Деловой иностранный язык

Е.Б. Гришаева, И.А. Маш у ко ва 

ДЕЛОВОЙ 
ИНОСТРАННЫЙ 

ЯЗЫК 

ISBN 978-5-7638-3293-8 

E J 0 

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ИНСТИТУТ Г; КО I [ О М И К И, У Г РА ВЛЕМИТ К !1РИР0А0П0ЛЬ30ВА11ИП 

МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ И ЭКОНОМИКА 

СИБИРСКИЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ 
SIBERlfln FEDERAL UfUVERSITY 

Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации 
Сибирский федеральный университет 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Е.Б. Гришаева, И.А. Машукова 
 
 
 
ДЕЛОВОЙ  
ИНОСТРАННЫЙ  
ЯЗЫК 
 
 
 
Рекомендовано федеральным государственным бюджетным 
образовательным учреждением высшего профессионального 
образования 
«Санкт-Петербургский 
государственный 
университет» в качестве учебного пособия по дисциплине 
«Деловой иностранный язык» для студентов высших учебных 
заведений, обучающихся по направлениям подготовки 38.03.01 
«Экономика» (профиль 38.03.01.04 «Мировая экономика»); 
38.03.02 
«Менеджмент» 
(профиль 
38.03.02.05 
«Международный 
менеджмент»). 
Регистрационный 
номер 
3003  
 
от 06.04.2015 г. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Красноярск 
СФУ 
2015 

УДК 811.111(075.8) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 
Г859 
 
 
 
 
Рецензенты: 
В.И. Петрищев, доктор педагогических наук,  
профессор кафедры иностранных языков Красноярского государственного  
педагогического университета им. В.П. Астафьева; 
Т.Н. Ямских, кандидат педагогических наук,  
доцент кафедры иностранных языков Торгово-экономического института  
Сибирского федерального университета 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Гришаева, Е.Б. 
Г859 
 
Деловой иностранный язык: учеб. пособие / Е.Б. Гришаева, 
И.А. Машукова. – Красноярск: Сиб. федер. ун-т, 2015. – 192 с. 
 
 
ISBN 978-5-7638-3296-9 
 
 
 
Представлен модульный принцип обучения английскому языку в сфере 
деловой коммуникации. Включены аутентичные тексты экономического 
профиля и задания к ним. 
Предназначено для подготовки студентов, обучающихся по направлению 38.03.01 «Экономика» (профиль 38.03.01.04 «Мировая экономика»); 
38.03.02. «Менеджмент» (профиль 38.03.02.05 «Международный менеджмент»). 
 
 
Электронный вариант издания см.: 
http://catalog.sfu-kras.ru 
УДК 811.111(075.8) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 
 
 
 
ISBN 978-5-7638-3296-9 
© Сибирский федеральный университет, 2015 

CONTENTS 

 

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 4 

MODULE 1 ........................................................................................................... 5 
UNIT 1. MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 5 
UNIT 2. COMPANY STRUCTURE ............................................................... 34 
UNIT 3. MANAGEMENT AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY ........................ 46 

MODULE 2 ......................................................................................................... 57 
UNIT 1. RECRUITMENT ............................................................................... 57 
UNIT 2 WORK AND MOTIVATION ............................................................ 78 
UNIT 3. LABOUR RELATION ...................................................................... 91 

MODULE 3 ....................................................................................................... 101 
UNIT 1. THE ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE ....................................... 101 
UNIT 2. GOODS AND SERVICES/MARKETING ..................................... 116 

SPEAKING REFERENCES ............................................................................. 132 

WRITING REFERENCES ............................................................................... 137 

VOCABULARY ............................................................................................... 143 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 189 

INTRODUCTION 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ 
 
Учебное пособие построено на коммуникативно-функциональном 
принципе и предусматривает развитие всех видов речевой деятельности. 
Представленный материал отражает терминологию основных направлений 
международной экономической и управленческой деятельности, включая 
кросскультурные понятия.  
Основная цель работы – формирование ряда универсальных и 
профессиональных 
компетенций, 
содержащих 
инструментальную, 
коммуникативную, межкультурную и социокультурную, комплексная 
лингвистическая, 
практическая 
и 
информационно-аналитическая  
подготовка для выполнения функций, связанных с использованием 
иностранного языка в профессиональной деятельности, научной и 
практической 
работе, 
в 
общении 
с 
зарубежными 
партнерами, 
самообразовательных и других целей. 
Пособие состоит из двух частей. В первой – три самостоятельных 
модуля, 
включающих 
в 
себя 
разделы 
(Units). 
Все 
разделы 
структурированы. Изучение материала начинается с постановки задач для 
конкретного раздела и выстраивается на базе аутентичных текстов 
(Reading). Каждый текст сопровождается предтекстовыми заданиями 
(Getting started) и послетестовыми упражнениями, направленными на 
проверку понимания содержания (Comprehension), развитие лексики 
(Vocabulary), формирование и развитие навыков говорения (Talking point, 
Discussion), а также и письма (Writing). Предлагаются и задания 
повышенного уровня – это ролевые игры (Role-play), проекты (Project) и 
исследования (Research). 
Вторая часть пособия содержит справочный материал, состоящий из 
трех разделов. Первые два – приложения по письму (Writing References) и 
говорению (Speaking References), третий – вокобуляр (Vocabulary) к 
каждому разделу, где приводятся наиболее частые употребления 
лексических единиц в разных контекстах, примеры приведены к 
большинству текстов и некоторым другим заданиям. 
Учебное пособие имеет практическую направленность. Материал 
ориентирован на активные методы обучения иностранным языкам. 

MODULE 1 

UNIT 1. MANAGEMENT 

Learning outcomes 

Understand  how companies are ruled, get to know about the duties and 

responsibilities of those who are responsible for the governance 

Make summaries and learn to make a report  
Participate in discussions using your personal experience 
Participate in role plays on problems of management 

Task 1. Reading 1 

Getting started 

Before reading the text, discuss in small groups what practical roles play 

directors in the governing the company. Do they always play the same role 
or the roles are changed according to the needs of the company? 

Skim the first part of the text (A) to find out if your ideas are similar to 

those in the text. 

Read the subheadings in parts B and C and discuss with your peers 

what each role means. 

Make a list of responsibilities that directors have, compare your list with 

a partner’s, discuss together and come to an agreement. Then read part 
D and check your ideas.  

Discuss in groups of three if directors have responsibilities to 

shareholders; why, if they have, and what responsibilities are. Then 
read part E. 

How should directors act towards the company? Can you think over 

some features and qualities that can charaterise their attitude to the 
members of the company and to work on the whole? Now read part F 
and check your ideas. 

Discuss with a partner what you know about theories of corporate 

governance, then read the last part G to know more about it. 

Read the text and consult Vocabulary p. 137–139.  

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS1 

A.  Roles for Directors 
Although a company law tends not to distinguish between different 

directors, holding them all equally responsible for the governance of the 
corporate entity, in practice the contributions that different directors make to 
their board can vary considerably. Moreover, the roles that any director may be 
called on to play can change over time. 

Broadly directors’ activities can be separated into two categories — the 

performance roles, in which the board is focusing on strategic and policy issues 
for the future, setting the corporate direction and contributing to the performance 
of the business; and the conformance roles, in which the board is ensuring that 
the company is conforming to policies, procedures and plans laid down by the 
board and being properly accountable for its activities. 

In deciding on board nominations, the balance of skills, experience and 

personal talents of the various directors need to be considered. It can also be 
important for an effective board that the skills and abilities are appropriately 
balanced and in harmony, and that members appreciate the roles that are 
expected of them by their colleagues. 

B. The Performance Roles 
The first set of roles can be thought of as contributing to the overall 

performance of the business. We can usefully distinguish a number of different 
roles within this category, giving each a label for reference. 

Contributing know-how, expertise and external information 
The first role involves bringing knowledge and experience to bear on 

issues facing the board. Here the director is drawing on his accumulated 
experience in business and other similar situations generally. We might call the 
role that of "the wise man". Long-serving directors may find themselves cast in 
this role by newer board colleagues. 

The second role is that of "the specialist". Here the director relies on his 

particular professional expertise, skills and knowledge. For example, the 
expertise might be from the realms of accountancy, engineering or law; or stem 
from specialist knowledge of a particular international market, technology or 
financial matter. In some growing companies outside directors are appointed to 
the board specifically to provide such specialist inputs, until such time as the 
company acquires such skills at the executive level. 

Then there is the role which we could call "the window-on-the-world". 

Here the director is being used as a source of information on issues relevant to 
board discussions. Often this will be on matters external to the business, such as 
insights into marked opportunities, new technologies, financial and economic 

                                                          

1 Some of the material in this chapter appeared originally in 'The non-executive 

director' in The Director's Manual; Director Books, Simon & Schuster, Cambridge, 
England, 1990. 

concerns or international matters. Again this is often a role for outside directors 
who are in a position to obtain information, through their day to day activities, 
that is not readily available to the executive directors. 

Networking, representing the company and adding status 
Another potentially important role, often fulfilled by outside directors, is 

that of "the contact-person", who is able, through personal contacts, to connect 
the board and top management into networks of potentially useful people and 
organizations. For example, the director might be placed to forge contacts in the 
worlds of government, banking, international trade or political circles. Clearly 
supplementary to the "window-on-the-world" role, this contribution implies an 
additional pro-active dimension. 

In "the figure-head role" the director is called on to represent the company 

in the external arena — in meetings with investors and financial analysts, for 
example, or in trade and industry gatherings. The chairman of the Board often 
takes on this responsibility, being invited to join public committees, 
commissions and the governing bodies of important public bodies. Increasingly 
such directors might be spokesmen for the company with the media. 

Then there is a related role of "the status-provider". In the past it was 

sometimes the case that eminent public figures were invited to join boards, 
because of their public distinction rather than any specific contribution that they 
could make to board deliberations. Today business acumen, professionalism and 
the ability to contribute directly to board affairs are usually expected. But cases 
can still arise where the bringing of reputation, status, even credibility to a board 
is important. If the company has been through financial difficulties and needs to 
rebuild confidence with the financial markets, or has had problems with 
products or services in the market place and needs to rebuild customer 
confidence, such an appointment can be valuable. 

C. The Conformance Roles 
The above six roles are oriented towards improving the performance of 

the company through better strategic thinking and policy making. The following 
six roles are more to do with ensuring that the company conforms to policies, 
procedures and plans determined by the board. 

Judging, questioning and supervising executive management 
We have seen that a potential problem of a board dominated by executive 

directors is the danger of being both responsible for monitoring and overseeing 
their own performance — the challenge of "marking their own examination 
papers". A vital contribution from many independent non-executive directors is 
the ability to see board issues from various perspectives, in short to play the role 
of "the judge". The provision of an objective assessment of a situation and a 
clear evaluation of alternatives can be most valuable. An independent 
assessment of top management performance can overcome the tunnel vision 
sometimes found in those closely involved with the situation, or the myopia 
brought on by being significantly affected by the outcome. 

"The catalyst" is a director who is able to question the board's 

assumptions, causing change without necessarily changing himself. He points 
out that what might appear to be an incontrovertible truth to some board 
members is, in fact, rooted in various beliefs that others may have about the 
company, its markets, its competitors and so on. He can remind the board of 
value judgments being made during a discussion, where inferences are 
masquerading as facts. Furthermore he can stimulate the board meetings with 
new, alternative ideas and insights. 

The responsibility of the board to monitor and supervise the performance 

of executive management, providing independent checks and balances, is often 
rehearsed in commentaries on the role of outside director. In the next chapter we 
will discuss the use of board committees, made up of independent outside 
directors, such as the audit and nominating Committees, to provide such 
monitoring mechanisms. In this way we can identify a further role for a director 
as "the monitor or supervisor" of executive performance. 

Watchdog, confidant and safety-valve roles 
The director in a "watchdog role" has cast himself as the protector of the 

interests of the owners or, more often, specific interest groups. Representative 
and nominee directors are inevitably in this position, as they look out for the 
legitimate interests of, for example, minority shareholders, consumers, 
employees and the like. The duty of every director to be concerned with the 
interest of the company as a whole (that is of the shareholders as a whole) must 
not be overlooked, as we saw in the last chapter. 

Some directors may find themselves cast in the role of "confidante"-acting 

as a sounding board for other directors, the chief executive or the chairman. It 
means a trusted and reliable counsellor in times of uncertainty and stress; 
someone to share concerns with about board matters outside the boardroom. In 
the political process involving the use, and occasionally abuse, of power at the 
top of organizations, such a person has much to offer. 

Finally, there is a legitimate role for a director, acting at times of crisis, to 

be "the safety-valve" — the person who is able to release the pressure, prevent 
further damage and save the situation. One example could be when the chief 
executive has to be replaced. Executive directors may not be able to act: their 
future boss is being appointed. Another example might occur if the company 
suddenly had to face an unexpected catastrophe - a tragic incident involving 
employees or consumers, for example. Here the good counsel of a wise member 
of the board could save the situation. 

D. The Responsibilities of Directors 
We turn now to the duties, rights and responsibilities of directors. 
The body of company law, in the jurisdiction in which a company 

operates, determines many of the responsibilities that directors in that state or 
country face. Further duties may be found in the laws of insolvency, consumer 
protection, monopoly and merger, employment and so on. For the public 

company, whose shares are traded in the public arena, securities trading and 
investor protection legislation and the rules of the relevant stock exchange will 
also apply. 

Obviously it is not appropriate in this text to attempt to survey the scope 

of such rules and regulations around the world. A number of general points, 
however, can be made. 

Firstly, the extent and detail of company law varies considerably between 

jurisdictions. Continental European countries, such as Germany and France, and 
other states whose laws are rooted in Roman law, rather than Anglo-Saxon case 
law, tend to have more prescriptive rules to constrain and regulate corporate 
governance. Moreover, within the case-oriented legal structures the extent of 
company regulation varies considerably. As an indication the basic companies’ 
ordinance in Hong Kong runs to 3 675 pages, in Singapore to 567 pages and in 
England to 630! 

Secondly, in most countries the tendency in recent years has been to 

increase the statutory requirements for corporate disclosure and the regulation of 
corporate affairs. Further, the tendency to resort to civil litigation has been 
increasing. The threat of court action has become a significant element  in the 
corporate governance process in some countries. This has been particularly the 
case in the United States, where class actions (that is the ability to join all 
members of a class, such as shareholders, in a single action) and contingent fees 
(that is the process of a lawyer offering to take a case on the basis of tees 
contingent on the success of the case and the size of any damages awarded — a 
practice, incidentally, that is prohibited in many other countries) have 
encouraged such litigation. But other countries, such as the United Kingdom, 
Australia and Canada, have also seen significant increases in actions being 
brought against companies, their auditors, their boards and individual directors 
by shareholders and others alleging, Inter alia, negligence and directors' failure 
to exercise their proper duties of care and trust. 

Thirdly, despite the significant differences in the legal position of 

directors between jurisdictions, there are a few very general points that are 
broadly applicable to directors everywhere. 

E. Responsibilities to the Shareholders 
In most cases directors are formally appointed by the shareholder 

members of the company. As we saw in Chapter 1, ownership is the underlying 
basis of power to nominate and elect directors, even though in practice 
nominations for new board members may come from the incumbent board, 
which might also fill casual vacancies. Nevertheless the shareholders, meeting 
together in a properly convened meeting, typically hold the confirming power. 
Exceptions to the general rule of shareholders appointing directors include some 
state-owned corporations where the government exercises that power under the 
relevant statute, and where the articles of association of a company provide 
otherwise. 

Consequently, a director's basic responsibility is to the shareholder 

members. As we will explore subsequently, boards need to provide strategic 
direction for the business, setting relevant policies, and to supervise the 
activities of top management. Further, the board is required to be accountable to 
the members, including the requirement to present regular reports and accounts, 
duly audited in most cases, in the statutory form. In some jurisdictions these 
accounts are filed and are available for public inspection. 

F. Directors' Obligation to Honesty and Integrity 
In almost all jurisdictions a company director is expected to act with 

honesty, integrity and candour towards the company — in particular its 
members. This fiduciary duty is to the company as a whole. In practice this can 
be difficult if, for example, a dominant parent company exercises power over a 
subsidiary in which there are minority outside shareholders. Decisions must be 
taken in good faith for the common good. British-based common law allows 
directors to determine the best interests of the whole, subject to the right of 
appeal to the courts; directors of American companies owe specific fiduciary 
duties to any minority shareholders. 

The primary duty, in other words, is to act honestly in good faith, giving 

all shareholders equal, sufficient and accurate information on all issues that 
could affect their interests. Directors may not treat a company as though it exists 
for their personal benefit. 

A director, consequently, must not make a secret profit out of dealings 

with the company. His duty is to disclose any such interests to the board and to 
abide by their decision as to what is in the company's best interests. Insider 
trading, that is dealing in the shares of a quoted company, on the basis of 
privileged, price sensitive information is considered improper in all jurisdictions 
and is a criminal offence in most (though not all). 

A further duty imposed on directors, either by statute or case law, is the 

duty to exercise reasonable care, diligence and skill in their work on the board. 
The interpretation of what constitutes such reasonable skill and care varies 
between countries. A general proposition is that the standard of professionalism 
now expected of directors, around the world, is significantly higher than a few 
years ago. Courts will act if fraudulent or negligent behaviour is alleged, or 
where there seem to be abuses of power by directors: it is not the role of the 
courts to second guess commercial judgments made by directors, even though 
by hindsight they have been misguided. 

G. Theories of Corporate Governance 
The original corporate concept enshrined a philosophical assumption 

about the nature of man, one that has been reflected in subsequent developments 
of company law — a view that man is essentially trustworthy, able to act in 
good faith in the interest of others with integrity and honesty. This is implicit in 
the fiduciary relationship required of directors. Certainly checks and balances 
are involved, but only to catch the occasional rogue.