Livro 22

CURSOS DE IDIOMAS\nGLOBO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH\nAUDIVISUAL\nINTERATIVO\nPROGRAMADO\n22\nPUBLICAÇÃO SEMANAL ILUSTRADA\nEDITORA GLOBO BUSINESS ENGLISH\nVol. 22\nUNIT 43 - 44\nEDITORA GLOBO CURSOS DE IDIOMAS\nGLOBO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH\nO CURSO\nBUSINESS ENGLISH é um curso elaborado por especialistas para atender simultaneamente a leitores de níveis diferentes de conhecimento da língua inglesa.\n- Nível 1. Indicado para pessoas com conhecimentos elementares.\n- Nível 2. Acesso às pessoas com nível médio de conhecimento.\n- Nível 3. Indicado para pessoas que dominam a língua inglesa.\n\nTodos os itens dos fascículos apresentam uma sinalização: • = 'e' = 'não' indica o nível de conhecimento a que se relaciona. Assim, se estiver ao nível 1, se marcar como 1 'é' e não como 2 e 3, só o nível 1.\n\nA metodologia é de fácil acesso, e o aluno pode consultar a cada passo para um melhor aprendizado.\n\nCOMO ACOMPANHAR O CURSO\nPara melhor acompanhamento, é útil o aluno fazer a leitura dos espécimes propostos no final dos fascículos e responder às perguntas finalizando cada unidade.\n\nNUMEROS ATRASADOS\nA Editora Globo mantém suas publicações em ambiente dinâmico e as datas estão sujeitas ao mesmo. As edições anteriores são não mais disponíveis a longo prazo, pelo não há dúvida permanecendo bancário. Escolha uma distributor Chigale seu lado.\n\n1. NAS BANCAS\nAtividades podem ser distribuídas Chigalhe seu lado.\n\n2. PESSOALMENTE\nSia. Paulo: Rua Alfredo I. Seta - Centro - Fones: (11) 226-1281 - 229-9427\nRio de Janeiro: Rua Gambé, 821 - Graça - Tel: (21) 542-1424 - 672-5755.\n\n3. POR CARTA\nDatamenta: Edição 1/98, CEP 65685-060, Setor de Números Atrasados – Barueri.\n\n1900 - Articulação Pela Apósi. S. A.:\n1930 - Editora Globo atriz e língua portugues.\n\nComandante recolocando educacional: Barry Kench,\nCursos de idioma para linguagem, Skills for Life.\n\nTécnicos de textos desnecessários. Nenhum da editora pode estar adicionados a. THE TECHNIQUE OF AUTOMATIC CONTINGENCY\nUnit\n43\nContents\n• A Corporate Business\n • Introduction\n • Built-in contingency plans.\n • Fresh Frozen Foods Plc: The Technique of Automatic Contingency\n • A technique created to reduce to a\n minimum any adverse influence on the\nefficient running of an enterprise.\n • Dialogue: A Voice of Opposition\n The CFO tells the CEO that he is against\n plans to introduce TAC.\n\n• Business Executives\n • An Executive Writes\n Letters to colleagues in other companies (1).\n Seeking advice on getting a government\n licence.\n • An Executive Travels\n Taiwan (1). Finding out something about\n Taiwan.\n\n• Business Matters\n • Some Questions and Answers about...\n Financial Management (13)\n External finance (1),\n Executive Search (18)\n A major food group requires a commercial\n manager in the catering sector.\n\n• Business News\n • Spanish Banks Invade (2)\n Spanish banks in Portugal.\n\n• The Use of English in Business\n • The Special Verbs (5)\n The special verbs 'shall', 'will', 'ought',\n 'used' and 'dare'.\n • Glossary of the Key Business Words and\n Phrases Used\n\n• Answers A CORPORATE BUSINESS\nIntroduction\nSubject: Built-in contingency plans.\n\nPlanning is programming for the future so that you know what is going to\nhappen, or at least what you want to happen. Contingency planning is deciding\non what measures are to be taken to prevent any adverse event from\nescalating into a damaging situation.\n\nThere are those who do not believe in contingency plans, preferring to take\ntheir fences when they come to them. If they are lucky their fences are always\nlow, so that they have no trouble in jumping them. Having jumped a series of\nlow fences, they convince themselves that there are no high fences in this\nthe best of all possible worlds. They are therefore quite happy to continue without\nany sort of contingency plan to protect their enterprise against a downturn in\nbusiness or an internal crisis.\n\nImagine that for every hour of production lost a company loses £10,000. If\na machine supplying all the others breaks down, the whole production must\nstop. If it takes two hours for a mechanic to come and another hour before\nproduction can resume, then the company has lost £30,000. (It's curious that\nvery few factory managers would send a fast car to collect a mechanic and\ngive him £200 in cash to persuade him away from what he is doing. That\nwould be absurd; though not so absurd as losing £10,000 an hour.) One\npossible contingency plan in the above case would be to pay the servicing\nfirm a special fee that will guarantee their coming to do any urgent repairs\nwithin half an hour of being notified, for example.\n\nWe shall now see how one of Fresh Frozen Foods Plc' s subsidiaries develops\na system that sets a contingency plan automatically in motion in the event of\nany problem that could adversely affect the enterprise. Fresh Frozen Foods Plc.\nThe Technique of Automatic Contingency\nSubject: A technique created to reduce to a minimum any adverse influence\non the efficient running of an enterprise.\n\nHow it all started\nOne day some months ago the production engineer at the factory of the\nBoston Vegetable-Canning Corporation did not turn up for work. Later on, his\nwife called up the manager and told him her husband had the flu. The next\nday the factory manager, assistant production engineer, two foremen and eight\noperatives were away with the flu. More went down every day, so that by the\nend of the week a fifth of the workforce had the flu. Although the epidemic\nlasted a month, the number of absentees peaked at a third of the workforce.\nFrom then on there was a gradual return to work so that after four weeks the\nsituation was back to normal.\n\nThe epidemic was not confined to the factory. Many of those employed in\nthe offices and warehouses were affected, as were a number of drivers of the\ndistribution service. Production was not seriously disrupted, however, nor was\nthe work of the administrative and distributive services. 'But they could have\nbeen', said Russ Hopkins, when he conducted an inquiry into the effects of\nthe epidemic on the company as a whole. For many days Russ Hopkins\nturned over in his mind the events that could have had disastrous results.\nWhat could be done to minimize the adverse effects of possible breakdowns\nin the future?\n\nDriving home one evening Russ suddenly had an idea. He turned into a\nside-road and pulled up. He took a pad out of his briefcase, took out a pen\nand began to write. His solution to the problem was to have some sort of\nsystem whereby an automatic contingency plan would be set in motion the\nmoment something happened that could possibly affect the smooth running\nof the company. He thought of this as 'a theory of extended efficiency-\nreduction', that is to say: when efficiency continued to be reduced over an\nextended period. He changed 'theory' to 'system' later on. Some days later\nwhen he had everything clearly set out, he decided to call it 'The technique\nof automatic contingency'.\n\nTAC\nNo sooner has an American found a name for something than he immediately\nreduces it to one syllable or creates an acronym. It was not long before all\nthe top executives at BVCC knew that TAC stood for the technique of\nautomatic contingency. A CORPORATE BUSINESS\n\nidea as was its creator. Hopkins selected his top management, and indeed his lower management, very carefully. The result of this is that he has an excellent team of departmental chiefs. Five of these were in the group he brought together to develop TAC.\n\nBasically, the theory of TAC is to have as many reserves as possible to take the place of anyone or anything that should fail1. What would happen if the production engineer (A) was suddenly taken ill? The assistant production engineer (B) would take his place. If he in turn fell ill, there is one of the foremen (C) who could take over for a short time. After that there is no-one. Arrangements must therefore be made with the other subsidiaries in North America to supply one of their engineers in an emergency. These substitutes would be (D) and (E) for example.\n\nIf a machine stopped production because its feeding tube (A) broke, then it would be replaced by the spare feeding tube (B) in the store. If this broke a feeding tube (C) could be taken from a machine that is not used much, and if this broke a new one (D) could be obtained from the supplier. In both cases that of the production engineer and the feeding tube contingency (C) would come into effect the moment (B) replaces (A). The fact that even (C) will probably not be necessary does not matter. The automatic contingency plan has been set in motion.\n\nHopkins wanted to develop this idea at a much more sophisticated level so that at the slightest possibility of production being affected by a strike, illness among the workforce, shortage of raw material, power cuts preventing the machines from working, etc. an automatic contingency plan would come into effect. He arranged for the human resources department to give such talks1 to office staff and the workforce to explain the theory of TAC. Later they arranged small groups, similar to brainstorming, in which hypothetical breakdowns were suggested and those present were asked what could be done to prevent the breakdown from lasting more than a minimum of time. The motivation of company personnel was essential if TAC was to be implemented with any degree of success. implementing a new system\n\nAs soon as the executive group TAC-6 (the name given to the group of six formed to consider TAC as a practical system) had agreed that the system would work, it was decided to put into operation a pilot scheme covering three main areas: An A-C (and in some cases A-E) personnel back-up; a repair, substitution or replacement plan for all equipment and machinery, likewise A-C and in some cases A-E; and an A-C contingency plan to minimize any possible breakdown in management, administration, supply, production or distribution.\n\nLex Brady, the computer chief, was charged18 with organising a suitable program. He was to head a team of eight junior executives, whose job it was to provide him with material: he would need to know who or what all the A's, B's, and C's, etc. would be. The implementation of the system was given priority, so it was not long before a rudimentary system was ready for trial. The trials took the form of simulated emergencies to see how long it took for the B's to replace the A's and for the C's to move up.\n\nInevitably there were the opponents of the scheme and the sceptics. Russ Hopkins is not a dictator, so he was always prepared to listen to objections. 'The only way to overcome opposition', he says 'is to show that you are right by giving overwhelming19 and indisputable proof that you are right'. The CFO complained that the system was expensive and that there were too many of the staff working on the project. Others complained that if everyone knew his number, there would be no need for such a system. One day Hopkins had all the detractors of the scheme in his office and once again explained the need for a contingency plan that covered absolutely everything.\n\nHe begins by explaining the personal back-up system. If A is at a congress, then B takes over. Suddenly B falls ill and C is held up in a traffic jam. Even though D is not in real danger because D is on hand to take charge, except for the fact that D has just been trapped in the elevator between the fourth and fifth floors. Several of those present smile at this seeming exaggeration, this bending of reality to suit his argument. They ask for a specific example. Hopkins gives them one.\n\nIt is midday and the factory is in full production. An operative notices that there is something different about a product: its shape size, colour, anything. He calls the production aver20. The latter decides to stop the machine and get quality control to have a look at it. Of the two quality control inspectors on duty one has just gone to lunch and the other has just been taken to the medical centre after being violently sick. He is now lying on a bed with a high temperature and a headache. Suddenly we find ourselves in a C-situation. The foreman goes to the quality control office in the main building. The computer is consulted. C, who is the assistant quality assurance chief has just driven off21 to a meeting at one of the company’s other factories. What about D? He is definitely in the office, but where? Perhaps he is the one stuck22 in the elevator.\n\nThe telephone rings. The CFO answers it. He turns to Hopkins. It’s George Franklin of BDU Foods. He says production has had to be halted23 because of an electrical fault. Neither of their electricians is there. He’s desperate. Can we help? A CORPORATE BUSINESS\n\nText Comprehension\n\nAnswer the following questions:\n1. Did the production engineer’s wife call up the factory manager or the general manager?\n2. Did she say her husband had the flu or bronchitis?\n3. Were six, eight or ten operatives away the next day?\n4. Did a quarter or a fifth of the workforce have the flu by the end of the week?\n5. Did the number of absentees peak at a fifth, a quarter or a third of the workforce?\n6. What does Russ Hopkins say could have been affected besides production?\n7. What is extended efficiency-reduction?\n8. Did Hopkins select his top and lower management carelessly?\n9. If the production engineer was taken ill, who would take his place?\n10. What would happen if a machine stopped production because its feeding tube was broken?\n11. What did Hopkins arrange for the human resources department to do?\n12. What was the job of the team of eight junior executives?\n13. What did the chief financial officer think about the project?\n14. What did Hopkins explain to the detractors of TAC?\n15. What does Hopkins call a situation in which employees A and B are unable to work?\n\nNotes on the Introduction\n\nKey business words\nbuilt-in contingency plans planos de emergência incorporados\nenterprise empresa, empreendimento\n(machinery) servicing firm firma de manutenção de equipamentos\nspecial fee taxa especial\n\nComments on key structures\n• Note the preposition on with decide. Compare:\nWe must decide on a date for the meeting.\nWe have not decided on the venue yet.\n\n• Note the phrase to prevent any adverse event from escalating into a damaging situation – para impedir que qualquer contratempo cresça até se converter numa situação prejudicial.\n\n• Note how problems are compared to fences (cercas) and resolving problems to jumping fences in the expression we’ll take our fences when we come to them, a popular saying which might be said to be the antithesis of planning.\n\n• Note that to persuade away is to persuade someone to come away from something. Likewise to persuade would be, for example, to persuade someone to come out of a room or a building. Notes on the Text\n\nabsentees \n\nausentes do trabalho\nbreakdowns \n\nquebras, avarias\nfeeding tube \n\ntubo de alimentação\nback-up system \n\nsistema de reserva, de emergência\n\nThe technique of automatic contingency is a system that sets a contingency plan in motion automatically. If A is absent then B automatically takes over in accordance with the contingency plan already prepared. If the production of an important product has to be halted, then production of that product is automatically increased (if this is possible) at another factory.\n\nNote that called (up) is the US form of telephoned - or phoned, or rang (up).\n\nNote that flu (gripe) is the short form of influenza. Compare: to have the flu, to go down with the flu, to be away (from work), with the flu.\n\nNote the use of back in the situation was back to normal - a situação havia voltado ao normal.\n\nNote that as were (como também) is a variation of as are, as can etc. Compare the following:\n\nThey were waiting, as were the others.\nThose are for export, as are these.\nThe manager will attend, as will the foreman.\nThe girls work till 18.00, as do the men.\n\nNote the use of disrupted (desorganizado), which is stronger than affected.\n\nIf raw material is late in arriving, production can be affected.\nIf raw material arrives very late, then production is disrupted.\nIf raw material does not arrive at all, production has to stop.\n\nNote that to fall ill (cair doente) is the same as to be taken ill.\n\nNote that although programme is spelt program in the US, the latter form is generally used for computers.\n\nNote that an elevator (US) is a lift; though some might prefer to say that a lift (UK) is an elevator.\n\nNote that bending reality (distorcer a realidade) is used by those who want circumstances to coincide with their argument rather than making their argument to fit the circumstances.\n\nNote that to be sick can have two meanings: I've just been sick - acabo de vomitar, and I'm often away sick - fico doente com frequência.