Managers, executives and directors

Министерство образования и науки республики Казахстан

Таразский государственный университет им. М.Х. Дулати

Кафедра иностранных языков

Учебно-методическое пособие к дисциплине

«Профессионально – ориентированный иностранный язык»

Для экономических специальностей: финансы, УиА, экономика, менеджмент.

Составители: Ким И.А.

Кантаева Г.Г.

Рахимова Ю.С.

Тараз 2016

Content

Unit I Company structure

Lead-in

• Which department - production, finance, accounting, marketing, sales, human resources, etc. - of an organization do you think is the most interesting to work in?

• Is it better to have one immediate boss or to work for more than one manager?

• Do you prefer to work alone or in a team?

• Is it more motivating to be responsible to someone for your work, or responsible for people who report to you?

Vocabulary

Ex. 1 Match the departments with their responsibilities

a - Human Resources

b - Marketing

c - Research and Development

d - I.T. (Information Technology)

e - Maintenance

f - Sales

g - Customer Service

h - Finance

i - Dispatch Department

j - Production Department

Responsible for taking care of customer needs

Responsible for selling the product/service

Responsible for making the product

Responsible for how a product/service is advertised and promoted

Responsible for hiring new staff

Responsible for the company's computers and network

Responsible for the office/building

Responsible for discovering new knowledge about the product, improving it and creating new products

Responsible for payments, bills and expenses

Responsible for the delivery of orders

Ex.2 Before reading about traditional company organization check your understanding of some basic terms by matching up the following words and definitions.

____________________________________________________________________________

to delegate to report to autonomous line authority

function hierarchy or chain of command

1 ___________ a system of authority with different levels, one above the other, e.g. a series of management positions, whose holders can make decisions, or give orders and instructions.

2 ____________ a specific activity in a company, e.g. production, marketing, finance.

3 ___________ independent, able to take decisions without consulting someone at the same level or higher in the chain of command.

4 _______________ the power to give instructions to people at the level below in the chain of command

5 _______________ to be responsible to someone and to take instructions from them

6 _______________ to give someone else responsibility for doing something instead of you

Reading1

Company structure

The chain of command Traditionally, 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 level. This is sometimes called line structure. There is a clear chain of command running down the pyramid. All the people in the organization know what decisions they are able to make, who their line manager (or boss) is (to whom they report), and who their immediate subordinates are (over whom they have line authority, and can give instructions to).   Functional structure Yet the activities of most organizations are too complicated to be organized in a single hierarchy. Most large manufacturing companies, for example, have a functional structure, including, specialized production, finance, marketing, sales, and human resources departments. This means, for instance, that the production and marketing departments cannot take financial decisions without consulting the finance department. Large organizations are often further divided into separate operating divisions. A disadvantage of functional organization is that people are often more concerned with the success of their own department than that of the company as a whole, so there are permanent conflicts between departments over what the objectives are.

Flattening hierarchies and delegating responsibility A problem with very hierarchical organizations is that people at lower levels can't take important decisions, but pass on responsibility to their boss. However, the modem tendency is to reduce the chain of command, take out layers of management, and make the organization much flatter. Advanced IT systems reduced the need for administrative staff and enabled companies to remove layers of workers from the structure. Many companies cut back and eliminate jobs in recessions. Typically, the owners of small firms want to keep as much control over their business as possible, whereas managers in larger businesses want to motivate their staff and often delegate decision making and responsibilities to other people.

Comprehension

1 What is the main advantage of a chain of command?

2 Why is it not usually possible to organize a large organization in a single hierarchy?

3 In what ways can dividing a business functionally cause problems?

4 What factors might lead companies to flatten their hierarchies?

5 According to the text, what kind of managers might not want to delegate decision making?

Reading 2

Managers, executives and directors

Managers and executives in the UK

All the directors together are the board. They meet in the boardroom.

Non-executive directors are not managers of the company; they are outsiders, often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas.

The marketing director is the head of marketing; the IT director is the head of IT, etc. These people head or head up their departments. Informally, the head of an activity, a department or an organization is its boss.

An executive or, informally, an exec, is usually a manager at quite a high level (for example, a senior executive). But 'executive' can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury, as in 'executive coach' and 'executive home', even for things that are not actually used by executives.

Managers and executives: US

In the US, the top position may be that of chairman, chairwoman or president. This job is often combined with the position of chief executive officer or CEO. Some companies have a chief operating officer to take care of the day-to-day running of the company. The finance director may be called the chief financial officer.

In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice presidents (VPs).