Đây là phần thứ hai trong loạt bài Tiếng Anh thương mại gồm hai phần về các thành ngữ tiếng Anh liên quan đến chiến tranh.

Ở mọi nơi bạn nhìn vào kinh doanh, bạn sẽ tìm thấy ngôn ngữ của chiến tranh: Chúng ta thường nghĩ – và nói chuyện – về cạnh tranh kinh doanh về mặt tấn công và phòng thủ, giành và mất đất.

Trong thời gian first business ESL podcast in this series, we studied many such war and military related idioms. We learned the meaning of “taking flak,” “reinforcing one’s position,” “laying low,” “making a move” and many others. Trong podcast này, we will continue exploring useful war idioms.

The dialog picks up where we left off at the Luminex management meeting. Jane has just explained that they need to think “strategically.” He explains that this means “laying low,” by which he means waiting to take action until the economy improves.

Khi bạn lắng nghe, pay attention to the war idioms Jane and her colleagues use. You may not understand them the first time. After you hear the debrief, go back and listen again, then things should be much clearer.

Câu hỏi nghe

1) What does Jane mean when she says their competitor, Meyers, is its own worst enemy?
2) The speakers describe their new strategy as an “ambush” điều đó sẽ “bao quanh” Meyers. Tại sao họ nói điều này? Chiến lược là gì?

Download: Podcast MP3

Business and war. War and business. It’s no accident that many business strategies and management techniques were first developed in the military. Thực ra, it’s quite natural that we think about business competition in terms of war. Companies fight each other for market share. We strategize about how to win the battle. You try to attack my market position, and I defend it. Business is full of such war idioms. Though it’s not the only way we think about business, it is certainly the main way we talk about it. Vì thế, to communicate effectively in a business environment, we need to learn these war idioms.

Trong cuộc đối thoại hôm nay, the management at Luminex, a producer of LCD TVs, is discussing how to respond to a attack on their market position by a competitor, Meyers. Traditionally, Meyers has been strong in the premium (high value) market and Luminex has been strong in the mid-range market. Recently, Tuy nhiên, Meyers has tried to take mid-range market share from Luminex.

Pay attention to the war idioms that the meeting participants use as you listen. Don’t worry if they don’t make sense to you the first time you listen. After you’ve heard the idioms explained in the debrief, go back and listen again, and the dialog should be much clearer.

Câu hỏi nghe

1) The first two speakers talk about “always being on the defensive” Và “taking way too much flak.” What do they mean and what do they propose doing?
2) How does Jane’s point of view differ from the first two speakers?

Download: Podcast MP3