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Innovation in Learning

A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Company and job

Lesson code: J4RX-EJGB-EZKE-D INTERMEDIATE

1 Key words
Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right:

1. founder a. a large company that does business in several different countries

2. annual turnover b. a part of a company that is owned by a person or by other company
3. shareholding c. a person who establishes an organisation
4. subsidiary d. a smaller company that is owned by another bigger company
5. division e. one of the sectors or groups in a business or organization
6. multinational corporation f. the amount of business that a company does in one year

2 Describing a company
Listen to a description of the Toyota Motor Corporation and complete the profile below.

Company Toyota Motor Corporation

Headquarters
Founder Kiichiro Toyoda
Year founded
Year of expansion to US
Employees
Subsidiaries
Turnover (2014)
Brands owned Lexus, Scion
Shareholdings Daihatsu Motors, Isuzu Motors and Yamaha Motors
LE

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Company and job
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Now listen to a description of Inditex SA and complete the profile:

Company Inditex SA
Headquarters Spain
Founder Amancio Ortega Gaona
Year founded
Employees
Number of stores
Brands owned Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho and Stradivarius
Profit (2014)

3 Useful expressions
Study the following expressions used for describing a company. Listen to the recordings again and
tick the ones that you hear:

Headquarters
...is headquartered in... ...is based in...
History
...was founded in/by... ...was established in...
Employees
... has a workforce of ... people ... employs ... people
Size
... operates ... subsidiaries
...has shareholdings in ...
... has a ... per cent stake in ...
...runs ... stores worldwide
Market position
...is currently the world's largest...
...is the biggest ... in the world
...is one of the largest companies in ...
...has a ... per cent market share
Financial results
...achieved an annual turnover of... ...made a profit of...
LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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Company and job
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Study some more expressions for describing a company:

Competitors
Our main competitors are...
Customers/clients
Products: Our main customers are/include...
Services: Our main clients are/include...
Products
We produce/manufacture ...
Services
We provide/offer ...

Now describe your company, providing information about head office location, products/services,
number of employees, customers/clients, competitors, financial information.

4 Describing your job

Now listen to three employees of an IT distribution company called Xcel Systems describing their jobs.
Complete their profiles below.
Video

Anthony Smart Daniel Goldman Susan Clarke

Position: Managing director

Responsibilities:

Enjoys:

Doesn't enjoy
LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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c
Linguahouse.com OC
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 lingua house
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Company and job
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

5 Useful expressions
Complete the sentences from the recordings:

charge enjoy find job most

part quite responsibilities responsible what

I'm for cash flow/credit control/managing projects..

I'm in of developing the company's long-term strategy.
My include recruiting new employees and organising training for company staff..
It's also my to improve the company's working conditions.
On the whole, I my work.
What I like about my work is the responsibility, the challenge and of course the salary.
I my work very interesting.
One task I don't like is chasing money from late payers.
The I don't really like is the long hours.
I don't like so much is when I have to deal with a difficult employee.

Work in pairs. Describe your job to your partner using vocabulary from this lesson.

LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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Company and job - Transcripts
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

2- Describing a company

Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan and is currently the
world's largest automaker. It achieved an annual turnover of over $250 billion in 2014. In 1937,
Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda as an independent company dedicated to the production of
automobiles. In 1957, the automaker exported the first Japanese car to the United States, and
established American and Brazilian divisions. The company expanded in the 1960s with a new
research and development facility and established a worldwide presence by the 1970s. Today, the
company owns the brands Lexus and Scion and has shareholdings in Daihatsu Motors, Isuzu
Motors and Yamaha Motors. It operates 545 subsidiaries and has a workforce of over 330,000
people.

2- Describing a company

Inditex
Inditex is the biggest fashion group and clothing retailer in the world. The company owns
well-known brands such as Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho and Stradivarius. Inditex was
founded in Spain in 1975. Its founder, Amancio Ortega Gaona, is the richest man in Spain and one
of the richest men in the world. Today, the group runs over 6600 retail stores worldwide and
employs over 128,000 people. Inditex designs and manufactures almost everything by itself and
new designs are delivered twice a week to Zara stores around the world. This adds up to more than
10 thousand new designs each year! In 2014, Inditex made a profit of 2.5 billion euros.

4- Describing your job

Anthony Smart
My name's Anthony Smart. I'm the chief accountant for Xcel Systems. I'm responsible for cash
flow, credit control, preparing financial statements, accounting reports and so on. On the whole, I
enjoy my work - I've always enjoyed working with numbers. I also like the company culture and the
people here at Xcel - it's a very friendly and supportive work environment. One task I don't quite like
is chasing money from late payers. That can be rather unpleasant sometimes.

Daniel Goldman
My name's Daniel Goldman and I'm the managing director of Xcel Systems. I'm responsible for the
day-to-day running of the business including managing projects, organising people's work, dealing
with suppliers and important customers. I'm also in charge of developing the company's long-term
strategy. What I like most about my work is the responsibility, the challenge and of course the
salary. I also really enjoy motivating and inspiring other people to achieve their goals and develop
the company. The part I don't really like is the long hours. It's not uncommon for me to spend 12
hours in the office, which doesn't leave me much time for my family. On top of that, my job can get
pretty stressful at times, especially when we have problems with our suppliers.
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex i

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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 lingua house
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Company and job - Transcripts
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Susan Clarke
My name's Susan Clarke. I work for Xcel Systems as a human resources manager. My
responsibilities include recruiting new employees and organising training for company staff. It's
also my job to improve the company's working conditions. I find my work very interesting mainly
because I enjoy working with people. It's also very satisfying to see employees improve and
develop their skills because of initiatives that I have put into practice. What I don't like so much is
when I have to deal with a difficult employee - for example, somebody who is habitually late, takes
too many days off or doesn't meet deadlines. That can be rather stressful. But luckily, it doesn't
happen too often.

LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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Company and job - Key
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

1- Key words

1. c 2. f 3. b 4. d 5. e 6. a

2- Describing a company

Play the audio files or use your mobile device to scan the QR codes (make sure you have installed a QR code
reader app and can access the Internet on your device).

Toyota
Headquarters: Japan
Year founded: 1937
Year of expansion to US: 1957
Employees: 330,000
Subsidiaries: 545
Turnover (2014): $330 billion

Inditex
Year founded: 1975
Number of stores: over 6600
Employees: over 128,000
Profit (2014): e2.5 billion

3- Useful expressions

...was founded in/by...

...is headquartered in...
... has a workforce of ... people
... employs ... people
... operates ... subsidiaries
...has shareholdings in ...
...runs ... stores worldwide
...is currently the world's largest...
...is the biggest ... in the world
...achieved an annual turnover of...
...made a profit of..

4- Describing your job

Play the audio files or use your mobile device to scan the QR codes. Pre-teach difficult vocabulary from the
recordings, e.g. credit control, chasing money, challenge, long hours, initiatives.
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex i

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

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c
Linguahouse.com OC
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 lingua house
TM
Company and job - Key
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Anthony Smart
Position: chief accountant
Responsibilities: cash flow, preparing financial statements, credit control
Enjoys: working with numbers, company culture, people, work environment
Doesn't enjoy: chasing money from late payers
Daniel Goldman
Position: managing director
Responsibilities: day-to-day running of the business, managing projects, organising work, dealing
with suppliers and important customers, developing the company's long-term strategy
Enjoys: responsibility, challenge, salary, motivating/inspiring people
Doesn't enjoy: long hours, stress

Susan Clarke
Position: HR manager
Responsibilities: recruiting, organising training, improving company working conditions
Enjoys: working with people, seeing employees improve and develop their skills
Doesn't enjoy: dealing with difficult employees

5- Useful expressions

responsible charge responsibilities job enjoy

most find quite part what

LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex ii

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT