, for example, the time needed to solve ‘problem. I you reduce the normal time ‘needed for solving a problem, then you ane more productive 3.2 Extract 1 A ight, il yout inn some of thebackground: research from Henley ‘Management College in the UK has sown ‘that mide managers are under meressing, pressure and is going to get tougher. Why? that management will ecome more about resourcing and measuring rests than about following day today procedures, People are expected be working more yn he people will have been working flexibly for ‘more than a decade. That's something o think bout and Vi return to this point later ‘So, 'vedivided my tlk up into three sections Fit ofall, 1 consider the curtnt research After that, 1 go.n t tak about the ‘impact on the workforce a¢a whole, and 1 conde with some comments about how this ‘ill affect employers 33 Extract2 Fike to startby saying afew words about some ofthe charges predicted tha recent report, One significant change willbe the rise in demuting’ By ‘demuting’T mean ‘Working remotely from wherever you are, and not needing to travel to an ofie. So, the ‘opposite of commuting really. It's antapated ‘that ax many as 12 milion people nthe UK wll he working for homme by 2005. the 20th century was about the 47-hour week for British workers, the 2Ist century is going tobe about a new generaton of career ‘nomads Now, dnt know if youre familiar with this tem? Wall ‘carer nomad goers toemployees whoare changing the rls of time management in ways that suit their new approaches to work and fesure time. To putt another way employees who no longer think In tere af nj fr Hr bat mati ar changing jobs, and even carers. We ned 10 ask ourselves is this a good thing, and for ‘whom? 34 Extract’3 (Ok singgon ie Ur hoohat ow this allalfcts the workforce, One possible consequence ofthe home becoming the focus ‘of most people's working ives will bea rse in‘bingetime carers ~thisis where sployeos work tru fn at goed period and then lake the equivalent amount fof time off. Personal development could also benefit sinew ways of working give rise 0 ‘shadow carers’ ~ and perhaps here [should Just explain wht Touhy alow careers — that’s when amateur activities are pursued to professional standards. So fr example. "Turing tothe next point, research ‘commissioned by British Telecom points fut hat 247 acest company el a information via phones and BlackBerris could simply translate into staff working Fader and longer, unless organizations devise formal policies o deal with their new working practices, nc 98 Tsai ear, t's pressed that there willbe tension between employers and employees over some new ways of ‘working. say more about the effects on employers ina moment. Justo digress fora Second the report suggests that the tend towards home working could have other ‘oxitive socal side effects. It points tothe {act that three-quarters of people questioned believe that flexible work patterns and the rise ‘of home-based businesses are likely to revive local commurities. And six out of en people bellove the shif- will make lager eonmanition and cites more personal and people-riendly. 35 Extract For employers, however, the flip sidewall ‘this willbe the sheer numberof alternatives cveilable to individuals. And this brings me tothe last point. Whenever I hear employers discussing how they are going to compete for talent the focus aways seems tobe on competition with ther employers. But today's iauckgyanae ronesainarione ‘mote opportunities than ever before to make distinct choice between corporate fe and POT era es |working, in whatever capacity, for themselves land wee anbcipate that this rend el only ‘increase, And this s my key point~by the mmid-2Ist century a major cultural change wil nave taken place. Ihe workforce will have Acquired the power to make choices, and employers need to recognize this and tart planning for it now. To sum up, forward- thinking employers would be wise to view ‘uselement of choice as justas serious 8 competitors other employers are considered ‘become a key priority. So, that brings me to the end of my talk. Thankyou very much tor listening, And be happy to fake any questions now, 3.6 Vea. Feant en any altennatve Hinks bound to happen sooner o ater. 2 Itmay happen, but isnot very likely. 3 think is possible that wellte new fnovations inthis area, yes 4. may wl he that hinge change in the next few years. Wel have to walla ee. '5 Definitely, yee — there's certain tobe a major change al some point in the future. 6 think is very unlikely that will happen, to be honeet 7 Oh, most certainly, yes. And its highly ily to impact on all our lives, 8 I's quite probable that we'll see some big changes in the near future. © We certain that there willbe significant changes yes Oh, definitely and there's a good chance ment of ts wil benefit from these changes. 37 1 B Hi, Sophia t's Manjit. Have you got afew minutes? [A Er actually Tm quite snowed under at the moment, with the exhibition only two days way! 1B Tknow what you mean, I's quite hectic lover here. too. Fonly be a few minutes. though. A-OK. What can Io for you? 2 ‘A Howe was the presentation? Did it go scoring to plan? BB No, not quite Irwasn't so grent, actually ‘A On B Well therejust wasn't enough time to cover everything, And there were quite fev teshnval prem akong the may clon think the organization here hasbeen partculrly good, actualy ‘A No, thas has it? B mean, they should have stack with the gine] 2am pe prmenato [A Yeah. Ie might be worth Sending an emi to evervone iho came, to cover the parts you. smissed outOT et 3 ‘A Wj that Ho ining ite tac tomanage my work now thatthe team has ben split up. spend way tao much Sime passing messages on ad not nearly enough time doing my actual job. BE Tier wha yt onying, Toi Lio thisisa tricky time fora lt of you, but really think hatin the long run it work bette asa system, A Leon’ know oe! like I'm just treading 1 Believe me, Ian see where you're coming from, had simile problem at my lst ‘company, but itd work out in the end ‘A This sso annoying. Why won't people reply when Task them to? I's been three days now. BT know. tll think you should send the request again, though. hadgering them. 'B Ouite. Well. you might want to word itso its not too aggressive, in that case. Unit 4 4l 1 Nowadays, of coun thes lot more crmulation and dacson, bt i the ced Somcone has otk he ial econ ard tha’sme Sometimes you fel nervous pating your algatue toa mul-nlion Eat egrement. Te got it wrong — wel, prefer notte think about thet. Bt of sours, Te only reached the positon min becase Tm not overcautiousty nature Ihave been cused of Being recess for example when Took the bold step of eating al our top cltbe tang ples by 20% at Novembce. 1 ‘was proved ight on that one, Toan ouside, iy decisions may sometimes lok rash, but Yoseante sure [ve only reached them afer Carsuly weighing up ll the pros and cons. 1 ives ty ttle aehlee st have inanimpradent way with ther investment Youhave to ak yourself agin and agai: em Tein prudent? Oris this course of acon basil foolhardy? And, ofcourse the other slut tc hat ni ig anyone any favoursby completely aviding instal rk tht card posiity of Saeable ture, 2 Think’ what comes with responsibility Sometimes it els ike the whole of my dally sori if illo win ek but hate because have ult sof eedom to make decison. For example Ian deci ext ‘what deal Toffer potential centson price or dlscounts. That mean den alway know for ture tat Fve go tight. Gametime put te, phone down and inmediatly Fm wondering how sensible that wasn many ways, the Diggestrisk ace my work the sk OF wasting time. As they ay time money ~is telly my nee ped joe et 3 good potential lad, yu can spend days folowing up, and then the whole thing cn jus collapse and you end up with ring So torome degre youThave tobe cautious bout Accding which nda tool up cy 3 Tein mat prope think msinly of health and safety issues but isnot only that. My responsibility covers all areas of risk within an organization ~ financial, legal, environmental, technological When I discover a potential oben oy bs tone the ervey of {he loss that could result rom it~ maybe in ‘equipment or time or knowledge, or ever hhumanlte~ and put financial value on that. also calculate the probability ofthat i choaly appering len ter decSto ‘which risks nee! immediate attention, and which ones are manageable. In many cases Youcan fi ways to completely avoid the ‘isk, For example, if you determine thata Haircare is potentially dangorous you lose itdown and reparit But outside of safety fests, avoidance iat always the most ppucdent course of action. I you went to the (CEO and advised him to avoid every rick, you'r probably gonna get a deeply sceptical response, A totally risk-averse company is never going to make much progress. 4.2 Extract 1 Jean-Lue .. How about now, Greta? Is ‘at any bewer? [ean | Good. Any mone technica hitches? No? OK. So, ifthe document share programme is now ‘working you should al beable to se page seven of the proposal on screen. Joana, ‘Soul you talc us tough iis? Joana Yes, sure. Well, if you could look tthe ‘bottom of page seven. whore it says Risk ‘summary’ youll oe that Ive summarized ‘some ofthe risks involved in tis proposal. Extract? ‘Thomas ...OK, so thats one problem. And fsa real the price of minus hire inthe locality has increased dramatically over the last year Jean-Lae That’ interesting, Thomas thank ‘you, bt I thinkt's probably best et for isnt aneing, Maybe rete digresing litle If could just bring the conversation bck tothe agenda Joana Am right in saying thatthe general ‘opinion is we can go ahead on this? ‘luda ee Ey, Ll ane serio reservations, Ae we really prepared to lose three of our best-selling products, including the Nile Cruze, just to chase this pipe dream of green tourism? [suggest that we hewp ll Une eure tous, bata he ‘opportunity for client to pay a voluntary charge for carbon ofsttng. Now, by doing eis Jean-Luc OK, thanks, Khalid, maybe we can Tes osra sieve dat Joana Well ifyou remember, we did explore this last year that was just before you joined us, Khalid ~ and we decided at the time that it wasn’t the route to go doven, Jeanetue wurresayly dats nok wort reconsidering? Yoana {really don't thinkso. Khalid With respect Joana, dolusury travel ‘and green tourism relly go together? And pay thousands of dollars to stay ina mud Fhutwithout running water next toa termite round? That's what I'm asking Jean-Luc OK, Khalid, you've made your ‘nt Gren Fl needa hing ‘what you tink about this Greta Well at first Twas very much in favour ‘of Joana's propose but Ladnuttnat having some second thoughts about it Which is why put forward an alternative proposal that we'te going to discusslater on, think wehavetotake thelong view: There sshuge growin inthis sector and We Khalid What do you think ofthis? We offer suslanora tha Spd nl pyng the enh offeetting as an extra Jean-Lue Sorry Khalid. Could you let Greta tinh, please? Khalid OK, sory Crate Lean just saying that Lthink: if we've ‘going to stay competitive in this market Extract 3 Jean-Luc ... 50 thatallseoms OK. Thomas ~Thave a question for you here. How Ivkely Ts tha ou current partners song the Mombasa coast would buy int this proposal? “Thomas Can just check—we are now talking about the alternative smaller-scale proposal Suggested by Greta, ramer ean Joana's fll scale original idea? Jean-Luc Yes. think that’s where we've got 10. stat right? Joana? Joana Reluctantly yes. Fm not ally convinced yet ‘Thomas To me, it sounds alot more ‘manageable. Our partners can make a transition overa period of year rather than ‘overnight and depending on customer "uptake, We can go ister or slower a8 appropriate Think that makes more sense ‘than erying toda everything at ance and possibly flling at on our faces JeaneLuc OK, wel, we seem tohave some sort of consents although we stil have to convince Joana that this the right course ofaction Extract Jean-Luc OK, 'm not sure thisis geting us ‘anywhere! Wel, lke to draw things toa close so can just ask everyone to sum up ‘mention any of your remaining doubts or ‘questions to the board when Treport our iscusion, Geta, can you start, please? Greta IVS been quite hard, but Think we've own sight sdevnion Tvl ave bas {oo risky to commit ourselves to 43 “Thomas ... and as result, the price of ‘nibs hire nthe locality has increased popsoe ‘you? B No,I'm sorry, don't sce what you're setting a | Teel you could be making ite cite for yourself. You know, this may even go tothe workers’ council B Look, you're entitle to your opinion, but at this stage, you know, itmight not be a bad thingif it did And to behonest, just don't trv Sine bores at the meenert ‘A Look, David, 'm just trying to help. And Fm not expecting you to start aga. ve ‘sad there's nottang rong withthe idea you just need to approachitinasightly diferent way. B sce what you'wesaying, Roberta, but the reason Tim taking this approach is because 1 thnk tis plan Will work n the long un. ‘A Noone’s denying that but I really think trouble inthe short term. 1B Fairenough, but i's bit late now: Maybe You should have said something earl. Conversation 3 B Yes, Andis good thing you brought an ‘extra copy of the proposal. A eal that was icky, So, how do you think 1B Prey good think ~tey signet anyway, ‘And that last question ~ you handle that really well ‘A Thanks. Though Ihave to admit got the idea from Jenna apparently the same issue ‘came up last week and she go stghe ou. ‘So what about that new guy? 1B Theone we hadn't met before? Hassan? Yeah, he was really tough Definitely By the way, hanks For backing re up wit he igures Hey, no problem. could see you were getting kind of lost. nov, Im afraid that was down to nerves Don't worry, you did wel. You jast have to ‘ul on that experience now. ‘Thanks for your support~it's good to enon Fm on the right rack, ep = > > Unit 6 61 Interviewer Today we're continuing our ‘heme of innovation, and Fm ined BY ‘our busines analyst, Jost Van der Seat to talk about a dilemma faced by many lange ‘companies, How do you run an efiient ‘company, but also create space for those ‘ew annovative ates, without cutang imo the bottom line? Jot, isnot always that ‘aay tn et the halance right ei? Jost No, that’s right. Ifyou takea company like 3M, for example. They tend tobe associated with ceativity as you Kno, they invented the Postt note among ‘ther things New: they nindorcent some ‘Sigificant changes when ames MeNerney took over as Chet Executive Officer— he ‘was the frst outsider fo kad the company Init 100year history. The company ceriinly rede tracking itn shape a thattime, and MeNemey set out to boost ‘earings fom the start. One of he first things ee ato cut te worktonse ‘gett these changes? Jost Wel, he caused quite stir MeNemey’s ‘approach to raising profitability certainly ‘Sti the shareholders. He was clearly mtg treble phism jnnovation to quality contro. Ana! from his days at General Electric, he introduced Six Sigma, Now thisisa programme aimed at mproting rlly, cerning rete ne increasing eficiency, and toes tolerate mistakes easly. It demands precision, and. ‘he main Kea to eliminate production defects Interviewer Well McNemey left the company some years ago, ofcourse, Whats the situation at 3M since then? Jost Wel, people are asking whether ‘MeNerney’seffcieney drive has in fact Sill eeaivty Ac yruican imagine, Hae ‘quite a serious concer fr a company ‘whose very identity is built on innovation, Interviewer Isthere any hard evidence to support thes fears? Jost Wallis intorstng, In tho pete thi ‘of sales came from prxits release inthe five previous years today ths figure has slipped to one quarter only. The next CEO, George Buckley, was convinced he cul ‘olpectoen ae commpfaon by ging topline growth. He pulled back from Six Sigma just enotgh to get the creative ju flowing again. oven though een surprisingly dificult year for Skion PCs hopefully today willhelp generate some ideas for improving ‘our position in the market. Would anyone like to star? ‘Sue Wel yes .. mean, couktn ewe consider ‘ways to develop our image, to show that we're a genuinely caring business? James Sorry | should also sy, lon think ‘we need to do anything that's raciclly mean by ‘oring’ Sue Wel. for example. what about moving {nto the area of recycling? Most people have ro idea what todo with old computers and ‘components ~they etter heep them of| end up throwing them out. Twould have ‘hought it would be posible to clot customer's old computer when we sll them anew one and implementa policy of recycling, Jessica Oh, see, so you're thinking of something charitable, like maybe see collect fn used parts and send X per cent off 0 developing counties, amIright? ‘Sue Well net necessany that haven really had a chance to think it through Troperly hut thas nt ach ahaa ide Bat thinking about, we could even set ‘ypa programme where staf can choose to spend some of thee hobay time working ‘1a project na developing country, but, responsible. 've done something similar yell. Irae actually one of the most rewarding things I've ever done James Gareth, what do you think? convined Fm concen about how that would workin practice, and Tear help swondering whether i would really be cost: sffective James Sale tha a dit na’? Gareth Wel no, but I would certainly need ‘to know that’s profitable, before takingit any farther, ‘Sue It's not about cost-effectivenes, i's aboutJessica Well can we try and take thisjusta itl hit thor alter this meeting? Tmean, obviously wed need todo. lot more research before eaching any final decisions. 63 Extract Jessica I's an interesting idea terms of ‘arheting I tink thes potential W's certainly worth thinking about Infact wel. 'm not sure how ths would work in practice, but how about a wider elie on environmental issues, you know, similar {tbe ale abv Unig ve empay a cares, but more focused on energy-saving wellas ecvling? James'OK, would you like to expand on that? Jessica Well L was thinking along he lines of solar-powered lao, fn aon ‘Sue Solarpowered? Tessica Look, [only say that because there's ig money in energy-saving and if we became well knows as specialists in this soa we wus intel wr counenti. customers. ‘Sue Sorry, are you saying that we could open ‘opmmarket share with this i? Jessica Er... wll, yes. ook, could just ‘explain iva bi neal es where our website could play a major roe, mean. we could target small businesses. educational institutions, and public sector organizations around the world. Places ‘where electricity splies ae sporadic. Does that make sense? ames Well yes. but I don’t really think we ‘COU get away ith that do you? t's sch ‘departure fom what we're doing atthe ‘mormon. [mean e's porentiliy te high- risk I've understood corey, you're saying that we should become energy~ saving specialists, Jessica Well, just thought thatina way ‘maybe We'd gain compentive advantage, yout know, something innovative. after IL the wehnology's ther. Propo ane already doing it. Why not us? Gareth I'm sory, Tm just not convinced. ‘Look, shouldnt twebe tuning more about straightforward, commercial Aovelopenons? | think we shold got hack to discussing what we can do realistically, ‘now, with the capacity that we have atthe ‘moment, and focusing on the bottom ine. 64 Extract’ James Maybe you've ight What did you have ‘nmind? Gareth Well, something similar t Sue and esi’ ess earlier about recycling. Supposing we were to sel recovered pats Auougl roker bx he nmrfetuners orcliens who needed ‘obsolete’ parts? ‘Sue Obsolete parts? Right, erm... What ‘makes you think that would wor? Gareth Actually its not nearly as complicated spit sen, weg even able wet up links on our own website ames Mm, you've obviously given this some thought Gareth And there’s nothing stopping us from etn up Unsherassurselves, tne? We could buy up unwanted parts and sell them on ourselves, to our regular customers. James Yes that's true. You may have ‘something there Wall W'easily the host idea 'vehean so far. And we could probably be more competitiveon service fan some of those larger brokers Jessica Mmm, Ident know, m not so keen ‘on the idea, James We should atleast consider it though. Jessa Yes, OK. But wouldn't we be doing ‘exactly the sme as Green FUs? Ive been looking at their website and it's pretty 65 11 Could just explain ina bit more detail? 2. You've obviously given this some thought 3 Fm not totaly convinces. 4's been a surprisingly dificult year EWermily the het en Yor hart an far 6 F'mjust not convinced, 7 ewasactually one ofthe most rewarding, things I've ever done. 8 Look, lon say that because there's big smoeey ine neti 9. Tm notso keen on the ea 101 dont really think we could getaway with that,do you? 66 1a Coule explain in just bit more detail? 2 a Surprisingly its been a difficult year bb It's been a surprisingly dificult year. 13 a Itwasactualy one ofthe most rewanding things I've ever dane. bh Aca twee one tha mae rewarding things ve ever done, 4 4 Treally don't think we could getaway with that, do you? ' Ides really think we could getaway with that do you? 67 Conversation 1 Anna Tom. 'm in the middle of preparing for the sles conference. ‘Tom Oh, yes? ‘Anna “es sath Lhve ro do. short resentation. ‘Tom Ab Lucky you! ‘Anina Hnow! More worrying sil is that it’s ‘only a month away! “Tom "ea toes seem ro come round prety ‘quickly ‘Anna Yes. Anyway. I've gota few ideas. but Tail nee to bring ital tether Las wondering if you remember what you said lost year? ‘Tom Oh, erm, lets se... Something sbout how well we were doing. hink! Fe hmm “sn You've put me onthe spot here.’ rot quite sure nov, it seems like a long, ‘ume ago [seem to remember talking, about defending eu strategic positon — emething hike that. any case ‘Anna OK. And did you talk about the local markets Erm, Any kind of analysis? tom Yes, sure would have done. Lem. ‘And remember starting off with a short ‘gun trl the ie. on by tn tink ‘what T would have done with that. {could certainly find it though, ste email it to you that’s any netpe Og Conversation 2 Fen Sahat de yn think af my dealt ‘proposal? Tbe grateful for your feedback, Dan Yes, isnot bad. fd say you're on the ‘ight track. In any case the kite of ting, ‘we're looking for: It just needs abit mone evelopment Eva More development 2 an You know, explaining the rationale behind the proposal, wy now, and soon. va OK... what about the opening ‘pergapht Ie itatrong enough? Dan Something along those lines. Yeah, you certainly nee something like tat to help set the right fone, dont you? Again,’ say itjust needs abit more work, rally. va More work? Could yoube move specific? [Dan Well, ould give you afew general pointers, but ’m afraid [haven't really got time to get involved inthe detail Anyway, [thought Rob was supposed to be helping you sith thie? ‘Eva Well yes, did ema him ast week, but he sil hasnt got back to me. ‘Dan Well, ell probably get back © you before the en of this eek that shoul sil give you te to rove your dal Conversation 3 Federien Dominique! Ithought you were in ‘Germany? Dominique No, 1 got back lastnight ederico How did the research go? Did you ‘see any interesting interior? Tai niqie Actually coral wan qi dlsappointing Federico Oh, really? Dominique Yes. til, tnere was one pace that was quite interesting. havent got sg loping wih rane thew ele Show your some photos. Federico Wasit typically German? The tye, ‘mean, Dominique No, not really. W's lificult v0 ‘plain, wally Talim ha ito Something oriental ~ oh, and ls of black and white. itwas kind of minimalist Federico Alot of lacquer? Dominique Yes, panelling, partitions, you Tino that ert of thing hr at on remember that Japanese restaurant we went ton London? Federico Yes ofcourse [Dominique Wel the partitions were abit ike that, bat not quit te dacortive 151