Business English Pod / Management English / Page 6

BEP 303 – Business Trip 6: Discussing Strategic Change

Business English, English for Meetings, Management English /

BEP-303-Business-English-Lesson-Discussing-Strategy-Change

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on discussing strategic change.

The world of business and the economy are constantly changing. And businesses need to respond with their own changes, or risk getting left behind. But change can be difficult both for people and for organizations. As a leader of people in a changing organization, you might face resistance. So you need to be able to manage change well. And that often involves effective discussions with others in the company about strategic change.

Of course, change is easier when the general feeling in a company is positive. And that’s why you might need to gauge morale when you’re talking with others. That will help you figure out how to manage the change. But managing change doesn’t mean promising that it will be easy. Instead, you should carefully warn others about possible difficulties.

Another thing you should do is to be clear about messaging. Change is a lot easier if everyone has the same idea about what’s happening and why. It’s also a lot easier if you can show the benefits of the changes. And that’s why you should talk about change as an opportunity that can help the company, and its people. If you can successfully show people that change is an opportunity, then you should get a positive response when you ask people whether they’re committed to the changes at hand.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Cam and David, who work for an American clothing company called Boston Vintage. David is the manager of the company’s Shanghai office. Cam is a production manager who is visiting China to meet with the company’s staff and look at new production facilities. In an earlier conversation, Cam told David that the company has made the strategic decision to focus on Southeast Asia rather than China.

Listening Questions

1. How does Cam gauge morale, or ask about the overall feeling among staff?
2. What is the basic explanation for the change that Cam wants David to communicate?
3. According to Cam, why is this change an opportunity for David?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 242 – Strategic Negotiations 2: Establishing a Position

Business English, Management English, Negotiating /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on strategic negotiations in English and establishing a position.

If you’ve ever had to negotiate anything, whether it’s a salary, a corporate buyout, or a partnership, you’re sure to understand the importance of preparation. You can’t head into the room without first figuring out what you want and what you’re willing to give up. And if you’re doing the negotiation with a team, it’s even more important. Everyone needs to know the plan and the strategy beforehand. Otherwise you’ll be looking at each other and wondering “well, what should we do now?”

Before a strategic negotiation, your team needs to establish its position. But what does that involve? How do we do that? In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some useful techniques for this situation. We’ll cover summarizing key benefits, anticipating obstacles, and suggesting ways around obstacles. We’ll also learn how to decide on an initial position and propose a negotiating strategy.

In our last lesson, we heard Mike, the VP of Asian sales for an American autoparts company called Sigma. He pitched the idea for a partnership to a former colleague who now works for a Japanese company called NVP.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Mike meeting with Grant, Sigma’s Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Sales, and Tess, who looks after the business development and legal departments. Together, they’re trying to work out an initial position before heading into the negotiation with NVP.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Mike mention NVP’s huge volume, huge network, and strong foothold in SE Asia?
2. What does Mike suggest as a way around the China problem?
3. Which idea does the team agree to save for later in the negotiation?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Quizzes | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 241 – Strategic Negotiations 1: Pitching the Idea

Business English, Management English, Negotiating /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English for negotiations and how to pitch the initial idea.

Competition is at the heart of business. Companies try to outdo each other, outsell each other, and even destroy each other. It’s the nature of the game. But cooperation has its place to. Companies often work together to achieve mutual aims. They form partnerships, using their different assets and strengths to become an even greater competitive force.

But a good partnership is tough to build. Any kind of agreement has to make sense for both sides, and each will try to get as much out of a deal as possible. Sure, they’re cooperating, but they want to make sure they’re cooperating in the best possible way for themselves.

So how does a strategic partnership begin? Well, any agreement begins with a negotiation, a strategic negotiation. And how does a negotiation begin? It begins with an idea, an idea for two companies to work together. And that’s what we’ll be looking at today.

When you pitch an idea for a strategic partnership, there are several key techniques you’ll need. This includes broaching the topic, pitching the basic idea, and speculating about feasibility. It also includes showing tentative agreement, outlining how the partnership might work, and outlining the next steps in the process. We’ll cover all these techniques in today’s lesson.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Jamie and Mike, two former colleagues who have run into each other at a trade show in Malaysia. They have agreed to meet up for a drink after the day’s events, and are now talking about doing business in Asia. Mike is looking for a way to introduce his idea for the two companies to cooperate.

Listening Questions

1. In the beginning, what does Mike say his company is looking for?
2. Which idea is Mike tentative or hesitant about?
3. What is Mike going to do next?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Quizzes | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

Skills 360 – Organizing your Ideas (Part 2)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication, Management English /

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on organizing your ideas.

Last week we looked at several ways to brainstorm ideas. But once you have a big list of ideas, what are you going to do with them? That’s what we’ll talk about today.

We’ll look at how to organize your ideas around your objective and put them into groups of related points.

Discussion Questions

1. What are the different situations in your work in which you have to persuade people?
2. How much time would you normally spend preparing for a one-hour presentation?
3. What techniques do you use to develop and organize your ideas?

Free Resources: Transcript | Quizzes/span> | PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3

Skills 360 – Organizing your Ideas (Part 1)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication, Management English /

In today’s lesson, were going to look at how to organize your ideas.

When it comes to ideas, you’ve probably got lots of them. And sure, they’re important to you. But are they important to others? Well, they could be, but only if they’re clear and organized. You’ve probably been frustrated when people run on at length about what they think using vague language. And you’ve probably tuned out when someone jumps around chaotically from idea to idea without tying it all together with a purpose. That just doesn’t work. And sometimes it’s not the best ideas that win, but the ones that are most clearly articulated.

Today we’ll look at a few different frameworks for generating ideas. In this case, we’re using a form of organization to actually get the ideas flowing.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you have any special ways of brainstorming ideas?
2. Think of someone who you think speaks well. How does he/she organize ideas?
3. Do you ever write out lists of advantages and disadvantages or pros and cons?

Free Resources: Transcript | Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3