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ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Эффективное управление играет решающую роль в дости-жении успеха во всех сферах деятельности. Современному специалисту в области экономики, международного бизнеса, внешнеэкономической деятельности, а также в других профес-сиональных сферах для достижения качества работы необхо-димы знания основ управления, умение организовать работу в целом и создать команду специалистов, которые бы способ-ствовали достижению поставленных целей.

Данное пособие предназначено для обучения английскому языку студентов и аспирантов вузов по специальности «Мировая экономика», а также широкого круга специалистов, желающих в силу различных причин расширить и углубить свои знания английского языка в сфере теории и практики управления. Кроме того, пособие может являться частью поствузовского образования.

Целью пособия является приобретение студентами опре-деленных профессиональных компетенций, а именно умения читать, переводить и анализировать специальную литературу на английском языке и выбирать полезную информацию, необ-ходимую для их профессиональной деятельности, а также формирование коммуникативных умений и развитие навыков устной речи, позволяющих обсуждать и решать возникающие проблемы в англо-язычной профессиональной среде.

Достижению данной цели служат:

•аутентичный текстовый материал;

•разнообразные упражнения на понимание прочитанного материала и знание терминологии;

•раздел «Еще больше знаний» (Over to You), представляющий собой краткие задания, целью которых является ознакомление с углубленной информацией по теме и дальнейшее развитие коммуникативных навыков монологического и диалогического характера в сфере менеджмента в международных компаниях;

•раздел «Круглые столы» (Round-Table Discussion), содержащий вопросы и утверждения для анализа и дискуссии, которые требуют от студентов максимально применять на практике знания конкретного материала и соответствующую лексику, а также способствуют развитию критического мыш-ления специалиста;

•задания по анализу реальных ситуаций (Case), стимули-рующие студентов к творческому применению полученных знаний и умений.

Пособие состоит из пяти уроков (Units) и трёх приложений (Appendices), включая глоссарий (Glossary). Для облегчения работы преподавателей и студентов, а также лучшей ориентации в учебном материале все уроки имеют унифицированную струк-туру.

•Каждый урок содержит несколько смысловых блоков (Reading I, Reading II и т.д.), которые включают в себя тексты по теме для чтения и анализа.

•Каждый блок предваряется устным заданием (Think Ahead), направленным на выявление уже имеющихся фоновых знаний по теме и развитие речевых навыков, а также лексическим упражнением (Key Concepts and Terms), в котором вводится основная терминология по теме.

•Послетекстовые задания (Concept Check) помогают сту-дентам детально понять прочитанный материал, а преподава-телям осуществить контроль понимания.

•В конце каждого урока предлагаются вопросы, позволя-ющие оценить степень усвоения материала (Quick Check).

•Тексты задания «Еще больше знаний» (Over to You) направлены на углубление знаний по соответствующей тематике и предваряют выполнение последующих творческих заданий.

•Каждый урок также содержит задание творческого харак-тера (Round-Table Discussion), при выполнении которого не только проверяются и закрепляются полученные знания и навыки, но и которое позволяет применять их на практике, а также стимулирует студентов творчески подходить

кобсуж-дению реальных проблем и принимать активное участие в дискуссиях.

•Практические ситуации (Cases) для анализа представляют собой краткое описание реальных проблем в компаниях. Они соответствуют тематике уроков и предназначены для быстрого анализа

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и принятия решения, что также стимулирует студентов к применению полученных знаний и навыков на практике и развитию критического мышления.

Кроме того, в пособие включены три приложения.

•Приложение 1 включает тестовые задания (Reading Comprehension), составленные на основе аутентичных текстов из современных академических изданий, целью которых является проверка усвоенного материала, а также навыков детального понимания прочитанного и умения извлекать необходимую информацию.

•Приложение 2 содержит завершающий тест по пройденным темам (Terminology Usage Test), направленный на проверку степени усвоения понятийного аппарата уроков.

•Приложение 3 представляет собой глоссарий (Glossary), способствующий закреплению и активизации профессиональной лексики.

Авторы

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Unit 1

MANAGEMENT: ART OR SCIENCE

READING I

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT

Think ahead

Have any management decisions influenced you today? Outline and discuss at least one.

Key concepts and terms

Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

Text 1.1. Read the text and explain the following statement: Businesses are not the only organisations needing managers.

Managers Are Found Everywhere

Our society is made up of all kinds of organisations such as companies, government departments, unions, hospitals, schools, libraries and the like. They all are essential to our existence, helping to create our standard of living and our quality of life. These organisations are guided by the directions of one or more individuals designated as “managers”.

Managers do not exist only in business. Managers are found in large numbers of government agencies, hospitals, churches and universities. Indeed, there are managers in every kind of human organisation. We can hardly speak of any kind of operation being organised without grouping people under managers. In all organisations, there are people carrying out the work of a manager although they do not have that title. Presidents, vice-presidents, division general managers, department directors and supervisors are all managers. Likewise, in universities and colleges we see presidents, chancellors, vice-presidents and deans.

The conclusion can be made that any organised group, even the smallest, needs a manager. In some small one-person businesses or partnerships, the owners do everything. They have no employees. But, in general, if a business worked well without managers, this positive result would be only accidental. Can you imagine a collection of salespeople, accountants, or factory workers operating a business successfully with no one in charge of departments and units? Managers are needed no matter the size of the business.

We can, then, define a manager as someone responsible for the performance of one or more persons who report to him or her, who plans, organises, controls and directly supervises people in a formal organisation. The manager must be a planner, communicator, coordinator, leader and controller; and most of all the manager must be a facilitator. He or she must smooth the way for subordinate performance.

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Text 1.2. Read the text and give a comprehensive explanation of management.

What Is Management?

Management has been defined in many different ways. Used collectively, management refers to individuals engaged in planning and decision making, controlling and directing the efforts of members of an organisation and using organisational resources in order to achieve stated goals; on the other hand, management is the process undertaken by one or more individuals to coordinate the activities of others to achieve results not achievable by one individual acting alone.

Note that by its very definition, management implies getting things done through other people. The well-known American business professor and consultant Peter Drucker believes that the work of management is to make people productive. To regain the competitive edge in the international arena, society must have managerial competence. Drucker states, “Management, its competence, its integrity and its performance will be decisive both to the United States and to the free world in the decades ahead.” Drucker’s view emphasises performance, quality and service.

Another view of management is presented in the popular best-seller, In Search of Excellence, where Peters and Waterman state, “There is good news from America. Good management practice today is not resident only in Japan. But, more important, the good news comes from treating people decently and asking them to share, and from producing things that work. Even management’s job becomes more fun. Instead of brain games in the sterile ivory tower, it’s shaping values and reinforcing through coaching in the field – with workers and in support of the cherished product.”

Peters and Waterman emphasise mentorship, love for managing and working with people; managers are excellent communicators and value shapers, lightning rods to get the job done.

Note that effective managers do intend to make employees productive and they also have the ability to inspire people. Also if the decline in industrial and service performance is to be stopped, managers have to be in the forefront applying the best techniques, knowledge and understanding every single day.

Thus, all above mentioned can be summarised in the following definition of management.

W o r t h y o f N o t e

Management is the process of achieving organisational objectives within a changing environment by balancing efficiency, effectiveness and equity, obtaining the most from limited resources, and working with and through other people.

Text 1.3. Look through the text and prove that effective managment is the most important ingredient for successful business.

Why Study Management

Learning about management is important for two reasons. First, our society depends on specialised institutions and organisations to provide the goods and services we desire. Managers have the authority and responsibility to build safe or unsafe products, seek war or peace, build or destroy cities, clean up or pollute the environment. Managers establish the conditions under which we are provided jobs, incomes, lifestyles, products, services, protection, health care and knowledge. It would be very difficult to find anyone who is neither a manager nor affected by decisions of a manager.

The quality and vigour of managers are the most vital ingredients for success of any enterprise. This is true not only in business but in government, charitable associations, churches, universities, or any other organisation. It is especially true for the managers who head an organisation. But it is also true for the managers at all levels, down to the first-line supervisor.

Poor management is at the bottom of most business failures. A team of experts was asked to suggest what could be done to improve the situation in industrial performance in the United States. It studied the problem and concluded that American organisations were not producing as well as they ought to produce or as well as they used to produce or as well as the organisations in other nations. The team concluded that, “To live well, a nation must produce well.” This indictment of American organisations is only partially correct. American organisations certainly need to produce well, but to do this, they must be managed effectively.

Most people know the process by which green plants turn water and carbon dioxide into food. It is called photosynthesis. This chemical reaction takes place only in the presence of light. Without light, there is no reaction. The light acts as a catalyst – it is an agent that makes things happen. Up to a point, photosynthesis can be accelerated by adding more and more light. But if the catalyst becomes too strong, if there is too much light, the plant dies. The analogy is obvious. Good managers are catalysts. They are agents that make a business work efficiently. The results of such managers are easily measured by the

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successful performance of their groups. Poor management, though, is an anticatalyst. In chemical language, an anticatalyst is an agent that paralyses activity. Managers with poor judgement hinder the smooth operation of their departments. Managers who do not know their job or who are clumsy at human relations also slow down progress.

The second reason is that individuals not trained as managers often find themselves in managerial positions. Many individuals presently being trained to be teachers, accountants, musicians, salespersons, artists, physicians, or lawyers will one day earn their living as managers. They will manage schools, accounting firms, orchestras, sales organisations, museums, hospitals and government agencies.

7.What process can management be compared with? Why?

8.Explain the statement: “Good managers are like catalysts”.

9.What are the two reasons to learn about management? Can you add any more?

10.Look back at the texts and complete these sentences.

1)Our society consists of … .

2)We can find managers in … .

3)Any organised group, even the smallest one, … .

4)The managers’ duty is to … and they must be … .

5)Managers coordinate the work and efforts of their subordinates to attain … .

6)According to Peter Drucker’s view, to make people productive is … .

7)Peters and Waterman accentuate that managers are … .

8)Managers have the power to … .

9)The prosperity and economic success of any organisation depends on … .

10)Individuals trained as specialists in various spheres of activity can once appear in … .

READING II

THE MANAGER’S ROLE

Think ahead 1

Look at the following lists of positions and organisations and answer the questions below. Then compare your answers.

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1)What duties do all these people have in common?

2)Which of the positions would you prefer to hold? Why?

3)Are there any you would not want to hold? Why?

Think ahead 2

1)What do you think makes a good manager?

2)Look at the following list of qualities.

a)being decisive: able to make quick decisions

b)being friendly and sociable

c)being a hard worker: prepared to work 50 to 60 hours a week

d)being persuasive: able to convince people to do things

e)having good ideas

f)being competent and efficient in one’s job: knowing one’s job perfectly as well as the work of one’s subordinates

g)being able to communicate with people

h)being good at taking the initiative and leading other people

i)wanting to make a lot of money

j)being highly educated and knowing a lot about the world

3)Make a list of the five most important qualities for a manager from a to j. Are there any qualities that you think should be added to this list?

4)Which do you have to be born with and which can be acquired?

5)Which of these qualities do you think you have? Which do you lack? Which could you still learn?

6)Do any of these qualities seem to you to be essentially masculine or feminine?

7)Divide the following styles of behaviour into pairs of opposites. Which of these styles do you think are generally preferable for managers?

a)being group oriented

b)being cautious and careful

c)being decisive and able to take rapid individual decisions

d)being individualistic

e)being assertive, authoritative, ruthless and competitive: able to give orders

f)being happy to take risks

g)being good at listening and sensitive to other people’s feelings

h)being intuitive

i)being logical, rational and analytic

j)liking consensus and conciliation

Key concepts and terms

Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

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