PREFACE Improving reading skills is an indispensable part of English language learning as during the process learners can build up vocabulary, enhance grammar and widen knowledge in many areas. With the aim of helping Business English-majored students of HCM University of Banking enhance their reading competency in Reading 2, Q Skills for Success 2: Reading & Writing has been introduced as the main material for the course, where students can practice a wide range of topics. However, it will be better if students are provided with a supplementary material with chances to be exposed to more business contexts. The present resource book has been compiled to address this issue, hoping to equip students of Business English major with deeper insights into the business world.
The resource book, consisting of eight topic-based units, was developed in line with the proficiency level of the course book (B2) and the intricacies of the industry. Each of the unit includes a series of vocabulary exercises and reading passages, followed by comprehension practice of the introduced reading skills in correspondence with the units taught in the course book. It is suggested that students do the vocabulary exercises beforehand to gain basic understanding of the business situations, then complete the reading exercises using the newly acquired skills effectively in these new contexts, and eventually check the answer keys at the end of the book. We, the team of three lecturers, truly hope that this supplement will not only support learners in practicing reading skills with a business focus, but also serve as a compilation of reference exercises for teachers to ensure the consistency of topics and learning materials throughout the reading classes.
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE. 13 UNIT 2 – INTERNATIONAL MARKETING. 27 UNIT 3 – MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS. 63 UNIT 5 – CRISIS MANAGEMENT.
76 UNIT 6 – MANAGEMENT STYLE. 93 UNIT 7 – SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP. 165 3 UNIT 1 - COMMUNICATION Reading strategy: Identifying the main ideas Read the title to have an overall understanding of the passage. Skim the paragraph(s), then try to identify the topic.
Identify the topic sentence (often the first sentence or sometimes the last sentence). Look for repeated words and ideas throughout the passage. VOCABULARY PRACTICE: Match the words with the definitions. something that you give or do to achieve something with other people 2.
to set an example B. the rate at which a person or company produces things or does useful work 3. a high level of knowledge or skill in a particular subject 4. to bond with someone D.
to behave in a way that other people should copy 5. to keep giving attention to one particular thing 6. the position or fact of being a leader, the qualities of a good leader 7. interested in personal relationships 8.
to stay focused H. to develop a close connection to or strong relationship with someone B. READING PRACTICE Effective collaboration Difficulty level * Collaboration means two or more people working together to achieve a goal. Studies have found that working together makes people more motivated and helps them perform much better.
People 4 who are collaborating on tasks stay interested for longer, feel less tired and get better results than people who are working alone. Working together as a team allows people to achieve things that could never be done by just one person. What's more, the communication needed in order for team members to share goals and explain ideas is part of a process that improves the quality of everyone's thinking and contributions. Here are five tips for effective collaboration and strong teamwork that will improve productivity and get better results.
Creating a culture of co-operation To achieve their goals effectively, team members need to co-operate and be generous with their resources, including their own talents. When people get to know the strengths of their individual team members, they can use the different skills and expertise in the team to their advantage. Team leaders can create a culture of co-operation by setting an example that includes spending time talking to and supporting individuals, and sharing their knowledge and resources with their team. If we see our team leaders being open and welcoming different ideas, we are more likely to do the same.
Having clear goals and clear roles Working in a team without clear goals is like running in a race without a finish line. In order for team collaboration to be successful, members need to have clear goals and know their individual responsibilities. This not only helps them to stay focused and motivated, but it also helps them to understand how they can play their part in the team's success. Leaders – focusing on tasks and relationships Objectives are important, but we mustn't forget that a team is made up of people and their relationships to each other.
The stronger those relationships are, the more likely the team is to be effective. A report by Harvard Business Review found that the most productive and innovative teams often have leaders with a flexible leadership style. They might start a project being task- focused and deciding the goals and roles in a team. But during the project, they might switch to a more relationship-oriented style, focusing on team-building and creating an environment of friendliness and trust.
Having open communication lines If we want our team members to work well together, communication is the key. We need to provide effective channels of communication and encourage people to share what they're doing. Simply meeting once a week for updates is not enough. There are many project management tools like 5 Microsoft Teams or Slack that provide a regular and open channel of communication with everyone.
Another option could be creating a group on messaging apps like WhatsApp or LINE to offer team members a chance to informally communicate with others. Encouraging a spirit of community Companies often organise social events because they know the importance of creating a sense of community. The activity could be anything from a weekly lunchtime food share to a quiz afternoon. Or you can start with simple, everyday things like having coffee breaks together or creating a space to share books.
Ideas like these all encourage collaboration by bringing people together and helping them bond with their colleagues. Collaboration is an opportunity to learn from each other and encourage fresh thinking, as well as a source of energy, strength and continued effort. As the saying goes, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ Exercise 1: Which ways of improving collaboration are mentioned in the article? Choose the FIVE correct answers.
Putting in time talking to team members and giving them help. Organising a fun group activity for staff. Encouraging each team member to compete against the others. Making sure each team member understands their role in the project.
Limiting communication to weekly team meetings. Focusing on the goals but also on the relationships that team members have with each other. Ensuring that everyone on the team has the same point of view. Encouraging informal communication and socialising between colleagues.
Exercise 2: Choose the correct answers. To promote co-operation, team leaders should A. provide assistance for those in need. acquire as much knowledge as possible.
convince others to follow their ideas. Setting clear goals results in A. motivation being shifted from leaders to all members. each individual’s roles and responsibilities being clearly defined.
project deadlines not likely being missed. It is suggested in a study that successful teams A. adopt scheduling flexibility. tend to strengthen interpersonal bonds.
are led by innovative individuals. Lines of communication should be expanded to include A. VOCABULARY PRACTICE: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words. person agency enquire communicate automate 1.
Much emphasis is put on effective communication by __________________ customer interaction and building a rapport with clients. Chatbots deal with requests like billing details, and technical support, freeing up real customer service _______________ for other more complex situations. Transcripts of company specific __________________ and calls have to be analysed. The chatbot systems are only suitable for large-scale customer interactions, such as retail, travel, and ___________________.
It should be possible to overcome customers’ fear of dealing with an __________________ system. READING PRACTICE Chatbots: Can we help you? Difficulty level * In business so much emphasis is put on effective communication, personalising customer interaction and building a rapport with clients that it leaves you wondering where chatbots fit into this way of thinking. Chatbots - automated systems for conversations by text or voice - are becoming more and more common in customer service situations. The little pre-sales chatbox with 'Hello, can I help you?' that pops up on the corner of your screen as you are browsing a shopping site can quite easily be ignored but if you contact a company with a question or a problem to be resolved you might not have any choice, at least at first, but to talk to one of these chatbots.
These virtual agents, available 24/7, can save companies time and money by dealing with requests like billing details, technical support and all manner of other mundane tasks, freeing up real customer service agents for other more complex situations. Artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language generation have meant that today’s chatbots have come a long way from the stilted, scripted conversations which were all the first examples were capable of, but it takes a lot of time, financial investment and data to build an advanced system. Transcripts of hundreds of thousands of company specific enquiries and calls have to be analysed to train the AI, through deep learning, in order for the chatbots to handle requests correctly. In addition, they must be able to connect with the rest of the company’s IT system and records, such as a customer's past purchases, settings and location.
This allows the chatbots to combine this information with the customer’s current question so as to identify and then correctly respond to the customer’s intent. For these reasons, the latest virtual agent systems are really only suitable for huge service-oriented companies, with large-scale customer interactions, such as retail, travel, telecommunications and financial services. These advanced forms of chatbots might be able to mimic real speech and respond to subtle changes in tone of voice, however their aim is not to fool people into believing they are talking with a real person – that would leave clients feeling cheated and probably wary of using the company again – but to show that chatbots offer a fast, easy, reliable and above all secure way of 8 contacting a company. In this way, it should be possible to overcome customers’ dislike and fear of dealing with an automated system instead of talking to a customer service assistant.
After all, being able to resolve any issues quickly and easily is good news for businesses and customers alike. Exercise 1: What is the main idea of the passage? A. Chatbots fuel customers’ fear of dealing with a machine. Chatbots need a compilation of transcripts to grow more powerful.
Chatbots provide 24/7 responses to almost all customer inquiries. Chatbots act as a solution to enhanced business-customer communication. Exercise 2: Read the article and decide if these sentences are True (T), False (F), or Not given (NG). ____ The use of chatbots in customer service has increased.
Action plan for True / 2. ____ Chatbots on e-commerce websites are often ignored by False / Not given: shoppers. Underline keywords in the statement. ____ Chatbots mean that customer service agents may no longer 2.
Scan the text for the have employment. ____ The first chatbots used a very natural and flowing form 3. Read the sentence(s) containing the keywords in of language. ____ Deep learning is how AI chatbots are able to learn to deal 4.
Decide if the information in the statement agrees with the efficiently with customer requests. text (True), contradicts the 6.