指导新编剑桥商务英语（高级）第三版7.1

Managerialqualities

1Whatdoesthisquotationmean?

‘Abadmanagerconfusesactivitywithperformance.’

Anon

2ReadthisstorythatwaswidelycirculatedontheInternetafewyearsago.What

doesitsayaboutmanagersthatmadeitsopopular?

Amaninahotairballoonrealisedhewaslost.Hereducedaltitudeandspotteda

womanbelow.Hedescendedabitmoreandshouted,‘Excuseme,canyouhelpme?I

promisedafriendIwouldmeethimanhouragobutIdon’tknowwhereIam.’

Thewomanbelowreplied,‘Youareinahotairballoonhoveringapproximately30

feetabovetheground.Youarebetween40and41degreesnorthlatitudeandbetween

59and60degreeswestlongitude.’

‘Youmustbeanengineer,’saidtheballoonist.

‘Iam,’repliedthewoman.‘Howdidyouknow?’

‘Well,’answeredtheballoonist,‘everythingyoutoldmeistechnicallycorrect,butI

stillhavenoideawhattomakeofyourinformation,andthefactisIamstilllost.

Frankly,youhaven’tbeenmuchhelpsofar.’

Thewomanbelowresponded,‘Youmustbeinmanagement.’

‘Iam,’repliedtheballoonist,‘buthowdidyouknow?’

‘Well,’sidethewoman,‘youdon’tknowwhereyouareorwhereyouaregoing.You

haverisentowhereyouareduetoalargequantityofhotair.Youmadeapromise,

Whichyouhavenoideahowtokeep,andyouexpectpeoplebeneathyoutosolve

yourproblems.Thefactisyouareinexactlythesamepositionyouwereinbeforewe

met,Butnow,somehow,it’smyfault.’

3Numberthesixmostimportant(1-6)qualitiesforamanagertopossess.

Agoodmanagerissomeonewhocan…

Adelegateresponsibility

______

______

______

______

______

Bplaneffectively

Cmotivatetheirstafftoperform

Dhandlepeoplesensitively

Eorganiseworkefficiently

Frecogniseandrewardgoodperformance

Gtaketoughdecisions

______

______

______

______

______

______

_____

Hleadbyexample

Iinspireconfidenceandrespect

Jcommunicatetheirvisionandideas

Kco-operatewithotherpartsoftheorganisation

Lbecreativeandhaveinnovativeideas

4Discussyourchoiceswithyourpartner.Whataretheconsequencesfortheteam

andthemanagerifthesequalitiesareabsent?

5Lookatthelistinexercise3onpage66andsaywhatarethekeyqualitiesfora

leadertopossess.

Arethesedifferentfromamanager’squalities?

Isthereanotherleadershipqualityyouwouldaddtothelist?

Strengthsandweaknesses

6Youwillhearfiveemployeesdescribingthestrengthsandweaknessesoftheir

managers.

Thefirsttimeyoulisten,identifytheweaknessofeachmanager.

Thesecondyoulisten,identifythestrengthofeachmanager.

TASKONE–WEAKNESS

1________

2________

Aisverydisorganized

Bdoesnotco-operatewithotherdepartments

3________

4________

5________

Cdoesnotdelegateenough

Disnotgoodatcommunicating

Edoesnothaveclearobjectives

Fcannotmakequickdecisions

Gisratherinsensitive

Hisnotespeciallyclever

TASKTOW–STRENGTH

6_________

7_________

Aisanaturalcommunicator

Bchallengeshisstafftoachievemore

8_________

9_________

Cisintelligent

Dfitsinwellintheorganization

10_________

Ehasverygoodpeopleskills

Fleadsbyexample

Ggivespraiseandrecognitiontotheteam

Horganisesworkefficiently

7Whatdoyouthinkthesephrasesfromthelisteningmean?

1He’snotafraidtogethishandsdirty.

2He’sabitofacontrolfreak.

3Hespreadshimselfverythin.

4Heoftenputsyouonthespot.

5Hedoesn’ttakeonboardwhatyou’resaying.

6She’sdifficulttogetonwith.

7Shedoesn’thavethecompany’sinterestsatheart.

Idioms:managementproblems

1Whatdoyouthinkeachoftheseidiomsmeans?

1can’tseethewoodforthetrees

2doesn’twanttoloseface

3havetunnelvision

4biteoffmorethanyoucanchew

5toomanychiefs,notenoughIndians

6cutcorners

7throwmoneyattheproblem

8openacanofworms

9beayes-man

2Studyeachofthecasesbelow.Whichidiombestfitseachcase?

0Hehadnoexperienceofnegotiating.Allthesame,hevolunteeredtodiscussa

settlementtothefour-week-oldstrikewithaunionleaderwhohadbeeninthe

businessfor40years.

Hebitoffmorethanhecouldchew.

1Askedtofindoutcustomersatisfactionrates,themanagersatonecallcentre

researchedandproducedallsortsofdata:agentproductivityrates,answerdelay

times,averagecalltimes,percentageofproblemssolvedfirsttime,etc.

2AlargeelectricitysupplierissettingupanewcustomerbillingITmanager’sstaff,a

softwaredesigner,acompanyinchangeofimplementingthesoftwareandateam

ofsoftwareconsultants.Aftersixmonthsverylittleprogresshasbeenmade.

3Oneofthedirectorsofabankdecidestogettoughonpeopleusingworkphonesto

makepersonalcalls.Thiscausesalotofresentmentamongstaffandaccusations

thatmanagersarejustasguiltyofthiskindofthingasregularstaff.

4Underpressuretoreducecosts,aferrycompanydecidedthattheycouldmaximize

thetimetheirshipswereatseaifmoresafetychecksweredonewhiletheships

weresailingratherthaninthedock.

5Asalesmanagerhadtopresentherplanformoreaccuratesalesforecastingtothe

executiveboard.Twodaysbeforeherpresentationsheshowedittoacolleague

whotoldherthatithadfundamentalmistakesinit.Sothedaybeforethe

presentation,shecalledinsickandaskedifthepresentationcouldbepostponedto

alaterdata.

6Thegovernmenthasrespondedtoalackofhospitalbedsbybuildingastateofthe

art,fully-equippednewextensiontoacity’shospital.Unfortunately,therearenot

enoughtrainedstafftomanit.

3Whatshouldtheyhavedoneineachcase?

Expressingpurpose

4ReadthetextfromtheletterspageofWorkingLifemagazineandsaywhichofthese

stress-relievingthingsyouregularlydo.

IWASGETTINGREALLYSTRESSEDandnotworkingefficiently.SoIdecidedto

makesomesimplechangesinmyworkingroutine.I’dstronglyrecommendanyone

whofeelsasIdidtotaketimeouttothinkaboutwhattheycandototakethestress

outoftheirlives–it’snotasdifficultasitseems!Here’swhatIdid:

1made(modest)listsofwhatIneededtodoeachdaysothatIwouldn’tspendmy

dayworryingaboutwhatIhadn’tdoneyet.

2madetimeformyselftogetexerciseduringthedayinordertofeelfresherandmore

abletoconcentratewhenIsatatmydesk.

3learnttosay‘no’topeopletoavoidtakingonmoreworkthanIcouldreasonably

handle.

4spentthefirsttenminutesofeachdayintheofficereadingthenewsoveracoffee

justtorelaxandgetmymindworking.

5tooktimeouttostopandchattocolleaguestopreventfrustrationwithaparticular

taskfrombuildingup.Agoodlaughisagreattonic.

5tooktimeouttostopandchattocolleaguestopreventfrustrationwithaparticular

taskfrombuildingup.Agoodlaughisagreattonic.

5Lookatthelistofactionsagainandunderlinethephrasesthatexplainthepurpose

ofeachaction.

1made(modest!)listsofwhatIneededtodoeachdaysothatIwouldn’tspendmy

dayworrying.

6Makethreemoresentencesdescribinganactiontorelievestress.Explaintheprecise

purposeofeachaction.

7TheCEOofaninternationalclothesretailgroupfeltthatthisseniormanagerswere

notperformingastheyshould.Theirskillsdidn’tseemtomatchtherequirements

ofthebusinessandmanyseemedtobeoutoftouchwithday-to-dayoperations.So,

hedevisedaseven-pointstrategytoaddresstheproblem.

•Studythemeasures.Whatisthepurposeofeachmeasure?

•Writeasentenceexplainingthepurposeofeachone,usingthe

Phrasesfromexercise4.

1Theyneedtoundergoanassessmentinordertofindoutwheretheyrealstrengths

andweaknessesare.

From1Januarynextyearallseniormanagerswill:

1undergoanassessmentoftheirskillsbyanexternalmanagement

consultant.

2besetclear,concreteandpracticaltargetsfortheyear.

3spendatleastonedaypermonthworkingatahighstreetretailstore.

4spendatleastthreemonthseverythreeinanoverseassubsidiary.

5participateinteam-buildingactivitiesonceayearwiththeirteam.

6devoteatleastsixhourspermonthtoforeignlanguagetraining.

7followatleastonecourseperyearincommunicationsskills(managing

meetings,negotiating,etc).

Managementconsultants

1Whatdoyouthinkofmanagementconsultants?Dotheyhaveagoodor

Badreputationinyourcountry(orcompany)?

2Readtheletterfromamanagementconsultantdefendinghisprofession.

Choosethebestword(A,B,CorD)tofilleachgap.

DearEditor

Yourarticleon5September‘Consultants-whoneedsthem?’givesaveryone-sided

viewofourprofession.

Weconsultantareoftencriticisedforusingmanagementbuzzwordstosellour

services.Thecritics‘(1)____isthatwedressupanwill(2)____theirbusiness.So

whenweencouragecompaniesto‘analysetheirvaluechain’,wearesayingnothing

morethan‘seewhichpartofthebusinessismostprofitable’.Whenwe(3)____them

to‘empowertheiremployee’,wearejustsaying(4)____themtodoagoodjob.The

termsweuse,thecriticssay,isjustjargonforthingsthatallbusinessesknowthey

havetodoanyway.

We’realsoaccused(5)____hypocrisy.Theclassicexampleofthisiswhenduringthe

1990sconsultancyfirmstoldcompaniestoconcentrateontheircorecompetencies

andoutsourcenon-essentialactivitiestocontractorswhocoulddoabetterand

cheaperjob.But,thecriticsscream,you(6)____alotoftheearly1980stelling

companiestodiversifyandgetinvolvedinnewbusinesses.

Maybewearesometimesguiltyoffollowingthe(7)____trendsinmanagement,butI

haveone(8)____simpleanswerforthecritics.Knowingtheneedforthese

managementconceptsandpracticesisonething;actuallyusingthemand(9)____

themisanother.Ourjobistoremindbusinessestodothethingstheyoughttobe

doing.Thatistheroleofconsultantsandit’savery(10)____role.We’renotsaying

managersarestupid,butjustthatit’shumannaturesometimestoignoretheobvious.

JohnBirdman

(Partner-SalixAssociates)

1AthemeBargumentCspeechDdebate

2AtransformBmodifyCtransfigureDreverse

3AexplainBsayCforceDurge

4AentrustBbelieveCtrustDinvolve

5AbyBofConDwith

6AlastedBtookCpassedDspent

7AlastBlatestCfreshestDleast

8AabsolutelyBcompletelyCveryDutterly

9AimplementingBeffectingCrealisingDinstalling

10AhopefulBthoughtfulCusefulDcareful

Doyouagreewithhim?

Wordorder:adverbs

3StudythesebasicrulesofwordorderinEnglish.

Wordorder:adverbs

1Don’tseparateaverbfromitsdirectobject.

Heleftearlythepartyearly.

2Adverbsgenerallygoafterthemainverb.

Shedrovecarefully.

3Adverbsoffrequency(often,always,etc)andqualifiers(really,

absolutely,etc)gobeforethemainverb.

Theyalwaysbringagiftofsomekind.

Ireallylikehim.

4Withbe,adverbsoffrequencygoaftertheverb.

HeisalwaysinmeetingswhenIcall.

5Phrasesexpressingtime(inthemorning,threedaysago,lastyear,etc)

cangoatthebeginningortheendof