MBA商务英语课堂讲义
The judgment of the Englishman by all other European peoples is that he is the most suspicious(多疑)，the most reserved(含蓄的), the most unreceptive, the most unfriendly, the coldest-hearted, and the most domineering(盛气凌人) of all western peoples. American, what he thinks about Englishmen; and every one of them will tell you the very same thing. This is precisely(精确，正是) what the character of men would become who had lived for thousands of years in the conditions of northern society. But you would find upon the other hand that nearly all nations would speak highly of certain other English qualities—energy, courage, honor, justice(between themselves). They would say that although no man is so difficult to make friends with, the friendship of an Englishman once gained is more strong and true than any other. And as the battle of life still continues, and must continue for thousands of years to come, it must be acknowledged that the English character is especially well fitted for the struggle. Its reserves(矜持)，its doubts ,its suspicions, its brutality(粗蛮)—these have been for it in the past, and are still in the present, the best social armour(盔甲) and panoply(全副盔甲) of war. It is not a lovable nor a friendly character; it is not even kindly. The Englishman of the best type is much more inclined to be just than he is to be kind, for kindness is an emotional impulse(冲动), and the Englishman is on his guard against（提防） every kind of emotional impulse. But with all this, the character is a grand（最崇高的） one, and its success has been best proof of its value.
Unit 03 Organization and Management
What do you think makes a good manager? Which of the following qualities do you think are the most important?
being decisive: able to make quick decisions
being efficient: doing things quickly, not leaving tasks unfinished, having a tidy desk, and so on
being friendly and sociable
being able to communicate with people being logical, rational and analytical
being able to motivate and inspire and lead people being authoritative: able to give orders
being competent: knowing one‘s job perfectly, as well as the work for one‘s subordinates being persuasive: able to convince people to do things having good ideas
being highly educated and knowing a lot about the world being prepared to work 50 to 60 hours a week wanting to make a lot of money
We refer to a group of people as an organization because each has a structure and strives (work hard) to achieve goals that individuals acting alone could not reach. Profit-oriented (decide a direction toward making money) businesses are one type of setting in which managers are found, but they are not the only one. Some of these are small, and others large. Some are
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MBA商务英语课堂讲义
for—profit companies, and others are nonprofit organizations. Some offered products, some offered both products and services, and others offered only services, some were well managed, and others struggled merely (only) to survive (remain alive).
All organizations strive to achieve specific goals, but they do not all have the same goals..
A manger is a person who plans, organizes, directs, and controls the allocation of human, material, financial, and information resources in pursuit of the organization‘s goals. The many different types of managers include department managers, district managers, and task force managers. What they all have in common is responsibility for the efforts of a group of people who share a goal and access (the right to use) to resources that the group can use in pursuing its goal.
The term management can be used to refer to the tasks that managers do. These tasks include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the work of an organization.
Unit 04 Levels of Management
Vocabulary 1. autonomous A. a system of authority with different levels, one above the other 2. decentralization B. a specific activity in a company, e.g. production, marketing, finance 3. function C. independent, able to take decisions without consulting a higher authority 4. hierarchy D. people working under someone else in a hierarchy 5. line authority E. dividing an organization into decision-making units that are not centrally controlled 6. report to F. the power to give instructions to people at the level below in the chain of command. 7. subordinates G. to be responsible to someone and to take instructions from him or her
Company Structure
Most organizations have a hierarchical or pyramidal structure, with one person or a group of people at the top, and an increasing number of people below them at each successive level. There is a clear line or chain of command running down the pyramid. All the people in the organization know what decisions they are able to make, who their superior (or boss) is (to whom they report), and who their immediate subordinates are (to whom they can give instructions).
Some people in an organization have colleagues who help them: for example, there might be an Assistant to the Marketing Manager. This is known as a staff position: its holder has no line authority, and is not integrated into the chain of command, unlike, for example, the Assistant Marketing Manager, who is number two in the marketing department.
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MBA商务英语课堂讲义
Yet the activities of most companies are too complicated to be organized in a single hierarchy. Shortly before the first world war, the French industrialist Henry Fayol organized his coal-mining business according to the functions that it had to carry out. He is generally credited with inventing functional organization. Today, most large manufacturing organizations have a functional structure, including (among others) production, finance, marketing, sales, and personnel or human resources departments. This means, for example, that the production and marketing departments cannot take financial decisions without consulting the finance department.
Functional organization is efficient, but there are two standard criticisms. Firstly, people are usually more concerned with the success of their department than that of the company, so there are permanent battles between, for example, finance and marketing, or marketing and production, which have incompatible goals. Secondly, separating functions is unlikely to encourage innovation.
Yet for a large organization manufacturing a range of products, having a single production department is generally inefficient. Consequently, most large companies are decentralized, following the model of Alfred Sloan, who divided General Motors into separate operating divisions in 1920. Each division has its own engineering, production and sales departments, made a different category of car (but with some overlap, to encourage internal competition), and was expected to make a profit.
Business that cannot be divided into autonomous divisions with their own markets can simulate decentralization, setting up divisions that deal with each other using internally determined transfer prices. Many banks, for example, have established commercial, corporate, private banking, international and investment divisions.
An inherent problem of hierarchies is that people at lower levels are unable to make important decisions, but have to pass on responsibility to their boss. One solution to this is matrix management, in which people report to more than one superior. For example, a product manager with an idea might be able to deal directly with managers responsible for a certain market segment and for a geographical region, as well as the managers responsible for the traditional functions of finance, sales and production. This is one way of keeping authority at lower levels, but it is not necessarily a very efficient one. Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, in their well-known book In Search of Excellence, insist on the necessity of pushing authority and autonomy down the line, but they argue that one element – probably the product – must have priority; four-dimensional matrices are far too complex.
A further possibility to have wholly autonomous, temporary groups or teams that are responsible for an entire project, and are split up as soon as it is successfully completed. Teams are often not very good for decision-making, and they run the risk of relational problems, unless they are small and have a lot of self-discipline. In fact they still require a definite leader, on whom their success probably depends.
Unit 05 Production
Planning issues: minimizing the number of set-ups, minimizing stock levels; scheduling
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(general planning e.g. raw materials/day, units produced/day);
Sourcing issues: subcontracting/contracting out/outsourcing (employing other companies to make certain components); maintaining continuity of supply; delivery speed; flexibility of supplier; quality control of materials and parts; negotiating with suppliers
Stock control issues: minimizing stock losses; checking the expiry dates of stocks.
Production issues: quality control; labour skill required; automation/robotics; build quality (high/low quality of the manufacturing); production problems (e.g. strikes, equipment not working); packing and dispatch; transport and delivery
Single-item production is a unique product which is made to order and produced at the producer‘s premises e.g. a made-to measure suit.
Batch production is the manufacture of different versions of the same basic product in small groups e.g. different colours of paint, flavours of yoghurt.
Line production is the manufacture of a standard product on an assembly line e.g. motor vehicles.
Continuous flow production is where machinery produces a single, standard product on a 24-hour basis e.g. chemical manufacture or oil refining.
An on-site project is a unique product assembled on site e.g. a ship or a civil engineering project.
Vocabulary
These are some basic words used in relation to industrial production. Match them up with the definitions below.
Capacity component inventory lead time location Outsourcing or contracting out plant subcontractor
Any company that provides goods or services for another one. Any of the pieces or parts that make up a product, machine, etc.
Buying products or processed materials from other companies rather than manufacturing them.
The (maximum) rate of output that can be achieved from a production process
The buildings, machines, equipment and other facilities used in the production process. The geographical situation of a factory or other facility
The stock of any item or resource used in an organization (including raw materials, parts, supplies, work in process and finished products)
The time needed to perform an activity (i.e. to manufacture or deliver something)
Read the text below, and insert the eight words below.
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MBA商务英语课堂讲义
Capacity component inventory lead times Location outsourcing plants subcontractor
JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION
Manufacturing companies are faced with a ?make-or-buy decision‘ for every item or (1)………………..they use (as well as for every process and service). Do they make it themselves or do they outsource, and buy from a (2)………………..? If a company assembles products supplied by a large number of subcontractors, they face the problem of how much (3)……………… they require.
In Just-In-Time (JIT) production – also called lean production, stockless production, and continuous flow manufacture – nothing is bought or produced until it is needed. Each section of the production process makes the necessary quantity of the necessary units at the necessary time – which is when it is required by the next stage of the manufacturing process, or by distributors or customers.
The JIT system is usually credited to Taiichi Ohno, who was vice-president for manufacturing with Toyota in Japan in the early 1950s – although he stated that he got the idea from American supermarkets! JIT is wholly contrary to the European and American logic of encouraging greater productivity, and welcoming production that exceeds the agreed schedule or quota, and stocking extras in case of future problems.
JIT minimizes the cost of holding inventories, which are regarded negatively, as avoidable costs, rather than as assets. The large Japanese manufacturing companies have long practiced (4)………………, and generally use extensive networks of small subcontractors. Of course, if a single subcontractor fails to deliver a component on time, the whole production process is sabotaged, but he Japanese industrial system relies on the mutual trust and long-term relationships. Small suppliers often attempt to situate their facilities close to the (5)……………… of a larger company with which they work.
The Japanese also prefer small, specialized production (6)……………with a limited (7)……………………, in which, wherever possible, all the machines required for a certain job are grouped together. This avoids all the waiting and moving time involved in sending half-finished items from one department to another, although it often requires flexible, multi-skilled employees.
JIT thus greatly reduces transportation and inventory costs, and should ensure that there is no waste form overproduction, or from idle workers waiting for parts. It allows increased productivity because of shortened throughput time. If factories are equipped so that set-up times are short, very small production runs are possible. Any quality problems or product defects should be noticed more quickly, production (8)……………….. are reduced, and the firm can react more rapidly to demand changes.
Comprehension
According to the text, are the following sentences TRUE or FALSE. If they are false, say why.
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