Communicative practice

Task XV. Read the information about the glass ceiling and discuss the questions:

A glass ceiling is an unofficial barrier which stops certain kinds of people from advancing in their careers. This means that they won't be promoted even if they deserve it. The glass ceiling is a form of discrimination which sometimes affects women or people from racial minorities.

1) How common are glass ceilings in your country?

2) What, if anything, should governments or companies do to make sure that everyone has equal opportunities in the workplace?

Task XVI. You are the new head of the Human Resources Department of a medium-sized company. Will you:

a) insist that job applicants send a photograph with applications?

b) ask interview questions on these topics:

• marital status

• personal circumstances (e.g. dependants such as children or elderly parents)

• health / disabilities?

Task XVII. Discuss the following points:

a) How will you make sure that women, people from different ethnic backgrounds, and disabled people are fairly represented at different levels in your company?

b) Discuss a policy which will protect your company against accusations of discrimination.

Task XVIII. a) Decide what you would have done in the following situations.

1. A producer of soft drinks discovered that some of its products contained very small quantities of a dangerous substance. Would you have:

a) tried to identify which products were affected and just dealt with these cases?

b) told the public and withdrawn all your products?

c) done nothing and dealt with the consequences (if any) quietly?

2. Someone threatened to contaminate a brand of baby food unless they received one million. Would you have:

a) told the public to be careful?

b) paid the money;

c) contacted the police?

3. A manufacturer of a well-known chocolate bar failed to warn customers that some of its bars contained contaminated cocoa beans. Would you have:

a) boycotted the product?

b) carried on buying the brand anyway?

c) asked the company for free chocolate bars as compensation?

b) Work in pairs / groups and discuss your answers. What would the consequences of the different decisions have been?

Task XIX. a) Read the information about the real cases:

A. When Tahir Hussain, an Asian man, applied for a job with a motor firm, his application was turned down. However, when he invented a fictitious CV for a white Englishwoman called Catherine Riley to accompany an application for the same job, he was called for an interview. He claimed the car dealer was guilty of both sex and race discrimination. The solicitor representing the car company said that Mr Hussain's application had been refused because it appeared arrogant and over-sold himself. The CV from the imaginary Catherine Riley was more factual. So far Mr Hussain's search for work has led to six industrial tribunals.

B. Mrs Gweneth Niman wants to take the charity Age Concern to court because she was told to retire when she turned 70. She earned £ 280 a month selling insurance. Mrs Niman is so angry that she is prepared to go all the way to the European Court of Human Justice.

C. A man was refused a job at a chicken factory because he was too tall. Sun Valley Foods rejected him for factory work. Barry Seale who is 1,88m, claims sex discrimination because men are generally taller than women.

The firm says it operated a “heightist” policy because it was afraid that tall workers would suffer back and neck injury.

b) Work in pairs, discuss your immediate reaction to each of the three cases.

c) Prepare a role-play. Work in groups:

Group 1: Plaintiffs

Brainstorm reasons and arguments for bringing the case.

Group 2: Defendants

Brainstorm reasons which justify your actions.

Group 3: Judges

Pass a sentence on the cases having listened to plaintiffs and defendants arguments.

Task XX. Work in pairs. Think of the situations of your own when things went wrong. Tell your partner about them, using the active vocabulary.

Task XXI. Work in small groups and discuss the questions:

1. When you form a first impression of someone, which of these is most important to you? Rank them from 1 (most important) to 5 (least important).

the way they look at you

the way they dress

the way they speak

their job or who they work for

the way they shake your hand or greet you

2. How often do you think your first impressions of people are right? Think of one example when they’ve been correct and one rime when they’ve been wrong.

3. Do you think that the first impression people have of you is the right impression? Think of one way in which you think you are often misunderstood and ask others in the group for their advice.

4. Do you think that terms above are useful in understanding modern business?

5. Why do you think that they are so common in business and other fields?

6. What phrases would you normally use while considering an offer (stating your own position, etc.)?

7. Would people in the modern world trust a person? Why - or why not? In the modern business world, what kind of person would the perfect ‘con man’ or ‘con woman’ be?

8. What kind of modern businessperson wouldn’t you trust?

Note: A ‘con man’ is a person who tricks or swindles other people out of their money, by winning their confidence or trust. Probably the most successful con man of the twentieth century was the European aristocrat, Count Victor Lustig. In the 1920s, he used his skills to ‘sell’ the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal for a huge some of money, not once, but twice!