They - Spotlight Verlag

006-009 Names&news.qxd
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Seite 6
■ WORKING WORLD NAMES AND NEWS
Unconventional:
Canadian banker
Janice Fukakusa
CANADA
A head for
figures
S
Fred Lum/Globe and Mail
The amount a single
person in Britain
needs to earn yearly
(about €17,000) for
a minimum standard
of living
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
6 Business Spotlight
he studied philosophy at university
and started her working life in a
jewellery shop. Today, as chief financial
officer (CFO) for Canada’s largest bank,
Janice Fukakusa has one of the top banking jobs in the country.
Fukakusa’s path to the top was a rather
unconventional one. “The philosophy
degree gave me a good grounding,” the
53-year-old banker told The Globe and
Mail in Toronto, “but I couldn’t get a
good job.” She therefore decided to do
an MBA, and later became a chartered
accountant.
Fukakusa’s use of new technology is
also unconventional: she prints out her emails every day and takes them home
with her. “I know, it’s pretty bad,” she
admits. “It’s simply easier that way. I do
a lot of reading when I’m lying down,
and it’s easier to go through some of the
stuff I get, like spreadsheets.”
Since joining the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 1985, she has held 12 different positions. “That’s one of the advantages of RBC,” she comments. “Every
time we restructure, it creates a new opportunity.”
Though she is clearly used to success,
Fukakusa says she did not face excessive
pressure to succeed. “I was happy my
older brother became a doctor — it takes
the pressure off the other children when
one becomes a doctor.”
“Moses dragged
us through the
desert for 40 years
to bring us to the
one place in the
Middle East where
there is no oil”
Former Israeli prime minister
Golda Meir (1898–1978)
picture-alliance/dpa
£ 13,400
medium
6/2008
012-19 Online learning-finalD.qxd
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Seite 12
■ LANGUAGE ONLINE LEARNING
THE JOY OF LEARNING
Sprachenlernen mit dem Internet kann fast den gleichen Erfolg bringen wie Gespräche mit
Muttersprachlern. DEBORAH CAPRAS führt Sie am Beispiel der neu gestalteten Business-Spotlightmedium
Website in die vielen verschiedenen Möglichkeiten des E-Learning ein.
W
hen I was preparing to spend six months in Germany as part of my university course, one of my
tutors gave the class some unusual advice for language learning. “To get the best results, try total
immersion in the target language,” he said. “The
secret is to find a partner — and practise intensive pillow talk.”
Some of my class followed his advice. Not all of them went
back to Britain fluent in German. Some didn’t go back at all.
But what if you’re no longer a student and you don’t have the
luxury of being able to spend weeks or months abroad? And what
if you’re in a steady relationship with someone who doesn’t speak
the language you want to learn?
Well, there’s always the internet — and we don’t mean for cybersex. Of course, the Web cannot replace the thrill of speaking
a language with someone face-to-face. But it can help you to prepare for real conversations, wherever they may be.
Learning languages should be fun. But most of all, you should
practise the skills that are relevant for your own needs and interests. Using the new Business Spotlight Online website as an example of what is available on the internet, we look at ten techniques
for getting the most out of your online learning.
1
bookmark sth. [bυkmɑk]
current affairs [krənt əfeəz]
face-to-face [feistəfeis]
fact file [f
kt faiəl]
fluent: be ~in a language
[fluənt]
immersion [imʃən]
issue [iʃu]
item: an ~ [aitəm]
narrow down sth. [n
rəυ daυn]
phrase [freiz]
pillow talk [piləυ tɔk]
prospects [prɒspekts]
register [redistə]
save sth. [seiv]
steady [stedi]
target language
[tɑit l
ŋwid]
technique [teknik]
thrill [θril]
topical [tɒpikəl]
tutor [tjutə]
up to date [ptədeit]
etw. als Lesezeichen
speichern
aktuelle Nachrichten
persönlich
Zusammenstellung
von Informationen
eine Sprache
fließend sprechen
Eintauchen
Thema
hier: eine Sache,
etwas
etw. eingrenzen
Ausdruck
Bettgeflüster
Aussichten
sich anmelden
etw. speichern
fest
Zielsprache
Methode
prickelndes Gefühl
aktuell
Lehrer(in),
Kursleiter(in)
auf dem Laufenden
Read what interests you
There are so many websites in English on every subject
under the sun that it’s hard to know where to begin. We
can help you to narrow down the choice. If you enjoy current affairs, go to the News section on our website, where
you’ll find topical stories of under 200 words. We also
provide translations into German of the most difficult
You can focus on cultural issues in our Intercultural
words, and recommend related sites. If the story inter-
section, where you’ll find Case Studies and our coun-
ests you, click on the link to learn more about it. If you
try Fact Files. If you want to learn how to improve your
like the site, you can bookmark it.
career prospects, go to our Careers section. As well as
Did you know that you can now bookmark your
favourite stories, exercises and articles on our website,
providing useful tips, we’ll keep you up to date on career trends, and recommend interesting sites.
too, on your personal MyBusiness page? Once you’ve
registered at Business Spotlight Online — which is
free (see box, page 19) — whenever you want to save an
12 Business Spotlight
www.business-spotlight.de
6/2008
AGE/M
iti
item, click on “Bookmark this!” to add it to your list.
TIP! You’re more likely to reread short articles,
which will help you to remember phrases and become a more fluent reader.
012-19 Online learning-finalD.qxd
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Seite 13
AGE/Mauritius
“Learning languages
should be fun, but
you should practise skills
that are relevant”
030 Global Headlines.qxd
19.09.2008
14:45 Uhr
Seite 30
■ GLOBAL BUSINESS BUSINESS PRESS
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Headlines in English-language media can be difficult to understand. They are often very idiomatic
and full of jargon and wordplay. Also, to save space, words may be left out, which makes it difficult to
recognize the grammatical structure. Here, we look at the meaning of some recent headlines.
The Wall Street Journal
Mumbai: This refers to the Sensitive Index (also called
“Sensex”) on the Mumbai Stock Exchange (Börse). A
stock-exchange index is made up of the largest and most
actively traded stocks (Aktien), and is an indicator of
whether stocks are generally going up or down.
leads: Note the simple present tense, often used in headlines for past actions.
broad fall: Here, “broad” means “widespread” or “general”. The comma is used in US headlines to mean “and”.
Toyota: Here, this means a fall in Toyota’s share price
(Aktienkurs).
weighs on: Here, “weighs down” is meant. This means
to “pull down”.
Nikkei: The stock-market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In simple English: The Mumbai Sensex led in a general
fall in share prices in Asia, and a fall in Toyota’s share
prices pulled down (herunterdrücken) the Nikkei
index in Japan.
difficult
Financial Times
ruling: This is a legal decision taken by a judge in a
court of law.
on: Here, “on” means “about”.
swaps: This is a type of derivative (Derivat), a financial
instrument (Finanzierungsinstrument).
bolsters defences: “Bolster” is the verb in the headline.
When you “bolster your defences”, you increase your
ability to defend yourself. In this case, it refers to the
ability of firms to prevent an unwanted takeover.
In simple English: A legal decision about a type of derivative called a swap has increased companies’ abilities
to defend themselves (against unwanted takeovers).
The Guardian
The Economist
Superprime: “Superprime” is the highest credit rating
given to a credit-card holder. Here, the term refers to the
rich, low-risk customers of American Express, which
announced unexpectedly weak profits.
slime: One talks of slime (Schleim or Schlick) “oozing”,
that is, slowly spreading. Here, it refers to a credit crisis spreading from the subprime (high-risk) credit markets to the superprime markets.
In simple English: There is now also a credit crisis
among wealthy borrowers.
30 Business Spotlight
Shrinking: This refers to something that is getting
smaller — in this case, advertising revenues (Einnahmen).
Trinity Mirror: A British media company.
reflects: This is a play on the name of the company. A
mirror (Spiegel) reflects an image. Here, it means
“makes clear”.
hard times: Here, the general difficult economic conditions.
In simple English: The shrinking (advertising revenues)
of media company Trinity Mirror make clear how difficult the general economic conditions are.
www Our press round-up is at www.business-spotlight.de/press/
6/2008
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Seite 44
■ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION THE VIEW FROM HERE
UNWELCOME IN ISTANBUL
U. Baumgarten/vario images
Istanbul:
business
interests do
not want to
see the
Central
Bank here
Ankara oder Istanbul? Das ist die große Frage in der türkischen Finanzwelt, sobald es um den
zukünftigen Sitz der Zentralbank geht. ANDREW FINKEL berichtet.
S
hould Turkey’s Central Bank (CBRT) pack its bags
and leave Ankara — home to the nation’s politicians — for Istanbul, the commercial capital? The
government says yes, the bank’s governor says no.
Curiously enough, he has the support of much of Istanbul’s own financial community, who believe the
work of keeping the economy on track will be best
served if he stays away.
The controversy is just one part of a continuing rivalry between the two cities. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
started it all in 1923 by basing his rebel administration
in the heart of Anatolia, far away from the intrigue of
the imperial capital. Ankara later became a city of
boulevards and Bauhaus-style ministries. And Istanbul
was grateful that the politicians had gone.
During the 1990s, “Istanbul good, Ankara bad” became the mantra of Turkish business. And this was not
just the usual private-sector complaint about the government being on business’s back. Instead, it was because of the high cost to the economy of weak coalition
“During the 1990s, ‘Istanbul
good, Ankara bad’ was the
mantra of Turkish business”
governments that failed to introduce serious reforms.
Turkey paid the ultimate price for decades of high
interest rates and chronic inflation when the currency
collapsed overnight on 21 February 2001.
Before that, politicians had had power without responsibility, but with the markets and the IMF watching like a hawk, the situation changed. They suddenly
found themselves with responsibility and no power and
so they had to behave.
44 Business Spotlight
difficult
Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party,
better known by its Turkish acronym of AKP, has behaved with discipline. The economy has responded,
growing at a rate of some seven per cent a year. It won’t
do as well this year. The current central banker, Durmus¸
Yılmaz, is keeping a sharp eye on inflation and resisting government attempts to stimulate the economy in
order to win votes in the important nation-wide local
elections in March 2009.
The Turkish markets have proven themselves resistant
to the recent series of political disputes. Turkey’s powerful military and an ultra-secular establishment have
made no secret of their low opinion of the AK Party,
which they claim has an Islamist agenda. But they have
taken care to act in a way that is market-friendly, saving their strongest criticisms for Friday nights after the
exchanges have closed. Many realized that the constitutional court in July’s highly controversial trial would
not shut down the AK Party. After years of being dependent on their political superiors, Turkish business is
beginning to believe that it just might now have won the
upper hand.
So why is business opposing the move of the Central
Bank to Istanbul? The simple answer is that they don’t
trust the government’s motives in wanting this. They believe that many of the bank’s employees will find it hard
to move their families to the more expensive city, and
so the government will find it that little bit easier to create a Central Bank in its own image. Central Bank independence in this case means being able to decide
BS
where to hang their hat.
■
ANDREW FINKEL has been based in Istanbul since
1989, working in organizations such as CNN and Le
Monde Diplomatique. He also has a regular column in
Today’s Zaman: www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/
6/2008
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COUNTRY FILE: TURKEY
GENERAL
200 km
The Black Sea
N
GEORGIA
Istanbul
GREECE
Official name: Republic of Turkey
Nationality: Turk(s) (noun), Turkish (adjective)
Capital: Ankara 4,466,756 (2007)
Main cities: Istanbul 11,372,613, Izmir 2,649,582, Bursa
1,562,828 (2007)
Official language: Turkish
Other languages: Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian
Country telephone code: +90
Time zone: Eastern European Time, Eastern European Summer Time (Central European Time + 1 hour)
Internet domain: .tr
Currency: 1 New Turkish Lira (TRY) = 100 new kurush (€1
= 1.75 TRY)
0
Ankara
Bursa
Izmir
Bodrum
AZERBAIJAN
ARMENIA
Mount Ararat
TURKEY
ISLAMIC
REP. OF
IRAN
Antalya
The Mediterranean Sea
SYRIAN ARAB
REPUBLIC
IRAQ
Age structure: 0–14 years: 14.4%; 15–64 years: 68%; 65
years and over: 7% (2007 est.)
Main religions: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2%
(mostly Christians and Jews)
Population mix: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (estimated)
Literacy: 87.4%
POLITICS
Head of state: President Abdullah Gül (AKP, or Justice and
Development Party, member)
Head of government: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
(leader
ˇ
of the AKP)
Type of government: republican parliamentary democracy
DID YOU KNOW?
ECONOMY
■
■
GDP: $888 billion (2007 est., at PPP)
GDP per head: $12,900 (2007 est. at PPP)
GDP real annual growth: 5% (2007 est.)
Inflation (consumer prices): 8.8% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.9% (2007 est.)
Import partners: Russia 13.8%, Germany 10.3%, China
7.8%, Italy 5.9%, US 4.8%, France 4.6% (2006)
Export partners: Germany 11.2%, UK 8.1%, Italy 7%,
France 5.6%, Russia 4.4%, Spain 4.3% (2006)
■ Atatürk, who established the Turkish Republic in 1923
■
■
after his forces defeated the occupying allies, favoured
the political and economic structures of the West. An era
of political secularism began, which continues to be
defended today.
Ankara was declared the country’s capital in 1923.
Turkey joined the Council of Europe in 1949 and signed
an association agreement with the European Community
in 1963. A customs union with the EU took effect in
1996, and EU access negotiations were opened in
2005.
Istanbul on its own has an economy equal to that of
Hungary.
The country’s large current-account deficit and heavy dependence on short-term capital inflows make the economy vulnerable to changes in investor moods.
PEOPLE
Population: 71,892,807 (July 2008 est.)
Population growth per year: 1.013% (2008 est.)
www More country files at www.business-spotlight.de/
intercultural/
Sources: CIA World Factbook (www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html ); Turkish Statistical Institute (www.turkstat.gov.tr ); The Economist Country Briefings
(www.economist.com/countries)
access negotiations
[kses niəυʃieiʃənz]
ally [lai]
annual [njuəl]
association agreement
[əsəυsieiʃən əri
mənt
back: be on sb.’s ~ [bk]
capital inflow [kpitəl infləυ]
constitutional court
[kɒnstitju
ʃənəl kɔ
t]
controversy [kɒntrəv
si]
currency [krənsi]
current-account deficit
[krəntəkaυnt defəsit]
customs union [kstəmz ju
niən]
est. (estimate) [estimət]
exchange [ikstʃeind]
GDP (gross domestic product)
[di
di
pi
]
hang one’s hat [hŋ wnz ht]
6/2008
Beitrittsverhandlungen
hawk: watch sth./sb. like a ~ [hɔ
k]
Alliierte(r), Verbündete(r)
jährlich
Assoziierungsabkommen
(hawk
IMF (International Monetary Fund)
[ai em ef]
imperial capital [impiəriəl kpitəl]
interest rate [intrəst reit]
intrigue [intri
]
Jew [du
]
literacy [litərəsi]
noun [naυn]
on track: keep sth. ~~ [ɒn trk]
PPP (purchasing power parity): at ~
[pi
pi
pi
]
short-term [ʃɔ
tt
m]
shut down [ʃt]
Sunni [sυni]
trial [traiəl]
vulnerable to sth. [vlnərəbəl]
win the upper hand [win ði pə hnd]
jmdn. im Nacken haben
Kapitalzufluss
Verfassungsgericht
Streit
Währung
Leistungsbilanzdefizit
Zollunion
Schätzung
hier: Börse
BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt)
sich niederlassen
etw./jmdn. mit Argusaugen
beobachten
Falke)
IWF (Internationaler
Währungsfonds)
Reichshauptstadt
Zinssatz
Intrige(nspiel)
Jude, Jüdin
Alphabetisierung(srate)
Substantiv
etw. auf Kurs halten
kaufkraftbereinigt
kurzfristig
hier: verbieten
sunnitisch
Prozess, Gerichtsverfahren
anfällig gegenüber einer Sache
die Oberhand gewinnen
Business Spotlight 45
Map: Nic Murphy
BULGARIA
046-50 Skills main.qxd
18.09.2008
9:16 Uhr
Seite 46
■ BUSINESS SKILLS DECISION MAKING
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Im Beruf und auch privat müssen immer wieder Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Gehören Sie zu
den Zögernden, die sich ungern festlegen wollen, oder neigen Sie zu übereilten Entschlüssen?
medium
BOB DIGNEN sagt Ihnen, wie Sie Ihre Qualitäten am besten nutzen.
I
nternational business is a world of complexity,
ambiguity and paradoxes. Decisions are often made
on the basis of limited information, which makes
risk management an essential discipline. And instead of the clear top-down decision-making structures of the past, organizations now expect individuals
and teams to work autonomously at all levels. Greater
cultural diversity has also widened the range of decisionmaking styles and processes, and increased the potential for conflict.
In this article, we examine the meaning of decision
making and look at the challenges facing individuals as
they try to take effective decisions.
Before you read on, take a few minutes to think about
the following questions. Then compare your answers to
the comments in the article.
■ What exactly is decision making?
■ What are the key steps in decision making?
■ What makes people take bad decisions?
■ What kind of decision maker are you?
And remember: we can’t not make decisions. Even
when we decide not to decide, this is a decision with
consequences.
1. What is decision making?
Most people would argue that we take business decisions to reach personal, team and organizational goals
and that the art of decision making is simply to choose
the right option from a range of possibilities. But, in
practice, decision making is more complex. First, the
motivations behind our decisions may be less rational
and strategic than we think: political loyalties, beliefs,
environmental constraints,
A CLOSER LOOK
ethical factors and even irTo make or to take? In rational motives may play a
British English one can significant role. Second, de“make a decision” or “take cisions are not isolated
a decision”, though “make”
events but part of a context
is more common. On the
other hand, standard Amer- of decision making, which
ican English allows only may limit our freedom of
“make a decision”. In this choice. For example, if no
article, both forms are used. one else in your company
However, “decision taking” has taken part in a coaching
is highly unusual as an al- seminar, it may make your
ternative to “decision makdecision to take part in such
ing” and is not used here.
a seminar more difficult.
46 Business Spotlight
You’ll be standing out from the crowd, suggesting possibly that others are wrong and you are right.
2. Key steps in decision making
To understand decision making better, it helps if we
break down the process into various steps:
a) Decide to decide. The first step is to recognize that
a decision needs to be taken to achieve a particular goal.
This may be easier for some people than for others.
Those who lack self-confidence or fear risk may be
indecisive, preferring to wait and see what happens
rather than acting. Others may decide to act too quickly without thinking through the consequences, and so
may be seen as impetuous.
Cultural issues may also be significant. In some
national or organizational cultures, only those in senior
positions can “decide to decide”. In collectivist cultures,
this decision may be a group process, which could
require time to get a critical mass of support. This can
be frustrating to those from a more individualistic culture, but rushing this process could lead to decisions
that do not have wide acceptance.
Ask yourself. What kind of decision maker are you? Do
you like to be the first to act or are you more cautious?
Are you prepared to take risks or do you delay decisions
until you are sure of the outcome? How would you
describe the decision-making culture where you work?
To what extent do you fit into this culture?
achieve sth. [ətʃiv]
ambiguity [mbijuəti]
argue [ɑju]
cautious [kɔʃəs]
challenge [tʃlind]
diversity [daivsəti]
environmental constraints
[invaiərənmentəl kənstreints]
impetuous [impetʃuəs]
indecisive [indisaisiv]
issue [iʃu]
outcome [aυtkm]
process [prəυses]
senior [siniə]
stand out from sth./sb.
[stnd aυt frɒm]
suggest sth. [sədest]
take the plunge [teik ðə plnd]
top-down [tɒpdaυn]
etw. erreichen
Vieldeutigkeit, Unklarheit
die Auffassung vertreten
vorsichtig, verhalten
Herausforderung
Vielfalt
umweltschutzbedingte
Zwänge
impulsiv, unüberlegt
unentschlossen
Aspekt
Ergebnis
Verfahren
leitend
sich von etw./jmdm.
abheben
hier: den Eindruck
erwecken
den Sprung wagen
hierarchisch
6/2008
089 LL Exercises 6-08DD.qxd
19.09.2008
14:54 Uhr
Seite 89
EXERCISES LANGUAGE ■
TEST YOURSELF!
How much have you learned from this month’s Business Spotlight ?
Find out by trying our exercises.
medium
1. Not enough time?
Rearrange the letters to create verbs from “Fitting it all in” (pages
66–69) to talk about time management.
a) _______________ (ZEPORRIITI) tasks at the beginning of the day.
b) Don’t allow yourself to be _______________ (TRADEDISCT) at work.
d) Try to _________________ (VAIECHE) something every day.
e) _______________ (CFSOU) only on really important tasks.
B. Varie/Corbis
c) Simply _______________ (LETDEE) e-mails that are unimportant.
Lots of tasks:
get organized!
f) Find a sensible way to _________________ (GUEGLJ) your family and work responsibilities.
difficult
2. Idioms via Istanbul
Choose the correct option to complete these idioms, which
are taken from “Unwelcome in Istanbul” (page 44).
a) The project is going incredibly well — we’re keeping
everything on train / track / trip.
easy
3. Well prepared
Put the words in the correct order to create sentences
you could use to organize a meeting (Meeting Point,
page 56).
a) how / next / about / at 3.30 / Monday / ?
_________________________________________
b) My boss watches me like a hawk / eagle / vulture.
c) The head of marketing was here again. She’s constantly
on my neck / head / back.
b) better / Thursday / would / you / suit / ?
_________________________________________
d) It seems we’ve won the top / upper / highest hand over
the team from Ankara!
c) o’clock / is / you / convenient / for / nine / ?
e) Many business people prefer
hats / coats / heads in Istanbul.
d) inform / could / Monday / me / if / is / you / OK / ?
to
hang
their
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
medium
4. Car tax
Create word partnerships from Head-to-Head (pages 26–27) with words from each of the boxes. Then, use the
expressions to complete the sentences.
a) A litre of __________ __________ now costs over £1.15 in the UK.
b) __________ __________ often have no choice but to drive to work, as very few buses
or trains run at night.
c) A _________ __________ who can drive often enjoys much more independence if
he or she owns a car.
d) Many people can’t afford to buy __________ __________.
e) If you live in a __________ __________ in the UK, you need a car.
rural
petrol
disabled
workers
shift
cars
unleaded
area
fuel-efficient
person
Answers on page 99
plus www More language practice: You’ll find more exercises in Business Spotlight plus and at www.business-spotlight.de
6/2008
Business Spotlight 89