Poslovni engleski jezik II
Sandra Botunac, prof.
Literatura:
Tullis, Trappe: New insights into business,
Longman, 2000
Company structures:
Company profile
What is a company?
An institution created to conduct
business
A group of persons united for a common
interest in business
It is an association formed for profit
It can consist of one or several
establishments (firms)
A company is also:
A business owned by a group of people
called SHAREHOLDERS ( they own an
interest in the corporation rather than
specific property)
A business having its own legal identity
separate from its owners (it is independant
in front of law)
an organisation having a large number of
employees (workers)
Holding company:
A company that owns shares of other
companies and in this way dominates
them
It has no other function but to own other
corporations
It is concentrated on control not
investment
Limited liability company (LLC):
 A type of corporation owned by a limited
number of shareholders in a small business
(each member has one or more shares)
 Here shareholders have no personal liability
(legal responsability) if the company goes
bankrupt
 The members participate in the management
of the company without risking personal liability
Investment company:
A corporation which invests in other
companies
It, in fact, invests the funds ( the money,
capital) of its shareholders
It does business with its shareholders’
capital
Parent company:
A company that owns a majority (51% or
more) of another company’s shares
It can conduct its own business or have
the only purpose of owning a smaller
company
It owns or controls one or more
subsidiaries (dependant establishments)
Isurance company:
A financial institution that sells insurance
its main task is to offer insurance policy
It is a form of risk management usually
against the potential financial loss
The client is obliged (by contract) to pay
monthly or annual rates in exchange for
an insurance policy
Mortgage company:
A company that borrows money from a
bank, lends it to consumers who want to
buy homes, then sells the loans to
investors
It issues (gives) loans on account of the
real estate (house, apartment...) in
possession of the client
Multinational company:
A company that does business in more
than one country, usually by setting up
branch offices
It is a large corporation with offices,
factories and branches in different
countries
It has a centralised HEAD OFFICE where
they coordinate global management
Partnership is of great importance in
companies:
It is a cooperation between people or
groups who share responsability in doing
business
They agree to share either profits or
losses
The partners in partnership share equal
risk in business
Public relations (PR) is also one of
company’s functions:
It is the act of communicating what you
are to the public
Any activities which promote favorable
relationship between a company and its
clients
Activities used to influence the press to
print stories that promote a positive
picture of a company
Research and development:
Creative work which increases the
amount of knowledge and the use of this
knowledge to create new applications
It is an important part of the innovation
process
R&D develops new goods and services,
new methods of production, new ways of
managing organisations
Company structure:
 There are three groups of people: the
shareholders, the management and the
workforce
 At the top of the company hierarchy is the board
of directors (represented by the chairperson or
president)
 The board chooses a managing director who
has overall responsability for the running of the
business
 Senior managers come next and they head the
variuos departments or functions
These functions are:
Marketing
Public Relations
Information Technology (IT)
Human Resources (Personnel)
Finance
Production
Research and Development
Company profiles:
The Philips story
Colgate – Palmolive company
Guinness
Virgin
The Philips story
The foundations of this big eletronic
company were laid (the company was
established) in 1891.
In the beginning it concentrated on
making lamps.
Later on, it established a research
laboratory for innovations.
In the 1920s, Philips decided to protect its
innovations with patents.
This was the beggining of the
diversification (production of various,
different products) of its product range
(the kinds of products).
Some of its exciting products are the
compact disc (in 1983) and Philishave
electric shaver
The Philips company
 The company’s headquarters are in Eindhoven
 It employs 250 000 people all over the world, it
has sales and services in 150 countries
 It employs many excellent scientists and
designers
 It is active in about 100 businesses (lighting,
monitors, shavers, kitchen appliances...)
The Philips people:
 The company is managed by the Board of
Management (responsible for general direction
and long-term strategy)
 The famous company creed is: Let’s make
things better, (the company is committed to
improving the quality of people’s work and life)
 The Philips provided lighting for the Eiffel
Tower, the London’s Tower Bridge and for the
ancient pyramids of Giza
Colgate – Palmolive company:
It was founded by William Colgate in
1806 as a soap and candle business in
New York.
At the beginning of the 20th century the
company began to expand its business in
Europe, Latin America and the Far East
It sells in more than 200 countries
The company has five main sectors of
business:
Oral care
Body care
Household surface care
Fabric care
Pet nutrition and health care
However, the oral care is its most successful
sector: Colgate-Palmolive is the world
leader in toothpaste.
Colgate-Palmolive:
Has had a strong dental education
programme in schools throughout the
world
It has created a web site for dental
professionals
Takes care of the environment: it uses
recyclable bottles and packages
Guinness: an employee tells his story
When I first started working I was
employed as a general worker
For three years I worked in the bottling
plant as a machine operator
Then I was transfered to the engineering
department where I worked with
technically skilled personnel in
maintaining plant and equipment
In both jobs I reported directly to a
supervisor
The next position I held was the position of
laboratory officer in the quality assurance
laboratory
This job involved carrying out a wide range
of analyses on all aspects of the brewing
process
I was then promoted to the Industrial
Relations Manager
In this role I report directly to the
Personnel Manager of the company
Virgin:
Is a leading international company based
in London
It was founded in 1970 by Richard
Branson
The group has seven main divisions.
Cinema, communication, financial
services, hotels, investments, retail
(selling small quantities of something) and
travel
Its retail segment is led by Virgin
Megastores (music and entertainment
stores)
Virgin operates in 23 countries
In 1999, the combined sales (taken all
together) of different Virgin holding
companies exceeded (were bigger than) 3
billion pounds
Verbs and prepositions:
Some verbs are always followed by the
same preposition:
The company concentrated on making
lamps. This policy consists of laws and
regulations...
Exercise1: Match the prepositions with
the verbs below:
from, in, to, for, of, on
1. Benefit ___
2. Approve ___
3. Result ___
4. Believe ___
5. Refer ___
6. Succeed ___
7. Belong ___
8. Depend ___
9. Report ___
somebody___
something
Complete the sentences using verbs and
prepositions form exercise 1:
1. In the purchasing department there is a
manager, and five employees who
________ her.
2. In this company, we firmly _________
the value of creativity and innovation.
3. The development of computer
technology has _________ enormous
changes in the way that people work.
4. Whether or not we succeed in creating
and selling new products ________ a
number of factors.
5. Most of our staff ________ at least one
of the company’s sports or leisure clubs.
6. The Personnel Manager thinks that we
would all __________ further training in
how to use the office software.
The present perfect tense:
HAVE/HAS + past participle of a verb
We use the present perfect to talk about:
1. the present result of something that
happened in the past
He has decided to look for a job.
I’m afraid I have forgotten your name.
2. For actions or situations which started in
the past and continue in the present
How long have you worked here?
I haven’t seen him for several years.
We often use the present perfect with
just, ever, never, lately, so far, up to
now
They have just signed an important
contract.
Have you ever used this type of machine?
We have had good results up to now.
The past simple tense:
We use the past simple to talk about
actions and events which happened in a
finished period of time in the past:
Did you go to the meeting yesterday?
She worked in Paris for five years before
moving to Rome.
Exercise 2: Complete with the present
perfect and the past simple
Procter & Gamble _________ (be) in the
soap business since William Procter and
James Gamble _________ ( form) their
partnership in 1837.
In order to raise capital for expansion, the
partners ________ (set up) a corporate
structure in 1890.
It _______ (undergo) further restructuring
in 1955.
John E. Pepper _________ (lead) the company
since 1995, when he was elected the company’s
chairman.
Ivory soap, which ________ (become) a common
household name, _______ (come) onto the
market in 1879.
The firm’s commitment to innovation in
technology _________ (help) Tide to remain
their single largest brand over the years.
Perhaps the product that _______ (have)
the greatest impact is Pampers, the
disposable nappy which they ______
(launch) in 1961.