a) the details of day-to-day Administration.
b) the disposition of the company's resources.
c) the payment of wages.
7. While decision-making powers are commonly delegated to senior executives
a) the directors are not responsible to the shareholders for any mistakes which might be made
b) they are not responsible for any errors of judgement.
c) the directors remain responsible to the shareholders for any mistakes which might be made.
8. The further ahead one plans
a) the more troubles there are likely to be.
b) the more one can anticipate problems and thus avoid them.
c) the less one can anticipate problems.
9. Tactical decisions are those by means of which the senior executives
a) carry out their own plans.
b) destroy the opposition.
c) carry out the plans prescribed by the board of directors.
10. The directors have to initiate long range plans with a view to ensuring
a) the achievement of the company's objectives.
b) the maintenance of good relations with the senior executives.
c) compliance with the law.
Task 7. Talking Point 3
Study the information about a situation in Rumford Engineering. It is a public limited company and its shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The chart below shows the lines of communication and command between the company's senior officials.
Figure 1.
After studying a chart, discuss the following questions with your partner:
1. From whom do the Line Managers and the Chief Engineer take orders?
2. If the Managing Director and the Production Manager had a meeting, what do you think they might discuss?
3. How many executive directors are there in Romford Engineering?
4. If the Computing Manager was sending information to the Managing Director should he send it through the Financial Director? Why?
5. How many immediate subordinates do each of the Departmental heads have?
6. In what circumstances do you think the Marketing Director and the Production manager might have conflicting interests?
7. Would you expect the Chief Engineer to be paid more or less than the Production Manager? Why?
8. What sort of work would you expect the Wages Officer to do?
9. If there was a dispute between one of the line managers and the Chief Engineer, how would you expect it to be settled?
10. If there was a dispute between the Marketing Director and the Financial Director how would you expect it to be settled?
Task 8. Vocabulary 3
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the list below:
Nouns: accounts, board, responsibilities, directors, votes, shareholders, resolution, team.
Verbs: make, propose, elected, answers, passed, ensure, undertake, send.
1. The ________ of a company have the responsibility to ________ that the requirements are complied with.
2. The directors of a company must ________ a copy of the company's annual ________ to the Registrar of Companies.
3. The directors will ________ decisions by passing resolutions at the ________ meeting.
4. Each of the directors will normally have one vote when a ________ is ________.
5. Resolutions are ________when there are a majority of ________ cast in favour.
6. Executive directors are those who ________ departmental ________.
7. The directors are ________ by the ________ at the annual general meeting.
8. The managing director ________ to the board for the performance of his management ________.
Task 9. Reading 3
Getting started
? Before reading the text, discuss in small groups why planning is significant for successful work of the companies, what types ofplanning you know and what main differences are between these types.
? Now read the text, title it and check if your ideas are right. Consult Vocabulary p. 140.
Top management is often under heavy pressure so that immediate problems often absorb much of their efforts. Time to analyse complex data and project future trends is likely to be limited. To combat this problem a long-range planning department might be set up to act in an advisory capacity. The long-term planning team would be directly responsible to the managing director, but freed from routine duties. Such a department would be small and made up of top quality generalists, trained to see the wood as well as the trees.