It is a (French) company, based in (Paris)

It has factories / production centres / subsidiaries in …..

The Chairman / CEO / founder / owner is ….

It employs (200) people / It has (200) employees.

ii Products and customers

Their main activity is……..

The main products / customers are …… and ……..

iii Results and future plans

The annual turnover is ($30 million) with profits of ($2 million)

The company is successful because ……

We plan to………

 

F Look at these notes on Swiss watch manufacturers the Swatch Group

1 Swatch Group – group of 16 watch companies

2 Swatch – quartz mechanism – only 51 parts (most other watches more than 150)

3 The chairman and founder – Nicolas G Hayek Senior

4 New collection with more than 150 watches in four ranges twice a year

5 50 production centres – in Europe: France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany – in Asia:Thailand,

China, Malaysia

6 Most famous product – Swatch watch

7 Plans – components for telecommunications industry in future

8 The group – sell 25% of the world’s watches

9 Swatch – cheap, from $25

10 Companies in group include Omega, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Swatch, and Flik Flak – watches and

watch components

11 Headquarters – Biel, Switzerland

12 Future plans – components for entire Swiss watch industry and companies outside Switzerland

13 Annual sales – 118 000 000 watches

14 Omega – luxury watches, Tissot and Calvin Klein – middle of the range, Swatch and Flik Flak

– basic watches

 

G Organize the information under the appropriate headings, as in the examples

Organization / Structure	Location / Distribution	Products	Sales	Future Plans
1 Swatch Group – group of 16 watch companies		4 New collection with more than 150 watches in four ranges twice a year

 

H Put your notes into complete sentences using the following verbs: be, sell, plan, present, produce, make, manufacture, have

 

I Make a short presentation on the Swatch Group using this information and the language given above.

MODULE 3

WORKPLACE PROBLEMS

TEXT A

1 Study this vocabulary and definitions and think of Russian equivalents:

overwork – excessive work

to work overtime – to work after normal working hours

to work for free – to work without payment

productive – producing or able to produce large amounts or better results

discrimination – the practice of treating one person or group of people less fairly or less well than other people or groups

sex discrimination – discrimination against a person (typically a woman) on grounds of sex

job insecurity – not feeling safe and confident, because the job might to be taken away or lost at any time

waste – unwanted or unusable material, substances, or by-products (e.g. a lot of waste)

a waste of money – using or spending something carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose

environment – the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates

(e.g. t o protect the environment)

to do one’s bit – make a useful contribution to an effort or cause

stressful – making you feel worried and nervous

motivation – a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way (e.g. to lose motivation)

to get promotion – to receive a more important job or rank in the organization

opinion – a view or judgement about something

to make a decision – to choose what should be done or which is the best of various possible actions

 

2 Complete the sentences with the words and phrases below. Translate the sentences.

 

overwork work overtime make a decision stressful jobs job insecurity productive losing their motivation sex discrimination waste of money get promotion

 

1 Don't _________________ yourself on that new job.

2 My mother has to __________________ to get the job finished on time.

3 If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman, she is a victim of __________________.

4 Their working system is based on the belief that employees are more _________________ when they work in a team.

5 _______________________ is a condition when an employee is not sure that his/her jobs will remain stable from day to day, week to week, or year to year.

6 Most employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job but after their first six months they start _____________________.

7 If I don’t _____________________ within the next two years, I'm going to change jobs.

8 I think I've got one of the most __________________ – I really need a vacation.

9 You never switch off the light when you leave the room – it’s such a ____________________.

10 There isn’t enough information in this report – it’s difficult to __________________ about the marketing strategy.

 

3 Four people answered the question “What is the biggest problem at your workplace?” Listen to their replies and match them with an appropriate heading.

a) Wasting energy 1 _____

b) Overwork 2 _____

c) Sex discrimination 3 _____

d) Job insecurity 4 _____

 

4 Listen, read and translate the text.