\1/

perlanent
# rh"r,isnothing excefionn"l,
Heraclitus (SlS-r+lS
of Ephesus BC),Greekphilosopher
o VERVI EW V
tr Re a ding
Ma n agingc hange

tr Listening /
.J
C-
R e < , i<.t:n rp tn rh :n q p

Languagereview
T Rep or t ing (\

tr Ski lls
Me e t ings

n Casestudy
Acq uir ingM et r ot

Y
t

\
ai
t!) 0
./ r,g
@ @w nicn o fthesesituationswouldy o u f in d t h e mo s t s t re s s f u [ ?
r Divorce
z Goingon holiday
3 Movinghouse
4 Movingto anothercountry
5 Losingyourfob
6 A personality
clashwith yourboss
7 An annualheatthcheck-up
8 Beingthe v ictimof a robbery

@ Wtrathasbeenthe mostsignificant
changein yourtife?

@ Wtrictrof thesebusiness wouldworryyoumost?Why?

situations
Youreadin the paperthat yourcompanywittprobablybe mergingwith
anothercompany.
2 Youl<eepyourjob aftera merger,but you are in a lesspowerfuIposition.
3 Yourcompanyhasto relocate
to the othersideof the citV.
4 Youareaskedto relocateto an exoticforeigncountry.
5 Youare promotedbut are now in chargeof a hostileworkforce.
6 Youhaveto decidewho to makeredundantin vournewdeoartment
aftera merger.

elj
,L--
 rr ChangeI

led GeneralElectricthrougha periodof greatchange.

@ Fck Welchsuccessfulty
Doyouthink heseeschangeas a danger,an opportunityor a challenge?
Managingchange
@ neadthe quotationsquickly.Whatis Welch'sgeneralattitudeto change?

I 'Wewantto be a companythat is 4 'Gradualchange doesn'tworkverywellin

constantlyrenewingitsell leavingthe
pastbehind,adaptingto change.
Managements that hangon to weakness
for whateverreason- tradition,
sentiment, or theirownmanagement
weakness - won'tbe aroundin the future.'
thetypeof transformationGeneralElectric
hasgonethrough.lf yourchangeisn'tbig
enough,the bureaucracy canbeatyou.Look
at WinstonChurchiltand Franklin
Roosevelt.
Theysaid,"Thisis whatitb goingto be."And
thentheydid it. Bigboldchanges.'

2 'Howdo you bringpeople

intothe changeprocess? Start 5 '(GEleadersalways)have
with reality.Getatlof the facts enormous energyandtheability
out. Givepeoplethe rationale to energiseandinvigorate others,
for change,layingit out in the to stimulateandrelishchange
clearest,mostdramaticterms. and not be frightenedor
Wheneverybody getsthe same paralysed by it, andto seechange
facts,they'llgenerally cometo as an opportunity, not a threat.'
the sameconclusion.'

6'Most bureaucracies unfortunatelystitlthink

3 'Thedifference betweenwinningand losing
wilt be howthe menandwomenof our company
viewchange.lf theyseeit as a threat,we [ose.
But if theyareprovidedwith the educational
toolsandareencouraged to usethem- to the
pointwheretheyseechangeas an opportunity,
theneverydoorwe mustpassthroughto win
bigaroundtheworldwillswingopento us.'
in incrementaltermsratherthanin termsof
fundamental change. Changing the culture
meansconstantly askingnowhowfastam I
going,howwellam I doingversushowwell I did
a yearor two yearsbefore?Howfastand how
wellam I doingcompared with the world
outside?Arewe movingfaster,andarewe doing
betteragainstthat externalstandard?'

Adaptedextractsfromlack WelchSpeaks,by JanetLowe

@ wtrictrquotation:
r refersto howpeoplereactto change?
z refersto thequalities of General
thata leader
andabilities Electric
shouldhave?
3 givesexamples of a famousBritish andAmerican politicalleader?
4 suggests thatgivingpeoplefull andclearinformation is important?
5 suggests thatcompanies thatdo notchange will notsurvive?

o Writesentences
to
according f
abouthowcompanies
ackWelch.
shouldor shouldn'treactto change,

Forexample,Componiesshould adaptto change;theyshouldn'thongon

to weoknesses.

o Underlinewordsandphrasesin eachquotationwhichsuggestthe ideaof

change.Thencompareyourlist with a partner.

o Findwordsor phrasesin the quotationswhichmean:

for anaction(quotation
r the reasons z) 3 courageous (quotation
4)
danger(quotation
z potential 3) 4 to enjoy(quotation
5)

t!z-
I rr Change

O WtrVdo peoptesometimes
resistchange?
Makea tist of reasons.

change @ f) rr.f Listento the first partof an interviewwithJeremyKeeley,

an
independent management consultant.
Whydo peopleresistchange,in his opinion?Listthe pointshe mentions.

O O 11.2Nowlistento thesecondpartof the interview.

Jeremytalksabouta
situationin whichchangewashandledwell.
Makenotesunderthe headings below.Thencompare noteswith a partner.
. Situation . ChiefExecutive . Communication. Difficult decisions

@ Comptete
thesesentences fromthe interview.
Usethewordsin the box.
Thewordsin brackets
will helpyou.
A JeremyKeeley
volume margins significantly
lead vision segment

r Theclientha dt o . . . . . . . . . . . (c o n s id e ra bre
lyd) u c it
e sc o s t s .
z lt wastryingto compete withitsmajorcompetitor on a basisof
. . . (production of largequontities).
3 Themajorcompetitor hasa major ... (apositionaheodof all
others).
4 Everysingleperson in theorganisation knewthischap's
(ideaof howthefuturewill be).
5 Theyweregoingto ..... ...... themarket(dividethemarketinto
parts).
6 Thecompany wasgoingto goformuchlarger ... (difference
beNueen a product's priceandcosfs)andfor muchmore'valueadded'.

@ Workin smallgroups.Describe or personal

a business situationthat
invotvedchange.
Wasthesituationhandtedwell or badty?

There are a number of ways to report what people say.

Reporting I If the reporting verb is in the present, there is no tense change.
'I hate change.' He sayshe hates change.
2 When the reporting verb uses a past tense, we usually move the verb in
the other clause one tense back.
'I'm leaving the company.' He said he was leaving the company.
3 We use would to report statements about the future with will.
'The meeting will start at 2pm.' Shesaid the meetingwould start at 2pm.
4 When reporting yeslnoquestions.we use if or whether.Change the tense
if necessary.
'Are you happy in your job?' Sheaskedme if I was happy in my job.
5 If a question begins with a question word, we report the question using a
different word order.
'Why don't you like your boss?' He askedme why I didn't like my boss.

I nus.trr
 u _ClangeI

@ R management consuttantis hetpingto introduce

changesat a large
engineeringcompany. Hehasprepared a summaryforthe Chairman abouta
recentmanagement meeting.
Change the wordsin italicsintowhatthe peopleactuallysaid.
Forexample ,'l'm lookingforuordto the chonges'.(Headof Finance)

The Headof Financesaid (1)he see increasedlevelsof sicknessand

was looking forward to the changes
and (2) wanted to know when the
repoft would be published.fhe
publicationdate will be decidedby
the end of the week.
The Head of Researchand
Developmentwas very unhappyand
complainedthat (3)nobody ever
told her anything.I think that the
most resistanceto changewill
come from her deoartment.
The Head of Personnelwas
worried about the impact on staff
moralebroughtabout by job losses.
She said that (4) many staff had
taken time off work. I would add that
this is the standardsymptomof
resistanceto changeand you often
absenteeism at the beginningof a
changeprocess,alongwith unco-
operativeattitudes.
As you predicted,the Salesand
MarketingDepartmentswere both
in favourof change.The Headof
Saleswondered(5\ whetherwe
could bring forward the next round
of changes.
The Head of Marketingsaid that
(6) we needed to recognisethat
reslstanceto change was natural.
The Head of Productionpointedout
that (7) the changes did not affect
the shop floor workers,but they
shouldknow what was going on.

@ fne engineeringcompanyin ExerciseA hetd a meetingfor staff to discuss

-
the changes.Reportthe commentsbelow.Usereportingverbssuch as soy,
osk, wonder, comploin, emphasise, and odd.
Forexampte,Klous soid thot he didn't understandwhy it was happening.
Klaus I don't understand why this is happening.
Joel I'mveryworriedaboutthe future.
Lisa I feelout of controlof the situation.
Maria What'sgoingto happento me?
Diego Thenewsystemwi[[bringmanybenefits.lt'sgoodfor attthe staff.
Lydia Nobodyaskedme what I thought.
Rosa Wittwe haveanytrainingon the newcomputers?
Claudia I don'ttrustthe decisionmakers.
LudmiltaI welcomethe changes. They'llimprovethe companya tot.
John the changestoo soon.Everybody
Theyintroduced was surprised.

@ Wort as onegroup.Notedownsomechanges youwouldtiketo makein a

company that
or organisation you know.
Thenformsma[lergroups.Discuss the advantages ofthe
anddisadvantages
proposed changes. Takenotesabout pointsbeingmade.
form
Finatly pairsor sma[[groupsconsisting of membersfromeachmeeting.
Reportwhatwassaidin your meeting.
Lrr -c-[{er
'Thereore three things you
can predict in life: tax, deoth
ond moremeetings.'
MikeMoore,
Sydney Morning Herald
youattend.Usethesequestionwords:
@ nst eachotheraboutthe meetings
Whotkind?Where?When?Why?Howoften?Who?
O WttVaremeetings sometimes or b) unsuccessful?
eithera) successfut,
Discuss andnoteyourideas.Forexample:
the reasons
Goodmeetings Badmeetings
tolkstoo much
Clearobiectives Choiroerson
@ matctrthe wordsin the boxto the definitions
betow.
agenda chair propose attend
to sendyourapologies item vote any otherbusiness(AOB)
participants second minutes actionpoints
the personin chargeof 7 to makea suggestion formally
a meeting 8 to supporta formaIsuggestion
2 the peopleat a meeting 9 a methodof makinga decision
3 to go to a meeting ro an officiaIrecordof whatwas said
4 a listof topicsto be discussed and/ordecided
5 onetopicon the list 11 to saythat you cannotgo to a meeting
6 the lasttopicon the list rz what needsto be doneafterthe
meeting,and by whom
O O 11,3 Readthe agendabelow.Then[istento the meeting.
Tickthe expressions boxon page91thatyouhear.
in the Usefullanguage
ACENDA
Senior Managers' Meeting
Strbject: Changes in utorking practices
DArl. I July
rl ME l l.00ar n- l2.30pm
vENUtlMain BoarclRoorn.HeadOffice
I. Bonus scheme
2 . Security
3. Open plan office
4. Hot-desking
@ fne expressions belowarealsousedin the meeting.Putthemunder
appropriate headings in the Useful[anguage box.
Yes,that'strueI suppose. l'mjust not hoppyaboutthisproposal.
You'vegot o point there. How do you feel about this,Noncy?
I
L-.
 -I

j
u Change

I a n g u a ge
Statingaims Agreeing action
Requesting
Ourmainpurpose witlbeto I agreewithMax. Canyouarrangea meeting?
exptoreyourviews. I thinkso too. Wouldyouprepare a short
Theaimof thismeeting is... reportplease?
Dealingwith interruPtions
Disagreeing CanI finishthe point? Askingfor ctarification
I don'tagree. LetStefanfinishplease,Max. Canyouexplainit a bit
Pointtaken,but suretY ...is an moreclearly?
important factor? Givingopinions Whatexactly do youmean?
I reatlycan'tagreewithyouthere. I reatlythinkwe needa report. CanI getthisclear?
Shouldn't we havemore
Askingfor opinions information?
whatdo youthink?
Stefan, Wefee[...is the bestwayto ...
Stefan?

betowandstudythe company chart.

organisation
@ neadthe information
Yourteacherwill
Thenroleptaythe meeting. tett youwhichroleto take.

Forover50 years,stirtingcarshasbeenmakinga classicEngtish sports

car.Thecaris mostlyhandmade, in the company's factory in northern
England.
StirlingCarsproducesapproximately 5oo carsa year.lf you wantto
buy a stirtingcar,you mustwait fourto fiveyearsbeforeit is delivered. In
spiteof this,demand for the car is strong. However, production costs are
risingeachyearandthe companyneedsto increase its profits.
Thetop managers disagree about how to increase profitabitity.
At the
nextmanagement meeting,theywilI consider the four options below.
r Automate of the carto makeabout4,ooocarsa year.
production
z Subcontract the manufacture of the engineto anotherfirm,to increase
productionby ro% Io zo"/o.
3 use moremechanised toolsto makethe bodyand increase production
by aroundro%.
4 Raisethe priceof the carby around4o'k andmoveto a biggerfactory
so that productioncanbe increased.
I

l. Stirling,ManagingDirector
(turnto pager5z)

L. Dickinson,SalesDirector B. Reitly,ProductionManager C.Bristol,FinanceDirector

(turnto pager5o) (tu rnto pager55) (turnto pager57)

II II
F.Densham, SalesManager Controller
5. Dubois,Production
(turnto pager54) (turnto pager56)
 Background
L:rst-ftrne, reitders of the bttsiness magazine,
Ittz,t'.tlttIrtlerrtrtliortuI rvere giren some
infbnnation about the Cortret'stolte Group.

p* COM PANY PROFILE

Company: Cornerstone Group

ffi
Worhforce: 35,000
Turnouer: $4.fbn
Located: Dallas, US

*r Net proft: I I o/oof turnover (approx.)

Main Actiuities
d Providingservices and products
for the oil, gasand electriciryindustries.

k Recent deaelopments
Cornerstonehaverecentlybought the Frenchwhite

w
goodscompany,JeanMetrot, cie.Metrot arewell
known for producingcookersand refrigerators, as
well asa rangeofhouseholdappliances. They have
their headquarters to the eastofParis,and rwo
other factoriesin northern France.
Reasonsfor Cornerstone\ acquisition
l. Cornerstonewill expandsalesof Metrot

KE productsin Europe.
2. It will useMetrot asa basefor launchingits

w
own productsin Europe.
3. Metrot'sbiggestassetis its valuableland.
Cornerstonecould usethis to grow the
companyor may selloff someof the land to
financethe acquisition.

@
Comment
Metrot is an excellentacquisition.There may be

w
problemswhen US srylemanagementis
introduced.Metrot hasalwaysbeenfamily-owned,
and Chief Executive, JeanMetrot, takesa personal
interestin his employees.
The new Chief Executivewill be Hugh Whitman.
In his early30s,trainedat HarvardUniversiry
\X/hitmanwasformerlyExecutiveVice Presidentof
the CornerstoneGroup.
JeanMetrot will remainon the boardasan adviser.

Jean Metrot Hugh Whitman

O r r.a The nerv (lhief Exectrtiveof Metrot

qalve ir television itrten'ierv for European Business
Hc rvas asked abolrt Cornerstone's plans
,\''ra,.s.
Iirr NIctlot. l,isten iurd note rvhat he says.
 u Change
I

Problems
It is now nine months later. The change of orvnershipand new management
style at Metrot have caused many problems. The memo below illustrates
some of the diffictrlties.

MEMO
To: DanJohnson,PersonnelDirector
From:JacquesLafont,UnionOrganiser
Subject:Staffmorale Date:March 18

Staff are very unhappy with the presentchanges.

As a result,productivityhas fallen and staff turnover is high. Let me summarise
some of the reasonsfor the staff'slow morale.
L. Factory inspections American managersare alwayscheckingup on us and
taking notes.No one knows why they are doing this or what they are up to.
2. Redundancies Since]une, about 60 employeesfrom the Development
Department have lost their jobs.They were given no reasons.The staff think
that this is unprofessional.
3. Further changes Peopleare looking for new jobs elsewhere.They want to
move beforethey are pushed.Peopleare afraid that the new managementwill
relocateboth of the factories.
4. Management style Staff constantlycomplain about the silly changesthe new
managementare making. I enclosea list of commentsmade to me by our
memDers.
o 'They'retrFng to do everythingtoo fast -A new computer system,learning
English,and maybeother languages,new product ranges,new customers.'
o 'Therewas a family atmospherebefore.The managementreally caredabout
us. Everythingwas more informal.'
o 'We don't know where the companyis going now. We'veno idea what our
strategyis, what our objectivesare.'
o 'We get e-mail messagesfrom Dallas telling us what to do. Surelythey can
trust the managementover here to make the policiesand decisions?'

A meetingof seniormanagers the problems.

hasbeencalledto resolve Oneteam,
tedbythe newChiefExecutive, HughWhitman,consistsof Americanexecutives.
of Metrotwhohavekepttheiriobsunder
Theotheris madeup of seniorexecutives
the newmanagement.
Divideintotwo groups:Cornerstone andexecutives
executives of Metrot.Each
groupprepares Thenholdthe meeting
forthe meeting.
separately as onegroup.
TheAgendais as follows:
r Reasons for the resistance
to change.
z Suggestions the changemoreeffectively.
for managing
3 Actionplanto raisestaffmoraleandresolvethe presentproblems.

Writing
Write the action minutes for the above nleetillg.

wntingfik page r45

)

123