Curso de Inglés de Negocios

Unit 05 – Advanced Business Course – Teamwork

"Exploring cultural differences in business relationships and communication"

Learn the importance of building connections with people and companies from different cultures in business and how cultural differences can impact decision making. This unit offers the opportunity to discuss cross-cultural experiences and practice language for informal meetings. Discover solutions to issues that may arise in multinational teams and review past, present, and future tenses.

Juan Carlos Martinez
January 23, 2023
Advanced Business Course
More Lessons

Audios Unidad 5

Audio 5.1

Conversation 1

I’d say I’m very sales-focused, very much so. As I’ve already outlined, I sell more than anyone else in my current job. I just love the challenge of the sale. Of course, I need to drive the other members of my team as well – yes, they might find me a bit demanding at times, but I think it’s important to work together as a team to get results. Otherwise we just wouldn’t achieve our sales targets, would we?

Conversation 2

What do I bring to the team? Let’s see … Well, given my current position, I obviously know the products inside-out. I think I’m also quite good on detail – I’m generally able to pinpoint the cause of a problem as soon as it arises, and deal with it, of course. I think I’m capable of handling most complications by myself. That’s why I prefer not to delegate. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t want to neglect my responsibilities.

Conversation 3

It doesn’t matter what project I’m working on, my priorities are always to deliver what’s been asked of me, and on time. That’s why I prefer to avoid any last-minute changes, although obviously I need to discuss these suggestions with the other team members before deciding how to proceed. Generally though, I’d say it’s best to stick to the initial brief, especially where there are particularly tight deadlines to meet.

Audio 5.2

Extract 1

Jenny Right, guys, can I just make sure I’ve understood this correctly? Paul. Would I be right in thinking we agreed not to use the logo with the knife?

Paul Yes, precisely! Which is why this whole thing is just so frustrating. What really concerns me is the way this has been handled so badly by the printers. I said from the very beginning that I had my doubts about using this contact instead of our usual printer. But Riccardo must have had his reasons.

Jenny OK, OK. Let’s try not to get personal here. We’ve got a problem to sort out. Can we try and stay focused on the facts?

Riccardo And it’s worth bearing in mind, the error isn’t necessarily on the printer’s side. To be honest, I’m a bit worried about some of the other artwork as well. The quality isn’t as good as it could be. I mean, the printer may not have received all the latest versions of the files – do you understand what I’m trying to say?

Paul Look, Riccardo, not only do we have a major error on our hands, but we’re also not sure how this happened. As I said earlier, I’m really not happy with the way this has been handled, and it’s the Vienna convention which really worries me. I’d just like to point out that we are flying out to Vienna in less than a week, and we don’t even have a decent set of brochures to hand out. The real issue here is that we’re just not prepared. The printing should have been done months ago!

Riccardo You’re quite right, Paul. I don’t know if you are aware, but the reason the printing didn’t go ahead earlier was that we were waiting for your department’s approval on the prices.

Audio 5.3

Extract 2

Jenny Well, Riccardo, how do you propose we deal with this issue?

Riccardo OK – firstly, before going back to the printer, I really just wanted to try and establish how the errors happened. Did somebody on our side hand over the wrong files? I mean, it’s a possibility.

Paul Look, Riccardo, the thing that bothers me is that we just don’t have time. To be frank, I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit around and wait for you to sort this out. And I just don’t understand how you could even be contemplating a reprint with only a few days to go, not to mention the extra cost. I say, send the brochures out to Vienna as they are – we can get the errors corrected in the next batch. For now, we’ll just have to tolerate them as they are.

Riccardo OK, Paul, I see what you mean, but surely we need to get this right now? The reason why I say this is because if we get it right this time, any future campaigns should run more smoothly.

Paul Oh, come on, that’s just not practical. I just won’t be able to go ahead with the launch in Vienna if I don’t have the brochures by Wednesday. This is what I’ve been afraid of from the beginning of this project. Think of the repercussions – our key clients have been waiting for months for this new range.

Jenny Look, Paul, Riccardo, can we try to avoid any serious setbacks here? How we resolve this is the issue now

Riccardo I agree with Jenny. I was really hoping that we could find a solution that suits all of us here. Thinking about this sensibly, the problems with the artwork I’m prepared to overlook, if we could just sort out the problems with that logo. I mean, look, would it help if I gave the printer another call? See if it could be changed in time and get some costs?

Jenny That sounds sensible. Paul, I need to know we’ve got your approval on this.

Paul OK, fair enough. I’m prepared to wait and see what you and the printer come up with.

Jenny In which case, Riccardo, can I leave you to liaise with the printer, if we do do a reprint?

Riccardo Yes, of course. If you both agree to this solution, I’d be more than happy to oversee everything personally. I promise you, nothing will go wrong this time!

Jenny Thanks

Audio 5.4

Conversation 1

A Tomasz, I’m glad I bumped into you. I’ve had a chance to run through that document you asked me to look at. So … whenever you want to discuss it …

B Great. Have you got time now?

A Yes, I have a few minutes before my next meeting.

B It shouldn’t take too long. And look, I really appreciate this, I know how busy you are. So what were your thoughts?

A Mm, I think my only real doubt is the line you’ve taken on absenteeism.

B OK …

A I don’t think they’ll accept this approach.

B Oh, really? Why do you think that?

A Basically, … it … it’s not strong enough.

B So how do you think I could improve it?

A I’m not sure about including all those transcripts of interviews with staff. Couldn’t you just summarize the key issues that came up?

B Oh, I see. Well, it seems a pity to have to cut them, but maybe you’re right. Was there anything else?

A Mm. Yes, a slight problem – I think some of your data is confidential.

B Oh, really? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize – thanks for pointing that out.

A Sorry, I hope this doesn’t sound too negative.

B No, that’s fine. Actually, I’m very happy to have some honest feedback. I’ll just keep working on it.

Conversation 2

A David, look, I’ve been meaning to say something …

B Yes?

A It’s just … I’m kind of worried about that proposal you’re circulating at the moment.

B OK. What’s the problem?

A Well, essentially I like the idea, but you know how controversial it might be, don’t you?

B No, I’m sorry, I don’t see what you’re getting at.

A I feel you could be making life difficult for yourself. You know, this may even go to the workers’ council.

B Look, you’re entitled to your opinion, but at this stage, you know, it might not be a bad thing if it did. And to be honest, I just don’t have time to rework it at the moment.

A Look, David, I’m just trying to help. And I’m not expecting you to start again. I’ve said there’s nothing wrong with the idea – you just need to approach it in a slightly different way.

B I see what you’re saying, Roberta, but the reason I’m taking this approach is because I think this plan will work in the long run.

A No one’s denying that, but I really think you’re going to cause yourself a lot of trouble in the short term.

B Fair enough, but it’s a bit late now. Maybe you should have said something earlier.

Conversation 3

A Phew. That was hard work!

B Yes. And it’s good thing you brought an extra copy of the proposal.

A Yeah, that was lucky. So, how do you think it went?

B Pretty good, I think – they signed, anyway. And that last question – you handled that really well.

A Thanks. Though I have to admit, I got the idea from Jenna – apparently the same issue came up last week and she got caught out. So what about that new guy?

B The one we hadn’t met before? Hassan? Yeah, he was really tough.

A Definitely. By the way, thanks for backing me up with the figures.

B Hey, no problem. I could see you were getting kind of lost.

A I know, I’m afraid that was down to nerves.

B Don’t worry, you did well. You just have to build on that experience now.

A Thanks for your support – it’s good to know I’m on the right track.