1. Answer the questions.

1. What is the business activity of the company?

2. How many shops are there in the company?

3. What is the title of the head of the company?

4. Are the shopkeepers also shareholders in the company?

5. Was the company run like a family business?

6. Could the shopkeepers make their own decisions about their day-to-day operations?

7. Did the company need any changes? Why?

2. Choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1. What word was used to describe the way that meetings were run in the past?

a) authoritarian

b) efficient

c) relaxed

d) lengthy

2. A new head was brought in because ...

a) the company was old-fashioned.

b) the former head had retired.

c) profits were low.

d) the company was nearly bankrupt.

3. The new head ...

a) had worked in this field of business all his life.

b) already worked for this company.

c) had not been a senior manager for long.

d) was well known for making tough decisions.

4. The shopkeepers were not happy with the new head because ...

a) he didn't consult them about new decisions.

b) he wasn't strong enough.

c) his policies were not good for the company.

d) he wasn't very friendly.

5. At the extraordinary meeting ...

a) the atmosphere was very relaxed.

b) people were very quiet.

c) shareholders were unable to reach a decision.

d) the board of management was replaced.

6. After the extraordinary meeting...

a) very little changed.

b) the new management put new policies into practice.

c) they returned to their old practices.

d) people continued to be very unhappy.

3. Translate the text. Text 6

• Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

Some advice for business leaders

1. In large organizations, leaders should spend no more than four hours a day in their offices. The rest of the time, they should be out with their people, talking to lower-level employees and getting their feedback on problem areas. They should be making short speeches and handing out awards. They should be travelling widely throughout their organizations.

2. The best leaders are those whose minds are never closed and who are eager to deal with new issues. Leaders should not change their minds too frequently after a major decision has been made, but if they never reconsider, they are beginning to show a degree of rigidity and inflexibility that creates problems for the organization.

3. Executives must take a disciplined approach to their schedules, their post, their telephone calls, their travel schedules and their meetings. Staying busy and working long hours are not necessarily a measurement of leadership effectiveness.

4. Leaders may run efficient organizations, but they do not really serve the long-term interests of the institution unless they plan, set goals and provide strategic perception.

5. The leader must be willing to pass on skills, to share insights and experiences, and to work very closely with people to help them mature and be creative.

6. Leaders should let people know that life is not so important that you can’t sit back occasionally and be amused by what is happening. Laughter can be a great reliever of tension.

7. Reliability is something that leaders must have in order to provide stability and strength to organizations. Leaders must be willing to be flexible but consistency and coherence are important elements of large organizations.

8. Leaders must not only understand the major elements of their businesses but must also keep up with any changes.

9. Leaders should be able to look at themselves objectively and analyse where they have made mistakes and where they have disappointed people.