Livro 11

CURSOS DE IDIOMAS\nGLOBO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH\nAUDIVISUAL\nINTERATIVO\nPROGRAMADO\n11\nPUBLICAÇÃO SEMANAL ILUSTRADA\nGLOBO BUSINESS ENGLISH\nVol. 11\nUNIT 21 - 22 CURSOS DE IDIOMAS\nGLOBO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH\nPLANO GERAL DA OBRA\nO CURSO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH é um curso elaborado por especialistas que ensina a entender simultaneamente a língua inglesa e diferentes conhecimentos de língua inglesa.\nComo acompanhar o curso\nApós fazer a inscrição e pagamento, você deve calcular\nas unidades e estudos (total de 64 páginas, etc.).\nAS FITAS\nOs principais dicionários e textos descritivos apresentarão os dois tipos de fascículos.\nCONSELHO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO\nRoberto Irineu Marinho\nJoaquim Roberto Marinho\nJoão Roberto Marinho\nRicardo A. Fischer\nDIRETORIA\nRicardo A. Fischer\nFernando A. Couto\nJosé Américo Selar\nOrlando Marques\nDIVISÃO DE FASCÍCULOS E LIVROS\nDiretor\nRúbio Barros Pinto\nEditorais: Santos R. F. Espínola (editor executivo)\nEditorial: Sandra Monteiro, editor de arte, Ibaneth da Silva (assistente de redação).\nColaboradora: Marilene Valois (tradutora).\nMarketing: Hero do São Paulo (diretor).\n\"A responsabilidade não é do seu editor, mas das pessoas traduzidas em outras escolhas.\"\nISDN (ainda não disponível). A DIRECTOR'S REPORT\nUnit 21\nContents\n• A Corporate Business\n ◦ Introduction\n ◦ Writing reports.\n ◦ Fresh Frozen Foods Plc: A Director's Report\n A director's report on his impression of a Spanish company that is up for sale.\n ◦ Dialogue: Humphries in Tarragona\n Commenting on a visit to see round the factory of Alimentos del Siglo in Tortosa.\n• Business Executives\n ◦ An Executive Writes\n Expressing corporate complaint.\n ◦ An Executive Travels\n Travel Dialogue - Changing a flight.\n• Business Matters\n ◦ Some Questions and Answers about...\n Banking (6)\n Merchant and investment banks looking for and finding business.\n• Offices (11)\n Insurance.\n• Business News\n ◦ Spanish Beer (1)\n The takeover of the Spanish brewer Cruzcampo.\n• The Use of English in Business\n ◦ The Tenses (13)\n The Future Perfect Continuous and the 'Going to' future of intention.\n ◦ Glossary of the Key Business Words and Phrases Used\n• Answers\n481 A CORPORATE BUSINESS\nIntroduction\nSubject: Writing reports.\nThere are times when a badly-written report is worse than no report at all. Certain basic rules must therefore be followed so that the final result is something that is really worth reading and not just a mass of words written on a large amount of paper. The writer must make sure that the language is clear and concise; concise in the sense that no sentence should be made into a paragraph and no paragraph into a page. The next basic rule is that the report should have a beginning, a middle and an end. That is to say an introduction, a development and a conclusion. A report is not a series of unconnected sentences written down as they occur to the writer, but a coherent narrative or description that has a natural flow.\nA report on a meeting would begin with an introduction indicating why the meeting took place and what was to be discussed. This would be followed by concise details of what was said - 'Mr Smith was not in favour of negotiating a new loan until the present one has been repaid' not 'Mr Smith said that he did not like the idea of asking the bank for another loan while the company is still repaying the one that was negotiated in September of last year'. The end of this report would set out the conclusions reached with a final sentence on the next steps to be taken.\nThere is a very practical system in common use throughout business and industry for reports having two summaries. This system is based because the report may go to a series of people who may not all have the same interest in its contents. A fifty page report on the state of a business, for example, would have a three page summary, in which are set out the most important parts dealt with. There would then be a one-page summary, rather like a covering letter, stating that the report concerns a detailed inspection made of a business and giving the headings of each chapter and section. The director of finance might not want to read the whole report but would immediately turn to the section covering finance. Likewise, the director of production might turn to the section that is of particular interest to him.\nWe shall now see the report that David Humphries wrote on his return from visiting the offices and factories of Alimentos del Siglo S.A.\n482 Fresh Frozen Foods Plc.\nA Director's Report\nSubject: A director's report on his impression of a Spanish company that is up for sale.\nThe trip to Spain\nSince David Humphries' return from his three-day trip to Spain to have an exploratory look at Alimentos del Siglo, the company that Fresh Frozen Foods is interested in acquiring, he has been busy writing his report to present to his fellow directors. The report is an objective document that sets out his views of the company. It makes no mention of what he did during his three days in Spain. As a prologue to the report it might be interesting to describe exactly how he spent his time there, since it shows what he did in order to get the information that is the basis of his report.\nDavid Humphries and his wife arrived at Barcelona Airport at 1.00 p.m. and were met by Eusebio Carrasco, the managing director of Alimentos del Siglo S.A. From there they drove down to Tarragona, where, after checking in at the hotel that had been booked for them, they had lunch in a delightful little restaurant near the cathedral. Humphries and Carrasco then went to the latter's office before going to visit the food-processing factory at Tortosa. They spent another three hours there, during which time Humphries was able to get a good idea regarding not only the factory's installations, equipment and personnel, but also an impression of whether the system of production was efficient.\nAfter the visit, they drove back to Tarragona, where they discussed company matters till 8.00. Humphries was amazed that everyone should still be working in the office at that time, especially as they began at 8.30 in the morning. That evening they had dinner at a very good restaurant in a little village outside the city of Tarragona. The evening's lasted till 1.30 in the morning. During this time David Humphries learnt a considerable amount not only about the company but about Spanish business in general; he was very impressed. His wife Margaret enjoyed herself in the company of Ana and Asunción, the wives of Eusebio Carrasco and Federico Sanjuán, the production manager, and was fascinated to learn from Ana that Pontius Pilate had been the governor of Tarragona before being transferred to Jerusalem.\nThe next morning at 10.00 they drove down to Elche to visit the factory there. Margaret and Ana went to Murcia. David spent the day at the factory. All four stopped for dinner on the way back to Tarragona that evening. On the third day Humphries spent the morning at the company's offices. After a farewell lunch in Tarragona they were driven to Barcelona to get their flight back to London. Ana insisted on coming with Eusebio to say goodbye at the airport. Margaret and enjoyed her short stay in Spain and now had two new friends in Ana and Asunción. Soon after passing into the departure lounge she said to her husband, 'Triple F must buy Alimentos, David'.\n483 The report\nDavid Humphries' report begins by stating his terms of reference. He has been sent to Spain to look at the acquisition target and inform his fellow directors as to whether he considers the company worth taking over.\nThis is followed by a very brief description of the company and the reasons for its being put up for sale. There follows the main part of the report: his impressions. These are very objective. He does not say that he discusses this or that with this or that person. He mentions only the results of his discussions. Occasionally he says that 'According to the production manager these machines will last at least another five years'. He does not say, however, that he spoke to José Hernández, the production manager, who said that in his opinion, '.':. Like all good reports, the language is succinct and the contents concise.\nIt is in the above-mentioned main part of the report that he gives his personal views. When he had read the memorandum describing the company up for sale, he had considered the production overheads to be very high and had commented on the fact to Frank Holloway. Now that he had visited the factories, however, he had been able to see the reason for this. The installations are top quality, which means they will not have to be renewed for five years, so that what seemed to be expensive now, would in the long run prove to be cheap. At this point he comments extensively on the ideas of Eusebio Carrasco. It would seem that in Spain generally the basis of doing business is that of making a quick profit. Corporate philosophy is based on short-term success and profits – the very opposite, in fact, of the Japanese system of long-term planning and patience. Eusebio Carrasco does not believe in short-term success. For this reason all his installations are designed to last for many years. This year the company will break even, next year it will make a little profit. Five years from now, however, it will be making big profits. Humphries states in his report that the ideas of Carrasco are not appreciated by the board of the parent company, who want to see a quick return for their investment in new plant. Gualterio Hernández Barreiros, the newly appointed chief executive of the parent company Botinas, is a very intelligent man; he knows that five years from now Alimentos del Siglo will be making substantial profits. Unfortunately, the board of the group is not prepared to wait that long. Here is a chance for Fresh Frozen Foods to get a bargain. It must act at once, though. Eusebio Carrasco has confided in Humphries that the French, the Germans and the Dutch are all interested in acquiring the company.\nWhat Humphries cannot rule out in his report is the influence on the outcome of the deal that three 'frivolous' wives might have. Just one week after her trip to Spain, Margaret Humphries welcomed her friends Ana and Asuncion to London. Thanks to Margaret's influence, both were able to buy themselves beautiful fur coats at a third of the price they would have paid in Spain, in France, in Germany or in Holland. They did not realise, however, that Fresh Frozen Foods paid the difference. Bribery in modern business has many ways of manifesting itself, some ways rather more sophisticated than others.\nThe report ends with Humphries' conclusions and recommendations. Not surprisingly, he recommends that the Group goes ahead with its bid. He adds a series of appendices based on information given to him by Eusebio Carrasco. These give precise figures that were not given in the original memorandum. He also includes much technical information that will not be sent to the board, though it is very important in itself. Finally, he suggests that the next step in the negotiations. The parent company must be approached and a serious offer made. Pressure should be put on the group to give an immediate response.\nHumphries' report was read avidly by Frank Holloway, who knew intuitively that Alimentos del Siglo was a company that the Group must take over. A few days later he said that it was unanimous agreement by the board that the Group should go ahead with its bid. What seems so simple on paper is often very difficult in reality. But Fresh Frozen Foods had reached their decision and would now pursue the matter till the end. David Humphries had the feeling that they would succeed, however. In the first place he got on very well with Eusebio Carrasco and Federico Sanjuán. What is more important perhaps is the fact that their wives got on very well. There is always the human element behind what appear to be hard business decisions. Text Comprehension\nAnswer the following questions:\n1. Was David Humphries in Spain for two, three, or four days?\n2. Has he been busy writing letters or writing his report?\n3. Does the report set out his views on the company or details of the restaurants he went to?\n4. Did he and his wife arrive at Barcelona Airport at one o'clock or two o'clock?\n5. Did Humphries and Carrasco spend two hours or nearly three at the factory in Tortosa?\n6. What did Humphries learn during the evening in company with Carrasco and Sanjuán?\n7. Where did David spend the next day?\n8. What does Humphries state at the beginning of his report?\n9. Are his impressions set out in the introduction?\n10. What was Humphries' opinion of the installations?\n11. What does Humphries think that corporate philosophy is based on in Spain?\n12. How will the company be doing five years from now?\n13. What do Fresh Frozen Foods have a chance of getting if they take over Alimentos del Siglo?\n14. How does Humphries' report end?\n15. What was unanimously agreed at the board meeting a few days later? Notes on the Text\n\nsets out his views\nterms of reference\nin the long run\nbreak even\na quick return\noutcome of the deal\nbribery\n\n• Note the position of the apostrophe in the following phrases with Humphries:\nHumphries' return, Humphries' report and Humphries' conclusions.\n\n• Notice the use of where after the comma in They drove down to Tarragona, where ... they had lunch in a delightful little restaurant near the cathedral.\nCompare the following:\n\nThey visited the factory where the food was processed.\nHe saw the office where they deal with incoming orders.\n\nThey visited the factory, where Humphries watched the men at work.\nHe spent an hour in the office, where the whole plan was discussed.\n\n• Note that in the first two examples there is no comma because the where clause are defining the factory and office: Which factory? The factory where the food is processed.\n\n• Note that the phrase in the long run comes between the auxiliary and the verb in the following:\nThey decided that this would prove to be cheaper.\nThey decided that this would, in the long run, prove to be cheaper.\n\n• Note the use of approach in the phrase the parent company must be approached. Compare the following:\nWe must approach the parent company.\n(Temos que nos dirigir a matriz)\nThe parent company must be approached.\n\n• Note that although actually and really are synonyms of in reality, they cannot be used in the phrase is often very difficult in reality. The reason is that they occupy the position already filled by often. Compare the following:\nWhat seems so easy on paper is really very difficult.\nWhat seems so easy on paper is actually very difficult.\nWhat seems so easy on paper is often very difficult in reality.\n\n• Note that if actually was used in the third sentence, it would have to replace in reality at the end.\n\n487