3 Company Organisation 2021

DCG 2
UE 12
ANGLAIS DES AFFAIRES
COMPANY
ORGANISATION
- The role of organisations in society

- Business ownership
- Management and leadership
- Reading comprehension
- Vocabulary work & translation 2020-2021
- Letter, memo, report writing
- Commentary
Claire David
Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

DCG2/BTS CG – promotion 2019/2022 1
DCG2 – 2020-2021 Unit 2 – Company organisation
I- THE ROLE OF ORGANISATIONS IN

SOCIETY
BACKGROUND
A- Customers’ needs and wants

Organisations make, buy or sell ……………….. or provide ………………… in order to satisfy
customers’ needs and wants.
 The most basic needs are the things that we require to survive, such as shelter, food and water,
warmth and clothing.
 Wants are things that we desire, things which we would like to have but which we may or
may not be able to obtain, such as holidays. Wants are not necessary for survival and include
luxury items.
 Goods are things that we can see and touch, they are tangible, such as food, houses and
clothes.
 Services are things that we cannot hold or touch, they are intangible, for example education,
banking and accounting.
If organisations do not satisfy customers’ needs and wants they will not make profit and might not
survive.
Organisations have other roles in society as well as satisfying customer needs. They also have a
social role as they employ people, innovate and set standards in the way their goods are produced
and services are supplied.
B- Factors of production
Businesses use factors of production, or inputs, to create outputs – finished goods and services.
There are three principle factors of production:
……………….. which includes natural resources such as water, fields, wood, coal and fish;
……………….. which is the workforce needed to create goods and provide services;
……………….. the man-made resources such as buildings, machinery and money.
An entrepreneur will also bring a fourth factor – …………………..– the activity of managing a
business in order to produce the goods and services. In order to fully exploit the resources of land,
labour and capital, entrepreneurs are able to identify a gap in the market, are ready to take risks,
show determination to carry out their projects, are decisive and innovative.
Value is added to the product at each stage of the production process. The final price of the goods
or services reflects the additional value which is added at each stage during the production
process. This is known as ………………..……………….. .

C- Sectors of industry
There are three main sectors of industry in which organisations operate and produce activity. The
sectors combine to supply finished goods and services to customers. Different organisations are
involved at the different stages of production.
 The primary sector involves procuring ………………..……………….. or extracting natural
resources from the land and sea, such as ………………….. metals and coal,
………………….. for oil, ………………….. for food, ………………….. and
………………….. .
 The secondary sector entails ………………….. the raw materials into components, such as
making steel from iron or plastics from oil, manufacturing products and assembling parts,
whether in a factory or building a house or constructing a road or a bridge.
 The tertiary sector includes providing ………………….. services which allow the raw
materials from the primary sector and the finished goods from the secondary sector to be
…………………... This involves financial services, transport, logistics as well as other public
services such as health care and education.
D- Different types of organisation

Different types of organisations exist with different aims and objectives and operate in either the
private, public or third sector of the economy.
 Private sector organisations are owned, managed and controlled by …………………... They
are ………………….. ………………….. businesses providing goods or services. The aim of
private sector organisations is ………………….. ………………….. and to
…………………..: they are profit-oriented. They are primarily concerned with wealth
creation, but they have other roles too; they innovate and find solutions to improve people’s
lives, they create jobs and provide financial stability to employees.
 Public sector – or state sector – organisations provide public services and operate public
enterprises. Public services have ………………….…………………... objectives; they
include education, health, ………………….., social work, public transport,
………………….. ………………….. and defense. Public enterprises or state-owned
enterprises are commercial activities which are under public ownership. Public services are
state-owned and are operated by governments, at a local, regional or national level. The exact
way they are financed and provided differs from country to country, but in general
governments collect money from various taxes and ………………….. it to different services.
Examples:
- At a national level this could be services such as defence, health services and higher
education.
- At a regional or local level this could be transport, housing, schools, waste collection and
recycling, as well as local amenities such as libraries and swimming pools.
Public enterprises are organisations which respond to a need in the community and create
economic activity, such as the provision of rail or energy services. They are run as businesses and
any profit – or surplus – which is made from their activity is put back into the organisation.
 Third sector organisations are ………………….. ………………….. ……………………

They are ………………….. ………………….. ………………….. and exist to help a cause
or provide a service which is not provided by public sector organisations. Their aim is to raise
money and increase awareness of the cause.
Third sector organisations are independent of the government and exist because they want to
achieve social goals. They can be voluntary organisations, charities or local associations of
people with shared values and objectives.
They might have a company status and organisation, but they are managed voluntarily and
function with donations or membership fees. They are run by trustees who administer the
finances. In order to be financially sustainable they need to make a surplus which is reinvested
into the operations of the organisation in order to reach their goals.
They provide services that the public sector cannot or does not provide, often because the
public sector cannot address specific needs in local communities.
E- Business objectives
All organisations need to set business objectives in order to know what must be done in order to
…………………..…………………... The choice of business objective depends on which sector
of the economy the organisation belongs to and its stage of development. An organisation can
have more than one objective at a time, although their objectives will evolve over time. The main
business objectives are:
 …………………..: An organisation must survive in order to continue to exist. If it does not
make enough profit then it will close down. This is usually the most important objective of a
company for the first few years. Many small and medium-sized companies find it difficult to
survive in periods of economic recession or when they face strong competition.
 …………………..: For most private sector businesses, profit is the main objective. Profit is
achieved when there is more income than costs.
 …………………..…………………..: Providing a new or improved existing service. A
service can be paid for by customers, such as train services, or not paid for by the user, such as
education or health (depending on the country).
 …………………..…………………..: Reducing the impact of the organisation’s activities on
the environment or making sure that materials are sourced from sustainable sources and not
made by children or people working in bad conditions.
 …………………..…………………..: Ensuring that customers are happy with the goods or
services provided. The aim of this objective is to ensure that customers remain loyal to the
company.
 …………………..…………………..: Attracting more customers, becoming more visible and
increasing sales and profit.
 …………………..…………………..: Keeping staff means keeping ideas and innovation

within the organisation whereas high staff turnover can mean loss of productivity.
 …………………..:: Creating a business using the factors of production available.
F- Stakeholders
Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in an organisation. They can be individuals, groups
or other organisations.
Stakeholders can be affected directly or indirectly by an organisation’s actions. Stakeholders can
also be an individual or a group that can influence the organisation’s ………………….. or
…………………..………………….. either in a positive or a negative way. All stakeholders have
a strong reason for being interested in the organisation. There are internal and external
stakeholders, each with their own interests.
 Internal stakeholders are groups within an organisation, such as:
– …………………..…………………..…………………..………………….. who are
interested in how much profit the organisation will make and whether it will continue to
function;
– …………………..………………….. who want to maintain their position and salary, and to
have prospects for promotion;
– …………………..………………….. who want to keep their jobs and earn higher wages.
 External stakeholders are groups outside an organisation. This includes:
– …………………..………………….. who want the organisation to produce quality
products or services at reasonable prices;
– ………………….. who want the organisation to continue to buy their goods and services;
– …………………..………………….. who want their loans to be repaid on time and with
interest;
– …………………..…………………..who want the organisation to succeed in order to
employ people and to collect taxes from it;
– and the …………………..…………………..who wants the organisation to employ local
people and that its activity has a positive effect on the local economy and environment.

Reading comprehension
A. Read the text in the previous section and decide whether the statements below are true or
false. Justify your answers.
1. Needs are the same as wants.
2. Goods are tangible, services are intangible.
3. Capital, as a factor of production, only includes money.
4. The primary sector of industry is concerned with industry.
5. The tertiary sector concerns charities.
6. Profit-making companies are also known as private sector organisations.
7. The first objective of an organisation is to continue to exist, not make a profit.
8. Retaining staff in an organisation is not considered as a business objective.
9. Governments and customers are examples of external stakeholders.
10. Local communities are not considered as stakeholders in an organisation.
B. Read the text in the previous section again and answer the following questions.
1. Why do organisations exist?
2. What do they need to exist?
3. What activities do organisations cover?
4. What objectives do they have?
5. Who is involved in an organisation?
Vocabulary work
Complete the text below using words from the chapter. The first letter of each word is given.
Organisations can be privately-o................. profit-making businesses, offer public s.................. or
be non-g.................. organisations. Businesses use different f.................. of production to create
f.................. goods, often from extracting r......... materials and natural r.................. Survival and
profit are the main objectives of private sector companies, but other objectives include
p.................. of a service and social r.................. All organisations have internal and external
s.................. .

Expression
1/ Describe this poster published by Toshiba.
What did Toshiba want to convey when it published this document? (body: 200 words)
2/ Report writing
Vous travaillez dans un cabinet d'experts-comptables. Rédigez en anglais un compte-rendu pour
expliquer le secteur dans lequel vous travaillez, les objectifs du cabinet et les parties-prenantes
(150 mots, +/– 10 %). Indiquez le nombre de mots.

2- BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
BACKGROUND
A- Business ownership
Different types of organisation have different advantages and disadvantages for the owners – the
people who the organisation belongs to. When the owner of an organisation starts their business
they must decide on the best legal structure for it, which will in part depend on the number of
people working in it, on who invests in it and who is liable – or responsible – for it.
As the business evolves over time the legal structure can change, taking into account
modifications in the number of employees or new investors. The sector in which the organisation
operates, whether it is the private, public or third sector determines the different type of ownership
– who is in possession – of the organisation.
B- The private sector

The profit made by private sector organisations serves the owners, the shareholders and the
investors. Private sector businesses are financed by money from shareholders and other investors
and other private finance such as bank loans. The main types of private sector business include
sole traders, partnerships and limited companies.
1. Sole traders:
A sole trader is any business controlled and owned by one person.
Even if the business is controlled and owned by one person, the sole trader can employ other
people. Often these businesses provide a specialist service such as electricians or photographers.
These businesses often require only a small amount of capital for the initial investment, which
might come from the owners’ savings, bank loans or loans from family or friends. Any profit
made by sole traders is kept by themselves or used to pay off personal loans.
Soles traders can make all the decisions without having to consult anyone. It is the easiest form of
business ownership to set up because there are fewer rules and regulations than other types of
business ownership. Sole traders often work long hours and take few holidays because they are
fully responsible for their company. Being a sole trader is risky because of unlimited liability –
they are personally liable for the company’s debt, which means that if the business fails the owner
must pay for the business debts by selling his or her personal assets – any property such as a
house or belongings such as a car or computers.
2. Partnerships:
A partnership is a business owned by a minimum of two partners, usually based on shared
expertise.
Partners agree on how much money each partner invests and the role of each partner in the
partnership. A sleeping partner invests in the partnership but does not have an active role in
managing it. In partnerships the responsibility for business decisions is shared by the partners, as
is any profit.
It is easier to raise money from a bank loan as a partnership than as a sole trader because banks
prefer to lend money to an organisation with two or more owners. However, it can be difficult to
plan for the future in a partnership if the partners disagree on how the company should be run.
Partnerships can have either unlimited liability or limited liability (LLP).
3. Limited companies:
Limited companies are owned by shareholders who buy shares in the company.
When companies grow they can become a limited company, which means they have a legal
identity and can own assets. The owners of limited companies have limited liability for the
company’s debts – they are only liable for the value of their initial investment in the company.
Limited companies are owned by shareholders who buy shares (parts) of the company. When the
company makes a profit, it is distributed to the shareholders as a dividend. There are two main
types of limited company:
 Public limited companies (plc) – also known as listed companies. The shares of public
limited companies are traded on the stock exchange and can be bought by the general
public. If a public limited company needs to raise money it can make shares available for
investors to buy.
 Private limited companies (ltd). The shares of private limited companies are not sold on
the stock exchange and cannot be bought by the general public. Any shareholder who
wants to sell their shares in a private limited company must have approval from the other
shareholders.
C- Company size
1. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Although many large multinational companies are household names and monopolise business
news, SMEs dominate the European economy.
Small businesses are mostly privately-owned organisations. They include family businesses,
liberal professions but also social economy enterprises.
The small business sector contributes to the economy by ensuring economic growth, innovation,
employing local people in local communities and social integration. SMEs are a contrast to the
model of the multinational company that employs thousands of people based in huge offices
throughout the world.
Small businesses often begin as start-ups. They are usually sole-traders, partnerships and private
limited companies and therefore do not have to please shareholders. This means that they are freer
to make choices concerning the way they work and the goods and services they offer. The
downside is that SMEs often suffer from problems with local administration, taxation and red tape
– administrative procedures – meaning that thousands of small businesses disappear every year.
2. International corporations
A multinational company (or multinational corporation – MNC) is an organisation which

produces goods or services or owns another company in at least one other country than its home
country.

Multinational companies can operate in different countries by having branches of their operations
or by owning or part-owning subsidiary companies in other countries. The main characteristics of
multinational companies are their very large size and that their global activities are controlled by
parent companies. A parent company is a company which owns more than half the shares of
another company.
In order to establish business activity in a new country for instance, a company can buy another
company in a takeover or acquisition, or merge with it to create a new entity.
Multinational companies are profit-making organisations. Many of them are public companies –
their shares (or stocks) are traded on stock exchanges. Many multinationals are household names.
Their share price and annual performance are followed by financial analysts to predict financial
market behaviour. These companies operate with very big budgets throughout the world and
manage their business activities from a global perspective. They do not always centralise their
headquarters – their main offices – in one city, as they employ senior executives from many
countries.
There is no direct equivalent between the legal structures in the UK and in the USA because the
legal situations are different.
To go further: https://www.usa-corporate.com/

1. When someone is liable for an organisation that person is accountable for it.
2. Private sector organisations attempt to make financial gains.
3. A sole trader is a company which only involves one person.
4. Being a sole trader involves taking risks.
5. Partnerships are better at raising funds than sole traders.
6. A sleeping partner only invests in an organisation.
7. The owners of limited companies are responsible for the debts of these companies.
8. A public limited company is a state-owned company.
9. A private limited company is one which has its shares exchanged on the stock exchange.
1. What are the advantages of being a sole trader?
2. What are the disadvantages of a partnership?
3. What are the main similarities and differences between a public limited company and a
private limited company?
4. What are some of the characteristics of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in
Europe?
5. What are the main characteristics of multinational companies (MNCs)?
Vocabulary work
Organisations have different legal s.................. according to their business activities. This can
include self-employed s.................. traders, p.................. and m.................. companies operating in
many countries all over the world. Owners of public or private l.................. companies have
limited l.................. for the business debts of the company. Governments a.................. money to
p.................. services and enterprises in order for them to function. Small and medium enterprises
are more common than MNCs, but MNCs have many b.................. and s.................. throughout
the world.
Expression
1/ BUSINESS LETTER
Vous rédigez un courrier en anglais destiné à un avocat américain.
Vous envisagez d’introduire votre société (qui se développe très vite) sur un marché boursier
américain pour y lever des capitaux. Vous demandez à l’avocat quelles sont les conditions
requises pour effectuer cette introduction, comment changer vos statuts, quel est capital minimum
et quel impact cela aura sur la vie sociale de votre entreprise : rapports investisseurs-dirigeants,
assemblées générales, constitution du conseil d’administration, etc.
200 mots environ
2/ Talking about an organisation

We talk about the following information when we give an overview of an organisation.
• Key figures: where the organisation is located, how many people it employs;
• Products or services: what the organisation produces, sells or supplies and where they are
produced, sold or supplied;
• Current projects: what the organisation is working on now;
• Key dates: a few key dates in the history of the organisation.
If you are asking questions about an organisation, here are some examples:
- What does your company produce?
- How many employees does it employ?
- Where are the company headquarters?
- When was the company founded?
- What are you working on at the moment?
Choisissez une entreprise française du CAC 40. Décrivez-en la structure et les fonctions.
Résumez, en anglais, son activité mondiale et expliquez-en le statut (150 mots, +/– 10 %).
Indiquez le nombre de mots.

3- MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

BACKGROUND
A- Management of organisations
In order to carry out their business activities effectively, organisations put in place clearly defined
management structures which clarify the functions, responsibilities and roles of managers and
employees. Organisations usually group together staff who work in the same domains or positions
into departments or services in order to facilitate communication and efficiency. When
departments and production facilities are dispersed over several sites in different places the senior
managers usually work in the head office or headquarters.
Organisations aim to be efficient and productive and therefore they divide responsibilities
between different departments and different posts.
Very small enterprises, small start-ups and family businesses often have an informal management
structure and members of staff often take on several roles and responsibilities. However, when
companies grow they must put in place a more formal structure. In larger organisations, including
public sector and non-profit making organisations, the strategy and decisions concerning the
organisation are made by the board of directors. The board of directors is made of non-executive
directors, who come from outside of the organisation and who bring expertise or specialist
knowledge, and executive directors who are senior executives or high-level managers in the
organisation.
B- Departments, functions and responsibilities

Different people have different roles in an organisation so that it can function efficiently. Some
people have leadership roles, giving direction and creating strategy for the organisation. Some
people manage teams and others have more functional roles with specialised technical skills.
Organisations create management organigrams (or organisational charts) in order to visualise the
roles and responsibilities of different members of staff and their relationships with each other.
The Board of Directors makes all the decisions on the strategy of the organisation, and the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) or Managing Director (MD) is in charge of overseeing that the
strategy is put in place, developing new business and making sure the organisation functions
properly running the business on behalf of the board of directors. The Chief Finance Officer
(CFO) or Finance Director is in charge of the financial affairs of the organisation and reports on
the company’s financial performance for the CEO and Board of Directors. The Human
Resources (HR) Director is responsible for recruitment and training policies, the Marketing
Director decides on how to market the products or services of the organisation and the Research
Director is head of the research activity, developing new products. Directors are also known as the
heads of the departments that they manage.

C- Hierarchy and structure

Organisations have often been hierarchical, historically based on the power structures of
monarchies, religions and the military.
The great secret of success
In an increasingly complex and volatile world, the key to a company’s success is its high-
performance organization which brings it an enormous competitive advantage.
What makes for a high-performance organization?

A company must have a clear, well adapted organization or flow chart showing who does what
and who reports to whom. Organization charts show graphically the firm’s formal structure
concerning authority, functions and relations. There are several types: the most common are
hierarchical, but there are also matrix and linear structures, etc. They define staff members’
positions, tasks and duties, so as to avoid overlapping.
The best organization will be efficient only if it has the right person in the right place. Above all,
the quality of the workforce is essential: in addition to being motivated, competent and hard-
working at all levels of the hierarchy, they must also be talented and have a dynamic personality.
Diplomas and skills are not enough.
Coordination and integration

The real power of any organization arises from its capacity to coordinate and integrate people,
activities and systems. The various departments should communicate and work closely with one
another: for example Sales with Accountancy, Manufacturing with Information Technology,
Marketing with R&D (Research and Development). The organization should also help to
encourage and integrate innovations which are essential to growth, and combine them with a
global approach in the case of multinationals. The hierarchy must therefore be flexible and open
to new, creative and even revolutionary ideas. In addition, nowadays firms must take into account
new laws imposing gender parity and try to provide a sensible work/life balance, especially for
young parents and ageing workers.
Management’s role
Managers should encourage coordination and integration. They must develop a strategy,
encourage feedback, and conduct an analysis of the major activities (selling, marketing and
advertising, order taking, invoicing, product development and manufacturing, project
management, purchasing, maintenance, customer service, shipping) in order to identify ways to
make them more efficient, cheaper and faster. They also have to define functions and
responsibilities, supervise recruitment, decide on lay-offs when necessary (even if they often do
so reluctantly), improve the company’s social policy to motivate the staff, and control quality to
keep customers happy. Above all they must be charismatic leaders. Some top managers have
shaped not only their companies but also the economy: Henry Ford invented Fordism ans mass-
production, Lee Iacocca, who rescued Chrysler Corporation, and Jack Welch who turned GE
(General Electric) into an impressive multinational. More recently Bill Gates democratized
computers by developing Microsoft; Jeff Bezos has facilitated access to books thanks to Amazon,
and Larry Page and Serguei Brin have given Billions of people access to an incredible variety of
services through Google, allover the world.
Making decisions
Leadership consists in making decisions, which is a difficult art: designing the organization and
the strategy, assigning the tasks to the right people clearly, making them accountable, as weIl as
checking and tracking the impact of the decisions made.
Research shows that only 15% of companies have an organization good enough to help them
outperform others. That is why many firms seek help from business organization consultants, the
well-known American (and international) ones McKinsey or Arthur D. Little.
1. Top-down management
Vertical structures are the most classical one.allow information to be passed quickly from the top
to the bottom through different ranks of managers. Tall, pyramidical structures (fig. 3.1) allow
little space for employees to participate in decision-making as senior managers operate top-down
management. The main benefits of this type of organisation are that all employees know what
they are supposed to do and decision-making is kept to the senior management which can
encourage efficiency. Organisations like this can be unresponsive to bottom-up change as the
lines of communication are long and information from the bottom rarely reaches the top.
However, sometimes managers ask for feedback from their employees.
2. Delayering
In a horizontal, linear or flat structure, there are usually only a few levels of middle management,
and a large number of employees are supervised by one manager, which means that there are few
levels of hierarchy. When an organisation is reorganised and restructured it becomes flatter
because layers of management are taken out of the organisational structure and leaner because
there are fewer managers. The lines of communication between the employees and the
management are short, therefore the organisation is often more responsive to suggestions of
change from the employees, giving them a feeling of empowerment; tasks are delegated to them
giving them responsibilities.
Well-trained workers, who are more autonomous, are supposed to be more productive when they
are involved in a decentralised decision making process, rather than supervised by several layers
of management. This is possible essentially in small firms or in units within big ones. Feedback is
often quicker than in other organizations. Small-type organizations prefer that type of organization

which implies less red tape. However as some employees are multi-skilled, some roles may be
difficult to define.
D- Teamwork and projects

Employees from different departments can also join forces to work together on transversal
projects. Employees are not lined up on functional or product lines, but are managed by both. In a
matrix structure, there is less hierarchy than in a vertical organisation and every team member
has two managers: one for the function they complete on a day-to-day basis and one for the
project on which they are working. Information and resources are shared and communication
flows easily.
A team spirit and collaboration between employees are essential, without which the project will
not succeed. Power should be shared equally between managers and care must be taken that there
is no confusion in the chain of command.
People-management skills as well as project management skills are necessary to manage a team
effectively throughout a project. Different characters, different strengths and different ways of
communicating affect how a team can work together. Projects are planned with a timeline and a
schedule which need to be respected, and all finances involved must be kept within budget.

E- Management of processes
Since the start of mass production of goods on assembly lines in the early 20th century,
organisations have aimed to make cost-effective systems.
Sometimes it is necessary for organisations to overhaul – improve – the management of their
processes in order to be more efficient. Depending on the activity of the organisation, this can
mean making the workforce more productive, using energy- efficient machinery and creating less
waste. That can entail a radical restructuring of the organisation by reassessing its core processes
and main capacities.
Process management is a way for managers to analyse, improve, optimise and automate the
organisation’s business processes in order to fulfil their objectives. In industrial manufacturing
procedures, companies might choose to use forms of lean production in which their products are
made in the most efficient way, also known as Just in Time (JIT) management. In order to reduce
the waste of resources, companies can manufacture components or order goods when they need
them and avoid holding large stocks in warehouses. In offices and service-based organisations,
non-automated solutions such as information technology can help improve business processes.
F- Leadership
The way a company functions not only depends on the organisational structure and procedures in
place, but also on the leadership skills of its managers to motivate the workforce to carry out their
tasks. Being an effective leader is an essential part of running a successful organisation.
Leadership skills often depend on the personality and values of the manager.
1. Motivating workers
Managers who make all the decisions on their own and do not let their employees (or
subordinates) have a say are autocratic.
When managers are paternalistic, they have good intentions towards the employees, because they
take all the decisions for them. Many workers feel more motivated when the style of leadership is
democratic – when their manager includes them in decisions and their feedback is recognised and
they are responsible for some of the decision- making. Participative leadership helps build team
spirit and commitment among staff, whereas autonomous or laissez-faire leadership allows
employees to manage their responsibilities and tasks in their own time.
With an autocratic or paternalistic leader, the employee does not need to take any risks, but can
feel dissatisfied and frustrated by the lack of responsibilities and not being able to participate in
decision-making.
2. Delegating responsabilities
Autonomous leadership works well when employees are skilled and know what to do because
they have a lot of freedom. This can work when managers can trust their team but does not work
well with staff who need guidance and direction. Democratic and participative leadership styles
are often seen positively by employees, but decision- making can be slow when there are too
many people to consult.
3. Creating empires

When one person or a family owns a large group of companies, this is known as a business
empire. A magnate or tycoon is a person who has been very successful and earned a lot of money
from their business and often has a lot of power in the business world.

1. Senior managers usually work at the headquarters of an organisation.
2. Only people who work for an organisation are on its board of directors.
3. The Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director makes all the decisions about the
strategy of the organization.
4. Another word for the director of a department is “head”.
5. In a vertical structure, employees know exactly what tasks they should do and what
responsibilities they have.
6. A flat management structure means there are fewer managers in the organisation.
7. Sometimes organisations must restructure their business processes.
8. Efficient manufacturing processes are automated.
9. Management and leadership are the same thing.
10. A group of companies controlled by one person is known as an empire.
1. What are the main characteristics of a vertical structure?
2. What are the main characteristics of a horizontal structure?
3. What qualities are necessary when working on a project?
4. What can an organisation do to become more efficient?
5. How can leadership styles affect employees?
Vocabulary work
Management and l.................. skills are fundamental to successful business activities and future
operations. The b.................. of directors agrees on the strategy for an organisation which the
C.................. E.................. O.................. or M.................. D.................. oversees with the help of
the other e.................. directors. Some organisations put in place a h.................., t..................-
d.................. structure, whereas others have both a f. ................. and d.................. system. A
leader’s p.................. has an important influence on the way he or she manages the company.
Expression
1/ Talking about roles and responsibilities at work

We use certain expressions to talk about roles and responsibilities at work, as shown in the
examples below:
 A social media influencer works in the marketing department of a multinational
organisation and is responsible for the promotion of the company.
 A software developer’s role is to develop an app for customers to use on their mobile
phones.
 The buying director is in charge of negotiating the prices of supplies at the most
competitive prices.
 A chartered accountant reports on the financial performance of the company and spends
time giving advice to clients.
➞ I’m the Chief Financial Officer. I have responsibility for the company’s accounts. I have other
responsibilities, including financial planning. My main objective is to ensure that the company’s
finances are in good health. My key tasks are collecting information from different departments
and making sure the company respects the financial reporting standards and norms.
➞ I’m an external auditor. I deal with companies all over the world. I handle difficult situations
to do with suspicion of fraud or tax evasion.
Create an organisational chart to represent the structure of one of your host companies.
Describe the roles and responsibilities of the different employees using vocabulary and
expressions from this chapter.
2/ Memo writing
Vous assistez Frederik, directeur de la start-up Together, spécialisée dans l’événementiel. Le
renouvellement du personnel a considérablement augmenté au cours des derniers mois,
notamment parmi les jeunes recrues. Frédéric cherche à remotiver les troupes. Rédigez un mémo
en anglais sur les bonnes pratiques de management et le leadership afin de l’aider à valoriser ses
collaborateurs (150 mots, +/– 10 %). Indiquez le nombre de mots.

Vocabulary
Active partner / general partner associé gérant / commandité
To allocate
to allot répartir
Allotment répartition
Articles of association statuts de la société
Board minutes procès-verbal des délibérations
Board of directors
Bottom-up structure
Branch
To break up a company démanteler une entreprise
Business concern fonds de commerce
Decentralised
Economies of scale economies d’échelle
Equity capital fonds propres
Factors of production
Finished goods
Fixed capital / locked up capital capital fixe / immobilisé
Flatter
To go public Entrer en bourse
Goods
IPO (initial public offering) introduction en bourse
Leaner
Liability
Limited companies
Limited partner commanditaire
Loophole in the law faille juridique
Memorandum and articles of association acte constitutif de la société
Natural resources
Nominal capital / registered capital capital social

Non-Governmental Organisation
Overhaul
Parent company société mère
Privately-owned business
Proceedings of a meeting délibérations d’une assemblée
Profit
Provisions prescriptions statutaires
Public utility company société de service public
To put on the agenda mettre à l’ordre du jour
Quorum
Raw materials
Sleeping partner commanditaire, bailleur de fonds
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Social responsibility
Sole trader
Stakeholder
Subscribed capital capital souscrit
Subsidiary
Timeline
Top-down structure
Unlimited liability
To vote by proxy voter par procuration
Voting right droit de vote
Wants
LEXICAL WORK
Fill in the gaps with words from the list above, then translate the sentences.
a. The advantage of merging for companies is that they can then make e……………. o…
s………..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
b. To set up a company, people need to prepare a m……………….…. and a………..………. of

association.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
c. Companies go p…………... by selling shares on the Stock Exchange: they then become PLCs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
d. First they have to make an IPO = ……………………… ………………………
………………………
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
e. Today, it is the s………..…... and m………………….. s…………….. companies that create
the most jobs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
f. A g……………………… p……………… takes part in the management of the partnership.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
g. A l……………………… p……………… cannot lose more than the amount of his investment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
h. When a shareholder cannot come to the Annual General Meeting, he can vote by
p…………………….
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
i. We now have a q………………., so we can lawfully start the meeting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
j. They took advantage of a l……………….. in the law to pay less tax.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

2- La place des adverbes négatifs

Observez et traduisez les exemples suivants:
1. Not everybody is against that law.
2. Small companies have never experienced such difficulties in the past – neither have big ones.
3. Not only is this law inconvenient for small businesses, but it is costly too.
Exercice 1- Mettez les mots ci-dessous dans le bon ordre, et traduisez
a. shareholders / to / meeting / came / all / not / the / annual

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
b. only / investment / not / lucrative / will / this / be /, but / tax / it / will / deductible / be
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
c. France / merger / had / in / we / seen / big / such / a / never – had / neither / they / Europe / in
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Exercice 2- Traduisez en anglais
a. Mon avocat m’a déclaré qu’il pensait que cette loi ne serait jamais votée.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
b. Tous nos investisseurs n’ont pas accepté de mettre de l’argent dans notre nouvelle société.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
c. Le Directeur Général m’a dit qu’il avait besoin d’un avocat pour changer les statuts de son
entreprise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
d. Il m’a demandé si j’en connaissais un bon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
TRANSLATION WORK
1. La clé du succès d’une entreprise c’est d’avoir une excellente organisation pour résister dans
un monde changeant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
2. Elle lui donne un avantage compétitif, d’autant que ce n’est le cas que de 15 % des sociétés.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
3. Il lui faut donc un organigramme dont il existe 3 types principaux, hiérarchique, matriciel et
linéaire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
4. Cet organigramme montre les fonctions et responsabilités de chacun.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
5. L’organisation doit être claire mais souple pour permettre la communication, la collaboration
et l’innovation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
6. Les dirigeants doivent donc stimuler ces trois aspects, écouter les employés et les clients,
qu’il est essentiel de satisfaire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
7. Un bon manager doit savoir gérer les employés en leur confiant les tâches qui leur
conviennent, car il est crucial d’avoir la bonne personne au bon endroit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
8. Il s’occupe aussi de leur recrutement, voire de leur licenciement éventuel si nécessaire.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
9. Le processus de prise de décision et le charisme du dirigeant sont également essentiels pour

l’efficacité de l’organisation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
STEVE JOBS’S VISION AND LEADERSHIP : MODELS FOR US BUSINESSES

Boston.com, August 26, 2011
Departing Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs is being celebrated as the tech magician who
brought you the iPod, but his tenure with the company is just as notable for the alternative vision
it offers for American businesses. His embrace of elegantly designed, high-price, high-value
products looks like a radical statement in a bottom-line-oriented world… His leadership at Apple
is the stuff of legend. After co-founding the company out of a garage in Silicon Valley and
popularizing the idea of the personal computer, Jobs was pushed out of the company in 1985. As
computers became mere commodities in the ensuing years, Apple’s pricy Macintosh machines
struggled to maintain their niche. But in its darkest hours in 1997, Apple brought Jobs back. A
long string of hit products soon followed: first the iMac, a candy-hued machine that daringly
lacked a floppy disk drive, and later the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
In each case, Jobs’s key insights were that people were living more and more of their lives
through computers and other electronic devices, and that glitch-prone, lowest-common-
denominator products wouldn’t meet their needs. As competitors sold PCs made to order over the
Internet, Apple built high-end retail stores, deployed an army of fresh-faced salespeople, and
offered free customer support on-site. Jobs proved that the option that cuts costs the most, or does
the most to juice this quarter’s profits isn’t always the best for a company.
None of this means that Jobs has been gentle. Apple, like many other consumer-electronics firms,
has its products manufactured in China. It owes its enviable profit margins in part to its power to
negotiate deep discounts for crucial components – and buy up so much supply that competitors
can’t get at them. Indeed, this ruthlessly efficient approach to logistics is the calling card of Jobs’s
chief operating officer and handpicked successor, Tim Cook. And despite all its advertising
rhetoric about thinking different, and its enthusiastic customer base in art studios and in free-
speech bastions like Cambridge and Berkeley, Jobs’s company is infamous for its penchant for
secrecy. […]
It’s easy to connect Jobs’s personality and decision-making to Apple’s success. And as US
companies confront competitors around the world, Jobs offers a useful lesson – a focus on short-
term matters is much less important than a vision for the future and the confidence to bet big on it.

Résumez ce texte en français, en dégageant les aspects emblématiques de la stratégie de Steve

Jobs, à la source de son succès (150 mots).


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DCG 2

- The role of organisations in society

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

I- THE ROLE OF ORGANISATIONS IN

A- Customers’ needs and wants

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

D- Different types of organisation

 Third sector organisations are ………………….. ………………….. ……………………

 …………………..…………………..: Keeping staff means keeping ideas and innovation

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

1/ Describe this poster published by Toshiba.

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

B- The private sector

1. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

A multinational company (or multinational corporation – MNC) is an organisation which

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

2/ Talking about an organisation

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

3- MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

B- Departments, functions and responsibilities

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

C- Hierarchy and structure

What makes for a high-performance organization?

Coordination and integration

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

D- Teamwork and projects

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

1/ Talking about roles and responsibilities at work

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Active partner / general partner associé gérant / commandité

Articles of association statuts de la société

Board minutes procès-verbal des délibérations

To break up a company démanteler une entreprise

Business concern fonds de commerce

Economies of scale economies d’échelle

Equity capital fonds propres

Fixed capital / locked up capital capital fixe / immobilisé

To go public Entrer en bourse

IPO (initial public offering) introduction en bourse

Limited partner commanditaire

Loophole in the law faille juridique

Memorandum and articles of association acte constitutif de la société

Nominal capital / registered capital capital social

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

Parent company société mère

Proceedings of a meeting délibérations d’une assemblée

Provisions prescriptions statutaires

Public utility company société de service public

To put on the agenda mettre à l’ordre du jour

Sleeping partner commanditaire, bailleur de fonds

Small and medium-sized enterprises

Subscribed capital capital souscrit

To vote by proxy voter par procuration

Voting right droit de vote

b. To set up a company, people need to prepare a m……………….…. and a………..………. of

Claire DAVID – UE 12 Anglais appliqué aux Affaires

2- La place des adverbes négatifs

Exercice 1- Mettez les mots ci-dessous dans le bon ordre, et traduisez

a. shareholders / to / meeting / came / all / not / the / annual