Business Spotlight Power games: How to succeed at work (Vorschau)

BusinessSpotlight
BusinessSpotlight
Englisch für den Beruf
März–April l Ausgabe 2/2013
Language
Your personal
training plan
Head-to-Head
Should Britain
leave the EU?
Power games
How to
succeed at
work
Careers
Relax and be
more effective
Easy English
Key tips for
writing emails
Fashion
All the
vocabulary
you need
Deutschland: € 12,80 • CH sfr 23,00
A • E • I • L • P (cont.) • SK: € 13,90

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■ EDITORIAL
Moving forward
This issue of Business Spotlight
features a number of improvements. We
have a more modern design, created by
our art director, Bettina Gorn. And new
sections have been added, including Easy
English (simple business English); What
Happened Next (case studies of key business
decisions); Teacher Talk (interviews
Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief
with business English teachers); Leisure Time (things to do when
you’re away from your desk); Toolbox (in which Ken Taylor answers
typical questions about business communication); and Looking Back
(in which our columnists comment on developments in their home
countries). As always, we look forward to your feedback.
Talking is easy.
Getting people to
listen to you, that’s
where we can help.
Bob Dignen
New edition
now available
In 2013, Business Spotlight will be the media partner
for a number of important conferences relating to languages and the
world of work. The first one is the 20th annual conference of the
ICC in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 8 to 10 March. For details of the conference,
which is called “Language, Identity and Culture in Language
Education”, go to http://conference.icc-languages.eu/index.php.
Once again, we would like your help in improving some
of our products — in this case, our audio CD, audio download and
regular podcasts. To complete our special online survey, go to
www.business-spotlight.de/audioumfrage. You will find more details
on page 43. Many thanks in advance for your interest and support!
Bob Dignen
with Ian McMaster
978-0-00-746056-4
Also available
Easy English and Leisure
Time: two of our new sections
978-0-00-748879-7
Available from your local
bookstore or online from
Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief
Contact: i.mcmaster@spotlight-verlag.de
2/2013
www.collinselt.com
@CollinsELT
/collinselt

■ CONTENTS 2/2013
14 Richard Branson
24 Working with the French
Sipa Press
Getty Images
WORKING WORLD
6 Names and News
The latest from the world of business
all levels
LANGUAGE FEATURE
➤ 40 Training Plan
How to structure your language learning
medium
GLOBAL BUSINESS
10 Fashion
How Harris Tweed gave itself a radical new image
14 Profile
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group
21 Business Press Behind the headlines
➤22 Head-to-Head
Should Britain leave the EU?
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
24 Working with France
Expert advice on doing business with the French
29 Looking Back
Vicki Sussens on corruption in South Africa
30 Travel Tips
Places to go and things to do
English on the Move At the reception
BUSINESS SKILLS
➤32 Organizational Politics
How to succeed in the office
37 Survival Guide
38 Toolbox
Ken Taylor answers communication questions
39 Say It in Style
Getting sentence rhythm right
advanced
medium
advanced
medium
advanced
medium
easy
easy
medium
medium
medium
easy
LANGUAGE SECTION
44 Vocabulary The motorway
45 Grammar at Work Describing processes
➤46 Easy English Writing emails
48 Wise Words Deborah Capras on love, money
and job satisfaction
50 Short Story Turning the tables
52 Translation False friends and more
53 Language Cards
➤ 55 SKILL UP! The language of fashion
56 English for… Property and casualty insurance
58 Legal English Construction law
59 Economics and Finance Economies of scale
60 Teacher Talk Interview with Paul Emmerson
62 Products What’s New?
CAREERS
➤66 Relaxation Techniques
How to be more productive at work
70 Tips and Trends
Advice on how to advance your career
73 Leisure Time
What to do when you are away from your desk
easy
medium
easy
medium
easy
medium
advanced
advanced
advanced
medium
medium
medium US
medium
medium
Multimedia learning with Business Spotlight
Business Spotlight plus
Practise the language in the
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booklet, available with every
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page 20 for subscription details.
plus This symbol indicates that
related exercises can be found
in Business Spotlight plus.
Business Spotlight in the classroom
This six-page supplement for teachers
and trainers provides lesson activities
based on articles in Business Spotlight.
It is free to those who subscribe to the
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schulmedien@spotlight-verlag.de
READERS’ SERVICE
Email: abo@spotlight-verlag.de
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Telephone: +49 (0)89/8 56 81-16
Fax: +49 (0)89/8 56 81-159

32 Surviving power
games
40 Training plan
Polkadot
Photodisc
MANAGEMENT
74 Anna Wintour
Profile of a style queen
76 What Happened Next
Henry Ford’s $5 pay offer
77 Executive Eye
Adrian Furnham on the importance of happiness
TECHNOLOGY
78 Dark Matter
The search for the particles that fill up space
82 Trends
Ideas and inventions
83 Language Focus
Scaffolding
PEOPLE
86 My Working Life
Georgina Cooper, online shop owner
REGULAR SECTIONS
3 Editorial
63 Classified Ads
64 SprachenShop
84 Feedback / Impressum
85 Preview
advanced
medium
medium
advanced
medium
advanced
easy
➤ Cover topics
55 Fashion
language
GUIDE
LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Articles in the magazine use the style, spelling, punctuation and
pronunciation of British English unless otherwise marked.
US American style, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation
are used in these articles.
easy Approximately at CEF level A2
medium Approximately at CEF levels B1–B2
advanced Approximately at CEF levels C1–C2
All articles are marked with their level of language difficulty.
CEF stands for the Council of Europe’s “Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages”.
ifml.: informal word or phrase; vulg.: vulgar word or phrase;
sl.: slang word or phrase; non-stand.: non-standard word or phrase;
UK: chiefly UK usage; US: chiefly North American usage
Cover photograph: Stockbyte
Business Spotlight Audio
Business Spotlight Audio offers more than 70 minutes
of texts, dialogues, language exercises and interviews.
In the current issue, you can practise the language of
organizational politics and listen to our short story.
This symbol indicates that related texts and exercises
can be heard on Business Spotlight Audio.
Business Spotlight Online
Our website offers even more language-learning
activities, as well as
news and blogs. Subscribers have
full access to our online content.
www This symbol indicates that related
content can be found on our
website: www.business-spotlight.de
www.business-spotlight.de 5

■ WORKING WORLD NAMES AND NEWS
Overtaxed?
Actor Gérard
Depardieu
BELGIUM
Welcome, Gérard!
medium
Sipa Press
The village of Néchin doesn’t have a lot to recommend it
— except for its location on the French-Belgian border.
And even that is probably only attractive to the very rich,
like film star Gérard Depardieu.
The French actor has just bought a large property in the
village, not because Néchin is pretty, but because by living
here, Depardieu can escape the planned 75 per cent French
income tax on people earning more than €1 million a year.
“Look around,” says Belgian journalist Frédéric
Delepierre. “The village is dead. There is nothing here,
nothing,” Delepierre told The Observer. “What could possibly
attract someone like Depardieu — and all the other
wealthy French who live here — to Néchin?”
Almost 30 per cent of the village’s 2,000 residents are
said to be French. Among them are members of the Mulliez
family, which owns the supermarket chain Auchan.
Locals are sceptical about whether Depardieu will actually
live in the village. “If he comes here, what’s he going to
do?” asked one man. “He will be so bored. I suppose he
can mow his big lawn, but there’s nothing else.”
Meanwhile, Depardieu may have another choice of residence:
he recently received a Russian passport.
$85,100 $100,800
Average salary of a female
editor-in-chief in the US
Average salary of a male
editor-in-chief in the US
Source: Folio’s (www.foliomag.com) 2012 compensation survey for the publishing industry
LOC
bias: have a ~ toward sth. [)baIEs]
bored: be ~ [bO:d]
compensation [)kQmpEn(seIS&n]
editor-in-chief [)edItEr In (tSi:f]
income tax [(InkVm tÄks]
local [(lEUk&l]
mow the lawn [)mEU DE (lO:n]
property [(prQpEti]
publishing industry [(pVblISIN )IndEstri]
survey [(s§:veI]
eine Vorliebe für etw. haben
sich langweilen
Vergütung
Chefredakteur(in)
Einkommensteuer
Einheimische(r), Ortsansässige(r)
den Rasen mähen
Immobilie; Anwesen
Verlagsbranche
Erhebung, Umfrage
“Have a bias toward action”
Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi (1917–84)
6 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

iStockphoto
CHINA
Cash cows
medium
The Chinese government has turned to major
Western companies, including Nestlé,
for help in developing its dairy industry. Chinese
dairy production was hit hard in 2008,
when six babies died and thousands more
were hospitalized after drinking milk that had
been contaminated with melamine.
Later this year, Nestlé will open its dairy institute
in Shuangcheng. The institute, which
aims to train farmers in modern methods, will
include a farm with 1,000 cows.
Roland Decorvet, head of Nestlé’s China
operations, says the hope is that fewer farmers will go to work
in cities. “Farmers are leaving by the truckload to the city,
where the minimum wage is slightly more than you make with
five cows and you don’t have to wake up at five o’clock in the
morning,” Decorvet told the Financial Times. Martin Wu, dairy
analyst for Rabobank in Shanghai, says that milk quality has
improved since the 2008 scandal. “The best evidence is that
Cattle country: a
new Chinese industry
you can see more and more dairy manufacturers building
dairy-farm buildings,” Wu explains. “Before the melamine crisis,
most of the dairy manufacturers were focusing on how to
drive sales, doing more activities related to brand-building,
but paying less attention to raw-milk supply,” Wu added.
Listen to this text on Business Spotlight Audio
Goldesel, Melkkühe
Milliarde(n)
Markenaufbau
Käfighuhn
etw. verunreinigen
Molkerei, Milch-
mit leeren Händen; ohne
Beute
Beweis
aus Freilandhaltung
in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert
werden
Melamin
hier: sich lohnen
Rohmilchangebot
Absatz
hier: Ausbeute
haufenweise
Cash cows [(kÄS kaUz]
billion [(bIljEn]
brand-building [(brÄnd )bIldIN]
caged hen [)keIdZd (hen]
contaminate sth. [kEn(tÄmIneIt]
dairy [(deEri]
empty-handed
[)empti (hÄndId]
evidence [(evIdEns]
free-range [)fri: (reIndZ]
hospitalized: be ~
[(hQspIt&laIzd]
melamine [(melEmi:n]
pay [peI]
raw-milk supply
[)rO: (mIlk sE)plaI]
sales [seI&lz]
take [teIk]
truckload: by the ~ [(trVklEUd] ifml.
EF Internationale Sprachschulen
Sprachkurse
im Ausland
Sales of free-range eggs in Britain are up for the first time,
according to the British Egg Industry Council. The organ -
ization says that of the estimated 9 billion eggs laid in
2012, 49 per cent were free-range, compared to 48 per
cent from caged hens. In 1997, 86 per cent of British eggs
came from caged hens.
Sources: The Week; British Egg Industry Council
(www.britegg.co.uk)
Crime really doesn’t pay. The average amount taken per
person in bank robberies in Britain is £12,707 and a third
of bank robbers leave empty-handed. In the US, the average
take per person is just $4,330.
Sources: Universities of Sussex and Surrey; Royal Statistical Society
(www.rss.org.uk); American Statistical Association (www.
amstat.org)
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www.ef.com

■ WORKING WORLD NAMES AND NEWS
GLOBAL
Long hours
W
hich
easy
Europeans work the longest? If you
guessed the Germans or the British, you’d be
wrong. In fact, Greek workers put in longer hours
than anyone else in Europe — and are third in the
world after South Koreans and Chileans.
This information comes from the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD). It should be noted that India, China and
Brazil are not among the OECD’s 34 members.
“Asian countries tend to work the longest,” explains
Jon Messenger of the International Labour
Organization (ILO). “They also have the highest
proportion of workers that are working excessively
long hours,” Messenger told the BBC. “Exces-
sively long” means more than 48 hours a week,
he adds.
Hours of work per year
1. South Korea 2,193 hours
2. Chile 2,068 hours
3. Greece 2,017 hours
32. Britain 1,647 hours
33. Germany 1,408 hours
34. Netherlands 1,381 hours
Sources: BBC News; OECD statistics on “hours per worker”
(www.oecd-library.org)
Zoonar
What they said…
“The best way to
predict the future
is to invent it”
US computer scientist Alan Curtis Kay, 72
www You’ll find more stories online: www.business-spotlight.de/news
picture-alliance/dpa
“Success is going from failure to
failure without loss of enthusiasm”
Former British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
“The worst part of success is
trying to find someone who is happy
for you”
US singer Bette Midler, 67 (“The Rose”, “From a Distance”)
“The only place where success comes
before work is in the dictionary”
British hairstylist Vidal Sassoon (1928–2012)
Chilean [(tSIliEn]
enthusiasm [In(Tju:zi)ÄzEm]
excessively [Ik(sesIvli]
hairstylist [(heE)staI&lIst]
predict sth. [pri(dIkt]
put in long hours [)pUt )In )lQN (aUEz]
Chilene/Chilenin
Begeisterung
übermäßig
Friseur(in), Figaro
etw. vorhersagen
lange arbeiten
8 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

SOUTH AFRICA
Moving forward
advanced
After the end of apartheid in 1994, Black Economic Empowerment
(BEE) companies were put into place to right the imbalances of the
racist system. Phuti Mahanyele, the dynamic 41-year-old chief executive
officer of Shanduka Group, runs one of the most successful of South
African BEE companies. Shanduka aims to attract international business
to South Africa; its clients include McDonald’s and the Anglo-Swiss
mining firm Glencore International PLC. “BEE has been a catalyst for
us,” Mahanyele told The Wall Street Journal. “But as we move forward,
it’s our track record, our management capability and skills, that have
to drive us forward. We cannot forever be relying on BEE. At some
point you have to stand on your own two feet.”
Mahanyele, who grew up in the black township of Soweto, spent four
hours a day on buses to reach a mixed-race school; she later studied in
the US at Rutgers University and has an MBA from De Montfort University
in Leicester, England. Before joining Shanduka in 2010, she was
a banker. Often called on to support programmes for women in business,
Mahanyele is realistic about the challenges of life in South Africa.
“Whilst we need people to be owners of equity and capital, not everyone
can be a businessperson,” she says. “We are still a long way away
from where we would like to see the country, in terms of race relations.”
Woman power:
South African CEO
Phuti Mahanyele
Listen to this text on Business Spotlight Audio
79
Percentage of chief financial
officers (CFOs) in the US who
say that an employee’s sense of
humour plays an important role
in fitting into a company.
called on: be ~ [(kO:ld Qn]
chief executive officer (CEO)
[)tSi:f Ig)zekjUtIv (QfIsE]
chief financial officer (CFO)
[)tSi:f faI)nÄnS&l (QfIsE]
empowerment
[Im(paUEmEnt]
equity [(ekwEti]
in terms of [In (t§:mz Qv]
mining firm [(maInIN f§:m]
put sth. into place
[)pUt IntE (pleIs]
rely on sth. [ri(laI Qn]
right sth. [raIt]
track record [(trÄk )rekO:d]
Sources: UPI news service; Accountemps
(www.accountemps.com)
herangezogen werden
Hauptgeschäftsführer(in)
Finanzchef, -vorstand
Ermächtigung; hier:
Stärkung
Eigenkapital; hier:
Sachwerte
hinsichtlich
Bergbauunternehmen
etw. errichten
sich auf etw. stützen
etw. wiedergutmachen
Erfolgsbilanz
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Favoured by actors and rappers:
the new Harris tweed
Weaving a
global future
Wer denkt bei Harris Tweed nicht an Miss Marples karierte Kostüme? Der einst
für Tradition stehende Stoff ist heute jedoch auch für viele modische Outfits
und Accessoires unentbehrlich. SEVERIN CARRELL berichtet von einer Marke, um
deren Zukunft es noch vor wenigen Jahren schlecht bestellt war. advanced
Jaggy Nettle (2)

FASHION GLOBAL BUSINESS ■
A CLOSER LOOK
Stepping out in Harris
tweed: hip shoes
The term crofter refers to a person who works a small, rented
farm known as a croft. Crofters are particularly numerous
in Scotland, where they are represented by the Scottish Crofting
Federation (www.crofting.org). During the 18th and early
19th centuries, many crofters in the Highlands were forced
to leave their crofts to make land available for larger farms.
Some of the crofters emigrated to North America and others
moved to southern Scotland.
For many people, Harris tweed conjures
images of itchy jackets worn by grandfathers,
fictional detectives like Miss
Marple or perhaps a Church of England
vicar. But no longer. The handwoven
fabric is now enjoying a huge surge in popularity;
it is hip, desirable and back on the high street.
The traditional Hebridean cloth is now found in the
main men’s ranges of Topman and preppy American retailers
like J. Crew, and can be seen covering headphones,
holdalls, North Face jackets, and Dr. Martens and Converse
boots.
A favourite of rapper Tinie Tempah and actor Matt
Smith, star of television’s Doctor Who, the tweed is being
used on hand-stitched “high-top” trainers and handbags
produced by cottage businesses in Scottish market towns,
but sold in Italian and Japanese luxury boutiques alongside
Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs. In 2012, production
was expected to exceed a million metres — the biggest production
run in 16 years — every centimetre of it handwoven
at homes in Scotland’s Western Isles. The surge in production
is proof of a remarkable resurrection. Six years
ago, the future of Harris tweed was bleak, after decades of
underinvestment and poor
sales. Production was half
of the current rate, at
around 500,000 metres,
and many feared the industry was in terminal decline. The
number of weavers — all self-employed, some of them
crofters working part-time on their looms in sheds beside
their homes as they combined seasonal weaving with running
smallholdings and other part-time jobs — had fallen
below 100. Having learned their craft from parents or relatives,
the remaining weavers were ageing. But now, after
a six-year initiative partly headed by a former Labour energy
minister, Brian Wilson, Harris tweed is enjoying a renaissance
few had expected.
from
those using the traditional dull grey-browns, purples and
ochres of the Scottish Highlands, to bold patterns with
bright reds, pinks, yellows and oranges.
“Probably the big success has been to transform the image
of Harris tweed into a young fabric, a stylish fabric for a new
generation,” said Wilson, who started the radical West
Highland Free Press newspaper on the Isle of Skye in 1972.
“Our client list now has just about every serious designer.”
Six years ago, Wilson and a small group of co-investors
reopened a mothballed mill in the village of Shawbost, on
the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A Yorkshire textiles
Six years ago, the future of Harris tweed was
bleak, after years of underinvestment
4
düster
etw. (herauf)beschwören
Heimarbeitsbetrieb
Handwerk
kleiner gepachteter Bauernhof
Machart, Muster
langweilig, matt
Stoff
Verband
Roman-
handbestickt
handgewebt
von den Hebriden
wieder in den Innenstadtgeschäften
zu finden sein
hier: knöchelhoch
Reisetasche
kratzig
Webstuhl
bleak [bli:k]
conjure sth. [(kVndZE]
cottage business [)kQtIdZ (bIznEs]
craft [krA:ft]
croft [krQft] UK
design [di(zaIn]
dull [dVl]
fabric [(fÄbrIk]
federation [)fedE(reIS&n]
fictional [(fIkS&nEl]
hand-stitched [)hÄnd (stItSt]
handwoven [)hÄnd(wEUv&n]
Hebridean [)hebrE(di:En]
high street: be back on the ~
[(haI stri:t] UK
high-top [(haI tQp]
holdall [(hEUldO:l] UK
itchy [(ItSi]
loom [lu:m]
mill [mIl]
mothballed [(mQTbO:ld]
(mothball
ochre [(EUkE]
pattern [(pÄt&n]
preppy [(prepi] US ifml.
production run [prE(dVkS&n rVn]
range [reIndZ]
resurrection [)rezE(rekS&n]
retailer [(ri:teI&lE]
sales [seI&lz]
shed [Sed]
smallholding [(smO:l)hEUldIN] UK
surge [s§:dZ]
terminal decline: be in ~
[)t§:mIn&l di(klaIn]
trainer [(treInE] UK
vicar [(vIkE]
weaver [(wi:vE]
hier: Spinnerei
stillgelegt
Mottenkugel)
Ocker
Muster
adrett; hier: trendig
Produktionslauf
(Produkt-)Palette; hier: Kollektion
Wiederauferstehung
Einzelhändler(in)
Absatz
Schuppen, Stall
Kleinbauernhof
Anstieg
seinem endgültigen Niedergang
entgegensehen
Turnschuh
Pfarrer(in)
Weber(in)
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 11

■ GLOBAL BUSINESS FASHION
Part of the landscape: Harris
tweed has a long tradition
Designer fashion: not just for Miss Marple
act of parliament [)Äkt Ev (pA:lEmEnt] Parlamentsbeschluss, Gesetz
albeit [O:l(bi:It]
wenn auch
based in... [(beIst In]
mit Sitz in...
blessing in disguise: be a ~
sich als Segen erweisen,
[)blesIN In dIs(gaIz]
Glück im Unglück sein
(disguise
Verkleidung)
distinctive [dI(stINktIv]
unverwechselbar
label [(leIb&l]
Etikett
last-ditch rescue [)lA:st )dItS (reskju:] letzte Rettung
orb [O:b]
Kugel; hier: Reichsapfel
set [set]
hier: festgelegt, vorgegeben
tailored [(teIlEd]
maßgeschneidert; hier auch:
gut geschnitten
takeover [(teIk)EUvE]
Übernahme
trade fair [(treId feE]
Messe
trademark [(treIdmA:k]
(Handels-)Marke
waistcoat [(weIstkEUt] UK
Weste
magnate, Brian Haggas, had bought
what was then the island’s largest
tweed maker in the town of
Stornoway in 2006, in what was described
as a last-ditch rescue for
Harris tweed.
Controversially, Haggas had decided
to cut tweed production to
just four designs, to make only a set
number of tweed jackets. The Haggas
takeover was “a blessing in disguise,
albeit heavy disguise,” said
Wilson. It made people focus on
saving the industry.
The newly formed Harris Tweed
Hebrides company, based in Shawbost,
began attending fashion shows
and trade fairs, and contacting retailers.
Wilson said the primary focus
was to market Harris tweed’s
history and its reputation for quality,
particularly in its traditional
market in the United States.
Registered in 1910, the Harris tweed trademark is one
of the oldest in the world. Its distinctive orb label guarantees
that it is “handwoven by the islanders at their homes
in the Outer Hebrides”. This legal definition of Harris
tweed was set down in an act of parliament in 1993, the
same year the Harris Tweed Authority was formed to oversee
quality control.
Jaggy Nettle
promotional campaigning
had succeeded, not when a major fashion designer
began buying Shawbost tweed, but when the British
high-street retailer Topman did so in 2011. Topman is
again using tweed for its tailored waistcoats, jackets and
blazers, as well as for a rucksack and a men’s shoulder bag.
12 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

Zoonar
“There’s a whole mood for all things heritage,
rather than something purely futuristic”
Coat of many colours: a range
of Harris tweed yarns (left);
new tweed rucksack (below)
Gordon Richardson, Topman’s design and development
director, said there was a strong interest among young men
in “noble” fabrics like Harris tweed: fabrics with a history
and tradition. “There’s this whole mood for all things
heritage,” Richardson said. “So one of our ranges is using
something that has a history and has a past, and has a
resonance with something which has existed before, rather
than something purely futuristic.”
Topman (2)
is Jaggy Nettle,
based at Lauder, in the Scottish Borders, whose products,
featuring hi-top trainers in Harris tweed, are stocked
in expensive boutiques on 22nd Street in New York, in
Tokyo and in Italy, together with Prada and
Louis Vuitton. Started in 2010 by Jason Lee,
a painter, and his partner, Emily Quinn, a textiles
expert, as an “anti-fashion” clothes design
firm, their tweed product range, made by
craftspeople in Fife, in the east of Scotland,
has expanded.
Recently, Lee added tweed Chelsea
boots and trainers to his product line.
He chose Harris tweed, he said, because
Jaggy Nettle’s clothes are not
designed for one season or one
trend, but to last. “I bought a Harris
tweed coat from a charity shop
in Hawick made in Galashiels. I have
had that coat for eight years, and I’ve
never had to wash it.” ■BS
Well tailored: Topman
discovers Harris tweed
© Guardian News & Media 2012
plus You’ll find exercises on this topic in Business Spotlight plus
charity shop [(tSÄrEti SQp]
Wohltätigkeitsladen
craftsperson [(krA:ftsp§:s&n] Handwerker(in)
heritage [(herItIdZ]
Erbe; hier: mit Tradition
resonance: have a ~ with sth. Erinnerungen an etw. wach-
[(rez&nEns]
rufen
stocked: be ~ [stQkt]
im Angebot sein
www.business-spotlight.de 13

Virgin
Flying
Wie ein Flugdrachen in der Luft bleibt oder zu Boden stürzt, kann
auch ein Unternehmen Erfolg haben oder ein Fehlschlag sein.
VICKI SUSSENS berichtet von dem ideenreichen Unternehmer und
Ballonfahrer, der hinter der Marke Virgin steht.
medium
Richard Branson:
has continued
to surprise for more
than 40 years

PROFILE GLOBAL BUSINESS n
Richard Branson’s attempt to fly around the
world in a hot-air balloon in 1998 ended when
he crashed into the ocean near Hawaii. His
yacht Virgin Money was hit by a monster wave
when he tried to break a sailing record off the
east coast of America in 2008. In fact, he has been pulled
out of the sea so many times while sailing or flying balloons
that his company now sponsors London’s ambulance
helicopter. The British billionaire loves adventure. Sometimes,
he fails. Usually, he succeeds. And so it has been
with his businesses.
At the age of nine, Branson had his first business idea:
he planted Christmas trees on his parents’ land, hoping
that by the time he was 18, they would be big enough to
sell and pay for him to live in Bali. The idea failed because
rabbits destroyed the trees. But, as he loves to say: “You
have to have lots of ideas. If you’re out there flying a kite,
some of those kites will stay in the air, and some will crash
down.”
Branson’s special talent is to know exactly which way the
wind is blowing. In 1968, when students round the world
were protesting against the war in Vietnam, he left school
and started the youth-culture magazine Student. It grew to
have 100,000 subscriptions, with advertising from large
companies and celebrities and leading thinkers as writers.
Through the magazine, he sold records by mail order and,
in 1970, opened the Virgin Record Shop in Oxford Street,
London. Soon after that, he bought a large house in the
country, where he built a recording
studio.
After being given a demo tape by
Mike Oldfield, who was unable to
get any major record companies to
sign him on, Branson started Virgin
Records. Oldfield’s album Tubular
Bells was a huge success and the
company went on to record legends
such as Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and the
Sex Pistols.
In 1978, to impress Joan Templeman, who is now his
wife, Branson bought Necker Island in the British Virgin
Islands. It is now part of his exclusive holiday firm, Virgin
Limited Edition. In 1992, in another important milestone,
Branson sold Virgin Records to invest in Virgin Atlantic
Airways.
Since then, Branson has developed the Virgin
brand to include 300 businesses in such diverse areas as
luxury hotels, banks, railway lines, music festivals and even
a DNA bank where parents can store frozen samples of
their babies’ DNA. The group’s joint revenues in 2011
were around £13 billion.
Over the years, some of Branson’s “kites” have crashed,
including Virgin Cola, Virgin Brides and, more recently,
Virgin Money US, which started just before the credit
Richard Branson
n Born 18 July 1950 in London
n Founder and chairman of the Virgin Group, which
had joint revenues of around £13 billion in 2011.
n Started Student magazine at the age of 16 in London.
This marked the beginning of his business, the
Virgin Group, which now includes about 300 businesses
in areas as varied as luxury hotels, space
tourism and airlines.
n Married Joan Templeman in 1989.
n Was knighted in 2000.
n Is worth an estimated £3 billion.
crunch and was quietly closed down in 2010. However, as
American Banker wrote: “Virgin has the ability to enter
markets and disrupt them. Even when they fail, they’re
worth watching.”
Branson’s Virgin Galactic will soon be offering the
first tourist flights into space. And when Branson says he
would like to see it colonize Mars one day, it may sound
like his dreams are flying too high. But for more than 40
years, Sir Richard — he was knighted in 2000 — has surprised
the world with his business ideas.
“You have to have lots of ideas.
If you’re flying a kite, some will stay in
the air, and some will crash down”
billion [(bIljEn]
billionaire [)bIljE(neE]
brand [brÄnd]
bride [braId]
celebrity [sE(lebrEti]
chairman [(tSeEmEn]
close down (a company) [)klEUz (daUn]
credit crunch [(kredIt krVntS]
disrupt sth.
[dIs(rVpt]
fly a kite [)flaI E (kaIt]
founder [(faUndE]
joint revenues [)dZOInt (revEnju:z]
knighted: be ~ [(naItId]
mail order [)meI&l (O:dE]
sample [(sA:mp&l]
sign sb. on [)saIn (Qn]
space [speIs]
subscription [sEb(skrIpS&n]
tubular bell [)tju:bjUlE (bel]
yacht [jQt]
Milliarde(n)
Milliardär(in)
Marke
Braut
Prominente(r)
Vorsitzende(r)
(eine Firma) schließen
Kreditklemme
etw. stören, durcheinanderbringen
einen Drachen steigen
lassen
Gründer(in)
konsolidierte Einnahmen
zum Ritter geschlagen
werden, geadelt werden
Versand(handel)
Probe
jmdn. verpflichten
Weltraum
Abonnement
Röhrenglocke
[wg. Aussprache]
4
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 15

n GLOBAL BUSINESS PROFILE
Necker Island: bought by
Branson in 1978
“I was honestly not interested in business.
I loved creating things”
His latest book, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t
Teach You at Business School, is about the “bleeding obvious”,
as The Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman says.
Branson’s advice includes being innovative, learning to listen
and thinking up a product that people really want. It
sounds easy enough, but you need to be a Branson to succeed
in quite the way he has.
bleeding [(bli:dIN] UK ifml.
bump sb. from a flight
[)bVmp frQm E (flaIt]
business school
[(bIznEs sku:l]
challenge (sb.) [(tSÄlIndZ]
charity [(tSÄrEti]
entrepreneur [)QntrEprE(n§:]
entrepreneurial [)QntrEprE(n§:riEl]
entrepreneurship [)QntrEprE(n§:SIp]
fix sth. [fIks]
good use: put sth. to ~
[)gUd (ju:s]
grounded: keep sb. ~ [graUndId]
mirror sth. [(mIrE]
pilot instructor [(paIlEt In)strVktE]
pioneering spirit [paIE)nIErIN (spIrIt]
self-sufficient: be ~ [)self sE(fIS&nt]
single [(sINg&l] UK
think sth. up [)TINk (Vp] ifml.
verdammt
jmdn. wegen Überbuchung
nicht befördern
betriebwirtschaftliche
Fakultät bzw. Hochschule
Herausforderung; jmdn.
herausfordern
karitative Organisation
Unternehmer(in)
unternehmerisch
Unternehmergeist
etw. in Ordnung bringen
etw. für etw. Sinnvolles
verwenden
jmdm. Halt geben
etw. widerspiegeln
Fluglehrer(in)
Pioniergeist
auf eigenen Füßen stehen
hier: einfach
etw. ersinnen
More than anything else, the mix of businesses in
the Virgin Group mirrors Branson’s own personality,
which needs to fix things that are wrong and fight injustice,
but also to have as much fun as possible. Asked recently
by CBS News where his early business inspiration
came from, he said: “I was honestly not interested in business.
I loved creating things and my idea with the magazine
was to try to change the world by having young people
influence what was going on. The idea of the music
company was to produce music that we liked. But to pay
the bills, I had to become an entrepreneur to make sure
that my magazine and record company survived.”
And so it was with most of his business decisions. Branson
loves to tell the story of how Virgin Atlantic Airways
started. “I was flying a lot at the time,” he recently told a
group of young entrepreneurs. “And the food was bad,
there was no entertainment on board and the crew didn’t
seem to be enjoying their work. I thought I could do things
better.” He took action one day when American Airlines
bumped him from a flight from Puerto Rico to the Virgin
Islands. Branson hired a plane, went back to the airport
and wrote: “$29 for a single trip to the Virgin Islands” on
a sign and, as he says with his huge smile, “that’s how I
filled my first plane”.
Branson’s love of challenges comes from his mother, a
stewardess who once pretended to be a man in order to
become a pilot instructor. She taught her son to be selfsufficient,
responsible with money and to care for people.
This combination of a pioneering spirit and solid values is
probably what has kept Branson grounded. Today, the
golden boy of business is estimated to be worth about £3
billion, yet he is as famous for his philanthropy as he is for
his entrepreneurship and life of excess.
“I think money is there to be put to good use,” he
once said. “The money we earn goes into creating new
jobs, creating new companies or investing in our charity,
Virgin Unite.” Branson also believes in using his entrepreneurial
talent to do good in the world.
16 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

Trying to change the world:
Virgin’s different businesses
Branson’s secrets of success
n Enjoy what you are doing.
n Business is like a work of art, and just as an artist
must get every single detail right, so, too, must a business
person get every single thing right about starting
a business in order to succeed. However, unlike
a work of art, a business is never finished. It constantly
changes.
n Create something that really makes a difference.
n Build up something that everybody who works for you
is really proud of.
n Be a good leader. People do best if they’re praised.
They usually don’t need to be told when they’ve done
wrong because, most of the time, they know it.
Recently, Jocelyn Hillman, who runs Working Chance,
an Australian organization that helps former prisoners to
find jobs, said in an interview: “We need someone like
Richard Branson to get involved.” He read the interview
and contacted her, asking: “How can I help?”
This is typical Branson: spontaneous, recognizing a
good idea and knowing how to generate interest in it. Since
then, he has encouraged Virgin managers to employ former
prisoners. What did Branson like about the idea? It fitted
into the image of Virgin being an understanding company,
he told The Guardian. He wanted to find out why
this work could be important. After doing just that, he was
able to relate to it. “I made mistakes,” he said. “I could
easily have spent time in prison myself over importing
records and not paying tax [in the 1970s]. Then I would
have had great difficulty finding a job. Virgin might never
have happened and the 60,000 people we now employ
might not have had jobs.”
Branson is currently involved in projects that aim to end
the war on drugs and to solve climate change. In 2008,
with the help of Nelson Mandela, he started The Elders, a
group consisting largely of Nobel Peace Prize-winning
leaders, formed to find peaceful ways to solve the world’s
political crises.
He has also entered certain industries to clean
them up. When, in November 2011, Virgin Money took
over the savings and mortgage operations of Northern
Rock, which had been nationalized after it failed in 2008,
Branson did not call it Virgin Bank because, as he wrote
on his blog at the time, the word “bank” had been discredited.
Virgin Money’s management is now lobbying the
British government to reform the banking industry.
It is Branson’s ability to understand what is frustrating
the public that makes him so popular. A recent survey by
GoCompare.com in Britain found that two thirds of
Britons would like to see him replace George Osborne as
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Branson’s love of pranks has also made him a darling
of the media. In 2012, British Airways (BA) was trying
Chancellor of the Exchequer
[)tSA:nsElEr Ev Di: Iks(tSekE] UK
discredited: be ~ [dIs(kredItId]
elders: the ~ [(eldEz]
fail [feI&l]
make a difference
[)meIk E (dIfrEns]
mortgage operations
[)mO:gIdZ QpE(reIS&nz]
nationalize sth. [(nÄS&nElaIz]
prank [prÄNk]
relate to sth. [ri(leIt tu]
survey [(s§:veI]
Finanzminister(in)
in Verruf geraten
die Ältesten (Titel für Respektspersonen)
hier: Pleite gehen
etw. bewirken
Hypothekengeschäft(e)
etw. verstaatlichen
Streich, Schabernack
sich mit etw. identifizieren
(können)
Umfrage
4
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 17

n GLOBAL BUSINESS PROFILE
Big dreams: Virgin allows
people special experiences
“One of the key things we have learned is
never to give up if right is on your side”
unsuccessfully to raise a Ferris wheel it had sponsored in
London. The world press were waiting to write about it,
and so Branson rang up his airship company and got them
to send a zeppelin over the site with a sign on it that said:
“BA can’t get it up.”
“You have to fight your rivals with humour,” he often
says. He did this again at the end of 2012, after reports appeared
that BA head Willie Walsh believed the Virgin Atlantic
brand would disappear. In 1991, Branson had won
a libel case against BA, which had spread damaging
rumours about the company. This time, Branson wrote in
his blog: “Will BA never learn? Let’s see how much they
believe this.” He challenged Walsh to pay Virgin Atlantic
staff £1 million if Virgin Atlantic disappeared within the
next five years, promising to do the same for BA staff if he
lost. Walsh did not accept the bet.
Branson can also be tough. In September 2012, he
called for a legal investigation into the decision by the UK
Department for Transport (DfT) not to renew Virgin
Trains’ contract to run the InterCity West Coast train, giving
it instead to FirstGroup. His lawyer told him he had
airship [(eESIp]
bet [bet]
bidding process [(bIdIN )prEUses]
big picture [)bIg (pIktSE]
board [bO:d]
call for sth. [(kO:l fO:]
Department for Transport (DfT)
[di)pA:tmEnt fE (trÄnspO:t] UK
fee [fi:]
Ferris wheel [(ferIs wi:&l]
libel case [(laIb&l keIs]
odds [Qdz]
rumour [(ru:mE]
share [SeE]
site [saIt]
Luftschiff, Zeppelin
Wette
Bieterverfahren
Gesamtperspektive
Vorstand, Verwaltungsrat
etw. fordern
Verkehrsministerium
Gebühr
Riesenrad
Verleumdungsprozess
Chancen
Gerücht
Anteil, Beteiligung
Ort
less than a ten per cent chance of winning. Despite these
odds, in December 2012, the DfT announced that they had
indeed found irregularities in the bidding process, and Virgin
Trains was given the contract for another 23 months.
“One of the key things we have learned from this is never
to give up if you think right is on your side,” wrote Branson
on his blog.
Asked in a CBS interview why he believes the Virgin
Group has been so successful, he answered that it’s because
each of his companies is relatively small in its sector.
In his biggest companies, such as Virgin Money, Virgin
Trains and Virgin Atlantic, Branson’s strategy has also been
to sell off 49 per cent of the company to partners with
money and know-how in those markets. Singapore Airlines,
for example, bought 49 per cent of Virgin Atlantic
in 2000. This share was taken over by Delta Air Lines in
December 2012.
This has saved Virgin from using its own money to expand
those businesses. In other cases, he has licensed the
brand name Virgin to companies he has sold, earning most
of his income on licence fees.
Branson does not sit on any Virgin company boards,
leaving the management of individual firms up to those
running them. This allows him to focus on the big picture,
plan the next Virgin project and promote the Virgin name.
Most importantly, however, it gives him time to have those
adventures he so loves, which, as his wife said the last time
he was pulled out of the sea, get crazier every year. nBS
VICKI SUSSENS is a South African journalist and
an editor at Business Spotlight, with a special
focus on man agement and social issues. Contact:
v.sussens@spotlight-verlag.de
18 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

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BUSINESS PRESS GLOBAL BUSINESS ■
Behind the headlines
Headlines in the English-language media are often difficult to understand because they use jargon and
wordplay, and leave out words. Here, we look at the meaning of recent business headlines.
advanced
The Economist
Financial Times
Nip and tuck in: This is a play on words. “Nip and tuck”
is an informal term for plastic surgery. Nip/Tuck is also the
name of an American TV series about plastic surgery. To
“tuck in” is an informal way of saying to “eat heartily”.
Here, the idioms have been combined to describe Cuba’s
booming medical industry, which includes plastic surgery.
Cuba is “eating heartily”, or profiting, from this boom.
In simple English: Plastic surgery brings large profits.
The Guardian
Qinetiq: Qinetiq is a global company for defence technology
and security, based in England. Here, the company
name is used to refer to its share price.
slides: To “slide” is to fall. The word is often used to talk
about a downward share-price movement.
despite profit rise: Here, “rise” is a noun, referring to an
increase in profits.
global defence cutbacks: “Global” means “in many countries”.
“Defence cutbacks” are cuts in defence budgets.
set to increase: “Set to” means “are expected to”.
In simple English: The share price of the defence technology
and security company Qinetiq fell even though its profits
rose, because many countries around the world are
expected to cut their defence budgets.
billion [(bIljEn]
capitalize sth. [(kÄpItElaIz]
cutback [(kVtbÄk]
default: go into ~ [di(fO:lt]
defaulted bonds [di)fO:ltId (bQndz]
flock [flQk]
heartily [(hA:tIli]
noun [naUn]
plastic surgery [)plÄstIk (s§:dZEri]
playground [(pleIgraUnd]
share price [(SeE praIs]
sovereignty [(sQvrEnti]
stake [steIk]
tense [tens]
Milliarde(n)
etw. großschreiben
Kürzung
in Zahlungsverzug geraten
notleidende Anleihen
(Vogel-)Schwarm
hier: mit großem Appetit
Nomen, Substantiv
Schönheitschirurgie
Spielplatz
Aktienkurs
Souveränität
Spieleinsatz
spannend, spannungsgeladen
Fernández: The Argentinian president, Cristina Fernández.
revels once more: If you “revel in something”, you really
enjoy it. The president is known for revelling in conflict.
tense game: This refers to a US court giving Argentina a
deadline to pay a hedge fund $1.33 billion on defaulted
bonds. The president sees this as an attack on Argentina’s
national economic sovereignty.
double-or-quits: This British saying (US double or nothing),
used in gambling, describes the decision either to double
the stake or stop playing. We also talk about “raising
the stakes”, which means “escalating a conflict”. In this
case, doubling the stake would involve Fernández refusing
to pay back the debt and Argentina going into default.
Quitting would be to accept the court’s decision.
In simple English: Argentinian president Cristina Fernández
is once more enjoying a situation in which she has to
decide whether to escalate a conflict or not.
The Wall Street Journal
Finland’s Angry Birds flock: This refers to the Finnish company
Angry Birds, which recently opened a children’s activity
park in Vuokatti, Finland. Angry Birds is also the
name of a computer game in which birds fight with pigs.
Staying with the image of birds, the author uses the noun
“flock” to refer to the Angry Birds business group, which
includes clothing and playground-equipment companies.
takes wing: To “take wing” means to “grow” or “be successful”.
Note that the words in this headline are capitalized,
which is typical of US newspapers.
In simple English: The Finnish Angry Birds group of businesses
is growing.
www Are you confused by the language in the press? Keep your
English up to date at www.business-spotlight.de/news
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 21

■ GLOBAL BUSINESS HEAD-TO-HEAD
Should Britain leave the EU?
Die EU verlassen oder nicht? Der britische Premierminister David Cameron hat versprochen, ein Referendum
über diese Frage abzuhalten. VICKI SUSSENS hat Argumente für und gegen einen Austritt eingeholt. medium
NO!
“Belonging to
the EU allows
us to shape the
single market”
ADAM HUG
The recent call by London’s mayor, Boris Johnson,
for the UK to cut most of its links with the EU is
typical of a new form of centre-right Euroscepticism
that is growing in Britain.
The view of these Eurosceptics is that by pushing hard
enough and shouting loudly enough, the UK can form a
new relationship with the EU. They hope to gain all the
rights centre-right Eurosceptics want for Britain — primarily
access to and influence over a single market — but none
of the responsibilities they don’t like.
At least this argument recognizes that the “fax democracy”
model of the European Economic Area (EEA) would
not be good for Britain. The EEA agreement allows the
non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to be
part of the single market. But they have to adopt most of
the single-market legislation — including the social and
employment laws that right-wing Eurosceptics in Britain
hate — while not having any power to shape or change
those laws.
This is why a number of Conservative politicians such
as Johnson are calling for a new “outer tier” of the EU,
which could continue to shape EU laws. However, such
an idea is based on the false assumption that the EU is so
desperate that it will do anything to keep Britain, even as
a partial member.
The EU has made special deals with some members
of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), such as
Switzerland, which has opted to adopt only parts of the
single market and therefore avoids some regulation.
But there is no way the UK would be able to get a similar
deal, mainly because the EU hates the current arrangement
with Switzerland, and also because the influence of
the UK on the market, especially for services, is too big for
it to have a free ride.
Central to the pro-European argument in Britain are the
economic benefits of membership of the single market. It
gives us access to 500 million consumers and the ability to
shape how the market works to meet our needs.
But it is not just the single market that is in Britain’s interest.
So many of the problems that Britain will have to
face in the future are cross-border, ranging from international
crime to climate change, from finance to flights.
The EU needs reform, to improve accountability and
safeguard the position of non-Euro members, but if it didn’t
exist, we’d have to invent something similar to help deal
with these challenges.
British Eurosceptics also fail to understand that Britain’s
postcolonial influence in the world is dependent on its international
network. A strong relationship with the US,
historic connections to its former empire and its membership
of the European Union have significantly increased the
UK’s influence on the international stage.
It would be foolish for the UK to damage the most economically
and strategically beneficial international relationship
it currently has. Britain outside the European
Union would be a poorer and lonelier place. It can achieve
much more by working together with its EU partners than
it can achieve alone.
ADAM HUG is policy director at the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC),
an international-affairs think tank in London. He manages the
FPC’s work on the EU, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.
access [(Äkses]
accountability [E)kaUntE(bIlEti]
achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
adopt sth. [E(dQpt]
assumption [E(sVmpS&n]
beneficial [)benI(fIS&l]
call (for sth.) [kO:l]
challenge [(tSÄlIndZ]
cross-border [)krQs (bO:dE]
desperate
[(despErEt]
employment [Im(plOImEnt]
free ride: have a ~ [)fri: (raId]
legislation [)ledZI(sleIS&n]
link [lINk]
needs: meet sb.’s ~ [ni:dz]
opt to do sth. [)Qpt tE (du:]
safeguard sth. [(seIfgA:d]
single market [)sINg&l (mA:kIt]
think tank [(TINk tÄNk]
tier [tIE]
Zugang
Verantwortlichkeit
etw. erreichen
etw. übernehmen
Annahme
vorteilhaft
hier: Forderung; etw. fordern
Schwierigkeit
grenzüberschreitend
verzweifelt, zum Äußersten entschlossen
hier: Arbeits-
etw. umsonst bekommen
Gesetzgebung
Verbindung
jmds. Bedürfnissen nachkommen
sich für etw. entscheiden
etw. (ab)sichern
Binnenmarkt
Expertenkommission
Reihe
22 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

iStockphoto
Let’s just be friends: Is the
UK/EU marriage over?
YES!
“It would be a
move to a future
that is not
easy, but free”
NIGEL FARAGE
It is whispered in the halls of Brussels and Paris, The
Economist writes about it and, here in the UK, it is
spoken about in pubs and in the office. It seems that
Britain is slowly moving towards a final break with EU
institutions.
What this would mean for us and for Germany is, of
course, very different. For us, it would be to move to a future
that would not be easy, but it would be free. After
years of the great and the good saying it would not be possible
for Britain to leave the EU, we have had a few months
of people raging at the thought of it. Now there is slow acceptance
from people such as Germany’s chancellor and
EU commissioners that it is possible. They tell us that it is
not desirable, of course, but at least we are now allowed
to speak of the possibility.
What is in it for us in the UK? Firstly, it is not only an
economic decision. Politics cannot and should never be reduced
to purely economic concerns. The need for Britain
to leave the EU is mostly an ethical issue.
Who should govern, for whom and how? Modern representative
democracy depends on the consent of the governed.
If that consent is lacking or is withdrawn, then the
government is illegitimate. As the powers of the EU have
increased, and because they are set to do so further with
the ongoing financial crisis, this consent is being questioned
as never before.
No less than 75 per cent of the British people, from all
social backgrounds, from all parts of the country and from
all political parties, now believe that our relationship with
the EU must at the very least be tested in a referendum.
Politicians think otherwise. Why? Because they are afraid
of the answer.
The most recent opinion poll shows support for Britain
leaving the EU at 56 per cent, with those wishing to remain
at about 34 per cent. British consent for membership of the
“great project” is at an end. If Britain leaves, it will, of
course, change the EU. But our friends on the continent
should not be worried by this. They will have a good friend
rather than an uncooperative partner across the channel.
We will still be buying cars from BMW and Audi. We will
still be part of NATO. And we will still work together on
areas of common interest, as good neighbours should.
In biology, a monoculture is at huge risk of disaster when
something goes wrong. It’s the same in politics, and the EU
is not about diversity in political and economic affairs.
Britain leaving will provide a serious jolt to Brussels. But
can anyone say it doesn’t need it?
■BS
NIGEL FARAGE, MEP, is head of the United Kingdom Independence
Party (UKIP), a British political party that campaigns for
the UK to leave the EU, for free trade and for a less intrusive
state. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999.
Listen to more views on Business Spotlight Audio
consent [kEn(sent]
diversity [daI(v§:sEti]
illegitimate: be ~ [)IlE(dZItEmEt]
intrusive [In(tru:sIv]
issue [(ISu:]
jolt: provide a ~ to sb. [dZEUlt]
MEP (Member of the European
Parliament) [)em i: (pi:]
ongoing [(Qn)gEUIN]
opinion poll [E(pInjEn pEUl]
rage at sth. [(reIdZ Ät]
set: be ~ to do sth. [set]
the great and the good
[DE )greIt En DE (gUd]
What is in it for us?
[)wQt Iz )In It fEr (Vs]
withdraw sth. [wID(drO:]
Zustimmung
Vielfalt
keine Rechtsgrundlage haben
sich einmischend, regulierend
Frage
jmdm. einen Schock versetzen
MdEP (Mitglied des Europäischen
Parlaments)
andauernd
Meinungsumfrage
sich über etw. aufregen
darauf eingestellt sein,
etw. zu tun
die Großen und Mächtigen
Was haben wir davon?
etw. zurückziehen
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 23

Street life: enjoying good food,
wine and companionship in Paris
Franz Marc Frei
Land of
contrasts
Viele assoziieren Frankreich in erster Linie mit Rotwein und Käse, Landschaft und französischer Lebensart.
Doch welche Faktoren bestimmen die wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen zu einem Land, das zu den führenden
Industrienationen weltweit zählt? ROBERT GIBSON hat dazu einen Experten befragt.
advanced

WORKING WITH FRANCE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ■
How can you work effectively with France, one
of the leading industrial countries in Europe?
On the following pages, we look at this land of
contrasts and focus on how to communicate
with the French. We also examine the role of
hierarchy in French management. Business Spotlight spoke
to a leading expert on France, Professor Christoph Bar -
meyer, to find out more.
What is your connection to France?
My first intercultural experience with France was at a Club
Méditerranée at the age of five. Today, I know that what
I experienced is called culture shock. I had gone there with
my parents on holiday. From my perspective, the people
around me behaved in strange ways, ate strange things and
did not understand what I said. I felt completely lost. Later,
at the age of 16, I went to school in Paris, where I had
a French copine (girlfriend). This was the best way to learn
a language — and about another culture and myself.
France has always fascinated me because of its contrasts
and contradictions. It is both modern and traditional, slow
and fast, huge and small. It is where you find exciting cities
and beautiful countryside, centralism and liberty, originality
and conservatism, intellectualism and bonne cuisine
(fine food). There is a high quality of life and tough competition.
There is the state and there are old families, there
are very small and very big companies (some of which are
“France is fascinating
because of the opposites
that make it so alive”
world leaders) and a special sort of lifestyle based on
strong personal relationships. France is fascinating because
of these opposites, which make the country so alive.
CHRISTOPH BARMEYER is a professor of
intercultural communication at the
University of Passau and an affiliated
professor at the EM Strasbourg Business
School of the Université de Strasbourg.
He is the founder of Culture
Bridge, a consulting company that specializes
in French–German intercultural
management and in developing
intercultural competence. Contact:
christoph.barmeyer@uni-passau.de
course, is wrong. Like Britain and Germany, France has
long been one of the world’s leading industrial countries.
Its economic development, competitiveness and productivity
have stayed high. The annual gross national product per
person in France is higher than that of Germany and
Britain and close to that of the US. The image of the lazy,
wine-drinking French has to be revisited. A company like
LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) is a world leader
in luxury goods, with high productivity and growth rates.
How is French business structured?
There are two important forces. One comes from the outside
and that is globalization. French companies, especially
those belonging to the CAC 40 (the 40 biggest companies
on the French stock exchange), are
exposed to strong competition. They have shown
an impressive external growth worldwide. Companies
like Danone, GDF Suez, Lafarge,
Bouygues, Vinci or L’Oréal have become successful
globally.
The other force comes from the inside. For
many centuries, France has had a special education
system, with the so-called grandes écoles, institutions
of higher education that educate the
country’s leaders. These people are brilliant managers, who
think strategically and have a significant social network.
4
What are the classic images that people from other cultures
have of the French?
A typical image is that of the French red-wine drinker and
cheese eater in the campagne (countryside), not working
but just enjoying life. This image has been spread by the
media and by foreign authors like Peter Mayle. Of course,
there are also the images of arrogant political and eco -
nomic leaders, a powerful but bureaucratic state, elegant
women, striking workers and brilliant intellectuals. Some
of the German or Anglo-Saxon managers who I have
worked with tend to feel superior to the French when it
comes to economic growth and industrial production.
They think that the French, while apparently able to make
good wine and food, are unable to do business. This, of
affiliated professor [E)fIlieItId prE(fesE]
Anglo-Saxon [)ÄNglEU (sÄks&n]
annual [(ÄnjuEl]
apparently [E(pÄrEntli]
competition [)kQmpE(tIS&n]
competitiveness [kEm(petEtIvnEs]
consulting company [kEn(sVltIN )kVmpEni]
contradiction [)kQntrE(dIkS&n]
exposed: be ~ to sth. [Ik(spEUzd]
founder [(faUndE]
gross national product
[)grEUs )nÄS&nEl (prQdVkt]
hierarchy [(haI&rA:ki]
revisit sth. [)ri:(vIzIt]
stock exchange [(stQk Iks)tSeIndZ]
strike [straIk]
superior: feel ~ to sb.
[su(pIEriE]
when it comes to... [)wen It (kVmz tE]
Gastprofessor(in)
angelsächsisch
jährlich
offensichtlich
Wettbewerb
Wettbewerbsfähigkeit
Beratungsfirma
Widerspruch
etw. ausgesetzt sein
Gründer(in)
Bruttosozialprodukt
[wg. Aussprache]
etw. überdenken
Aktienbörse
streiken
sich jmdm. überlegen
fühlen
wenn es um ... geht
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 25

■ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION WORKING WITH FRANCE
Witt/Sipa Press
French elite: students at the École Polytechnique
“A metaphor for the French concept of
hierarchy is the ‘pyramid of people’”
Very early in their careers, they reach the top levels of the
organizations they work for. Typically, graduates from the
most prestigious, Paris-based public grandes écoles start
their careers in the state administration or a ministry in
Paris. After a few years of public service, they can join a
multinational like Renault, Thales or EDF, but still continue
to be civil servants. This means that they are able to return
to public service at any time. This French phenomenon
is called pantouflage, which literally means that they
can take back the “slippers” that they left in the administration.
The centralized education and training of the elite
based: ...-~ [beIst]
civil servant [)sIv&l (s§:v&nt]
esprit [e(spri:]
foster sth. [(fQstE]
graduate [(grÄdZuEt]
higher context
[)haIE (kQntekst]
implicit [Im(plIsIt]
key player [)ki: (pleIE]
literally [(lIt&rEli]
nobility [nEU(bIlEti]
prestigious [pre(stIdZEs]
public service
[)pVblIk (s§:vIs]
slipper [(slIpE]
summarize sth. [(sVmEraIz]
mit Sitz in...
Staatsbeamter/-beamtin
Geist, Witz
etw. fördern
Absolvent(in)
mit Fokussierung auf die
non-verbale Ebene
subtil
Schlüsselfigur
wörtlich
Adel
renommiert
öffentlicher Dienst, Staatsdienst
Pantoffel
etw. zusammenfassen
in Paris fosters the formation of influential networks,
which French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu calls the “state
nobility”.
What are the essential characteristics of communication in
France?
The French use esprit, humour and irony to express themselves.
They have a great esprit de synthèse, the ability to
summarize essential things, leaving out details. They have
an indirect and implicit communication style. French management
communication is indirect, which is typical of
higher-context communication cultures. They depend on
personal contact with people they know and trust. This
makes internet and email communication difficult. The
people who are close by are always more important than
those far away. So sometimes an answer to an email you
are expecting will come late — sometimes very late.
Meetings are generally for exchanging information, not
for preparing to take decisions. Decisions are made by key
players, who are high up in the hierarchy, before or after
the “official” meetings. Northern Europeans often find this
difficult to understand. Even young managers, especially
those from the grandes écoles, who speak English well, prefer
not to speak foreign languages in important situations.
For them, the French language is not only functional, but
26 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

L.Zhang/Getty Images
French luxury: cosmetics advertised in China
also aesthetic and strongly linked to their identity. Speaking
a foreign language feels to them as if they are losing
their identity.
How about attitudes to hierarchy?
France is a country in which power distance (see the box on
the right) plays a more important role than in other Western
countries. On the basis of France’s republican state
model, there exists a basic mistrust of individual interests,
uncontrolled market liberalism and globalization. Therefore,
the central power, in the state or in companies, holds
the role of a strategic player, a guarantor of social freedom
and a coordinator of social relations. To achieve this strategic
orientation, the French business system is dominated by
a strong hierarchy and a centralized coordination style.
A metaphor for the French hierarchical concept of proj -
ects and organizations is the “pyramid of people”. Leaders
hold a position of authority at the top of the pyramid, with
subordinates below. The organization is understood as a
hierarchical structure, in which interpersonal relations develop
and personalized authority figures are needed to regu -
late power relations. Since power is concentrated at the top
of the pyramid, the people below have to stand up for themselves
to make sure they are not crushed under the weight
of those above. Decision-making is top-down: vertical relations
are therefore more important than horizontal ones.
The metaphor of the pyramid represents a centralization
of authority and a clear task structure. Hierarchical authority
is the most important steering principle. In French
organizations, this means that there are relatively low levels
of delegation and that decisions must be considered at
different levels of the pyramid, so they take a long time to
be made.
4
Key concepts
Power distance
In the first of our new series on key terms in intercultural
communication, we look at the idea of power distance.
According to Dutch communication expert Geert Hofstede,
power distance is “the extent to which the less
powerful members of institutions and organizations within
a country expect and accept that power is distributed
unequally”.
In high power-distance cultures, typically found in
South America and Asia, there is often a high degree of
distance between the lowest and the highest person in a
hierarchy. In low power-distance cultures, which are found
in the Nordic countries (Sweden and Denmark, for example),
there is often a low degree of distance between the
lowest and highest person in the hierarchy.
Many people from neighbouring countries are surprised
at the relatively high power distance in France. In our interview,
Christoph Barmeyer discusses the historical roots
of this phenomenon. In practice, this may mean that you
have to send representatives of senior management, not
just technical experts and lawyers, to negotiate a contract
with French business partners.
achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
etw. erzielen
crush sb. [krVS]
jmdn. erdrücken
hierarchical [haI&(rA:kIk&l]
[wg. Aussprache]
hierarchy [(haI&rA:ki]
[wg. Aussprache]
linked: be ~ to sth. [lINkt]
mit etw. verknüpft sein
negotiate sth. [nI(gEUSieIt]
etw. aushandeln
Nordic [(nO:dIk]
nordisch
senior management [)si:niE (mÄnIdZmEnt] obere Führungsebene
steering principle [(stIErIN )prInsEp&l] Führungsprinzip
subordinate [sE(bO:dInEt]
Untergebene(r)
top-down [)tQp (daUn]
hierarchisch
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 27

■ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION WORKING WITH FRANCE
What role does the manager play in this system?
French management style is paradoxical. Although there
might be a clear hierarchy, managers are strongly peopleoriented.
I have worked with German and English managers,
especially women, who claimed that they prefer to
work for a French boss: the patron. He is much more interested
in the person, has time for a talk and considers
management as something human. Indeed, in daily business,
many French managers have a strong need for frequent
personal contact. This is not only for exchanging information,
but also to develop relationships with their subordinates.
Some managers describe, for example, how they
“take the temperature” of their team every morning. This
consists of walking around the offices and briefly meeting
and speaking with subordinates in order to “feel” how
things are going.
What other factors influence the way French businesses
function?
There is another important element that helps to overcome
bureaucracy. It is what the French call Système D: the art
of being flexible, using few resources with a lot of results,
bending rules without breaking them. D stands for
débrouiller, which means unravel or disentangle. This sort
of material and intellectual improvisation is a sign of intelligence.
The French learn that behind every formal system
there is a set of informal contacts, which are to be used
when necessary. Système D is what makes French managers
and organizations so efficient. Sociologist Philippe
d’Iribarne provides a cultural explanation to help us understand
the importance of hierarchy and Système D. A
key value for the French is honneur (honour), which determines
French social relations in general and working relations
in particular. Honneur gives every individual a social
standing, with certain privileges and duties. According
to d’Iribarne, today’s social relations are based on the
pre-revolutionary society of the Ancien Régime: nobility,
appreciate sth. [E(pri:SieIt]
assumption [E(sVmpS&n]
bend sth. [bend]
break a rule [)breIk E (ru:l]
briefly [(bri:fli]
clergy [(kl§:dZi]
disentangle sth. [)dIsIn(tÄNg&l]
figure sb. out [)fIgEr (aUt]
goal [gEUl]
impact [(ImpÄkt]
mutual [(mju:tSuEl]
peculiarities [pI)kju:li(ÄrEtiz]
resources [ri(zO:sIz]
senior consultant [)si:niE kEn(sVltEnt]
standing [(stÄndIN]
stereotype [(steriEtaIp]
synergistic [)sInE(dZIstIk]
unravel sth. [Vn(rÄv&l]
etw. verstehen
Annahme; hier auch: Unterstellung
etw. beugen; hier: nicht
wortgetreu anwenden
hier: gegen eine Vorschrift
verstoßen
kurz
Geistlichkeit
etw. entflechten
jmdn. verstehen (lernen)
Ziel
Auswirkung(en)
gegenseitig
Eigen-, Besonderheiten
Mittel
leitende(r) Berater(in)
Stellung
Klischee(vorstellung)
synergistisch, zusammenwirkend
etw. entwirren, aufdröseln
clergy, bourgeoisie and farmers. This can be contrasted
with the horizontal working relationships to be found in
an Anglo-Saxon or German system of goals, functions and
processes, in which mutual contracts between “equal”
partners organize the duties and rights of all those involved.
What advice would you give about working with the French?
Managers should be aware that working interculturally
can be a pleasurable experience, but they should also know
that organizations can use different world views, methods,
experiences and competencies in a synergistic way. Once
they have overcome some stereotypes and assumptions,
they will discover and appreciate the logic of the other cultural
system and use its peculiarities as a resource for
achieving their goals. Above all, managers dealing with the
French should respect the logic of honour, try to invest time
in building personal trust and be interested in the rich
French culture — its arts, its food and its history. ■BS
For more information
BOOKS
■ Au Contraire! Figuring out the French, Gilles Asselin, Ruth
Mastron (Intercultural Press)
■ Business Know-how Frankreich, Christoph Barmeyer (Redline
Wirtschaft)
■ Deutsch-französische Geschäftsbeziehungen erfolgreich
managen, Jochen Peter Breuer et al. (Springer Gabler)
■ The French, Theodore Zeldin (Harvill Press)
■ La logique de l’honneur, Philippe d’Iribarne (Seuil)
■ Multinational Enterprises and Innovation: Regional Learning
in Networks, Christoph Barmeyer et al. (Routledge)
■ Wirtschaftsmodell Frankreich, Christoph Barmeyer et al.
(Campus)*
■ A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle (Vintage)
* These products are available at www.sprachenshop.de
WEBSITES
■ American Harriet Welty Rochefort has a French husband
and has lived in Paris for many years. She shares her views
on working with the French: www.understandfrance.org/
France/Intercultural3.html
■ “The impact of intercultural competence on Franco-German
business relations”, paper presented at the first Conference
on Applied Interculturality Research at the University of Graz,
Austria: www.uni-graz.at/fAIR/cAIR10/publications.htm
■ Information for investors is provided by the Invest in France
Agency (IFA): www.invest-in-france.org
Listen to more on this topic on Business Spotlight Audio
plus You’ll find a related quiz in Business Spotlight plus
www Read Robert Gibson’s blog at www.business-spotlight.de/blogs
ROBERT GIBSON is a senior consultant for intercultural
business competence at Siemens AG in Munich
(www.siemens.com) and the author of Intercultural
Business Communication (Cornelsen). Contact:
gibson.rob@siemens.com
28 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

LOOKING BACK INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ■
“Then, he wore dreadlocks and was passionate about
the rights of the masses. Now, he is earning masses”
VICKI SUSSENS ON CORRUPTION IN SOUTH AFRICA
medium
Some are more equal
than others
In dieser neuen Kolumne schreiben unsere Mitarbeiter über ihre Heimat.
VICKI SUSSENS macht den Anfang mit ihren persönlichen Einblicken in die
aktuelle politische und gesellschaftliche Situation in Südafrika.
When my sister in Pretoria complains
that South Africa is becoming
a banana republic, I say: “Welcome to
the so-called civilized world.” The
fact that President Jacob Zuma was
accused of rape and corruption, yet
remains in power, is no worse than
George W. Bush starting a war that
many regard as illegal and not being
punished. Former South African
“freedom fighters” may have become
oligarchs, but we see the same greed
among the global corporate elite.
I remember a trade union leader at
parties in Johannesburg in the 1980s.
Then, he wore dreadlocks and was
passionate about the rights of the masses.
Now, he’s the billionaire owner of
a mining group and earning masses.
An ideology, whether it promotes
fascism or “freedom and democracy”,
Quotenregelung zugunsten
benachteiligter Minderheiten
Milliardär(in)
Vorstand
etw. zerschlagen
Bauunternehmer(in)
Unternehmens-
Rastalocken
Bergbaukonzern
Nachrichtenredaktion
sich für etw. begeistern
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Quotenregelung
Vergewaltigung
Aufstieg
stabil
Gewerkschaft
affirmative action
[E)f§:mEtIv (ÄkS&n]
billionaire [)bIljE(neE]
board [bO:d]
break sth. up [)breIk (Vp]
building contractor [(bIldIN kEn)trÄktE]
corporate [(kO:pErEt]
dreadlocks [(dredlQks]
mining group [(maInIN )gru:p]
newsroom [(nju:zru:m]
passionate: be ~ about sth. [(pÄS&nEt]
PR (public relations) [)pi: (A:]
quota law [(kwEUtE )lO:]
rape [reIp]
rise [raIz]
stable [(steIb&l]
trade union [)treId (ju:niEn]
can easily be used to justify giving
some people more than others. Today’s
corporate elite promote the freemarket
idea that the market decides
who succeeds. Yet, the winners are
huge monopolies whose powerful
lobbyists do indeed keep the market
“free” — of the laws that, before the
deregulation of the 1980s, would
have broken up those monopolies.
In South Africa, the black elite rose
to the top because they were the victims
of apartheid. That sounds fair, as
do the quota laws, which are meant
to bring equality. Companies face
huge punishments if they do not have
the right number of blacks as managers
and owners. However, since the
majority of blacks remain uneducated,
only a small group is benefiting.
Getty Images
Before I left South Africa, in 1993,
I watched the fantastic rise of a journalist
who went from the newsroom
on to the boards of no less than three
companies within a year. Affirmative
action has become a farce in which
the black elite helps firms meet their
quotas by joining their boards.
This does not mean that all those at
the top got there unfairly. However,
with unemployment at an estimated
40 per cent and a failed education
system, inequality is growing.
Super-rich: the quota system
benefits a very small group
While South Africa is far from being
a banana republic — it has a stable
government, a free press and a strong
economy — I can understand my sister’s
frustration. She lost her PR job
with a government organization because
she is white. Her husband, a
building contractor, just lost the last
of his contracts because he doesn’t
have a black partner. She is now training
to become an English teacher and
he is fixing their holiday farm to rent
out as a guest house. They are also seriously
considering emigrating. ■BS
VICKI SUSSENS is a South African journalist
who, after first moving to Australia
and then Israel, now lives in Munich.
plus You’ll find reading-comprehension exercises in Business Spotlight plus
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 29

■ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAVEL TIPS
Where to go and what to do
easy
Sie planen eine Geschäfts- oder Urlaubsreise? SARAH GOUGH empfiehlt Ihnen Orte und Ereignisse, die
Sie nicht verpassen sollten, und gibt Ihnen noch weitere interessante Informationen.
Holi: having fun with
coloured powders
■ Mardi Gras in Sydney is one of the oldest and most popular
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) prides. The
festival runs for three weeks, culminating in the parade on
2 March. The event attracts around 100,000 visitors a year
and generates A$30 million for the state of New South
Wales. This year is Mardi Gras’s 35th anniversary. Most
pride parades take place in June to mark the 1969
Stonewall riots in Manhattan. www.mardigras.org.au
Festival time
This is festival season in many corners of the planet. Here are
three we like:
■ Holi, a major Hindu festival celebrating the winter harvest
and the beginning of spring, starts on 27 March. Called the
festival of colour, the event involves sprinkling coloured
water and powders on anyone who is nearby. Lively celebrations
are held all over India and any place that has a
large Indian community. Find the one closest to you at
www.holifestival.org
Getty Images
■ St Patrick’s Day, 17 March, is one of the most important
Irish festivals and is celebrated all over the world. The party
in Dublin should be particularly exciting: 2013 is the
year of “The Gathering”, to which Ireland is inviting the
70 million people around the world claiming Irish ancestry
to (re)discover their roots. www.stpatricksfestival.ie;
www.thegatheringireland.com
DID YOU KNOW?
Four UK cities are among Europe’s fastest-growing
tourist destinations. In a top-ten list put together by
the travel website TripAdvisor, Glasgow, Manchester,
Belfast and Liverpool were in place six, seven, eight
and ten, respectively. The winner was Kiev in Ukraine.
Places to stay
Traditional
Brown’s Hotel in London. This luxurious hotel in
the heart of Mayfair is ideal for those who want
to treat themselves to something very special.
Opened in 1837, it was one of the first hotels in
London. Many famous people have stayed there
since, including Agatha Christie, who is said to
have based the hotel in At Bertram’s Hotel on it.
Afternoon tea is a must. www.brownshotel.com
New
The German hotel chain Motel One is expanding to the UK.
Motel One Edinburgh-Royal opened in December 2012,
and there are plans for another one to open in Edinburgh
this year, as well as in London, Manchester and Newcastle.
The chain offers centrally located, low-budget design
hotels. www.motel-one.com
30 www.business-spotlight.de
ancestry [(Änsestri]
anniversary [)ÄnI(v§:sEri]
Edinburgh [(edInbErE]
gay [geI]
lesbian [(lezbiEn]
Mardi Gras [)mA:di (grA:]
pride (parade) [(praId (pE)reId)]
riot [(raIEt]
sprinkle sth. [(sprINk&l]
transgender [)trÄnz(dZendE]
treat oneself to sth.
[(tri:t wVn)self tu]
Ukraine [ju(kreIn]
Brown’s Hotel: luxury in London
Abstammung
Jubiläum
[wg. Aussprache]
homosexuell
lesbisch
[wg. Aussprache]
Lesben- und Schwulenparade
Krawall
etw. versprengen
transsexuell
sich etw. gönnen
[wg. Aussprache]

Books
Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure by Artemis Cooper. This is a biography of traveller,
writer, journalist, bon vivant, womanizer and adventurer Leigh Fermor, who died in
2011. At the age of 18, Fermor decided to walk from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul.
It took him two years. He was also part of a commando that kidnapped General
Kreipe, the German commander in occupied Crete during the Second World War. A brilliant
and controversial figure, he is described with humour and insight by writer
Artemis Cooper, a personal friend. John Murray Publishers Ltd.
The Culture Smart! series, published by Kuperard. These guides provide a wide range
of tips on culture, customs, religion and etiquette, as well as subjects for small talk. They
are aimed at business travellers and holidaymakers, and cover close to 100 countries,
from Australia to the US via China, India, France and Belarus. Also available as e-books.
apologies: send one’s ~ [E(pQlEdZiz] sich entschuldigen lassen
Belarus [)belE(ru:s]
Weißrussland
Crete [kri:t]
Kreta
culture smart [(kVltSE smA:t] in kulturellen Dingen bewandert
etiquette [(etIket]
Verhaltensregeln
fill sth. in [)fIl (In]
etw. ausfüllen
insight [(InsaIt]
Verständnis
lanyard [(lÄnjEd]
Band, Kordel
listing [(lIstIN]
hier: (Veranstaltungs-)Kalender
Ltd (limited) [(lImItId] UK etwa: GmbH
name tag [(neIm tÄg]
Namensschild
receptionist [ri(sepS&nIst]
Dame/Herr am Empfang
review [ri(vju:]
Kritik
time out [)taIm (aUt]
Auszeit
visitors’ book [(vIzItEz bUk] Gästebuch
womanizer [(wUmEnaIzE]
Frauenheld
Apps
Time Out guides are excellent
and their city apps are getting
very positive reviews.
They include maps (which
can be used offline), reviews of restaurants, bars and
hotels, lists of cultural highlights and shopping tips,
as well as music and theatre listings (updated daily).
Destinations include Paris, London, Barcelona and
Zagreb. What’s more, they’re free! www.timeout.com
Stockbyte
English on the Move
At the reception desk
easy
Sie sind auf Reisen und kommen im Konferenzzentrum an.
KEN TAYLOR zeigt, wie die Anmeldung ablaufen könnte.
1. Arriving
Receptionist: Good morning. May I help you?
Franz: Yes, please. We have an appointment with Mr Jones.
Receptionist: May I have your names, please?
Franz: Certainly. I’m Franz Schmid and this is Gabi Polt.
Receptionist: Thank you. Ah, yes. I have you on my visitors’
list here. Could you just fill in the visitors’ book for me, please?
Franz: Right here?
Receptionist: That’s right. Could we have your full name, your
company name and the time, if you wouldn’t mind?
Franz: Do you have a pen I could borrow?
Receptionist: Of course. Now, could you wear these lanyards
with your name tags while you are in the building? Please put
them on the desk when you leave. Safety regulations: in case
there’s a fire, we need to know who is in the building.
2. Waiting
Receptionist: I’ll let Mr Jones know you’re here. Do take a
seat in the waiting area. And there is a coffee machine over
there in the corner. Please, help yourselves.
Gabi: Excuse me, but where are the toilets?
Receptionist: You can find the ladies’ room just down that
corridor on the left.
Gabi: Thank you.
Franz: And the men’s room?
Receptionist: It’s on the right-hand side.
Franz: Thanks.
[a few minutes later…]
Receptionist: Mr Jones sends his apologies. He will need
another ten minutes or so. Then, he’ll come and pick you
up here.
Gabi: That’s all right. We were a few minutes early anyway.
I think I’ll have a coffee while we’re waiting.
Franz: Me, too.
Receptionist: Today’s papers should be there on the table, if
you’re interested.
■BS
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 31

Obwohl vielen Mitarbeitern strategische Schachzüge in
der Unternehmenspolitik verhasst sind, beteiligen sie sich
daran wie an einem Spiel. BOB DIGNEN erklärt, welche
Regeln für dieses Spiel gelten, welche Ziele es verfolgt,
welche Auswirkungen es hat, welche Spielertypen es gibt
und wie sich diese verhalten.
medium
Playing
the game
Ingram Publishing

ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS BUSINESS SKILLS n
Ask people to name one thing that they don’t like
about their organization and most will answer
“office politics”. And although many say that
they refuse to play such games, politics is a part
of every workplace. Refusing to take part may
seem like an ethical response, but can you really be effective
at work without playing politics?
In this article, we examine what is generally meant by
“organizational politics”. We also look at strategies for
handling politics that focus on results but that also work
according to clear ethical principles.
Before you read further, think about how you would answer
the following questions:
n What do we mean by “politics” in organizations?
n Can you list five negative political games that people
play in organizations?
n What is the best way to handle workplace politics?
As you read on, compare your answers with the points
made in the article.
1. What do we mean by “politics”?
Many forms of so-called political behaviour — such as
building relationships and influencing people to accept our
views — are normal parts of working together in organizations.
So where exactly is the problem? The key lies in
people’s intentions, and in the forms of behaviour that support
these intentions:
n Bad political intentions. Playing politics means being motivated
primarily by self-interest, aiming at personal success
at the expense of others. It may even involve acting
against the best interests of the organization.
n Bad political behaviour. Political games often involve
dishonest, secretive or unethical behaviour, for example,
spreading rumours to undermine rivals.
2. Typical political games
In this section, we look at some of the typical political
games that people play in the workplace:
n Becoming “friends” with senior managers. One of the most
criticized forms of political behaviour is aiming to “have
friends in high places” in order to increase one’s personal
influence, while undervaluing relationships with colleagues.
This might mean finding time for coffee or lunch
with senior managers, while delaying tasks that would support
the team.
n Promoting one’s personal image. This covers many forms of
action, including finding the same jokes funny as senior
management, supporting the same projects and initiatives,
and taking the credit for other people’s success at work. It
can also include more indirect behaviour, such as wearing
the same clothes as senior management.
n Undermining others. Typical methods include gossiping
about others’ mistakes or complaining about weaknesses
in their working style or competence. Other people’s initiatives
can also be undermined by removing staff or financial
support and even allowing things to go wrong and
then pretending to have been supportive (“If only you had
told me…”).
n Controlling information. Information is an important tool
for those interested in playing politics. The flow of information
can be manipulated to make others look stupid as
they stumble towards bad decisions. It can also be used to
confuse others, for example, filling presentations with too
many statistics and technical data.
n Negotiating the right deals. Politics is about getting authorization
for the decisions you want. Sometimes, this involves
a directive use of authority to stop disagreement.
Other times, it means offering support to influential decision-makers
— such as promising staff or resources for
their projects — in exchange for supporting your personal
initiatives. It might also mean turning a blind eye to the
at the expense of sb.
[)Ät Di: Ik(spens Qv]
deceiver [di(si:vE]
deception [di(sepS&n]
directive [dE(rektIv]
gossip about sb./sth. [(gQsIp E)baUt]
inclined: be ~ to do sth. [In(klaInd]
negotiate sth. [nI(gEUSieIt]
obey sth. [E(beI]
play politics
[)pleI (pQlItIks]
(politics
“Men are so simple and so much
inclined to obey immediate
needs that a deceiver will never
lack victims for his deceptions”
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), Italian politician
resources [ri(zO:sIz]
response [ri(spQns]
rumour [(ru:mE]
senior manager
[)si:niE (mÄnIdZE]
stumble towards bad decisions
[)stVmb&l tE)wO:dz )bÄd di(sIZ&nz]
(stumble
supportive: be ~ (of sb.)
[sE(pO:tIv]
take the credit for sth.
[)teIk DE (kredIt fO:]
turn a blind eye to sth.
[)t§:n E )blaInd (aI tu]
undermine sb./sth.
[)VndE(maIn]
victim [(vIktIm]
auf jmds. Kosten
Betrüger(in)
Täuschung, Betrügerei
Weisungen erteilend
über jmdn./etw. tratschen
dazu neigen, etw. zu tun
etw. aus-, verhandeln
einer Sache gehorchen; hier:
nachgeben
strategische Schachzüge
(zum eigenen Vorteil) machen
(Unternehmens-)Politik; hier
auch: Klüngelei)
Mittel
Reaktion
Gerücht
Manager(in) der oberen Führungsebene
sich zu fehlerhaften Entscheidungen
verleiten
lassen
stolpern)
(jmdn.) unterstützen; hier
auch: einfühlsam sein
die Lorbeeren für etw. einheimsen
ein Auge bei etw. zudrücken
jmds. Position/etw. schwächen,
untergraben
Opfer
4
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 33

n BUSINESS SKILLS ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
weaknesses of someone’s pet project
— and expecting their support at a
later date.
Ask yourself: What kind of negative
political games are played in my organization?
What impact do these
have on my working life? How do I
try to manage this impact?
Some effects of negative politics
n Top talent leaves the company (“brain drain”)
n Internal competition across silos leads to inefficiency
n Lack of knowledge-sharing reduces innovation
n Reduced trust in leadership slows the implementation
of strategy
n Lower motivation reduces employee productivity
3. Moving forward
It won’t help you simply to complain about politics or to
remain a victim. You need to become more aware of the
political games that are played and take the correct action.
To do this, you need to develop what I call “organizational
intelligence” (OI). This involves four key steps:
a) Understanding the world
Think about the business world in which you live. It is
global, highly interdependent, highly uncertain and increasingly
volatile. Organizations reflect this world: roles
and responsibilities are often not clearly defined, and
reporting lines are frequently fuzzy. Decision-making has
also become more complicated, with competing projects.
People are thrown into conflict across their organizations.
Resources are stretched, and staff understandably become
defensive and aggressive.
Understanding this more networked and volatile world
is the first step to finding ways to handle negative politics.
It also helps us to develop positive forms of behaviour such
as building relationships and trust. These are essential for
working collaboratively and ethically in complex, fuzzy organizations.
b) Understanding your organization
People with organizational intelligence can understand the
tensions and conflicts that drive negative politics at their
workplace. These could come from the external marketplace.
Poor financial results and falling market share may
cause senior management to cut costs and to look for people
to blame. Tensions can also come from differences of
opinion on strategy at senior-management level, leading to
competing projects and a silo mentality, which prevents
effective cooperation. Conflicts can also arise if an organization
is poorly organized, underfinanced or led by a senior
manager with narcissistic tendencies or an ineffective
senior-management team. In such situations, a political culture
of manipulation and pressure can easily arise.
c) Managing negative politics
There are two main dimensions to coping with negative
politics in organizations. Paradoxically, we first have to
recognize that much of what we describe as negative politics
may simply be other people doing positive things better
than we do. This may include networking with senior
management and promoting their legitimate successes in
order to advance their career. Some people are unfairly criticized
for developing their careers via effective relationship
building. Secondly, however, we also need to know how
and when to counter unethical behaviour, either directly by
confronting the individual concerned or with the help of
other people.
etw. voranbringen
Abwanderung hochqualifizierter
Arbeitskräfte
gemeinschaftlich
miteinander konkurrierend
Wettbewerb
mit etw. zurechtkommen
einer Sache entgegenwirken
unklar (definiert)
Auswirkung(en)
berechtigt
Marktanteil(e)
vernetzt
Kontakte mit jmdm. knüpfen
und pflegen
Lieblings-
Weisungskette, Berichtsweg
hier: abgeschlossener (Unternehmens-)Bereich
„Silo-Mentalität“, Fokussierung
auf einzelne Unternehmensbereiche
hier: knapp
Spannung
brisant
advance sth. [Ed(vA:ns]
brain drain
[(breIn dreIn] ifml.
collaboratively [kE(lÄbErEtIvli]
competing [kEm(pi:tIN]
competition [)kQmpE(tIS&n]
cope with sth. [(kEUp wID]
counter sth. [(kaUntE]
fuzzy [(fVzi]
impact [(ImpÄkt]
legitimate [lI(dZItEmEt]
market share [)mA:kIt (SeE]
networked [(netw§:kt]
network with sb.
[(netw§:k wID]
pet [pet]
reporting line [ri(pO:tIN laIn]
silo [(saIlEU]
silo mentality
[(saIlEU men)tÄlEti]
stretched [stretSt]
tension [(tenS&n]
volatile [(vQlEtaI&l]
Gossip: a key part of politics in organizations
34 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

50
43
42
41
9/ 1
40
Joe DiMa gio Highway
46
Gr enwich Street
Hudson Str et
West Broadway
Church Str et
Pike Str et
38
St.
Mo t St.
famous for?
Mulbe ry
America
47
Varick Str et
37
Bowery
39
Orchard St.
Mott St.
Mulbe ry St.
Gr enwich Str et
Eleventh Avenue(West Side Highway)
34
Broadway
Lafaye te Str et
1st Avenue
Avenue A
Avenue B
Avenue C
Avenue D
Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive
36
3
35
3rd Avenue
2nd Avenue
Fifth Avenue
Park
32
1st Avenue
Broadway
24 05
31
30
26 29
Park Avenue
Lexington Avenue
park
28
Eighth Avenue
R osevelt Drive
Twelfth Avenue
Broadway
26
25
Seventh Avenue
27
Fifth Avenue
Madison Avenue
Park Avenue
Lexington Avenue
3rd Avenue
2nd Avenue
Franklin D.
1st Avenue
21st Str et
24
23
2
Eleventh Avenue
Tenth Avenue
Ninth Avenue
20
21
18
Eighth Avenue
17
15
19
16
14
0
Broadway
9
1
Central Park West
10
48
Lexington Avenue
12
13
The
Lake
3rd Avenue
2nd Avenue
1st Avenue
York Avenue
4
Broadway
2
8
Museum Mile
1
3
Madison Avenue
Park Avenue
6
7
Riverside Park
5
West End Avenue
Amsterdam Avenue
Columbus Avenue
Central Park West
We
1st Avenue
3rd Avenue
2nd Avenue
Museum Mile
Read through the following scenarios. What would you say to start a
conversation about these situations with a manager or a team colleague?
Compare your ideas with the language given on page 37.
n You feel someone is supporting certain projects in order to gain favour
with influential people.
n You feel someone is selling something as their success when it was someone
else’s idea.
n You feel someone is undermining another person by complaining or gossiping
about them.
n You feel someone is withholding information that is needed by others.
n You feel someone is using power unfairly to silence disagreement.
n You feel someone is placing unfair demands on you or a team member.
d) Mobilizing support
In today’s networked organizations, individual people seldom have enough
authority to push through all the decisions that they would like to. Power
is becoming increasingly fragmented, not just among individuals and
across departments but also across continents. Playing positive politics to
mobilize support is therefore essential. This support can come from many
sources:
n Build broader networks. This takes time, of course — to identify the right
people, to get to know their personality and professional outlook, and then
to talk to them and influence them to become supporters rather than rivals.
This networking can be done directly or via other people who are
champions of your cause.
n Focus on people development. Filling key positions with people who have
the right talent and right attitude is a key component of organizational intelligence.
If their attitude is right but they lack skills, you may need to plan
training, coaching or mentoring steps to help them.
n Make use of power. If
these strategies fail to
People with organizational
intelligence understand
the tensions and conflicts
that drive negative politics
at their workplace
help, you may need to
fall back on more directive
methods: using
your own power or
escalating problems
to senior management,
using sanctions,
etc. This can be a dangerous
strategy, however.
Although it can
speed up problem resolution, escalating problems can damage trust with
your staff and make you appear dependent on senior figures, weakening
your position in the longer term. Discuss with your senior managers which
sorts of problems they want to be informed of and when.
4
FINANCIAL
DISTRICT
High Str et
5
Wall Str et
Br oklyn Bridge Park
6
North
Cove
Marina
Wa l Str et &
NYSE
South Str et Seaport
Water Str et
7
Spielend New York
entdecken und
Englisch lernen!
C
Memorial
Fulton Str et
Brooklyn Bridge
Manha tan Bridge
Vesey Str et
0 1 km
South Str et Viaduct
8
Statue of
Liberty
City Ha l
9
Chambers Str et
Park Row
Madison Str et
QUESTIONS
What is the street ca led Broadway
famous for?
a) having the ta lest buildings in
America
b) its large number of theaters and
playhouses (Schauspielhaus)
c) dividing the city between uptown
and downtown
QUESTIONS
D
Che ry Str et
Governors Island
CHINATOWN
East
Broadway
A
TRIBECA
Canal Str et
Lafaye te Str et
East Broadway
Madison Str et
LITTLE
ITALY
Orchard Str et &
Tenement
Museum
© 2010 Gru be Media GmbH
©
Canal Str et
QUESTIONS
What is the street ca led Broadway
a) having the tallest buildings in
b) its large number of theaters and
playhouses (Schauspielhaus )
c) dividing the city between uptown
and downtown
What is the street ca led Broadway
famous for?
a) having the ta lest buildings in
America
b) its large number of theaters and
playhouses (Schauspielhaus)
c) dividing the city between uptown
and downtown
What was once located at Manhattan’s
“Ground Zero”?
a) New York’s first bank
b) a large lake
c) the World Trade Center
What was once located at Manhattan’s
“Ground Zero”?
a) New York’s first bank
b) a large lake
c) the World Trade Center
What was once located at Manha tan’s
“Ground Zero”?
a) New York’s first bank
b) a large lake
c) the World Trade Center
Canal Str et
LOWER EAST
SIDE
Grand Str et
E lis Island
Br oklyn-Ba tery
Tu nel
Grand Str et
Ho land Tu nel
Canal Str et
Br ome Str et
Wi liamsburg Bridge
E
Delancey St.
SOHO
Spring Str et
B
Broadway-
Lafaye te St.
Prince Str et
East Houston Str et
West Houston Str et
LOWER
MANHATTAN
Bl ecker Str et
East 4th Str et
EAST VILLAGE
F
ANSWERS
b) its large number of theaters and
playhouses
Some 17 miles (27 kilometers) long,
Broadway is one of the longest streets
in Manha tan, and it continues on
into the Bronx. The part of Broadway
between 41st and 53rd Streets is the
Theater District, which has more than
40 theaters.
c) the World Trade Center
This important center of international
business was destroyed in the te rorist
attacks on September 11, 2001. Generally,
“ground zero” is a place where a
big explosion has happened.
Hudson River
Christopher St.
4th Str et
Tompkins
Square Park
Washington
Square Park
St. Mark’s
Place
Christopher Street
GREENWICH
VILLAGE
Gr enwich Avenue
Subway
(ausgewählte Linien)
Lines A & C
Lines 4 & 5
Line F
Roosevelt Island
Tramway
C
Roosevelt Island is a quiet spot
in New York City, lying between
Manhattan and Queens in the
East River. The aerial tramway,
which was built by a Swiss company,
looks like a big cable car.
I takes commuters (Pendler(in) )
and tourists from Manhattan to
Roosevelt Island and back. For
the same price as the train, the
four-minute trip offers a fantastic
view of the Manhattan skyline
and the East River.
M
2
1 | Bronx Zoo &
Botanical Garden
H
8
Gansevoort Str et
6th Avenue
14th Street
East 14th Str et
15 | Roosevelt Island
Tramway
G
Union Square
14th Street
West 14th Str et
MEATPACKING
DISTRICT
GRAMERCY
PARK
East 18th Str et
Union Square
West 18th Str et
Flatiron
Building
0 1 km
D
East 23rd Street
CHELSEA
Hotel Chelsea
Madison
Square
Park
NEW YORK CITY
H
Chelsea Piers
West 23rd Str et
Avenue of the Americas
East River
BROOKLYN
E
High Line
Madison
Square
Garden
West 30th Str et
Empire State
Building
East 34th Str et
34th Str et
Penn Station
34th Str et
I
West 34th Str et
GARMENT
DISTRICT
Qu ens-
Midtown Tu nel
Macy’s
Long Island Expre sway
F
Port
Authority
Bus
Terminal
West 40th Street
West 42nd Street
Avenue of the Americas
Grand
Central
Station
Chrysler
Building
United Nations
Jackson
Avenue
Lincoln Tu nel
THEATER
DISTRICT
Times
Square
MIDTOWN
TURTLE
BAY
MoMA PS1
J
Intrepid Sea, Air &
Space Museum
Twelfth Avenue
Rockefe ler
Center
Saks Fifth Avenue
Waldorf-
Astoria
& St. Bart’s
QUEENS
G
47th–50th
Str ets
East 50th Str et
MoMA
Radio City Music Ha l
St. Patrick’s
You take the Metro-North
train from Connecticut and
arrive at Grand Central Station.
Starting point:
Grand Central Station
East 53rd Str et
STATEN
ISLAND
West 50th Str et
Vernon Blvd.
21st Str et
Coney 49 10 km
Island
Brighton Beach
NYC
Pa senger
Ship
Terminal
Roosevelt
Island Tramway
Silvercup Studios
K
West 53rd Str et
East 57th Street
Carnegie Ha l
Trump
Tower
Plaza
Hotel
Ti fany & Co.
59th
Str et
Qu ensboro Bridge
FAO
Schwarz
East 59th Str et
R osevelt
Island
H
West 57th Str et
Central Park South
59th Str et
Columbus Circle
Apple Store
Lexington
Avenue
63rd Str et
Bl omingdale’s
BROOKLYN
John F. Ke nedy
International Airport
Lincoln
Center
East 65th Str et
L
(East River Drive)
R osevelt
Island
Central Park Z o
UPPER
EAST
SIDE
I
West 6th Str et
Central
Park
Flushing
Meadows
Corona
Park
QUEENS
UPPER
WEST
SIDE
East 72nd Str et
MANHATTAN
Frick Co lection
Bethesda
Fountain
West 72nd Str et
M
The Apo lo
LaGuardia
Airport
Strawbe ry Fields
& The Dakota
Franklin D. R osevelt Drive
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H
6
Carlyle
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7th Str et
J
East 79th Str et
Yank e Stadium
American
Museum of
Natural
History
1
The Cloisters
Bronx Z o &
Botanical Garden
Metropolitan
Museum of Art
YORKVILLE
THE
BRONX
81st Str et
2
East 86th Str et
Gracie Mansion &
Carl Schurz Park
K
3
West 86th Str et
Jacqueline
Ke nedy Ona sis
Reservoir
Gu genheim
Museum
4
East 96th Str et
5
L
96th Str et
97th Str et
6
West 96th Str et
7
103rd Str et
East 106th Str et
8
9
M
champion: be a ~ of a cause [(tSÄmpjEn]
department [di(pA:tmEnt]
escalate sth. [(eskEleIt]
fall back on sth. [)fO:l (bÄk Qn]
fragmented [frÄg(mentId]
in the longer term [)In DE (lQNgE t§:m]
key component [)ki: kEm(pEUnEnt]
outlook [(aUtlUk]
resolution [)rezE(lu:S&n]
withhold sth. [wID(hEUld]
für eine Sache eintreten
Abteilung
etw. (nach oben) weiterleiten
auf etw. zurückgreifen
fragmentiert; hier: aufgeteilt
längerfristig
wesentlicher Bestandteil
Einstellung, Haltung
Lösung
etw. zurück-, einbehalten
JETZT BESTELLEN!
www.sprachenshop.de/spiele
oder im Buch- und Spielwarenhandel
3 29,95 (UVP)
Ebenfalls lieferbar:
2/2013

n BUSINESS SKILLS ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
ARE YOU AN OWL, A FOX, A DONKEY OR A SHEEP?
Psychological
game playing
Clever
Inept
4. How do you deal with politics?
Many people make the mistake of thinking that all forms
of office politics are negative. As a result, they remain excluded
from important circles of power in their organizations,
reducing their influence on decisions and harming
their career development.
You should try to think critically about your approach
to organizational dynamics, so that you can develop new
skills and perform more effectively. Simon Baddeley and
Kim James (see “For more information”) developed a
model that consists of four typical responses to organizational
politics, as shown in the diagram above and the table
on the right. Read through the behaviours and attitudes associated
with each type (those shown are a selection from
the model). Think about which type best describes you and
others in your organization. Then think about what action
you could take as a result of this analysis.
5. Planning is the key
You need to plan a way forward for you and your team
that anticipates and handles the risks of negative politics.
But you should also take the opportunities that are available
to play positive politics. In doing so, you should think
about your own time budget and abilities, as well as those
achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
anticipate sth. [Än(tIsIpeIt]
appreciate sth. [E(pri:SieIt]
approach [E(prEUtS]
clear principles [)klIE (prInsEp&lz]
congruent [(kQNgruEnt]
cope with sth. [(kEUp wID]
donkey [(dQNki]
exploit sth. [Ik(splOIt]
inept [I(nept]
innocent [(InEsEnt]
owl [aUl]
purpose: for a ~ [(p§:pEs]
read sth. [ri:d]
rely on sth. [ri(laI Qn]
shadow side [(SÄdEU saId]
veneer [vE(nIE]
win-win situation
[)wIn (wIn sItSu)eIS&n]
Politically aware
Politically unaware
Wise
Innocent
Action with
integrity
etw. erreichen
etw. vorwegnehmen
für etw. Verständnis haben
Einstellung
klare Prinzipien
kongruent, deckungsgleich
mit etw. zurechtkommen
Esel
sich etw. zunutze machen
untauglich
arg-, harmlos
Eule
zielgerichtet
hier: etw. registrieren
sich auf etw. stützen
dunkle Seite
Furnier; hier: Fassade
Situation, die für alle Beteiligten
Vorteile bietet
Clever fox
n Interested in power
n Unprincipled, not ethical
n Aggressive but has charming
veneer
n Manipulates situations to appear
never to make mistakes
n Likes games with winners/losers
n Can recognize and exploit key
weaknesses in people
n Gets the necessary information
n Self-centred
Inept donkey
n Likes associating with authority
n Lacks a set of clear principles
n Not ethical
n Not skilled interpersonally
n Concerned with own feelings
n Plays psychological games but
doesn’t read those of others
n Doesn’t listen to others
n Inept at making alliances
Source: http://www.ctrtraining.co.uk/documents/OwlFoxDonkeySheep_001.doc
For more information
Wise owl
n Interested in leadership and
using power for a purpose
n Principled, ethical
n Can cope with being disliked,
good interpersonal skills
n Tactful, stops gossip/rumours
n Learns from mistakes
n Negotiates and cooperates;
likes win-win situations
n Has a sense of loyalty
n Excellent listener
Innocent sheep
n Sees authority and power as
congruent
n Tends to rely on authority
n Sticks to ethical rules
n Extreme respect for rationality
n Doesn’t appreciate political
purpose
n Doesn’t network to get support
n Listens but does not hear
of your team and immediate organization. And ask yourself
the following questions:
n Am I and my team well regarded?
n Am I known to important decision-makers?
n Do I have people who can support me?
n Do I have competent people in my team?
n Do I have enough power to achieve what I want?
As you can see, there are lots of questions about politics
in organizations. What are your answers? nBS
PUBLICATION
n “Owl, Fox, Donkey, Sheep: Political Skills for Managers”,
Simon Baddeley, Kim James, Management Education and
Development, 18 (spring 1987)
WEBSITES
n Article by Simon Baddeley and Kim James http://www.
ctrtraining.co.uk/documents/OwlFoxDonkeySheep_001.doc
n Article on the shadow side of organizations: http://www.
windsorleadership.com/docs/Shadow_side_article.pdf
n Link to the report “Politics in organisations”: http://www.
roffeypark.com/research-insights/politics-in-organisations
Do exercises on this topic on Business Spotlight Audio
www Watch our Business with Bob series of videos for more tips on
how to improve your communication skills: www.businessspotlight.de/videos/bob
BOB DIGNEN is a director of York Associates
(www.york-associates.co.uk), which specializes in language,
communication and intercultural training. He
is the author of many business English books, including
Effective International Business Communication
(Collins). Contact: bob.dignen@york-associates.co.uk
36 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

SURVIVAL GUIDE BUSINESS SKILLS ■
Organizational politics
Here are some suggestions for managing negative politics. However, you should use only the
language that you feel comfortable with in your specific work situations.
medium
1. Opening statements
It is particularly important to manage the start of a conversation
to limit any potential conflict.
Explain the issue
■ John, could we discuss your recent decision to support... ?
■ Petra, could we talk about your comments on… ?
■ Bob, could we have a chat about your recent email to… ?
State the objective
■ I just wanted to understand your thinking about…
■ I’d like to clarify what you meant when you talked about…
■ It’s important for me to know what was said yesterday.
Express your view
■ I think this decision will create a lot of work for everybody.
■ I found your comments a little confusing because...
■ For me, this is unacceptable because…
Discuss your feelings
■ I didn’t feel very comfortable/supported/motivated.
■ I felt rather overlooked/criticized/demotivated.
Show your willingness to discuss things
■ Perhaps I don’t understand the background enough.
■ There may be a simple explanation.
■ I may be wrong.
Focus on the importance of the issue
■ For me, this is a question of ethics.
■ If we are going to work together, we need to…
Ask for a response
■ How did you see things?
■ What was your intention?
■ Can you give me your point of view?
organizational politics
[)O:gEnaI)zeIS&nal (pQlItIks]
chat [tSÄt]
clarify sth. [(klÄrEfaI]
confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m]
issue [(ISu:]
political: be ~ [pE(lItIk&l]
objective [Eb(dZektIv]
response [ri(spQns]
review sth. [ri(vju:]
take the credit for sth.
[)teIk DE (kredIt fO:]
underlying [)VndE(laIIN]
Unternehmenspolitik; hier
auch: Klüngelei
(informelles) Gespräch
etw. klarstellen
hier: etw. bekräftigen
(Streit-)Frage, Problem
taktisch agieren
Ziel(setzung)
Reaktion
etw. überprüfen
die Lorbeeren für etw.
einheimsen
zugrunde liegend
2. Listen and understand
It is essential to listen openly in order to understand the other
person. Many people become defensive if they feel they are
being accused of being political. Make clear that what you are
discussing is your opinion rather than a fact.
Not…
■ You manipulated
the discussion.
■ You lied.
■ You took the credit
for the success.
Rather…
3. Give your view
Confirm your underlying values and make clear how you expect
things to be done in the future.
Confirm your values
■ For me, a trust-based working relationship means…
■ If we want to cooperate effectively, I think that we have to…
Express your expectations
■ I would expect in the future that…
■ It’s essential for me that we…
Propose future actions
■ Could we review this again at the end of the year?
■ We may need to involve … if we have a similar issue.
4. Closing remarks
While accepting that there may be differences, stay optimistic
by mentioning any common approaches that exist.
Signal remaining differences
■ I think we see things differently / have different priorities.
■ Our management styles are not the same.
Point out common attitudes
■ I think that both of us are trying to…
■ Our underlying objective is the same.
■ It felt like the discussion was manipulated.
■ I was confused when you said …
because I thought…
■ As you know, it was my idea to…
So when you said it was your idea,
I was surprised.
Be optimistic about working together
■ I think that this discussion will enable us to…
■ We just need to communicate more about…
■BS
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 37

n BUSINESS SKILLS TOOLBOX
First calls, replies and native speakers
In unserer neuen Serie nutzt KEN TAYLOR seine Erfahrungen, die er in vielen Organisationen
und in verschiedenen Ländern sammeln konnte, und beantwortet häufig gestellte Fragen
zur Kommunikation im internationalen Geschäftsleben.
medium
iStockphoto (2)
1. How should I introduce myself to someone on the
phone for the first time?
When you are in this situation, you need to introduce
yourself clearly and make the person you are calling
want to speak with you. There are three simple methods
you can use:
First, do not say: “My name is…” Instead say:
n This is… (here).
This sounds more authoritative. When the president of
the US rings Angela Merkel, he doesn’t say: “My name
is Barack Obama.” He almost certainly starts by saying:
“This is Barack Obama here.” Make sure you say
your name extremely clearly, with a short pause between
your first name and your last name.
Second, say where you are calling from:
n I’m calling from STC in Berlin.
If the other person has heard of your organization, this
gives you extra credibility. And the fact that you are
making a call from another country may enhance your
status.
Third, state clearly the reason for your call so that
the other person doesn’t think you are a telephone
salesperson. You could say:
n The reason I’m calling is…
This phrase gets the other person to focus on the subject
that you want to discuss. In a way, it’s like the
subject line in an email.
authoritative [O:(TQrItEtIv]
verbindlich
confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m]
etw. bestätigen
consignment [kEn(saInmEnt]
Sendung
consultancy [kEn(sVltEnsi]
Beratungsfirma
credibility [)kredE(bIlEti]
Glaubwürdigkeit
enhance sth. [In(hA:ns]
etw. erhöhen
facilitator [fE(sIlEteItE]
Moderator(in); Leiter(in)
follow sth. up with sth. [)fQlEU (Vp wID] mit etw. nachlegen
go around the group
alle Teilnehmer(innen) zu
[)gEU E)raUnd DE (gru:p]
Wort kommen lassen
participant [pA:(tIsIpEnt]
Teilnehmer(in)
phrase [freIz]
Formulierung
salesperson [(seI&lz)p§:s&n]
Verkäufer(in)
space: give sb. ~ [speIs]
hier: jmdn. zu Wort kommen
lassen
subject line [(sVbdZekt laIn]
Betreffzeile
this is... [(DIs Iz]
hier spricht...
tracks: stop sb. in their ~ [trÄks] ifml. jmdn. abrupt stoppen
2. Is “With reference to your mail dated…”
the best way to start a reply?
No, it isn’t. If you start with this phrase, it
makes your first sentence extremely long.
For example: “With reference to your mail
dated 12 January 2013, I can confirm that we
sent the consignment last Monday.”
That’s a sentence of 19 words, which makes it difficult
to read. And it makes you sound very formal.
Why not start with a simple “thank you”?
n Thank you for your mail dated 12 January 2013. I can
confirm that we sent the consignment last Monday.
That’s two sentences, one of nine words, the other of
ten words. And it sounds friendly and professional.
3. As a facilitator of a meeting, how can I best interrupt
a native speaker who is dominating?
This is a common problem in international meetings.
Native speakers often talk more than the others — not
because they have better (or more) ideas but simply because
of their linguistic competence. It’s very important
not to allow this to happen, especially if you are
the meeting facilitator.
If you are running the meeting, make sure you
discuss this question at the start. Remind the native
speakers that the rest of the participants are working
in a second language. Often, however, native speakers
forget any promises they made to speak slowly or give
other people space. So you need to remind them.
The simplest way to interrupt native speakers is to
say their name. This stops them in their tracks. Then,
follow this up with an instruction. Here are two polite
but effective examples:
n Mike, thanks. Let’s just go around the group to see
what the others think.
n Margaret, thank you for that. I think Markus has something
he’d like to add here.
nBS
KEN TAYLOR is the director of Taylor Consultancy
Ltd, an international communication consultancy in
London, and the author of 50 Ways to Improve Your
Telephoning and Teleconferencing Skills (Summertown).
Contact: KTaylor868@aol.com
38 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

SAY IT IN STYLE BUSINESS SKILLS ■
Sentence
stress
Making a point:
the right sentence
stress can help
In spoken English, certain words in a sentence are emphasized
more than others. The stressed words are usually
“content words” — words that carry the content of the
speaker’s message. The other, unstressed words — such as
articles, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs — are sometimes
called “function words”. They structure the sentence.
Learners of English often make the mistake of giving
each word in a sentence almost equal stress. This can prevent
you from sounding fluent, even if the language you
use is perfectly correct. So it is worth spending some time
practising sentence stress.
Read the following lines aloud. Which words would you
stress?
■ Day, week, month, year.
■ A day, a week, a month, a year.
■ A day and a week and a month and a year.
■ Every day and every week and every month and every
year.
If you used the correct stress, you emphasized only the
content words, that is, the same four nouns in each line —
with more stress on the last word:
■ Every day and every week and every month and every
year.
Ideally, the length of time you needed to say each of the
four lines increased only slightly each time. The more
unstressed words there are between the stressed words, the
more quickly one normally speaks. You can practise this
auxiliary verb [O:g)zIliEri (v§:b]
carry sth. [(kÄri]
emphasize sth. [(emfEsaIz]
fluent [(flu:Ent]
in bold [)In (bEUld]
noun [naUn]
stress [stres]
stressed [strest]
tap the rhythm of sth.
[)tÄp DE (rIDEm]
topic [(tQpIk]
Hilfsverb
hier: etw. enthalten
etw. betonen
flüssig
fett gedruckt
Nomen, Substantiv
Betonung
betont
den Rhythmus von etw.
klopfen
Thema
Stockbyte
Englisch ist eine rhythmische Sprache.
Und zur Verständigung ist die richtige
Betonung im Satz oft wichtiger als die
korrekte Aussprache einzelner Laute,
wie ANNA HOCHSIEDER erklärt. easy
by tapping the rhythm of the sentence while you speak: one
beat for every stressed word.
In real life, of course, there are often several ways in
which you can stress a sentence. You can communicate different
messages depending on which word or words in a
sentence you emphasize. Sometimes, you may choose to
stress words that are normally unstressed. Look at the following
example:
■ I have to work on Saturday.
Depending on the context, this sentence can have diffe -
rent stress patterns. Read the following sentences aloud,
putting the main stress on the words in bold:
■ I have to work on Saturday.
■ I have to work on Saturday.
■ I have to work on Saturday.
■ I have to work on Saturday.
Did you notice how the meaning changes, depending on
which word you stress? If we add some information to
each line, the difference in meaning becomes even clearer:
■ I have to work on Saturday. (I didn’t say Sunday.)
■ I have to work on Saturday. (So I can’t spend the day
with you.)
■ I have to work on Saturday. (There’s nothing I can do
about it.)
■ I have to work on Saturday. (No, not you or Jane —
it’s me who has to work on Saturday.) ■BS
Do an exercise on this topic on Business Spotlight Audio
www Learn more phrases at www.business-spotlight.de/skills
ANNA HOCHSIEDER is a Munich-based teacher of
English as a Second Language and also writes on language
issues in Spotlight and Business Spotlight.
Contact: a.hochsieder@googlemail.com
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 39

The long road: with regular
workouts, you can go far
Learning
to win
Wer im Sport Erfolg haben möchte, sollte intensiv und nach einem Plan trainieren. Das trifft
auch für das Erlernen und Vertiefen einer Fremdsprache zu. Wie Sie Ihren ganz persönlichen
Lernplan gestalten können, zeigen Ihnen HILDEGARD RUDOLPH und CAROL SCHEUNEMANN. medium
Jupiter Images
If your goal is to get better at English, why not look
to the world of sports for inspiration? Just as successful
athletes improve by following training plans, foreign-language
learners improve faster with structured
learning. And the more regularly you train, the
fitter your language skills will become.
Some athletes train for specific events, such as a particular
race. Others simply want to get or stay fit. Similarly,
whatever your language goals, you’ll get the best results if
you develop and follow a personal training plan:
n Set your goals. Think about the specific reasons why you
want to improve your English. Having a sense of purpose
will help you to stick to your plan. Do you need to learn
certain communication skills, such as writing emails or reports,
making phone calls or talking to customers? Or is
your priority to learn specific vocabulary for your job? Be
athlete [(ÄTli:t]
goal [gEUl]
sense of purpose
[)sens Ev (p§:pEs]
Athlet(in), Sportler(in)
Ziel
Entschlossenheit, Zielstrebigkeit
40 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

TRAINING PLAN LANGUAGE n
specific about what you want to achieve: with clear steps,
you can follow your progress more easily.
n Plan ahead. Do you have to perform a particular task,
such as giving a presentation in English at a conference?
Work backwards from this date to create your training
plan. Psychologists say it takes at least three weeks to establish
new routines or habits.
n Develop a routine. Most athletes have set times for their
workouts. What are the best times of day for you to learn?
Mornings? If so, no matter what else happens, you’ve done
your English workout for the day. Can you fit in language
work at lunchtime? Or is there an evening activity you can
drop to make time to train your English?
n Build your team. Find like-minded training partners who
can help to keep you motivated. Learning on your own requires
more willpower. And try to make your friends and
family “supporters” of your plan. Tell them about your
goals, so they respect your study time.
n Repeat, repeat, repeat. The key to success is to do your
workouts again and again. Read, hear, write and say new
words or phrases regularly. And if your efforts don’t bring
the desired results immediately, don’t give up. Learning to
practise your skills over and over is part of the plan.
n Vary the intensity. Training plans should include long, but
not strenuous, exercises to build basic fitness. These should
alternate with short, intense intervals for sharpening skills.
Also, think about how your training fits in with your other
activities. For example, plan easier exercises for Fridays
if your work leaves you feeling exhausted by the end of the
week.
n Try different activities. Cross-training — doing various
types of exercises — allows you to build overall strength
and avoid boredom. For example, alternate between reading,
listening and other types of activities. To find out what
your learning preferences are, see the article “Be your own
teacher” in Business Spotlight 3/2010.
n Be flexible. Make adjustments to your plan, if necessary.
If you regularly find yourself “too tired” or “too busy”,
you may have to make your training plan a little less ambitious.
Forgive your failures, and keep going. Try again
the next day, or during the next lesson.
n Seek motivation. Structure helps, but so do rewards. Find
an activity, prize or food that you give yourself
when you have reached a desired goal or
stage. Even motivational phrases in English
can help you to get started and
to stick with your plan.
n Write it down. As the saying goes: “Don’t just think it,
ink it!” By writing down your plan, you greatly increase
the chance — some studies say by up to 70 per cent — that
you will really begin with the tasks planned. It may also
help to keep a training log or diary. This is when you
record the time you actually spend on English activities,
and what you do, for example: “30 minutes: wrote 10
email phrases; reviewed 20 words; listened to a short story.”
That way, you see what you’ve accomplished.
n Make a plan. On the next page, you’ll find suggestions
for how to structure your learning each day of the week
using material from Business Spotlight 2/2013 — including
Skill Up!, Plus, Audio and Online. We offer a warmup
activity, exercises of varying degrees of intensity and an
activity to cool down. You can adapt the activities to your
own needs and goals. We suggest three different ways to
use the plan.
n Reach your personal best. Athletes work hard, and they
stick with their training plans because they are doing what
they really enjoy. When you like what you do, you won’t
want to miss any of your workouts. Getting better at English
offers great rewards. With structured learning, you
can reach your personal best. Learn to win! 4
“Winning takes talent.
To repeat takes character”
John Wooden (1910–2010), US basketball player
and coach
accomplish sth. [E(kVmplIS]
achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
adjustment [E(dZVstmEnt]
alternate [(O:ltEneIt]
boredom [(bO:dEm]
diary [(daIEri]
drop sth. [drQp]
exhausted [Ig(zO:stId]
ink sth. [INk]
keep going [)ki:p (gEUIN]
like-minded [)laIk (maIndId]
log [lQg]
make time to do sth. [)meIk (taIm tu]
overall [)EUvEr(O:l]
over and over [)EUvEr End (EUvE]
phrase [freIz]
review sth. [ri(vju:]
saying: as the ~ goes [(seIIN]
set time: have a ~ for sth. [set (taIm]
stage [steIdZ]
stick with sth. [(stIk wID] ifml.
strenuous [(strenjuEs]
willpower [(wIlpaUE]
workout [(w§:kaUt]
etw. erreichen, schaffen
etw. erreichen
Änderung
(sich) abwechseln
Langeweile
Tagebuch; hier auch: Heft
hier: etw. ausfallen lassen
erschöpft, ausgelaugt
etw. mit Tinte zeichnen;
hier: schreiben
weitermachen
gleichgesinnt
Aufzeichnungen, Protokoll
Zeit finden, etw. zu tun
allgemein
immer wieder
Ausdruck, Formulierung
etw. noch einmal durchgehen
wie es so schön heißt
eine feste Zeit für etw. haben
Phase
sich an etw. halten
anstrengend
Willenskraft
Training
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 41

Your personal weekly training plan
In this plan, you’ll find suggestions for how to structure your learning each day of the week using
material from Business Spotlight 2/2013 — including Skill Up!, Plus, Audio and Online.
Day Focus Training Time
MONDAY
Communication
skills
Writing emails
Warm-up: Look at the email phrases in Easy English (Business Spotlight, pages 46–47).
Exercises:
n Write down the phrases on cards or in a vocabulary notebook.
n Go over these phrases in groups of two or three. First, read them to yourself, then say them out
loud. Translate them if it helps you.
n Do the email exercises in Plus (pages 6–7).
Cool-down: Do an exercise on emails in the Business Skills section Online.
5 min.
10 min.
20 min.
10 min.
5min.
TUESDAY
Grammar
Use of the passive
Warm-up: Read “Recycling plastic bottles” (Business Spotlight, page 45).
Exercises:
n Study the grammar explanations and read the example sentences aloud. Then do the exercise.
n Do the grammar exercises in Plus (pages 10 –11).
n Write down ten processes from your work in the passive, then change them to active sentences.
n Do the Audio exercise.
Cool-down: Do an exercise on the passive in the Grammar section Online.
5 min.
10 min.
10 min.
15 min.
5min.
5min.
WEDNESDAY
A. Job-related
vocabulary
Fashion
B. Reading and
writing
Warm-up: Make a list of as many fashion-related words as you can in five minutes.
Exercises:
n Look at the fashion vocabulary in Skill Up! (Picture This!, pages 4–5; Word Bank, pages 6–7; or
In Focus, pages 10–11). Mark the words you don’t know and look at the translations.
n Do the fashion exercises in Plus (pages 18–19).
n Read a fashion-related article (for example, “Weaving a global future”, Business Spotlight, pages
10–13, or “Style queen”, pages 74–75). Write a short paragraph about this article.
Cool-down: Look at photos in the magazine. Name the items of clothing people are wearing.
5 min.
10 min.
10 min.
20 min.
5min.
THURSDAY
Intercultural
communication
France
Warm-up: Write down words that you associate with France, such as people, products or films.
Exercises:
n Read the article about France (Business Spotlight, pages 24–28). Mark important factors for
doing business with the French.
n List characteristics of French business culture or listen to Christoph Barmeyer on the Audio.
n Do the Culture Corner exercises in Plus (pages 12–13).
Cool-down: Write down five tips for working with the French.
5 min.
20 min.
10 min.
10 min.
5min.
FRIDAY
A. Translations
False friends
B. Reading
comprehension
Looking Back
Warm-up: Look at the False Friends section in Skill Up! (pages 8–9).
Exercises:
n A. Listen to the false-friends exercise on the Audio.
n Write your own sentences for each false friend, using the German and English words correctly.
n Read “Tricky translations” (Business Spotlight, page 52). Do the exercises at the bottom of the
page. Write your own sentence for each tricky word and translate these.
n B. Read the Looking Back column (Business Spotlight, page 29).
n Do the Reading Comprehension exercises in Plus (pages 14–15).
Cool-down: Look at the pictures of the false friends in Skill Up! and give the correct translations.
5 min.
5 min.
10 min.
10 min.
5 min.
10 min.
5min.
SATURDAY
Idioms
Wise Words
Warm-up: Make a list of five to ten of your favourite activities.
Exercises:
n Create sentences using the “Useful expressions” (Business Spotlight, page 49) and your list.
n Read the Wise Words column “For love or money?” (Business Spotlight, pages 48–49).
n Listen to the Wise Words exercises on the Audio.
n Do the “love” exercises in Plus (pages 8–9).
Cool-down: Listen to a song that has the word “heart” in the title (such as “Heart Skips a Beat”
by Olly Murs). Find the song text on the internet. Practise singing the song, if you like.
5 min.
10 min.
10 min.
10 min.
10 min.
5min.
SUNDAY
Relax!
Cross-training
As a reward for a week of studying hard, watch a film or listen to music with English texts.
If you want to do some exercises, read the Small Talk dialogue in Skill Up! (page 16), do the Everyday
English exercises in Plus (pages 4–5) or listen to the Short Story on the Audio.
10–15
min.
42 www.business-spotlight.de
2/2013

TRAINING PLAN LANGUAGE n
Here are three ways to use the plan:
n Competitive plan. You need to learn as
much as possible within a short time.
Do 50 minutes per day. In the second
week, review the vocabulary
from each lesson. In the
third week, use the structures
suggested, but with different
articles and exercises. Review
again in the fourth week.
n Fitness plan. You want to build a solid language
base. Divide the activities in half, aiming to spend
20 to 30 minutes on them each day. Do a warmup,
some exercises and a cool-down — or follow
the plan every other day.
n Couch-potato plan. You need a really big push to
get started. Begin with just five minutes, three times
per week. Gradually, increase first the length of your
study sessions, then the frequency. What can
you do in just five minutes? Why not try the
warm-up or cool-down exercises? Then
review the vocabulary every second week. It’s
better to start small than not at all! nBS
“I may not be there yet, but I’m
closer than I was yesterday.”
Author unknown
competitive [kEm(petEtIv]
every other day [)evri )VDE (deI]
push [pUS]
hier: für Leistungssportler(innen);
sehr intensiv
jeden zweiten Tag
Anstoß
Find related exercises on Business Spotlight Audio
www Create your own training plan at www.business-spotlight.de/plan
Make our website a regular part of your plan: sign up for our
newsletter at www.business-spotlight.de/newsletter
CAROL SCHEUNEMANN is an editor at Business Spotlight
who is responsible for language tests and the Techno logy
section. She also coordinates Business Spotlight Audio.
Contact: c.scheunemann@spotlight-verlag.de
HILDEGARD RUDOLPH is a certified translator and a
freelance editor, teacher and book author. Contact:
bs.lektorat@spotlight-verlag.de
Die große
Business Spotlight Audio Umfrage
IHRE MEINUNG IST GEFRAGT!
GRATIS für
JEDEN Teilnehmer
Business
Spotlight
ALS E-PAPER
Helfen Sie mit, unser Angebot noch besser zu machen.
Wie bewerten Sie das Audioangebot von Business Spotlight?
Hierzu möchten wir Ihnen gerne ein paar Fragen stellen.
Leihen Sie uns ein paar Minuten Ihrer Zeit und als Dankeschön
erhalten Sie 1x Business Spotlight gratis als E-Paper Download.
Jetzt mitmachen auf
www.spotlight-verlag.de/audioumfrage

■ LANGUAGE VOCABULARY
easy
The motorway
1
In dieser Rubrik präsentieren wir nützliche Begriffe aus der Arbeitswelt.
Von CAROL SCHEUNEMANN
17
2
18
19
3
5
4
15
6
7
16
14
10
9
8
1. flyover [(flaI)EUvE] Überführung
(US overpass [(oUv&rpÄs])
2. road marking Straßenmarkierung
3. entry slip road [(entri )slIp rEUd] Zubringer; (Autobahn-)
(US entrance ramp, on-ramp) Auffahrt
4. (traffic) lane (Fahr-)Spur
5. junction [(dZVNkS&n] Anschlussstelle
6. overtaking lane (US passing Überholspur
lane, left lane, fast lane)
7. central reservation, centre Mittelstreifen
strip (US median (strip)
[(mi:diEn (strIp)]
8. (hard) shoulder Seiten-, Standstreifen
(US emergency lane)
9. lay-by [(leI baI] (Park-)Bucht
(US turnout, roadside parking)
10. emergency phone (US call box) Notrufsäule
11. tarmac [(tA:mÄk] Asphalt
(US asphalt [(ÄsfO:lt])
12. crash barrier [(krÄS )bÄriE] Leitplanke
(US guardrail [(gA:rdreI&l])
13. motorway (US freeway, Autobahn
interstate highway)
14. lane line, lane marking Fahrbahn-, Fahrspurmarkierung
15. solid line [)sQlId (laIn] durchgehende Linie
16. exit slip road [(eksIt )slIp rEUd] (Autobahn-)Ausfahrt
(US exit ramp, off-ramp)
17. interchange Autobahn kreuz,
Knotenpunkt
11
12
18. car park Parkplatz
(US parking lot)
19. motorway services, service Rastplatz, Raststätte
area (US rest stop, rest area)
Exercise: Traffic report
Complete the sentences with words from the list.
“This morning on the M1 near Leeds, a car broke
through the a) ____________, which caused a section
of the b) ____________ to be closed for two hours. Also
on the M1, expect delays between c) ____________ J2
and J4 following an accident. On the M4 westbound
near Swindon, one d) ____________ has been closed
on the e) entry ____________ due to a broken-down
car. The car is being moved to the f) ____________.
Traffic at the M25 and M4 g) ____________ is moving
slowly. Following road resurfacing (Belagsarbeiten)
near Sevenoaks, the left lane is closed for painting new
h) ____________. And if you’re planning to stop at the
i) ____________ at South Mimms on the M25, please
note there is limited parking, as the j) ____________
is also closed for resurfacing the k) ____________.”
13
Answers on page 62
Ken Raut
44 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

medium
GRAMMAR AT WORK LANGUAGE ■
Describing processes
Beim Schreiben oder Sprechen bestimmt der Kontext nicht nur das Vokabular, sondern auch die
Grammatik, die wir verwenden. Auf dieser Seite erläutert ANNA HOCHSIEDER die Strukturen, die wir
brauchen, um Arbeitsabläufe zu beschreiben.
An engineer working at a recycling plant describes in the text
below the different work stages that a plastic bottle has to go
through before it is turned into a new product.
Recycling plastic bottles
After the plastic waste has been collected, it is taken to
a sorting station. Here, the bottles are sorted by our staff
according to colour and polymer type. For some parts of
the sorting process, we use machines. Next, the bottles
are pressed into large, cube-shaped bales. The bales are
then sent on to a recycling plant, where the plastic is shredded
and the flakes are washed to remove glue and dirt.
Finally, they are melted and shaped into pellets. These pellets
will later be used to produce new plastic bottles.
bale [beI&l]
cube-shaped [(kju:b SeIpt]
flake [fleIk]
glue [glu:]
pellets [(pelIts]
plastic waste [)plÄstIk (weIst]
recycling plant [)ri:(saIk&lIN plA:nt]
shred sth. [Sred]
sorting station [(sO:tIN )steIS&n]
Ballen
würfelförmig
Flake, Flocke
Klebstoff
Granulat
Kunststoffabfall, -abfälle
Recyclinganlage
etw. schreddern
Sortieranlage
Exercise
Put the words into the correct order to form sentences that
describe work processes.
a) The / our staff / are / by / plastic bottles / inspected
b) The / contamination / cleaned / to remove / are / plastic
flakes
c) Recycled / into products / made / plastic bottles / such
as / can / garden furniture / be
Answers on page 62
Explanations
1. The passive voice is often used to describe work
processes. A passive sentence contains a form of the
verb be and a past participle. The passive can occur
in all tenses:
■ After the plastic waste has been collected, it is taken
to a sorting station.
■ These pellets will (later) be used to produce new
plastic bottles.
Almost all the verbs in our sample text are in the present
simple. This tense is generally used to talk about
repeated actions, such as typical work processes.
2. One of the things that makes the passive useful is
that it allows you to avoid mentioning the agent when
he/she/it is unknown, obvious or not important:
■ The bottles are pressed into bales.
If, however, you wish to mention who does the action
(the agent), simply add a “by”-phrase:
■ The bottles are sorted by our staff.
3. When talking about their company, people often
use we with an active verb rather than the passive:
■ For some parts of the sorting process, we use machines.
4. Time adverbials such as “first”, “then”, etc., often
introduce different stages:
■ Next, the bottles are pressed into large bales.
■ Finally, they are melted and shaped into pellets.
These adverbs of time typically come at the beginning
of a sentence or clause, but they can also occur in
mid-sentence — usually before the main verb:
■ The bales are then sent on to a recycling plant.
■ These pellets will later be used to produce new plastic
bottles.
■BS
Do an exercise on this topic on Business Spotlight Audio
plus Find related exercises in Business Spotlight plus
www More exercises at www.business-spotlight.de/grammar
ANNA HOCHSIEDER is a Munich-based
teacher of English as a Second Language
who writes regularly on language issues in
Spotlight and Business Spotlight. Contact:
a.hochsieder@googlemail.com
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 45

■ LANGUAGE EASY ENGLISH
Writing
emails
Be prepared:
take time
before you
start writing
Pixland
Fast alle, die im Beruf stecken oder gerade einen Job antreten, brauchen Englisch auf einem mehr oder
weniger hohen Niveau. In unserer neuen Business English-Sparte vermittelt Ihnen MIKE HOGAN nützliche
Tipps, Vokabeln, Grammatik und Redewendungen für die englische Kommunikation im Beruf.
When communicating with business partners, it is important
to choose the best channel. The fastest way is often
by telephone, but emails give you a written record
of what was said and agreed. You also have the time before
writing to think about what you want to say and to look up
words in a dictionary, if necessary. Sometimes, it can take
longer to get an answer with emails, but the increasing use
of smartphones makes this less of a problem than in the past.
1. By phone or by email?
Look at the following tasks and decide whether it would be
better for you to communicate by telephone or email. There
is no absolute answer here. The right answer is the one that
works best for you in your situation. Think about the reasons
for your choices:
■ You need to fix a time for a meeting with a colleague in another
department.
■ You want to ask someone to send you an electronic file,
such as a Word document or a presentation.
■ You are planning a team meeting and need to find a time
that suits all five team members.
■ You want to tell someone about a schedule change.
2. Preparing to write an email
It is important to be clear about why you are writing an email
and what result you want. This will help you to find the right
language. Klaus Fliedermeister is getting ready to write an
email about a project to a business partner, Patricia Malone.
He has decided to write an email because he also wants to
send an overview of the project. Look at the notes that Klaus
wrote when preparing to write the email:
Email to Patricia Malone
Why?
l To communicate information about the new project
roles and budget
l To ask for Patricia’s input on the project budget
Language
l I’m writing to let you know…
l Please find attached…
l What do you think about… ?
l Could you please let me know by Thursday?
channel [(tSÄn&l]
department [di(pA:tmEnt]
electronic file [elek)trQnIk (faI&l]
overview [(EUvEvju:]
please find attached...
[)pli:z )faInd E(tÄtSt]
schedule change [(Sedju:l tSeIndZ]
(schedule
suit sb. [su:t]
written record [)rIt&n (rekO:d]
Kanal; hier: Kommunikationsweg
Abteilung
elektronische Datei
Übersicht
in der Anlage übersenden
wir Ihnen...
Terminänderung
Zeit-, Terminplan)
jmdm. passen
schriftlicher Nachweis
46 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

easy
3. Writing an email
Klaus then writes the email to Patricia Malone, using the language
that he had prepared. Note that it is quite formal and
official. Remember that not all emails are informal: the level
of formality used depends on who you are writing to and why.
From: Klaus Fliedermeister
To: Patricia Malone
Subject: DTR3 project proposal and budget
Dear Patricia
I’m writing to let you know that the proposal for the DTR3
project has been completed. Please find attached an overview
of the project and the role that your team will be playing.
You can also see the budget for the overall project. What do
you think about the special budget for your team? Could you
please tell me by Thursday if this budget is OK for you?
Thank you in advance. I look forward to hearing from you and
working with you again.
Kind regards
Klaus
4. Useful email phrases
a) Starting
If you’re not sure what level of formality is appropriate, choose
the same style as the person writing to you:
■ Dear Mr/Ms/Dr/Professor Smith (formal)
■ Dear John/Mary (informal)
■ Hi, Peter/Jo (informal)
■ Hi (informal)
b) Saying why you are writing
■ I’m writing to let you know…
■ I am writing because…
c) Communicating information
■ I am pleased to inform you that...
■ We have completed all stages of the project.
■ I can send you the shipment next week.
d) Talking about information you are sending
■ Please find attached the file you asked for.
■ Here is the information you asked for.
■ I’ve attached the information you wanted.
e) Asking for something
■ Would it be possible to send us a new version of the
project timeline?
■ Could you please send me the information by Friday?
f) Confirming details
■ I am writing to confirm that the goods will be shipped from
our logistics centre today.
■ This is just to let you know the next meeting is scheduled
for Monday afternoon.
g) Thanking and offering help
■ Thank you in advance.
■ Please call me if you have any questions.
■ Please contact me if you need more information.
h) Ending
■ Yours sincerely
■ Kind/Best regards
TIP: Collect phrases
and vocabulary from
emails that you receive
from business partners.
You can then use them
in your own emails.
GRAMMAR
In his email above, Klaus uses many different grammar forms and elements to talk about various aspects of the project
proposal and budget. They help the reader to visualize what has happened so far and what will happen in the future:
Phrase
■ I’m writing to let you know…
■ The proposal has been completed.
■ You can also see the budget for the overall project.
■ Could you please let me know by Thursday if…
■ Thank you in advance.
Function
To give the reason for writing the mail
To update Patricia on the status of the proposal
To refer to what is in the email or attachment
To set a deadline for the next communication
To thank Patricia for future work
■BS
angebracht
etw. bestätigen
Grad der Formalität
Gesamt-
Projektzeitachse
etw. zeitlich ansetzen
(Waren-)Lieferung
Phase
sich ein Bild von etw. machen
appropriate [E(prEUpriEt]
confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m]
level of formality [)lev&l Ev fO:(mÄlEti]
overall [)EUvEr(O:l]
project timeline [)prQdZekt (taImlaIn]
schedule sth. [(Sedju:l]
shipment [(SIpmEnt]
stage [steIdZ]
visualize sth. [(vIZuElaIz]
plus For related exercises, see Business Spotlight plus
MIKE HOGAN is a communication-skills trainer and
head of training and development at LTC Language
Training Center (www.ltc-online.de). His publications
include Business English for Beginners A1 and A2
(Cornelsen). Contact: m.hogan@ltc-online.de
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 47

■ LANGUAGE WISE WORDS
“You shouldn’t expect to get pleasure out of work all the
time — or be expected to work just for the love of it”
DEBORAH CAPRAS ON LANGUAGE IN THE NEWS
For love
Ist es Liebe, Hass oder Hassliebe,
was Sie mit Ihrer Arbeit und Ihren
Kollegen verbindet? DEBORAH CAPRAS
befasst sich mit dem Begriff “Liebe”
und seiner Verwendung.
Do you have a love-hate relationship with your work?
Maybe you love the work, but hate your colleagues. Or
you love your colleagues, but hate the products? If you
don’t love any of these things, you must be working just for
the money. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are
some things that you shouldn’t do — not for love or money.
What will people do for love? Every year, many of you probably
celebrate Valentine’s Day on 14 February. In a number
of countries, but particularly in English-speaking ones, couples
are strongly encouraged to demonstrate their love for
each other by spending lots of money on this day: on cards,
flowers, jewellery and candlelit dinners. This tradition has its
roots in ancient Rome, early Christianity, pagan rituals and
clever marketing. I’m a big fan of it. Why? Thirteen years ago,
just a week before Valentine’s Day, I started working for Spotlight
Verlag as an online assistent. One of my first tasks was
to put together some interesting news items about love. It was
a lovely introduction to my responsibilities, and it’s probably
why I still regard my work here as a labour of love.
You shouldn’t expect to get such pleasure out of your work
all the time — or be expected to work just for the love of it.
Jane Caro, lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, says
this is what women are repeatedly forced to do. She believes
there is a “resilient stereotype” that women should be driven
A CLOSER LOOK
The expression “labour of love” was probably first used in the
King James Bible of 1611. The apostle Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians: “Remembering without ceasing your work of
faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the sight of God...” (1 Thess. 1:3)
iStockphoto
by love rather than reward. That’s why jobs often performed
by women, such as teaching, are paid the least, she says.
There is some truth in her claims, but we can all feel overstretched,
underpaid and unappreciated — both men and
women. Companies can show their appreciation through fair
payment and a fair workload. Not being paid enough money
can prevent you from doing your best work, but so can having
too much work — or too much love.
It’s inappropriate
It’s almost impossible to control your feelings, but there are
times when you should at least make a decent effort to keep
things decent. Otherwise, you could put your job, your reputation,
your partner and, in some cases, national security at
risk. To see what I mean, watch what happens in Homeland,
the award-winning US TV series, in which an inappropriate
relationship means trouble for one CIA agent. Or you could
read about what happened to the real head of the CIA, Gen-
apostle [E(pQs&l]
candlelit [(kÄnd&lIt]
Christianity [)krIsti(ÄnEti]
decent [(di:s&nt]
inappropriate [)InE(prEUpriEt]
labour of love
[)lEIbEr Ev (lVv]
lecturer [(lektSErE]
love-hate relationship
[)lVv )heIt ri(leIS&nSIp]
news item [(nju:z )aItEm]
not for love or money
[)nQt fE )lVv O: (mVni] ifml.
overstretched [)EUvE(stretSt]
pagan [(peIgEn]
resilient [ri(zIliEnt]
stereotype [(steriEtaIp]
unappreciated [VnE(pri:SieItId]
without ceasing [wID)aUt (si:sIN]
workload [(w§:klEUd]
or money?
[wg. Aussprache]
bei Kerzenschein
Christentum
ernsthaft; auch: fair
unangemessen, unpassend
eine Arbeit, die man aus
Liebe zur Sache tut
Dozent(in)
Hassliebe
Nachricht, Pressenotiz
um keinen Preis
überfordert
heidnisch
widerstandsfähig; hier:
hartnäckig
Klischee(vorstellung)
nicht geschätzt
ohne Unterlass
Arbeitsbelastung, -pensum
48 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

medium
eral David Petraeus. No doubt flattered by the attention of his
authorized biographer, Paula Broadwell, a woman 20 years
younger than him, Petraeus allowed their working relationship
to develop into a full-blown extramarital affair. A full-blown
scandal followed. And then, he resigned. Ouch! Love hurts.
It’s inspirational
A person you meet through your work can also be an inspiration.
The auction house Sotheby’s showed this to be true recently
when it sold a collection of Mick Jagger’s handwritten
love letters. He’d sent them to Marsha Hunt, a black American
singer and the mother of his first child, over a two-month
period in 1969. Hunt is said to have inspired Jagger to write
the hit “Brown Sugar”. It’s a strange claim to fame. Most people
happily sing along to “Ah, brown sugar, how come you
taste so good; Brown sugar, just like a young girl should”, never
realizing that Jagger is talking about the raping of black
slave girls by their masters. Their love affair gave us a powerful
song, but the song itself has nothing to do with love. And
Hunt is selling the letters for a very unromantic reason: for
money. “I’m broke,” she told The Guardian.
In the office, if colleagues want to talk about their own love
lives, it’s often because they’ve just fallen in — or out of —
love. We shouldn’t be surprised that some business relationships
turn into love affairs, many of them long-term, as we
spend so much of our time at work. I’m certainly not surprised.
Nearly 25 years ago, that’s where I met my husband.
IN THE NEWS
Finns promise tough love for
the eurozone
FT.com
This headline means that the Finnish government is calling
for strict controls that seem unkind to, but would be
good for, the countries in the eurozone.
argue about sth. [(A:gju: E)baUt]
broke [brEUk] ifml.
claim to fame [)kleIm tE (feIm]
deputy editor
[)depjUti (edItE]
extramarital [)ekstrE(mÄrIt&l]
flattered [(flÄtEd]
full-blown [)fUl (blEUn]
long-term [)lQN (t§:m]
love: fall out of ~ [lVv]
non-progressive form
[)nQn prEU)gresIv (fO:m]
ouch [aUtS]
rape sb. [reIp]
sing along to sth. [)sIN E(lQN tu]
stative verb [(steItIv v§:b]
(sich) über etw. streiten
pleite
Anspruch auf Ruhm
stellvertretende(r)
Chefredakteur(in)
außerehelich
geschmeichelt
richtig(gehend), ausgewachsen
langfristig
nicht länger verliebt sein
einfache Zeitform (im
Gegensatz zur Verlaufsform)
aua
jmdn. vergewaltigen
bei etw. mitsingen
Zustandsverb
USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
Even when people are not talking about love affairs, you’ll
hear many expressions that include the word “love”.
love
This verb is classed as a stative verb, because it describes
a person’s emotional state, as opposed to an
action. This means that it is normally used in the nonprogressive
form (“I love” not “I’m loving”). However,
since 2003, the slogan for McDonald’s has been “I’m
lovin’ it”, which was the name of a hit single by Justin
Timberlake. Language purists dislike this usage, but it’s
generally accepted in informal situations.
I love verb + -ing
To talk about your hobbies or your likes in general:
■ I love swimming.
I love to + infinitive
To describe something in more detail:
■ I love to swim in the lake every morning.
I’d/I would love to!
To accept an invitation:
■ Would you like to join us for lunch? — I’d love to!
I’d/I would love to..., but...
To talk about something that you would like to do, but
can’t:
■ I’d love to join you, but I have a meeting.
love at first sight
To explain that you have loved someone or something
from the first moment on:
■ When I saw their new smartphone, I knew it was love
at first sight.
not for love or money
To show something is not available or possible, or that
you absolutely will not do something:
■ After the hurricane, we couldn’t get a room in New
York — not for love or money.
there’s no love lost between them
To say that two or more people do not like each other:
■ There’s clearly no love lost between them. They
argue all the time about the designs. ■BS
For more on this topic, see Business Spotlight Audio
plus For related exercises, see Business Spotlight plus
DEBORAH CAPRAS is the deputy editor of Business Spotlight.
You can read her blog, Wise Words, at www.business-spotlight.
de/blogs
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 49

■ LANGUAGE SHORT STORY
Let me in! It’s a bad situation
when your team exclude you
Turning
the tables
Mit einem MBA-Abschluss in der Tasche sollten Sie den Aufgaben eines Teamleiters
gewachsen sein. Was aber, wenn Ihnen Ihr Team keinerlei Sympathien entgegenbringt?
Bleiben dann am Ende nur Ärger und Enttäuschung? Von JAMES SCHOFIELD
iStockphoto
They didn’t tell you about this when you did your MBA.
Nothing at all. They told you how you could motivate your
staff. They told you how you could deal with difficult employees.
They told you how to let people go with respect. But
they didn’t tell you how to deal with a team that hates you.
Not at all.
Here you are, climbing a mountain all alone. OK, it isn’t a
mountain, it’s a really, really big hill in Wales, but you’re from
London and hills are not normally something you have to worry
about. It’s raining now and there’s a freezing wind. You’ve
already walked for ten hours today, and here you are again.
You’re exhausted and you can hardly see your feet because
it’s nearly dark.
And you know that, if you slip and fall here, you won’t get
up again and none of the people in the hut that you’re heading
towards will lift a finger to help you. Not one finger. And
you ask yourself the same question that you’ve asked a thousand
times already: How did it come to this?
You were made team leader a year ago. Your dream. What
you’d worked so hard for. And everybody was pleased for you.
You were going to be the one who did things differently. You’d
been part of the team, you knew how it worked. They were
your friends. But then there was that problem in August,
when you had to cancel five people’s holidays at the last
minute because of the new advertising campaign your team
had to create. You had asked that money be paid to those
staff who had to cancel flight or hotel bookings, but the bosses
gave only a part of what employees had lost. And Dawn,
who started in the company on the same day as you, said that
she couldn’t afford to fly to Australia to visit her mum. You
said you were sorry but there was nothing you could do, and
then she burst into tears and told you her mum had cancer,
Turning the tables [)t§:nIN DE (teIb&lz]
cancer [(kÄnsE]
exhausted [Ig(zO:stId]
let sb. go [)let (gEU]
den Spieß umdrehen
Krebs
erschöpft
jmdn. entlassen
50 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

easy
in front of everybody. Even though you lent her some of your
own money to fly over there later, the damage had been done.
Then bad things started to happen.
There was the incorrect information someone gave you for
your important presentation, and Trevor, the head of finance,
spotted the mistake. You looked like an idiot. And when you
checked the information three times before the next meeting,
the human resources manager said you should relax and
empower your staff. You had to pretend that what he said was
helpful or he would have given you a black mark on your
personnel file. Worst of all, your biggest client took his business
to a rival advertising company, just at the time when one
of your best people left to join this rival. If you hadn’t won
an airline company as a new client, you and your team would
have been toast. But nobody ever thanked you, or said anything
nice about it. They hate you too much.
“Nobody ever thanked
you or said anything nice.
They hate you too much”
And now this. Of course, you could say it’s your own fault.
You suggested this team-building trip to Wales, even though
it was the weekend of your birthday. You thought you’d make
one last effort to mend fences, but it hasn’t been a success.
You can feel they’re plotting something and that it isn’t good.
You noticed it in their body language last week. The way they
stopped talking when you came into the cafeteria, the way
they waited for you to leave the room when you were present
and the way they went to the pub after work without you.
Something bad’s going to happen.
You drove to Wales in three cars. Nobody wanted to drive
with you. You parked outside a little hut in the middle of
nowhere, and early the next morning, you started walking
across the hills. Everyone seemed to be feeling pretty good
black mark [)blÄk (mA:k] UK ifml.
board game [(bO:d geIm]
dizzy [(dIzi]
empower sb. [Im(paUE]
head of finance
[)hed Ev (faInÄns]
human resources manager
[)hju:mEn ri(zO:sIz )mÄnIdZE]
mend fences [)mend (fensIz]
novel [(nQv&l]
personnel file [)p§:sE(nel faI&l]
plot sth. [plQt]
screwdriver [(skru:)draIvE]
spot sth. [spQt]
toast: be ~ [tEUst] ifml.
tyre [(taIE]
volunteer [)vQlEn(tIE]
Minuspunkt; hier: Eintrag
Brettspiel
schwindlig
jmdn. ermächtigen; hier:
Aufgaben an jmdn. delegieren
Leiter(in) der
Finanzabteilung
Personalleiter(in)
Unstimmigkeiten beseitigen
Roman
Personalakte
etw. aushecken
Schraubenzieher
etw. entdecken
erledigt sein
Reifen
sich freiwillig melden
until you were all sitting round the fire in the hut that evening
— just about to start preparing the dinner — and somebody
said: “Where’s Dawn?”
You looked around and realized that she was missing. So,
then there was a big discussion and, finally, you said you
would go back to look for her because nobody else volunteered.
That was an hour ago.
You’re nearly back at the hut now, but you haven’t found
Dawn. She’s lost somewhere on the hills in the dark, probably
dead, and everybody will blame you for organizing this
trip. You reach the door and you’re just about to go in when
you look through the window. They’re getting the food ready,
setting the table, drinking and laughing. And there, in the
middle, is Dawn. Dawn! She’s not dead! This was just a stupid
joke and, for a moment, your relief makes you feel dizzy,
but then you’re angry, really angry.
You walk to your car, get a hammer and screwdriver and
make holes in the tyres of the two other cars. You’re almost
ready to drive away, but before you do, you want to tell them
what you think of them — what you really think. You go back
to the door. It’s locked, so you kick it hard a few times and
somebody tells you to wait. Then the door is thrown open, but
the room is completely dark. You step inside, the light suddenly
goes on and you stand still, surrounded by these people
who hate you.
“Surprise!” they shout. “Surprise! Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear...,” they sing.
Dawn walks forward. She’s carrying a lovely cake with 30 candles
on it. The group sit you down, put a drink in your hand
and somebody shouts: “Speech! Speech!” And you think...
“Now, what do I say?”
■BS
Language point
To turn the tables on someone means
to reverse your position relative to them,
changing your disadvantageous position
into one of advantage. The expression
probably comes from board games,
sometimes referred to as “tables”.
Backgammon, one of the earliest board
games, has four fields, or sections, called
“tables”. To “turn the tables” means to
turn the board around, so opponents
play from what was formerly the other
person’s position.
You can listen to this story on Business Spotlight Audio
JAMES SCHOFIELD is currently working on a novel.
If you’d like to follow his creative progress and read
more of his stories in English, see his blog at
http://jrtschofield.blogspot.de
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 51

n LANGUAGE TRANSLATION
medium
False friends
You mean… You should say… Don’t say… As this means…
aktuell currently actually eigentlich
Aktuell haben wir keine
Currently, we don’t have any
Informationen darüber.
information about this.
Fabrik factory fabric Stoff, Gewebe
Die Fabrik in China wurde
The factory in China was
geschlossen.
closed down.
seriös trustworthy serious ernst
Er scheint seriös zu sein.
He seems trustworthy.
You can find more false friends on Business Spotlight Audio
Don’t confuse... effect and affect
There are many words in English that are easily confused
because they look and sound similar. Two such words are
“effect” and “affect”, both of which can be used as a
noun and a verb. However, effect is most typically a noun
and affect a verb:
n An effect is the result of something (Auswirkung): “The
effect of the change was negative.”
n Affect is a specialist term to describe the expression of
emotions (Emotion, Affekt): “People with schizophrenia
often show flat affect and may talk in a monotone voice.”
n To effect something is to cause it to happen (bewirken,
durchführen): “As prime minister, she effected a lot of
important changes.”
n To affect something is to influence it (beeinflussen):
“The weather has affected our plans.”
Tricky translations by MIKE SEYMOUR
How do you say “bulk” / “bulky” in German?
The “bulk” of something is the largest part: “The bulk of
the problems has been resolved.” This is translated as
Großteil, Mehrheit, Löwenanteil or Menge: Der Löwenanteil
der Probleme ist bereits gelöst worden.
When you buy large quantities, this is “buying in bulk”
(en gros einkaufen) and you may be offered a “bulk discount”
(Mengenrabatt). Postal services deliver “bulk
mail” (Massensendungen), while commodities that are not
sold in packages are known as “bulk goods” (lose/unverpackte
Ware, Stückgut, Schüttgut).
If an item is “bulky”, it is large and difficult to carry or
store: “Bulky luggage must be checked in separately.”
This is translated as sperrig, massig, wuchtig: Sperrgepäck
muss separat aufgegeben werden. If you “bulk
something out”, you make it bigger or thicker by adding extra
material: “I’ll bulk out my report with loads of charts.”
This is translated as ausstopfen or auffüllen: Ich werde
meinen Bericht mit jeder Menge Diagramme auffüllen.
How do you say verdienen / Verdienst in English?
Verdienen describes how much people are paid: Meine Assistentin
verdient €40.000. This is translated as earn:
“My assistant earns €40,000.” Verdienst is the amount
you are paid: In London ist der Verdienst relativ hoch. This
is translated as earnings or income: “Earnings are relatively
high in London.” If you have an accident that wasn’t
your fault and you can’t work as a result, you may be able
to claim for loss of earnings (Verdienstausfall).
In a figurative sense, verdienen means to “have the right
to something”: Sie spielt seit Jahren Lotto und verdient
ihren Jackpot-Gewinn. Here, we translate it as deserve:
“She’s been playing the lottery for years and deserves her
jackpot win.” Das Verdienst is used to say that someone
deserves recognition for something: Es ist das Verdienst
des Regisseurs, dass die Aufführung so ein Erfolg wurde.
This is translated as to someone’s credit: “It is to the director’s
credit that the production was such a success.”
Another translation for this is merit, as in the Bundesverdienstkreuz
(Cross of the Order of Merit).
Exercise 1 Translate the following sentences.
a) He accepted the bulk of the responsibility.
Exercise 2 Translate the following sentences.
a) Einige Fußballspieler verdienen Millionen im Jahr.
b) My suitcase is very bulky.
b) Er hat seine Entlassung nicht verdient.
Answers on page 62
52 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

y DEBORAH CAPRAS
CARDS LANGUAGE ■
Phrasal verb
Phrasal verb
What does the speaker mean?
“The job offer fell through in the end.”
What does the speaker mean?
“Catherine has taken up boxing.”
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Expression
Expression
What does the speaker mean?
“This design could be just the job.”
What does the speaker mean?
“A design like this can’t be made on the fly.”
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Abbreviation
Abbreviation
What does “IMF” stand for?
“The IMF will continue to advise us.”
What does “HR” stand for?
“She’s in charge of HR, not marketing.”
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Pronunciation
Pronunciation
How do you pronounce this word?
February
(Februar)
How do you pronounce this word?
crucial
(entscheidend)
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■ LANGUAGE CARDS
If you take something up, you start doing it on a
regular basis. So the speaker is saying that
Catherine has a new hobby: boxing.
When something falls through, it doesn’t
happen, even though you thought that it would.
The speaker is saying he didn’t get the job
offer that he had expected.
mit etw. beginnen
ins Wasser fallen, platzen
BS 2/2013 BS 2/2013
When you do something on the fly, you do
it very quickly and without planning.
The speaker is saying that if the design is
to be realized, more time
(for organizing, planning, etc.) is needed.
In informal British English, if you say that
something is just the job, it is perfect for your
needs. The speaker is saying that the design is
exactly what is needed.
spontan
BS 2/2013
genau das Richtige
BS 2/2013
HR stands for “human resources”. This is the
department in an organization that is
responsible for hiring and training employees, as
well as for determining the conditions of
employment.
IMF stands for “International Monetary Fund”.
Personal(abteilung), Personalwesen
IWF (Internationaler Währungsfonds)
BS 2/2013 BS 2/2013
Crucial is pronounced [(kru:S&l], with the main
stress on the first syllable.
Traditionally, the correct pronunciation in British
English is [(februEri], but it’s becoming more
and more common — particularly among
younger speakers — to pronounce February as
[(febjueri], which is how speakers of American
English say the month.
BS 2/2013
BS 2/2013

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www.business-spotlight.de 55

■ LANGUAGE ENGLISH FOR...
iStockphoto
Property and casualty insurance
Bei Unfällen, Diebstählen und anderen kleinen und
großen Katastrophen ist es gut, wenigstens versichert zu
sein. MIKE SEYMOUR führt Sie in das Thema ein.
Natural disasters: the costs of damage are high
In late October 2012, “Superstorm Sandy” hit the US east
coast. It must have caused many people to take a very close
look at their insurance policies — to find out whether their
houses, cars and household contents had cover for damage
caused by storms, natural catastrophes and acts of God.
Most policyholders who have property and casualty (p/c)
insurance will make claims in such cases, but their insurers
may send a loss adjuster to determine the extent of the damage
and whether or not the company will indemnify them. The
steps that insurers could take include paying to dry out walls
and floors, paying the cost of renovation, replacing furniture
and other household contents, and even paying for a hotel until
the person’s home can be lived in again.
Quiz: After the flood
Complete each sentence with the correct word.
a) The river water flooded my kitchen, so I made a
___________ on my household contents insurance.
1. damage 2. claim 3. deductible
b) The loss ___________ told me it could take weeks
to repair the damage.
1. adjuster 2. analyst 3. policyholder
c) When I wanted to ___________ the policy, I was told
the premium had risen significantly.
1. renew 2. renovate 3. reinsure
d) My insurer said I could reduce the premium through
a higher ___________.
1. casualty 2. pool 3. excess
Answers on page 62
However, policyholders who make claims may find that
their premiums rise when their insurance policy is renewed.
The insurer may insist on a higher excess, called a deductible
in the US. This is the amount of a claim that is paid by the
insured themselves.
Big storms and other extreme weather events are becoming
more frequent, which is why insurance and reinsurance
companies are so concerned about climate change. Natural
catastrophes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and hurricanes
result in great costs for insurers.
Risk analysts estimate that the insured loss from Superstorm
Sandy may be as high as $20 billion. This is still much
less than the financial consequence of Hurricane Katrina in
2005, with an insured loss of $62.2 billion. The tsunami and
earthquake in Japan in March 2011 caused economic damage
of $210 billion, with $40 billion insured loss.
Particularly in the United Kingdom, people living alongside
rivers and in areas with a history of floods are finding it
increasingly difficult to get insurance for homes and buildings.
A growing number of insurers refuse to offer cover or
they charge premiums that are excessively high.
The UK government is working with insurance companies
on a system to make cover for all buildings affordable. The
Association of British Insurers (ABI) has proposed that all
homes be given cover and that premiums should have an
upper limit. If insurers feel the insurance has to be priced
above this limit, people would get insurance from a “risk
pool”. This would be financed through a small additional
charge on every home insurance policy in the country.
act of God
[)Äkt Ev (gQd]
billion [(bIljEn]
cover [(kVvE] UK
earthquake [(§:TkweIk]
excess [Ik(ses] UK
indemnify sb. [In(demnIfaI]
insurance policy [In(SUErEns )pQlEsi]
insurer [In(SUErE]
loss adjuster [(lQs E)dZVstE]
make a claim [)meIk E (kleIm]
policyholder [(pQlEsi)hEUldE]
premium [(pri:miEm]
property and casualty insurance
[)prQpEti En (kÄZuElti In)SUErEns]
reinsurance [)ri:In(SUErEns]
renew (a policy) [ri(nju: E )pQlEsi]
höhere Gewalt, Force
majeure
Milliarde(n)
hier: Versicherungsschutz
Erdbeben
Selbstbehalt
jmdn. entschädigen
Versicherungspolice
Versicherer, Versicherungsgesellschaft
Schadensregulierer(in)
einen Schaden melden
Versicherungsnehmer(in)
(Versicherungs-)Prämie;
-Beitrag
Sach- und Unfallversicherung
Rückversicherung
(eine Police) verlängern
56 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

advanced
Who does what?
■ actuary: a mathematician/statistician who analyses the
financial costs of risk
■ agent: an insurance seller employed by an insurer
■ broker: an independent seller who offers insurance cover
from various insurers
■ claims (US claim) handler: someone who works for an
insurer and deals with claimants
■ loss adjuster: an independent expert who investigates
claims and assesses the extent and value of losses
■ underwriter: someone who assesses insurance risks
and sets premiums
Paperwork
application, proposal
[ÄplI(keIS&n, prE(pEUz&l]
claim [(kleIm]
(insurance) cover [(In(SUErEns) )kVvE]
(US coverage [)kVvErIdZ])
make/refuse/settle a claim
[)meIk/ri)fju:z/)set&l E (kleIm]
policy [(pQlEsi]
schedule [(Sedju:l]
small print: the ~
[(smO:l prInt]
terms and conditions
[)t§:mz En kEn(dIS&nz]
Provisions
assess (a risk) [E(ses]
cap, ceiling [kÄp,(si:lIN]
cover sb./sth. [(kVvE]
excess [Ik(ses]
(US deductible [di(dVktEb&l])
exclude (a risk) [Ik(sklu:d]
grant cover [)grA:nt (kVvE]
(US coverage [(kVvErIdZ])
indemnify sb. [In(demnIfaI]
indemnity [In(demnEti]
loading [lEUdIN]
refuse cover [ri)fju:z (kVvE]
(US coverage [(kVvErIdZ])
set (a premium) [set]
utmost good faith [)VtmEUst )gUd (feIT]
General insurance
Antrag
Schadensmeldung;
Anspruch
Versicherungsschutz
einen Schaden melden/
ablehnen/regulieren
(Versicherungs-)Police
Anhang; auch: Formular
das Kleingedruckte
allgemeine Versicherungsbedingungen
(ein Risiko) bewerten
Obergrenze
jmdn./etw. versichern
Selbstbehalt, Selbstbeteiligung
(ein Risiko) ausschließen
Versicherungsschutz
gewähren
jmdn. entschädigen,
Schadensersatz leisten
Schadensersatz,
Entschädigung
Zuschlag
Versicherungsschutz
verweigern
(eine Prämie) festsetzen
höchstes Vertrauen
buildings insurance Gebäudeversicherung
[(bIldINz In)SUErEns] UK
business interruption insurance Betriebsunterbrechungs-
[)bIznEs )IntE(rVpS&n In)SUErEns] versicherung
car insurance [(kA:r In)SUErEns] Kfz-Versicherung
casualty insurance [(kÄZuElti In)SUErEns] Unfallversicherung
household (US home) contents insurance Hausratversicherung
[)haUshEUld ()hoUm) (kQntents In)SUErEns]
homeowner’s insurance (HOI) Hausrat- und Wohn-
[(hoUm)oUn&rz In)SUrEns*] US gebäudeversicherung
liability insurance Haftpflichtversicherung
[)laIE(bIlEti In)SUErEns]
property insurance [(prQpEti In)SUErEns] Sachversicherung
* This symbol marks standard US pronunciation that differs from standard UK pronunciation.
Selling insurance
agency [(eIdZEnsi]
cede insurance (to a reinsurer)
[)si:d In(SUErEns]
commission [kE(mIS&n]
insurer [In(SUErE]
intermediary [)IntE(mi:diEri]
place sth. [pleIs]
premium [(pri:miEm]
reinsurer [(ri:In(SUErE]
renew (a policy) [ri(nju:]
renewal [ri(nju:El]
treaty reinsurance
[(tri:ti ri:In)SUErEns]
Weather and disasters
act of God, force majeure
[)Äkt Ev (gQd, )fO:s mÄ(Z§:]
aftershock [(A:ftESQk]
cyclone [(saIklEUn]
earthquake [(§:TkweIk]
forest fire [(fQrIst )faIE]
hurricane [(hVrIkEn]
landslip [(lÄndslIp] UK,
landslide [(lÄndslaId]
natural catastrophe (natcat)
[)nÄtS&rEl kE(tÄstrEfi]
subsidence [sEb(saId&ns]
tidal wave [(taId&l )weIv]
torrential rain(s) [tE)renS&l (reIn(z)]
tremor [(tremE]
volcanic eruption [vQl)kÄnIk I(rVpS&n]
For more information
Vertretung
Versicherungsgeschäfte
in Rückdeckung geben
Provision
Versicherer, Versicherungsgesellschaft
Vermittler(in)
etw. abschließen, vermitteln,
platzieren
(Versicherungs-)Prämie;
-Beitrag
Rückversicherer,
-versicherungsgesellschaft
(eine Police) verlängern
Verlängerung
vertragliche Rückversicherung
höhere Gewalt, Force
majeure
Nachbeben
Zyklon
Erdbeben
Waldbrand
Hurrikan, Orkan
Erdrutsch
Naturkatastrophe
Bergschäden
Flutwelle
sintflutartige Regenfälle
Beben
Vulkanausbruch
BOOKS
■ The Complete Dictionary of Insurance Terms Explained
Simply, Melissa Samaroo (Atlantic Publishing Group)
■ English for Insurance Professionals, Mike Seymour
(Cornelsen)*
■ Insurance for Dummies, Jack Hungelmann (John Wiley)
■ Wörterbuch der Versicherung: Dictionary of Insurance Terms,
Deutsch–Englisch, Friedhelm G. Nickel, Monika Fortmann
(Verlag Versicherungswirtschaft)
*This product is available at www.sprachenshop.de
WEBSITES
■ American Insurance Association: www.aiadc.org/aiapub
■ Association of British Insurers: www.abi.org.uk
plus Do more exercises on this topic in Business Spotlight plus
www Job vocabulary at www.business-spotlight.de/vocabulary
MIKE SEYMOUR is a business English trainer based
in Bonn. He is the author of English for Insurance
Professionals (Cornelsen) and regularly writes for
Business Spotlight. Contact: www.mikeseymour.com
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 57

■ LANGUAGE LEGAL ENGLISH
advanced
Construction law
Baurecht ist ein eigenständiger juristischer Bereich. MATT FIRTH
erklärt Ihnen, in welchen Fällen dieses Recht zum Tragen kommt.
Building projects: who is responsible at every step?
Construction law is a combination of common business
practices, general legal principles and regulations specific
to the construction industry. These include new building
work, aspects of contract law, security interests, tendering,
guarantees and claims involving building companies.
The lawyers provide advice to clients such as architects,
developers and construction managers. They also handle bid
Road to nowhere
Residents of homes built in Devon, England, may have
to pay for the completion of a road after it was decided
that the local councils were not required to finance
the project. Construction began on the road ten years
ago, but it was left unfinished after the developer ran
out of money. In 2012, a local government ombudsman,
Dr Jane Martin, ruled that councils were not required
by law to pay for building the roads that serve
new housing developments. She said she had found
no proof that the local administration had done anything
wrong, nor did she find any reason to recommend
that regional councils should pay for the road.
best practice [)best (prÄktIs] Erfolgsmethode
bid protest
Einspruch gegen die
[(bId )prEUtest]
Vergabeentscheidung bei einer
Ausschreibung
chain contract [(tSeIn )kQntrÄkt] Vertragskette
claim [kleIm]
Forderung; Reklamation
compensation [)kQmpEn(seIS&n] Schadensersatz
construction industry
Bauwirtschaft, -branche
[kEn(strVkS&n )IndEstri]
construction law [kEn(strVkS&n lO:] Baurecht
contract law [(kQntrÄkt lO:] Vertragsrecht
developer [di(velEpE]
Bauträger(in), Bauunternehmer(in)
disruption [dIs(rVpS&n]
Unterbrechung
litigate [(lItIgeIt]
prozessieren
prosecute sth. [(prQsIkju:t] etw. verfolgen, betreiben
real-property law [)rIEl (prQpEti lO:] Immobilienrecht
recover sth. [ri(kVvE]
etw. zurückbekommen
resolve sth. [ri(zQlv]
etw. lösen
rule sth. [ru:l]
etw. verfügen
tendering [(tendErIN]
Ausschreibung(en)
iStockphoto
protests, write and negotiate contracts, and analyse, prepare,
prosecute or defend claims relating to building contracts.
They work to resolve construction disputes out of court, but
litigate when necessary. Cases include those seeking to
recover costs for damage resulting from unsatisfactory work
or from using the wrong materials — for example, for water
damage following a broken pipe in a new building.
Since the 1970s, construction law in the UK has become
increasingly specialized, developing into an area of law separate
from related subjects such as real property law. Construction
law is used to resolve disputes arising from other
types of projects, such as building bridges or roads.
The Society of Construction Law, established in 1983,
promotes the development of best practice in the field. For
example, many construction projects repeatedly miss deadlines,
causing delay and disruption, particularly in the case
of chain contracts, where the work of one company depends
on or follows the work of another.
The Delay and Disruption Protocol was prepared by the
Society of Construction Law in 2002 to determine extensions
of time and give recommendations or orientation for
compensation in cases dealing with delay. ■BS
Exercise: Building sentences
Choose the words that best complete the text.
Construction law involves lawyers at each stage of a
building project. A council may request legal advice
during the a) tendering / claim process, when companies
make offers. The council may also require formal
b) conferences / guarantees from the building firm.
These include how much c) compensation / obligation
should be paid in case of delay. Such delays can be
particularly unfortunate in the case of d) disruption /
chain contracts. If a construction firm doesn’t finish the
building work for lack of money, a(n) e) spokesman /
ombudsman may be required to rule on the case.
Answers on page 62
MATT FIRTH teaches legal English at the University
of St Gallen, Switzerland. He is also secretary of
the European Legal English Teachers’ Association
(EULETA). Contact: matthew.firth@unisg.ch
58 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

advanced
ECONOMICS AND FINANCE LANGUAGE ■
Economies of scale
In vielen Fällen wird die Wirtschaftlichkeit eines Unternehmens
von Größenvorteilen bestimmt. IAN MCMASTER erklärt Ihnen, was
es mit diesem Begriff auf sich hat.
The term “economies of scale” is often used as a label for
the idea that firms can produce something more cheaply
or more efficiently by making more of it. But what exactly
are economies of scale and what causes them? Before
turning to economics, let’s look at an everyday example that
illustrates the concept.
Imagine that you are making sandwiches for you and your
family to take to work or school for lunch. There are fixed
costs involved in this process, which are the same however
many sandwiches you make. These include the time needed
to get all the ingredients out of the fridge and cupboards,
to unpack them and to clean up afterwards. There are also
variable costs: those of the ingredients used and the time
taken to make the sandwiches.
If you need more than one sandwich, it is clearly more efficient
to make them all at once rather than one at a time,
putting everything back and then starting again. By increasing
output, as economists would say, you reduce the average
cost of each sandwich because you spread the fixed
costs over a larger output.
Economies of scale in business mean exactly this: the average
cost of production falls as output increases, as shown
in the diagram below:
Economies and diseconomies of scale
Average cost
of output
Economies
of scale
Output
Diseconomies of
scale
There are many sources of economies of scale. These include
volume discounts when buying inputs; greater efficiency
through staff specializing in particular tasks; more efficient
organization; and spreading fixed technical, managerial
and marketing costs over a larger output. Economies of
scale are largest in firms with very high fixed costs, such as
for plant and machinery or research and development. The
opposite phenomenon of increasing average costs is known
as “diseconomies of scale”. This can result from inefficiencies
in the management of large companies.
A related concept to economies of scale is that of
“economies of scope”. This term refers to falling average
Economies of scale: producing more reduces average costs
costs as a result of the widening of a product range. In this
case, many fixed costs — such as those of management,
production and marketing — can be spread across a number
of different products.
■BS
Finance
What are “munis”?
Munis are “municipal bonds”, which are issued by
local authorities in the US. Such bonds typically pay
lower rates of interest because they have a special
tax-exempt status. They enable local authorities to
raise money for infrastructure and other projects.
Economies of scale
Skaleneffekte/-erträge,
[i)kQnEmiz Ev (skeI&l]
Größenvorteile
authority [O:(TQrEti]
Behörde
diseconomies of scale
Größennachteile
[dIsi)kQnEmiz Ev (skeI&l]
economics [)i:kE(nQmIks]
Wirtschaftswissenschaften
economies of scope
Diversifikations-,
[i)kQnEmiz Ev (skEUp]
Verbundvorteil(e)
economist [i(kQnEmIst]
Wirtschaftswissen schaftler(in)
fixed costs [)fIkst (kQsts]
feste Kosten, Fixkosten
fridge [frIdZ]
Kühlschrank
ingredient [In(gri:diEnt]
Zutat
inputs [(InpUts]
Güter, Material
issue sth. [(ISu:]
etw. ausgeben
municipal bond [mju)nIsIp&l (bQnd] Kommunalobligation
output [(aUtpUt]
Produktion(smenge)
plant and machinery
technische Anlagen und
[)plA:nt En mE(Si:nEri]
Maschinen
product range
Produktumfang,
[(prQdVkt reIndZ]
Lieferprogramm
raise money [)reIz (mVni]
Geld aufbringen
rate of interest [)reIt Ev (IntrEst] Zinssatz; hier auch: Zins
research and development (R&D) Forschung und
[ri)s§:tS En di(velEpmEnt]
Entwicklung (F&E)
tax-exempt status
Steuerbefreiung
[)tÄks Ig(zempt )steItEs]
volume discount [)vQlju:m (dIskaUnt] Volumen-, Mengenrabatt
IAN MCMASTER is the editor-in-chief of Business
Spotlight. You can read his blog on topics relating to
global business at www.business-spotlight.de/blogs
Contact: i.mcmaster@spotlight-verlag.de
Comstock
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 59

■ LANGUAGE TEACHER TALK
No magic tricks...
Was kann man selbst tun, um seine Sprachkenntnisse zu verbessern? Ist Grammatik
wichtig? Welche Lehrmethoden eignen sich? DEBORAH CAPRAS und IAN MCMASTER fragen den
Dozenten und Sprachwissenschaftler Paul Emmerson.
Current position: Business English teacher at The English
Language Centre, Brighton, England.
Other languages spoken: Portuguese.
Who is Paul Emmerson?
Paul Emmerson is a writer,
teacher and teacher trainer. He
is the author of many business
English books, including Email
English, Essential Business Grammar Builder and
Business Vocabulary Builder (all three from
Macmillan). His website www.paulemmerson.com
is aimed at business English teachers. Via the site,
he sells Management Lessons, a self-published
photocopiable resource book. When not writing,
Paul teaches at The English Language Centre,
Brighton, where he runs a two-week business
English teacher-training course. He has an MA in
applied linguistics, and also regularly gives presentations
at international conferences.
Contact: paulemmerson@btinternet.com
Website: www.paulemmerson.com
Why did you choose to go into business English teaching?
I moved to Lisbon in 1990 at the age of 36 to see the world
and have a pre-midlife crisis. Business English teaching was
the obvious thing to do there.
What do you offer that makes your classes special? Post-task
feedback spots that are long, targeted and fast-paced. I also
offer my students the chance to comment on their own performance
before I say anything.
So are you a fan of task-based learning (TBL)? I think that
TBL is like a film star: you project on to it whatever you want
and, when you meet it in person, there is very little substance.
I think it is a label for doing lots of speaking practice, and
little more. This can be good or it can lead to an unbalanced
course. I can find no reference in the TBL literature to key
questions such as whether to do feedback during the task or
after the task, or to issues of language development and language
correction, or feedback techniques.
What can learners do alone to improve their language skills?
The best thing is to work through a self-study book such as
my Business Vocabulary Builder. Another idea would be to
have lunch together with colleagues in your workplace and
speak only English. Decide on a regular day for this each week.
How important is grammar? Very, for all sorts of reasons, including
the image you present to the world through good usage.
There is also an important connection between grammar
and fluency. You are more fluent if you don’t have to stop and
think about grammar forms all the time. But I handle grammar
lightly in feedback and include it as part of other feedback
on vocabulary and pronunciation. I also do occasional
30-minute grammar spots throughout a course, and then ask
students to do homework from my book. But I know that it
takes time to move from getting exercises right in a book to
actively producing the forms. Unfortunately, you just have to
let this time pass naturally. There really are no magic tricks
to speed up the process.
How important is it to speak English correctly? “Correctly” is
not a word I would use. I think it is important to express
meanings in English close to the meanings that you express
in your own language. This has a lot to do with complexity,
applied linguistics
[E)plaId lIN(gwIstIks]
fast-paced [fA:st (peIst]
fluency [(flu:Ensi]
grammar [(grÄmE]
label: be a ~ for sth. [(leIb&l]
MA [)em (eI]
project sth. on to sth.
[prE)dZekt (Qn tu]
pronunciation [prE)nVnsi(eIS&n]
resource book [ri(zO:s bUk]
spot [spQt]
targeted [(tA:gItId]
task-based learning (TBL)
[)tA:sk beIst (l§:nIN]
technique [tek(ni:k]
Angewandte
Sprachwissenschaft
temporeich
flüssiges Sprechen
Grammatik
etw. kennzeichnen; hier: für
etw. stehen
Master of Arts
etw. auf etw. projizieren
Aussprache
Handbuch
hier: Unterrichtsabschnitt
zielgerichtet
etwa: Lernen durch zielorientierte
Aktivitäten
[wg. Aussprache]
60 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

medium
iStockphoto
Classroom teaching:
only part of the story
explain their university research to the ordinary
person without dumbing down their
ideas. I also agree with Pinker: I studied biology
and I explain a lot of human behaviour
in evolutionary terms. In fact, Steven
Pinker’s The Blank Slate is my top book of
all time.
“You are more fluent if you don’t have to
stop and think about grammar forms”
and also a little to do with accuracy. No one pays to become
more and more fluent at a simplified pidgin.
What is your view of the idea of English as a Lingua Franca?
I do not think it exists. See my presentation “The Tides of
ELT”, which also includes my views on task-based learning:
www.paulemmerson.com/category/slideshow
Has any new technology made a difference to how you teach?
I have an interactive whiteboard with a monolingual dictionary
showing all the time on the screen.
How will business English change in the next five years?
I think in-work learners will get increasingly ignored because
materials for pre-experience learners are a much bigger market
for publishers. Also, e-learning is certain to develop, with
more teachers offering lessons via Skype and other tools.
A must-read book about English Language Teaching (ELT):
A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning by Peter Skehan.
I did an MA in applied linguistics about ten years ago, and
chose King’s College, London, where Skehan was a professor.
I consider him a genius. His speciality is language acquisition
in terms of memory and how the brain works.
A must-read non-ELT book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel
Kahneman, an academic and a psychologist. He explains how
the brain makes decisions — a largely irrational process.
What kind of support do you expect from ELT publishers?
I love case-study commentaries on DVD, where real business
people comment on the case studies in the book.
Who inspires you? Steven Pinker, who I think is the most intelligent
person on the planet. I admire academics who can
academic [)ÄkE(demIk]
approach [E(prEUtS]
bass [beIs]
blank slate
[)blÄNk (sleIt]
dumb sth. down [)dVm (daUn] ifml.
happy-go-lucky [)hÄpi gEU (lVki]
holding page
[(hEUldIN peIdZ]
in terms of [In (t§:mz Qv]
language acquisition
[(lÄNgwIdZ ÄkwI)zIS&n]
pidgin [(pIdZIn]
psychologist [saI(kQlEdZIst]
publisher [(pVblISE]
quote [kwEUt]
research [ri(s§:tS]
screen [skri:n]
tides [taIdz]
whiteboard [(waItbO:d]
zone: be in the ~
[zEUn] ifml.
Favourite quote: “When a zebra’s in the
zone, leave him alone,” from Marty the zebra
in one of the Madagascar films. I spend
a lot of time “in the zone”,
either thinking about something
work-related or daydreaming
about life and
ideas, and I don’t like to be
disturbed. The quote is particularly
funny because it
comes from the happy-go-lucky Marty.
Ambitions and dreams: To create an online site for learners
of business English. It already exists as a holding page at
www.beherebethere.com
Little-known facts about you: I’ve never missed a day’s work
in my life (I’m 58). And I played bass in the Manchester postpunk
band Dislocation Dance.
What language or intercultural mistakes have made you or
your learners laugh out loud? In Portuguese, bolo de coco
means “coconut cake”. But if you say the word coco wrongly,
it means “shit cake”. I made this mistake often. ■BS
Wissenschaftler(in);
Hochschullehrer(in)
Herangehensweise
[wg. Aussprache]
unbeschriebenes Blatt; Tabula
rasa
etw. stark vereinfacht darstellen
unbekümmert
Warteseite, Internetpräsenz in
Vorbereitung
im Hinblick auf
Spracherwerb
Pidgin; hier etwa: schlecht
gesprochene Sprache
Psychologe/Psychologin
Verleger(in); Verlag
Zitat
Forschung
hier: Tafelfläche
Gezeiten; hier: Trends
Weißwandtafel
mit sich, seinen Gedanken und
Tätigkeiten kreativ im Fluss sein
More for teachers at www.business-spotlight.de/teachers-zone
www
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 61

■ LANGUAGE PRODUCTS
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■BS
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accountant [E(kaUntEnt]
(Bilanz-)Buchhalter(in)
auditor [(O:dItE]
Rechnungs-,
Wirtschaftsprüfer(in)
CEF (Common European Framework GER (Gemeinsamer Europäischer
of Reference for Languages) [)si: i: (ef] Referenzrahmen für Sprachen)
civil engineering [)sIv&l )endZI(nIErIN] Hoch- und Tiefbau
electrical engineering
Elektrotechnik
[i)lektrIk&l )endZI(nIErIN]
entry [(entri]
Eintrag
mechanical engineering
Maschinenbau
[mI)kÄnIk&l )endZI(nIErIN]
phrase [freIz]
Ausdruck, Formulierung
pronunciation [prE)nVnsi(eIS&n] Aussprache
tax adviser [(tÄks Ed)vaIzE]
Steuerberater(in)
tax consultant [(tÄks kEn)sVltEnt] Steuerberater(in)
updated [)Vp(deItId]
aktualisiert
vendor [(vendE]
Verkäufer(in)
SOLUTIONS
Vocabulary (page 44):
a) crash barrier
b) motorway
c) junctions
d) lane
e) slip road
f) (hard) shoulder
g) interchange
h) road/lane markings (lane lines)
i) service area
j) car park
k) tarmac
Grammar (page 45):
a) The plastic bottles are inspected by our
staff.
b) The plastic flakes are cleaned to remove
contamination.
c) Recycled plastic bottles can be made into
products such as garden furniture.
Tricky translations (page 52):
1. a) Er hat den Löwenanteil der Verantwortung
auf sich genommen.
b) Mein Koffer ist sehr sperrig.
2. a) Some footballers earn millions a year.
b) He didn’t deserve his dismissal.
English for...
property and casualty insurance
(pages 56–57):
a–2; b–1; c–1; d–3
Legal English (page 58):
a) tendering; b) guarantees;
c) compensation; d) chain;
e) ombudsman
62 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

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and productive
Wer gestresst ist, erbringt weniger Leistung. Doch wie äußert sich Stress, welche
Faktoren sind für ihn verantwortlich, wie lässt sich Abhilfe schaffen? MARGARET DAVIS
gibt einen Überblick und hat mit einer Expertin gesprochen.
medium US
Chill out: taking a break makes
you more effective
Stockbyte

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES CAREERS ■
These days, everyone seems to be talking about
stress at work. That’s not surprising: new technologies
are increasing the pace of change, and
in many professions, layoffs have brought extra
work to the employees who have kept their jobs.
Still, stress is not always a negative thing (see the interview
on page 68), and there are methods of dealing with it that
anyone can learn.
Experts say that one of the best ways to fight stress is
simply to move around. This is one area in which European
workers have important advantages. Unlike cities in
North America, European communities are built for pedestrians.
So if you want to take a short break from work, you
will probably have no trouble finding a place to walk.
“There is a direct relation between the built environment
and people’s lifestyles,” says Rick Bell of the American Institute
of Architects. Bell and other
American architects are supporters
of the active-design movement,
which involves creating
buildings that encourage healthy
habits. “It makes [workers] feel val -
ued and a lot of this stuff doesn’t
really cost anything because it’s
where you locate things,” Joan Blumenfeld, of the international
architectural firm Perkins+Will, told USA Today.
Principles behind active design include building stairs
rather than elevators, making use of natural light, moving
printers from individual desks and placing them in central
locations so that people have to get up from their desks,
and building outdoor spaces such as roof gardens that encourage
workers to leave their desks and get a bit of fresh
air and exercise.
A recent
study showed that only 21 percent of Americans regularly
leave their desks to have lunch. Instead, most hurriedly
eat “al desko” while continuing to stare at their
computer screens. “Far fewer employees are feeling comfortable
enough with their workloads to take time away,”
says Michael Haid, senior vice president of Right Management,
the international recruiting firm that did the study.
“One has to ask if such pressure, without any letup, actually
benefits the individual or the organization,” Haid told
CNN Money. “We are definitely not talking about a return
to the days of the three-martini lunch, but have we gone
too far in the other direction?”
a
New York City consultancy, says there is “a clear link between
exhausted employees and poor performance.”
Schwartz adds: “By pushing people too hard, you actually
make them less productive. Letting employees recharge
at midday is a tremendous competitive advantage. Look at
Google. Everyone goes to lunch there. The food is great,
and it’s free. And people are having terrific conversations
“There is a clear link between exhausted
employees and poor performance”
in the dining room. Facebook and Twitter now offer the
same thing, that chance to connect with colleagues and
share ideas over a relaxing meal.”
Even if your company doesn’t provide you with a free
lunch, you can make your working day more relaxed by
being well organized, says Dr. Shelley Narula. This helps
you “avoid delays and mistakes, which often bring additional
stress,” Narula writes on SteadyHealth.com. “Doing
one thing at a time and finishing it before taking up another
… is an equally good antidote against work-related
stress.” She advises the low-tech method of listing your
tasks in an appointment book. “Putting these tasks on paper
also eliminates the worry that often comes with trying
to remember all these details. And it also makes you feel
a great sense of accomplishment checking off a finished
task.” 4
al desko [Äl (deskoU*] ifml.
antidote [(ÄntidoUt*]
appointment book
[E(pOIntmEnt bUk] US
at a time: do one thing ~ [)Ät E (taIm]
CEO (chief executive officer) [)si: i: (oU*]
check sth. off [)tSek (O:f*]
competitive advantage
[kEm)petEtIv Ed(vÄntIdZ*]
connect with sb. [kE(nekt wIT*]
consultancy [kEn(sVltEnsi]
elevator [(elIveIt&r*] US
environment [In(vaI&rEnmEnt]
exercise [(eks&rsaIz*]
exhausted [Ig(zO:stId]
layoff [(leIO:f*]
letup [(letVp]
am Schreibtisch
Gegenmittel
Terminkalender
jeweils nur eine Sache tun
Hauptgeschäftsführer(in)
etw. abhaken
Wettbewerbsvorteil
zu jmdm. Kontakt herstellen
Beratungsfirma
Aufzug
Umgebung
Bewegung
erschöpft, ausgepowert
Entlassung
Pause
*This symbol marks standard US pronunciation that differs from standard UK pronunciation.
link [lINk]
locate sth. [(loUkeIt*]
pace [peIs]
pedestrian [pE(destriEn]
performance [p&r(fO:rmEns*]
recruiting [ri(kru:tIN]
recharge [)ri:(tSA:rdZ*]
senior vice-president
[)si:nj&r )vaIs (prezIdEnt*]
sense of accomplishment
[)sens Ev E(kA:mplISmEnt*]
stuff [stVf]
take sth. up [)teIk (Vp]
terrific [tE(rIfIk]
tremendous [trE(mendEs]
workload [(w§:kloUd*]
Zusammenhang
etw. platzieren
Tempo
Fußgänger(in)
Leistung, Erfolg
Personalbeschaffung, Anwerbung
neue Energie tanken
Direktor(in)
schönes Gefühl, etw. erfolgreich
erledigt zu haben
Sachen, Dinge
mit etw. beginnen
toll
enorm
Arbeitsbelastung
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 67

■ CAREERS RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
INTERVIEW
“You can spend a career focused on what was or
wasn’t – or on what can be”
Award-winning stress-relief expert
SUSIE MANTELL is the best-selling
author of Your Present: A Half-Hour of
Peace, a guided meditation CD for
deep relaxation. Mantell develops programs
for Fortune 500 companies,
distinguished hospitals and world-class
spas. She provides free stress tips at
www.relaxintuit.com.
How important is attitude (glass half full/glass half empty) for
dealing with workplace stress?
How we perceive and respond to any event determines its stress
value for us. Stress is often about choices, even when it doesn’t
feel that way. Attitude and perspective are always choices. Our reaction
to workplace stress has an effect on job satisfaction and
performance, as well as on our health, relationships, and quality
of life.
Interestingly, not all stress is harmful. Work-related stress can
drive us toward creative problem solving or inventive design. Remember
the thrill of closing your first deal? “Constructive” stress
shows us what needs repair, when to scratch, or marry — or not.
Mother Nature hardwires us with a clever stress-response system,
including reserves for true emergencies. When we sound the
alarm excessively, the body–mind becomes “stressed” beyond
capa city. We’re more likely to suffer from illness, depression,
irritability, forgetfulness, and carelessness. A lifetime is filled with
possibilities, opportunities, challenges, risks, and the choices we
make when presented with each. We can spend a career focused
on what was, or wasn’t — or on what can be. Each day, we either
grow toward the light, or wither on the vine, and that, too, is a choice.
Is workplace negativism contagious? If so, what can you do to stop
or prevent it?
The bottom line of any business is directly related to employees’
physical and emotional well-being. Wherever we focus our energy
tends to flourish, and negativity is 100 percent self-inflicted
stress. External stress triggers are learned. Coworkers’ reactions
to stress can strongly influence our own. If we’re not mindful, we
can get involved in gossip or complaining.
If coworkers speak negatively, here are five tips for rediscovering
simple pleasures at work:
1. Ask yourself: “Will this matter in six months?” React accordingly.
Calmly walk to another room. Breathe. Stretch. Simple
movement can shift our entire mood. 2. Over the speaker’s head,
visualize an airplane with an advertising banner. Imagine each
negative word attaching to the banner as the plane flies by. Think:
“They’re just words. They’ll be gone in a minute.” 3. Keep reminders
in your workspace of who you are when you’re not there
(for example, a button from The Stones concert, family photos, a
golf ball). 4. Get outdoors, even if it’s only for ten minutes. Do
mini-meditations and mindful breathing — focusing your full attention
on rhythmic inhalation and exhalation — while downloading
e-mails or waiting at the bank. 5. Do something kind for a different
coworker every day. Even a friendly smile can release your
colleague’s stress reduction endorphins — and yours!
Have you ever worked with someone who always looked
on the dark side of life? Don’t be that person yourself, advises
Dr. Jeanne Segal. “Your emotions are contagious, and
stress has an impact on the quality of your interactions
with others. The better you are at managing your own
stress, the more you’ll positively affect those around you,
and the less other people’s stress will negatively affect
you,” says Segal, who runs the HelpGuide Web site with
Melinda Smith, Lawrence Robinson, and her husband,
Robert Segal.
“Try to think positively about your work, avoid negative-thinking
coworkers, and pat yourself on the back
about small accomplishments, even if no one else does,”she
comments.
affect sb. [E(fekt]
attach to sth. [E(tÄtS tu]
attitude [(ÄtEtu:d*]
bottom line [)bA:tEm (laIn*]
challenge [(tSÄlIndZ]
close a deal [)kloUz E (di:&l*]
contagious [kEn(teIdZEs]
design [di(zaIn]
distinguished [dI(stINgwISt]
emergency [i(m§:dZEnsi]
flourish [(fl§:rIS*]
gossip [(gA:sEp*]
hardwire sb. with sth. [(hA:rdwaI&r wIT*]
impact [(ImpÄkt]
inhalation and exhalation
[(InhE)leIS&n End (ekshE)leIS&n]
irritability [)IrEtE(bIlEti*]
jmdn. beeinflussen
sich an etw. heften
Einstellung
Saldozeile
Herausforderung
ein Geschäft abschließen
ansteckend
Entwicklung(en)
namhaft
Notfall
florieren
Tratsch, Gerede
jmdn. mit etw. ausstatten
Auswirkung
Ein- und Ausatmen
Reizbarkeit
*This symbol marks standard US pronunciation that differs from standard UK pronunciation.
mindful [(maIndf&l]
mood [mu:d]
pat oneself on the back
[)pÄt wVn)self A:n DE (bÄk*]
perceive sth. [p&r(si:v*]
performance [p&r(fO:rmEns*]
release [ri(li:s]
respond to sth. [ri(spA:nd tu*]
scratch [skrÄtS]
self-inflicted [)self In(flIktId]
spa [spA:]
stress relief [(stres ri)li:f]
stretch [stretS]
trigger [(trIg&r*]
wither on the vine [)wID&r A:n DE (vaIn*]
(wither
vine
achtsam
Stimmung
sich auf die Schulter
klopfen
etw. wahrnehmen
Leistung, Erfolg
etw. freisetzen
auf etw. reagieren
sich kratzen
selbst herbeigeführt
Heilbad, Kurort
Stressabbau
sich dehnen
Auslöser
verkümmern
(ver)welken
Weinstock, Rebe)
68 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

Stockbyte
Negative emotions are contagious,
so look on the bright side of life
Keep smiling: having a laugh with a
colleague can help you relax
Many people react to stress with headaches, eye strain,
or stomach problems. If you’re one of them, try deep
breathing or massage. Paying for a professional massage
could be money well spent, since you can learn techniques
that you can later use for self-massage. Eye strain and
tiredness are a common side effect of spending eight hours
a day staring at a computer screen. If you’re having serious
eye problems (blurry vision, eye pain, or headaches),
you should go to a doctor. Self-help includes frequently
blinking to prevent dry eyes, changing focus (look off into
the distance at regular intervals), and taking regular breaks
(spend five minutes of every hour away from the screen).
the eyes is
palming: rub the palms of your hands together to warm
them, then place them lightly over your closed eyes. Sit
with your elbows on your desk, placing your head in your
hands. Breathe slowly and deeply for about 15 seconds.
Repeat this exercise whenever your eyes feel tired.
Tinnitus, that ringing or buzzing sound in your ears, is
often caused by stress, and can be reduced through relaxation
techniques. After every hour that you work, try 30
seconds of deep breathing or sitting quietly with your eyes
closed. Of course, as with any potentially serious physical
symptom, you should see a doctor before attempting selfdiagnosis
or treatment. And what about that pain in your
neck/back/head? Good posture — standing and sitting
straight with your feet flat on the floor — can reduce pain
and help strengthen the abdomen and lower back. Simple
stretches often help muscles to relax. So does tightening
and then releasing muscles.
some
of the pressure off. Mike Collins, president of The Perfect
Workday Company, keeps jokes and amusing books in his
office. When he needs to relax, he looks at the jokes or
picks up a book and reads until he starts to laugh.
YouTube could fulfill a similar function, as could watching
online versions of your favourite comedy show, but be
careful not to violate company policy on Internet use.
Experts say that a good way to deal with stress is to
think about what your job really means, and to remind
yourself why you chose your profession. Rick Best, a
health-services scientist for Lockheed Martin, has studied
the stress levels of nurses who work with war veterans.
“The meaning they got from their job was high,” Best told
The Wall Street Journal. “They went into the profession of
nursing to help people. As a consequence, they derived
much meaning from what they were doing, and they were
better able to handle stress.”
But not every job is rewarding, so don’t expect yours to
provide emotional as well as financial satisfaction. “With
so many expectations, it’s no wonder that work can’t meet
all of that,” says Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee
relations and services at the University of Denver.
“So we get disappointed, but I don’t know that work could
fulfill all those things.”
■BS
abdomen [(ÄbdEmEn]
Bauchraum
associate director [E)soUSiEt dE(rekt&r*] stellvertretende(r) Direktor(in)
blink [blINk]
blinzeln
blurry vision [)bl§:ri (vIZ&n*]
verschwommenes Sehen
buzzing [(bVzIN]
summend
derive sth. from sth. [di(raIv frVm*] etw. aus etw. gewinnen
eye strain [(aI streIn]
Überanstrengung der Augen
fulfill sth. [fUl(fIl]
etw. erfüllen
lower back [)loU&r (bÄk*]
unterer Rückenbereich
meaning [(mi:nIN]
hier: Sinnerfüllung
nurse [n§:s]
Krankenpfleger(in)
palm [pA:lm*]
Handfläche
palming [(pA:lmIN*]
Palmieren
posture [(pA:stS&r*]
Haltung
release sth. [ri(li:s]
etw. lockern
rub sth. [rVb]
etw. reiben
side effect [(saId E)fekt]
Nebenwirkung
stretch [stretS]
Dehnübung
violate sth. [(vaIEleIt]
hier: gegen etw. verstoßen
*This symbol marks standard US pronunciation that differs from standard UK pronunciation.
For more information
WEB SITES
■ Mike Collins has an amusing blog with tips for common workplace
situations: http://perfectworkday.blogspot.de
■ The HelpGuide provides useful information on mental health:
www.helpguide.org
■ Relax Intuit is stress expert Susie Mantell’s Web site:
www.relaxintuit.com
www More career trends at www.business-spotlight.de/careers
MARGARET DAVIS is a Canadian journalist and is the
editor of the Careers and Global Business sections of
Business Spotlight. Contact her at: m.davis@spotlightverlag.de
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 69

■ CAREERS TIPS AND TRENDS
All in a day’s work
medium
Gutes Arbeitsklima ist wichtig. Wir geben Ihnen Tipps, wie Sie sich richtig verhalten und wie Sie
Unachtsamkeiten vermeiden, mit denen Sie Kollegen und Mitarbeitern den Tag erschweren.
The wrong message?
Speak firmly
On the job
Clear communication
Do people take you seriously at work? If not, it could be
because you don’t sound confident. One common mistake
is apologizing even when it’s not your fault. In discussions,
you may just be offering the pros and cons of a situation
without providing a firm recommendation. “This
style of communication keeps you from sounding like the
seasoned professional you are and might even be what’s
preventing you from getting ahead at work,” says careers
blogger Emily Nickerson. www.thedailymuse.com
Image Source
Good (boss) behaviour
The key to being a good boss is to win your employees’
respect and trust. “You need to genuinely care about
people and their careers,” says management guru Jo
Owen. “People who do this tend to be rated very highly
and inspire great loyalty,” Owen told the Financial Times.
A good boss will also try to keep employees motivated
and ask for their ideas. This is not always easy, admits HR
specialist Peter Twemlow. “When suggestions are not in
the best interests of the company, this needs to be explained
clearly,” Twemlow told The Guardian. “Share as much financial
information as possible — by being upfront and
open from the start you will build trust and confidence.”
Tough love
Employers today look for workers who are willing to do
more with less, says career expert Marty Nemko. So,
offer to help them: “You might ask your boss and coworkers
something like, ‘I have a little room on my plate.
Is there anything I can do to make your life easier?’”
Nemko says people who become expert in areas that are
valuable to their employers have a better chance of being
promoted or simply staying employed. “It hurts me to be
issuing all this tough love, but I’d rather see you work a little
harder and smarter than face the daunting search for a
new job,” writes Nemko. http://martynemko.blogspot.com
apologize [E(pQlEdZaIz] sich entschuldigen
confident [(kQnfIdEnt] sicher, selbstbewusst
daunting [(dO:ntIN]
entmutigend
genuinely [(dZenjuInli] wirklich
HR (human resources) Personalwesen
[)eItS (A:]
internship [(Int§:nSIp]
Praktikum
issue sth. [(ISu:]
etw. ausgeben
pioneer [)paIE(nIE]
Vorreiter
plate: have a little room Kapazitäten übrig
on one’s ~ [pleIt] UK
haben
promote sb. [prE(mEUt] jmdn. befördern
pros and cons: the ~ die Vor- und Nach -
[)prEUz En (kQnz]
teile
seasoned [(si:z&nd]
gereift; hier: erfahren
short-term [)SO:t (t§:m] kurzfristig
smart [smA:t]
schlau; hier: schnell
tough love
strenge Vorgaben
[)tVf (lVv]
zum Nutzen des/der
Betroffenen
trademark sth.
etw. gesetzlich
[(treIdmA:k]
schützen lassen
upfront [)Vp(frVnt]
direkt, offen(herzig)
workforce
erwerbstätige
[(w§:kfO:s]
Bevölkerung
Monkey Business
Returnship: back to the routine
Trend
Back to work
eturnships” are short-term, paid
“Rpositions for professionals who
have been out of the workforce for
several years. Unlike internships,
which help young workers gain experience,
returnships give experienced
workers a chance to regain skills. After
completing returnships, workers
are more likely to be hired for permanent
positions. The term “returnship”
was trademarked in 2008 by investment
bank Goldman Sachs, which has
been one of the pioneers in promoting
the trend. Source: Harvard Business
Review (http://hbr.org)
70 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

Eek! Untidy and probably
unhealthy, too
HOW TO...
Stay calm in the kitchen
Why are office kitchens so chaotic? Sharing food and conversation
with your colleagues ought to be enjoyable. Yet, the
company kitchen is often a battleground filled with dirty coffee
cups, unwashed pots — and frustrated co-workers. It doesn’t
have to be that way. Follow these simple rules to make your coffee
breaks and lunches less confrontational:
■ Don’t take colleagues’ food. That sandwich or those leftovers
in a plastic container don’t belong to you. So leave
them in the fridge. And to make it perfectly clear to others,
put your name on your own food.
■ While you’ve got your head inside the fridge, remove anything
of yours that is long past its best-before date, turning
green or that smells dangerous. If it’s naturally smelly
— Limburger cheese, anyone? — be sure to store it in an
airtight container.
■ Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Don’t leave them on the
worktop or in the sink. If the dishwasher is full, turn it on.
And don’t take up valuable space in the dishwasher with
your giant-sized wok. Wash it by hand, please.
■ Most office kitchens contain a microwave oven. If you spill
something in it, clean it up immediately — don’t wait for
food to harden.
Dilbert
plus For more on food and kitchens, see Business Spotlight plus
iStockphoto (2)
Statistically speaking
Love and work
■ If you have a long commute to work,
it can be hard on your relationship.
According to a study by Umeå University
in Sweden, a commute of
more than 45 minutes could mean a
40 per cent higher risk of divorce.
And Chinese researchers say that travelling
in different directions to work
may also place your relationship at
risk. Sources: Umeå University
(www.umu.se); Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology (www.
journals.elsevier.com)
■ Dancers and choreographers
have the highest divorce rate of
any profession (43 per cent). They
are followed by barkeepers and massage
therapists (each 38 per cent). Other
high-risk professions include roofers (26 per
cent) and mathematicians (20 per cent). If
you’re looking for a stable relationship, marry
an optometrist: only 4 per cent of them get divorced.
Dancer: high-risk
as a husband
Sources: Radford University (www.radford.edu); The
Fiscal Times (www.thefiscaltimes.com) ■BS
airtight [(eEtaIt]
luftdicht verschlossen
battleground [(bÄt&lgraUnd]
Schlachtfeld
best-before date: be past its ~ das Mindesthaltbarkeits-
[)best bi(fO: deIt]
datum überschritten haben
commute (to work) [kE(mju:t] Pendelstrecke
divorce [dI(vO:s]
Scheidung
leftovers [(left)EUvEz]
(Essens-)Reste
massage therapist [(mÄsA:Z )TerEpIst] Masseur(in)
microwave oven [)maIkrEweIv (Vv&n] Mikrowelle(nherd)
optometrist [Qp(tQmEtrIst]
Optiker(in)
researcher [ri(s§:tSE]
Forscher(in)
roofer [(ru:fE]
Dachdecker(in)
sink [sINk]
Spüle
spill sth. [spIl]
etw. verschütten
stable [(steIb&l]
stabil; hier: langjährig
worktop [(w§:ktQp] UK
Arbeitsplatte
www.dilbert.com scottadams@aol.com
© 4/5/2012 Scott Adams, Inc. Dist. by Universal Uclick
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 71

Sprachen lernen für alle!
NEU!
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UNVERBINDLICH
Die neue Basismitgliedschaft:
✔ 10 kostenlose Videos
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LEISURE TIME CAREERS ■
Away from your desk
medium
Verbannen Sie die englische Sprache und die englischsprachige Welt nicht an Ihren Arbeitsplatz!
Mit Büchern, Kunst und anderen Genüssen räumen Sie ihnen auch in Ihrer Freizeit einen Platz ein.
MARGARET DAVIS gibt Empfehlungen.
Young New Yorkers: a work
by Brent Dickinson
Books
Who says print is dead? Although e-books are becoming
increasingly popular (see Business
Spotlight 1/2013), there is still a demand for
well-made books. The Folio Society, founded in
1947, publishes beautiful books, many
of them illustrated. Choose from art,
music and history to cookery, and from
Shakespeare to modern
classics. These lovely
volumes are a joy to own
and would also make welcome
gifts for book lovers.
www.foliosociety.com
Luxury
Scottish whisky makers The Macallan
(www.themacallan.com) have teamed up with
perfumer Roja Dove to create scents based on the famous
whisky. The idea is to help people recognize the
scents and flavours of whisky when they take part in
tastings. Dove is also creating
whisky-scented candles.
Perfumer Angela Flanders
has developed Aqua Alba,
an eau de toilette inspired
by Johnnie Walker blended
whisky. http://angelaflandersperfumer.com
Art
New York is the subject of an art exhibition at the Essl
Museum in Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. New. New York
is part of the museum’s “emerging artists” series and looks
at the current New York art scene. It includes works by 19
artists and is being shown with the assistance of American
artist and curator John Silvis. Among the artists are Brent
Dickinson, Steven and William Ladd, Ann Pibal and Tamara
Zahaykevich. The exhibition, which opened on 23 November
2012, runs until 1 April 2013. www.essl.museum
DVD
© Brent Dickinson
T
his year is the 25th anniversary of Working
Girl (Die Waffen der Frauen). Melanie
Griffith plays a young woman trying to get
ahead. Sigourney Weaver is her scheming
boss and Harrison Ford plays the man both
are in love with. A lot has changed in the
working world in the past 25 years — and not just those
big hairstyles. But Working Girl remains an enjoyable
comedy. The New York skyline in the opening credits is a
poignant reminder of how the city looked before 9/11.
anniversary [)ÄnI(v§:sEri]
art exhibition [(A:t eksI)bIS&n]
blended whisky [)blendId (wIski]
cookery [(kUkEri] UK
emerging artist [i)m§:dZIN (A:tIst]
found sth. [faUnd]
get ahead [)get E(hed]
opening credits [)EUpEnIN (kredIts]
Jahrestag, Jubiläum
Kunstausstellung
Whisky-Verschnitt
Kochen
Nachwuchskünstler(in)
etw. gründen
vorwärtskommen; hier:
beruflich aufsteigen
Vorspann
perfumer [pE(fju:mE]
poignant [(pOInjEnt]
scent [sent]
scented candle [)sentId (kÄnd&l]
scheming [(ski:mIN]
tasting [(teIstIN]
team up with sb.
[)ti:m (Vp wID]
volume [(vQlju:m]
Parfümhersteller(in)
schmerzlich
Duft(note)
Duftkerze
intrigant
Verkostung, Degustation
sich mit jmdm. zusammenschließen
Band
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 73

Fashion icon: Anna Wintour is
feared and respected
Style
queen
Ihr Gesicht kennt jeder, und ihr prägnanter Führungsstil lieferte die Vorlage zu einem Film.
PAUL HARRIS berichtet von der einflussreichsten Frau in der Modebranche. advanced
Getty Images
Some see her as the ultimate fashion ice queen,
whose style judgements can make or break a designer’s
heart — and business model. As the editor
of America’s Vogue magazine, Anna Wintour
has one of the most recognizable faces in the
world, despite hiding it behind dark sunglasses. Her management
style is so famously brutal that it inspired the movie
The Devil Wears Prada and the book it was based on.
The 63-year-old is feared and admired by fashionistas and
shoppers alike. In a tough global business, she has risen to
the top and earned her nickname “Nuclear Wintour”.
None of which would suggest she is the ideal candidate
to be the next American ambassador to Britain or France,
where she would be the focus of sensitive international
diplomacy. Yet that is exactly the rumour that did the
rounds late last year in Washington, DC, as well as in the
chic boutiques of Manhattan and the offices of Condé
Nast, which publishes Vogue.
ambassador [Äm(bÄsEdE]
editor [(edItE]
fashionista [)fÄSE(ni:stE] ifml.
make or break sth.
[)meIk O: (breIk]
nickname [(nIkneIm]
rumour [(ru:mE]
Botschafter(in)
Redakteur(in); hier:
Chefredakteur(in)
Modedesigner(in); Modefan
für den Erfolg von etw.
entscheidend sein
Spitzname
Gerücht
74 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

ANNA WINTOUR MANAGEMENT ■
“Anna Wintour is perfect to be an ambassador,” said
Noah Levy, an editor at celebrity magazine In Touch
Weekly. Others are more sceptical. Jerry Oppenheimer,
who wrote a biography of Wintour called Front Row,
could not believe his ears. He pointed out that Wintour’s
reputation had suffered when she ran a glowing Vogue
profile of the wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad just
as he began a campaign of bloody repression.
But presidents have long rewarded top campaign
donors with overseas appointments and Wintour has been
a wildly successful fundraiser for Obama, giving celebrity
parties and bringing in more than $500,000 in donations.
Rather than diplomatic skills, Wintour has shown she has
what the White House really looks for: power, money, loyalty
and the skill to work her contacts.
From that point of view, no one would
say that Wintour is not highly qualified.
Or, to put it another way: no one
has ever got very far by betting against
Anna Wintour’s ambition.
Yet despite Wintour’s steely reputation,
colleagues, friends and even critics
praise her ability to be charming,
fun and sociable. For someone seen as
a distant monarch of Fashion Land,
she can show a warm side. Just take the
experience of New York-based fashion writer Melissa
Whitworth. After arriving in New York in the late 1990s,
Whitworth wrote to Wintour out of the blue asking for advice
on how to succeed in the Big Apple. To her astonishamazing
[E(meIzIN]
appointment [E(pOIntmEnt]
approachable [E(prEUtSEb&l]
bat sth. about [)bÄt E(baUt] ifml.
bet against sth. [(bet E)genst]
brouhaha [(bru:hA:hA:]
celebrity [sE(lebrEti]
chat [tSÄt]
conspiracy theory [kEn(spIrEsi )TIEri]
donation [dEU(neIS&n]
donor [(dEUnE]
fundraiser [(fVndreIzE]
glowing [(glEUIN]
high-end [)haI (end]
impact [(ImpÄkt]
mean [mi:n] US
outlandish [aUt(lÄndIS]
out of the blue
[)aUt Ev DE (blu:] ifml.
put it another way: to ~
[)pUt It E(nVDE weI]
revamp sth. [ri:(vÄmp]
rumble [(rVmb&l]
sociable [(sEUSEb&l]
steely [(sti:&li]
supportive: be ~ of sb. [sE(pO:tIv]
top executive [)tQp Ig(zekjUtIv]
work one’s contacts
[)w§:k wVnz (kQntÄkts]
fantastisch
Posten
zugänglich
über etw. diskutieren
gegen etw. wetten
Wirbel, Getue
Prominente(r)
(informelles) Gespräch
Verschwörungstheorie
Spende
Spender(in)
Spendensammler(in)
glühend; hier: begeistert
Luxus-
Wirkung
mies
ausgefallen, exotisch
aus heiterem Himmel,
spontan
um es anders auszudrücken
etw. komplett umgestalten
rumoren; hier: als Gerücht
kursieren
umgänglich
stahl-, knallhart
jmdn. unterstützen
Topmanager(in)
seine Kontakte für eigene
Zwecke einsetzen
ment, although less famous editors had ignored her, Wintour
immediately invited her in for a chat. For Whitworth,
spending time in Wintour’s office was a wonderful experience:
“She was very supportive of being a young writer
in New York. She was approachable and lovely.”
Others note that much of the brouhaha surrounding
Wintour might be rooted in sexism, aimed either at her or
her female-dominated industry. After all, she has simply
shown the drive needed by any top executive. “If you are
a woman and difficult, you are considered a mean person.
If you are a man and difficult, you are considered a great
businessman,” said Levy.
Her rise has been spectacular. Born in London, her father
was Evening Standard newspaper editor Charles
Wintour. Anna developed an early interest in fashion,
pushed to some extent
by her father, who got
her a job in a boutique.
She moved into
Colleagues, friends
and even critics
praise her ability to
be charming
journalism, first at
Harper’s Bazaar in
London and then in
New York. By the early
1980s, she was
back in Britain, at
Vogue as the magazine’s
editor. From
there came one more jump across the Atlantic, in 1987. A
year later, she got the top Vogue job in America. She immediately
revamped what was then an unsuccessful magazine.
She used lesser-known models, mixed street style
with high-end fashion and established the magazine as the
leader in its field, broadening fashion’s appeal to the masses.
“She modernized fashion and created a big business
out of it. It was a fantasy world and she gave everyone
a taste of it,” said New York fashion blogger Dawn
Del Russo, who remembered the impact Vogue had on her
teen years. “I have my Vogue magazines from high school.
I don’t want to throw them away,” Del Russo said.
How, then, to explain the ambassador rumours? One
theory is that those close to Wintour were encouraging
them in order to help her keep her job and fight other rumours
of a desire for change at Vogue after a quarter of a
century. “One way to keep that job would be to [have it]
appear that she can leave. That’s a conspiracy theory that
is being batted about,” said Oppenheimer.
Others have suggested that Wintour could win an important
cultural post. “This has been rumbling for quite a long
time. I think it’s going to happen,” said Whitworth. “She
would be an amazing cultural ambassador for the arts.”
In the end, when it comes to Wintour’s next move — like
the latest fashion — it is hard to tell reality from outlandish
fantasy.
■BS
© Guardian News & Media 2012
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 75

■ MANAGEMENT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
LOC
Henry Ford’s $5 pay offer
Managemententscheidungen können Firmen und sogar die gesamte
Gesellschaft verändern. Wir werfen einen Blick auf folgenschwere
Entscheidungen aus der Wirtschaft. Von VICKI SUSSENS medium
The background
Making history:
workers on one
of Ford’s first
assembly lines
When Henry Ford (1863–1947) started the Ford Motor
Company in Detroit in 1903, it produced only 11 cars a
month, each costing $850 (roughly $22,400 today). At
the time, cars were luxury objects handmade by skilled
craftsmen. But Ford had a vision: to mass-produce a highquality
car that everyone could afford.
Ford’s Highland Park Ford Plant, which opened in
1910, revolutionized car production by using a moving
assembly line. This had 32,000 machines doing precisiontool
work and moving heavy car parts into place. It now
required fewer workers and hardly any skills to make a car.
By 1914, Ford had streamlined the process so that one car
was made in only 93 minutes and could be sold at just under
$300. By then, Ford was producing more cars than all
other US carmakers together. But there was a problem.
The problem
Working on an assembly line was hard. Workers stood in
one place, repeating the same action on the same car part
for nine hours. Staff turnover was extremely high —
52,000 people were hired in 1913 for the 14,000 available
jobs. Some workers simply walked out, causing costly
breaks in production.
Ford’s solution
In 1914, Ford increased pay to $5 (about $120 today) a
day, which was double what other firms were paying. He
also reduced working hours to eight per day. This offer
started what newspapers called a “gold rush”, attracting
workers from every corner of America and even from places
as far away as Mexico, Italy, Scotland and Eastern Europe.
At the time, factory owners were introducing better conditions
to stop workers from joining unions. Ford was a
leader of this so-called welfare capitalism, offering, for example,
profit sharing, medical assistance, schools and
recreational events for staff.
What happened next
Staff turnover fell to 16 per cent in 1915. Car production
rose from 170,000 before the pay rise to 202,000 a year.
By reducing hours from nine to eight, he could have three
shifts instead of two. By 1925, the company was making
10,000 cars a day, a record not beaten until 1972, when
more Volkswagen Beetles were produced. Ford’s business
model of mass production performed by well-paid workers
had become an industry standard. And Ford became the
head of the most powerful firm in America’s most powerful
industry. But he began to show signs of megalomania.
The booming car industry fed other industries, creating
wealth and growing consumerism. It began a new era that
Ford did not like. Worried about lost values, he gave himself
increasing powers over his workers’ lives. He set up a
“sociology department” to investigate their private lives,
giving incentives only to those who met his moral standards.
Ford published anti-Semitic views in his own paper,
The Dearborn Independent, blaming Jews for, among other
things, moral decay. And by the mid-1930s, he employed
spies to control moral standards at work. Ford also began
to speed up the assembly lines to increase productivity,
rather than employ more people. He remained a good businessman
— the company survived the Great Depression —
but he was no longer seen as a visionary. ■BS
assembly line [E(sembli laIn] Fließ-, Montageband
consumerism [kEn(sju:mE)rIzEm] Konsum(denken)
craftsman [(krA:ftsmEn]
Handwerker
decay [di(keI]
Verfall, Niedergang
feed sth. [fi:d]
etw. versorgen
Great Depression [)greIt di(preS&n] die Weltwirtschaftskrise 1929
incentive [In(sentIv]
Anreiz
industry [(IndEstri]
Branche
investigate sth. [In(vestIgeIt] Nachforschungen über etw. anstellen
Jew [dZu:]
Jude/Jüdin
megalomania [)megElEU(meIniE] Größenwahn
parts: heavy ~ [pA:ts]
Schwerteile
plant [plA:nt]
Werk
precision-tool work
die Arbeit von Präzisions-
[pri)sIZ&n (tu:l w§:k]
werkzeugen
recreational [)rekri(eIS&nEl] der Erholung dienend
shift [SIft]
Schicht
speed sth. up [)spi:d (Vp] hier: etw. schneller laufen lassen
spy [spaI]
Spion(in)
staff turnover [)stA:f (t§:n)EUvE] Mitarbeiterfluktuation
streamline sth. [(stri:mlaIn] etw. optimieren, rationalisieren
survive sth. [sE(vaIv]
etw. überleben
union [(ju:niEn]
Gewerkschaft
welfare capitalism
Wohlfahrtskapitalismus
[)welfeE (kÄpItE)lIzEm]
working hours [(w§:kIN )aUEz] Arbeitszeit
76 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

EXECUTIVE EYE MANAGEMENT ■
“Optimistic people are nicer to be around, so they get
more attention than their pessimistic colleagues”
ADRIAN FURNHAM ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT
medium
The importance of
happiness
Economists — or at least some of
them, because they seldom agree with
each other — seem to have lost one faith
and gained another. The old faith was
that money brings happiness. The new
one is that happiness brings money.
An essential belief in this dismal
science is that chasing money is
worthwhile. And indeed, there is a
relationship between money and happiness,
but it is limited: a 2010 study
by economist Angus Deaton and psychologist
Daniel Kahneman, both
from Princeton University, showed
that happiness increases the more
people earn, but only up to a salary of
$75,000 a year. After that, more money
does not buy more happiness.
Psychologists have always argued
that money does not motivate people
at work. Firstly, the effects of a pay
rise don’t last long, as people quickly
get used to having more money. We
know, for example, that people who
suddenly become wealthy through the
anxiety [ÄN(zaIEti]
argue [(A:gju:]
chase sth. [tSeIs]
degree [di(gri:]
desperate: the ~ [(despErEt]
dismal science: the ~
[)dIzmEl (saIEns]
(dismal
economist [i(kQnEmIst]
greedy: the ~ [(gri:di]
mood [mu:d]
moodiness [(mu:dinEs]
pay satisfaction [)peI )sÄtIs(fÄkS&n]
psychosomatic disorder
[saIkEUsEU)mÄtIk dIs(O:dE]
rise to a challenge [)raIz tu E (tSÄlIndZ]
study sb. [(stVdi]
worthwhile [)w§:T(waI&l]
lottery typically go back to their original
levels of happiness within a year
or two. Secondly, what leads to pay
satisfaction is not how much you
earn, but how much you earn compared
to others. If everyone gets the
same pay rise, it does nothing for motivation.
Finally, money is not the only happiness
factor. In fact, it may be much
less important than health or holidays,
time with the family and job security.
The desperate and perhaps the
greedy are willing to do anything for
money. But are they the kind of people
one wants to employ?
So money does not bring happiness.
But what if things were the other way
round? To test this, you need to study
a group of people for a long time.
This is exactly what British economists
Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve of
University College and Professor Andrew
Oswald of Warwick University
did. They studied 90,000 people aged
Angst(gefühl)
den Standpunkt vertreten
einer Sache nachjagen
(akademischer) Abschluss
die Verzweifelten
abfällige englische Bezeichnung für Volkswirtschaftslehre
düster, trübselig)
Ökonom(in)
die Gierigen
Laune
Launenhaftigkeit
Zufriedenheit mit seinem Gehalt
psychosomatische Störung
sich einer Herausforderung stellen
hier: jmdn. wissenschaftlich untersuchen
lohnenswert
between 22 and 29 for seven years,
presenting the results early in 2012.
They found that happier people were
more likely to get a degree, get hired
and get promoted, all of which influence
income. So why is this?
■ Optimistic, happy people are nicer
to be around, so they receive more attention
than their pessimistic colleagues.
Their enthusiasm gets them
much further in life.
■ Happy people have better moods,
which means that they make better
Stockbyte
The new faith: happiness brings money
decisions and can rise to greater
challenges. Bad moods or general
moodiness can prevent clear thinking.
■ Happy people are less likely to suffer
from anxiety, depression and
psychosomatic disorders. This means
they are seldom absent from work.
■ Happy people have better relationships.
We all need social support at
times and happy people have big and
useful networks. So, buy one of those
books on how to be happy. It may be
a seriously good investment. ■BS
ADRIAN FURNHAM is a professor of psychology
at University College, London. He
is a management expert and author of 60
books, the latest of which is The Talented
Manager (Palgrave Macmillan).
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 77

A deep, dark search
Im Gran Sasso, einem Bergmassiv in Mittelitalien, suchen Physiker
in einem unterirdischen Labor nach den kleinsten Teilchen, die
unser Universum zusammenhalten. Von ROBIN MCKIE advanced
Found underground:
the DarkSide detector
Y. Suvorov LNGS/INFN

DARK MATTER TECHNOLOGY ■
Drive west along Italy’s Autostrada 24 and you
will come to the Gran Sasso mountain range
and national park, about 130 kilometres from
Rome. Bears, wolves and chamois make their
home here and every summer, thousands of
tourists gather to holiday in this glorious landscape.
The mountains hide a secret, however, one that can be
seen from the A24 as it drops through the ten-kilometre
tunnel built beneath Gran Sasso mountain. (Gran Sasso
translates as “great stone”.) Halfway along, another tunnel
branches off from the main road. Should you follow it,
you will come to a four-metre-high, solid stainless-steel
door manned by guards. You are now standing in front of
the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, an underground
research centre where physicists are examining the structure
of matter and the composition of the universe. With
its labyrinth of tunnels, uniformed guards and shining
rows of equipment, it is one of the world’s most spectacular
laboratories.
1990s, when
the A24 Gran Sasso tunnel was being dug. Simply add a
side entrance and an extra few kilometres of tunnel, scientists
told the Italian government,
and you will create a
centre unlike any other.
“And that is what happened,”
explains Professor
Cristiano Galbiati from
the Princeton University
Department of Physics, and
a researcher at the laboratory. “About 10 kilometres of
tunnel were drilled here. Above us there is 1,400 metres of
rock — and that’s what makes this place so important.”
chamois (pl. chamois) [(SÄmwA:]
dark matter [)dA:k (mÄtE]
department [di(pA:tmEnt]
detect sth. [di(tekt]
gravitational field
[grÄvI)teIS&nEl (fi:&ld]
horse chestnut [)hO:s (tSesnVt]
matter [(mÄtE]
mountain range
[(maUntIn reIndZ]
muon [(mju:Qn]
orbit sth. [(O:bIt]
pinpoint sth. [(pInpOInt]
radiation [)reIdi(eIS&n]
ray [reI]
research [ri(s§:tS]
spin [spIn]
stainless steel [)steInlEs (sti:&l]
subatomic particle
[sVbE)tQmIk (pA:tIk&l]
weakly interacting massive particles
[)wi:kli IntEr)ÄktIN )mÄsIv (pA:tIk&lz]
wimp [wImp] ifml.
Gämse
dunkle Materie
Abteilung; hier: Fachbereich
etw. aufspüren
Gravitations-, Schwerefeld
Rosskastanie
Materie
Gebirgskette
Myon
etw. umkreisen
etw. genau bestimmen; hier:
nachweisen
Strahlung
Strahl
Forschung
sich drehen; rotieren
Edelstahl
subatomares Teilchen
schwach wechselwirkende
massive Teilchen
Schwächling, Schlappschwanz
Earth’s upper atmosphere is constantly bombarded by
cosmic rays, creating showers of particles called “muons”
that rain down on the planet’s surface. This background
radiation is harmless, but it can cause chaos when making
delicate measurements of subatomic particles. This is why
scientists decided to build a laboratory with a 1.4 kilometre-thick
rock roof. This rock blocks out nearly all muons
that hit the surface, Galbiati says. “It makes this lab one
of the least radioactive places on earth.”
raises a key
question, however: what is so important about having a
radiation-free laboratory? The answer is simple but surprising.
Scientists here are trying to pinpoint the existence
of material known as dark matter, which is believed to
be spread throughout the universe in the form of weakly
interacting massive particles — or WIMPs. Around 85 per
cent of the universe’s mass is now thought to be made up
of WIMPs. These particles fill the space around us, flying
through normal matter but only rarely interacting with it.
To date, no one has detected such a particle, though attempts
to find them are intensifying. One US–European detector,
called DarkSide-50, is beginning operation in Gran
“The Gran Sasso National Laboratory is one
of the least radioactive places on earth”
Sasso. Building it at a site from which practically all other
particles have been blocked — thanks to that thick, rock
roof — provides a great step forward in the hunt to find
WIMPs, say scientists.
Researchers believe dark matter exists for a simple reason:
the galaxies that make up the universe are spinning
too fast. It sounds unlikely but it is true, insists Professor
Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy at the University
of Cambridge. “Think of a conker. The faster you spin
one on a piece of string, the greater force you need to hold
it in and prevent it from flying away from you. Well, the
same is true for stars that orbit galaxies.
“If a star orbits a galaxy at high speed, that means that
galaxy must have a very powerful gravitational field to
hold on to it and stop it from flying off into space — and
powerful gravitational fields can only be generated by bodies
with huge masses.”
Y. Suvorov LNGS/INFN
A CLOSER LOOK
A conker is a British word for the soft, brown seed of the
horse chestnut tree. In the game of “conkers”, which is
played by children in Britain and Ireland, each player ties a
seed to a string. Players swing them hard, trying to hit and
break the thick green shell of their opponents’ conker.
4
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 79

■ TECHNOLOGY DARK MATTER
Using this theory, astronomers in the last century decided
to calculate the mass of galaxies in two different ways.
They added up all the observable material — stars, planets
and dust clouds — in a particular galaxy and calculated
its mass that way. They also observed the speed at which
the stars orbited a galaxy and calculated its mass from
that.
but they
weren’t. Figures produced from the second method —
based on star speeds — always gave masses ten times
greater than those from the first method. This was true of
every galaxy studied by astronomers.
At first, scientists thought they were simply failing to observe
stars that were too small or dim to be seen from
earth. The presence of such stars would explain what dark
matter was and account for the universe’s missing mass,
“We are putting one device inside another
like a set of Russian dolls”
they concluded. The development of infrared astronomy in
the 1980s showed that this was not the case. “Infrared detectors,
fitted to our telescopes, allowed us to observe stars,
not by their light, but by the heat they gave off,” says
Gilmore. “It meant we could see those dim stars for the
first time. But when we started to count them, it soon became
clear there were not nearly enough of them to account
for dark matter.”
account for sth. [E(kaUnt fO:]
boronated [(bO:rEneItId]
brown dwarf [)braUn (dwO:f]
cave [keIv]
decay [di(keI]
dim [dIm]
entity [(entEti]
fit sth. to sth. [(fIt tu]
flux [flVks]
hydrogen [(haIdrEdZEn]
ignite [Ig(naIt]
lead scientist
[)li:d (saIEntIst]
lecturer [(lektSErE]
scintillator [(sIntIleItE]
sphere [sfIE]
spot sth. [spQt]
spurious particle(s)
[)spjUEriEs (pA:tIk&l(z)]
undetectable [)Vndi(tektEb&l]
uranium [ju&(reIniEm]
vat [vÄt]
very pure [)veri (pjUE]
etw. erklären
mit Bor als Konvertermaterial
Brauner Zwerg
Höhle
Zerfall
lichtschwach
Entität, Objekt
etw. in etw. einbauen
Fluss
Wasserstoff
sich entzünden; hier: mittels
Kernfusion leuchten
führende(r) Wissenschaftler(in)
Dozent(in)
Szintillator (Material, das
beim Durchgang von energiereichen
geladenen Teilchen
angeregt wird)
kugelförmiges Behältnis
etw. ausfindig machen, finden
Störpartikel
nicht nachweisbar
Uran (radioaktives Metall)
Behältnis, Tank
ultrarein
Other entities that might account for dark matter, neutron
stars or brown dwarfs (stars that have failed to ignite
because they have insufficient hydrogen to burn), were also
not present in required numbers. So scientists turned from
astronomically large objects to looking at the incredibly
small ones in their search for dark matter. In other words,
scientists decided the universe’s missing mass was made up
of undetectable particles, WIMPs, which travel through
space in huge numbers and form invisible halos around
galaxies, adding greatly to the mass of each. WIMPs are
with us all the time but are extraordinarily hard to detect.
“We had eliminated everything else,” says Chamkaur
Ghag, lecturer in physics and astronomy at University College
London and a lead scientist with the DarkSide-50 project.
“The only things that were left on the table were subatomic
particles and these, we knew, would have to be of
a very special type. They would have to be fairly massive
to account for all that missing
matter in the universe but
they could only interact
weakly with normal matter
— for if they interacted
strongly, we would have seen
them by now.”
This realization sent scientists
down to new depths — into caves, old mines, motorway
tunnels and other sites deep underground. Here, a
cover of rock hundreds of metres thick would filter out
those unwelcome showers of muons hitting the planet’s
surface, which cause problems for detectors and prevent
researchers from spotting WIMPs. “Getting rid of the
worst effects of cosmic rays is a major achievement, but we
still have other problems down here,” says Professor
Frank Calaprice, also from the Department of Physics at
Princeton University and on the team looking for dark
matter at Gran Sasso. “For a start, a few muons still make
it down here, though the flux is less than a millionth of
what it is on the ground. We also have to deal with radon
gas, which is produced by the decay of uranium and thorium
in the rocks around us. Radon is radioactive and,
again, we have to filter that out.”
if it gets in
to the hardware used in experiments. Then, the detectors
themselves start giving off particles, providing extra signals
that have an effect on the results. This is why engineers
want to make sure radon is removed from the air when
they are putting together their detectors.
The excess muons are eliminated by placing detectors in
huge vats of very pure water. The one at DarkSide-50 holds
several thousand litres. Inside that is a huge sphere containing
boronated scintillator, which is made of material that
can cut out any spurious particles that pass through the
water. “Essentially, we are trying to create a backgroundfree
experiment here,” says Calaprice. “We are putting one
80 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

Well protected: the Gran Sasso Lab’s
three halls deep inside a mountain
device inside another like a set of Russian dolls to get rid
of every possible spurious signal and so make it easier to
spot dark matter.”
The last device inside this sequence of Russian dolls is a
stainless-steel sphere containing 150 kilograms of argon
gas. This is the heart of DarkSide-50. “The argon inside is
mostly in liquid form, but there is a little in the form of
vapour on top,” says Andrea Ianni, one of DarkSide-50’s
managers. “A WIMP passing through these two forms of
argon will produce a flash of light if it strikes an atom in
the liquid phase and cause electrons to be emitted from the
argon in the gaseous state. We will be able to tell from the
ratio of these two signals if we have detected a WIMP.”
seeking dark
matter at Gran Sasso, however. Another major detector
there uses xenon to pinpoint WIMPs. So does the Large
Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment in the Davis Campus
at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead,
South Dakota. “We are building more and more sophisticated
machines to find dark matter. I would hope we could
pinpoint our first WIMPs in a few years,” says Ghag.
However, it is possible that scientists just may not be able
to detect them. The particles that make up the universe’s
missing mass may turn out not to be weakly interacting
ones, but rather particles that never interact with normal
matter. “We hope they will interact so we can study them,
but at the end of the day we have no proof they will. If they
do not, we will only be able to study them from the gravitational
effects they have on us.”
In that case, dark matter would be
more like ghost matter, an ethereal material
made of particles that pass
through solid objects without noticeable
effect. Yet Ghag insists that dark matter
is very important. “We may never
see it or interact with it. But there would
be no earth or humans if there had not
been dark matter. Without these particles’
considerable mass, galaxies would
not have been able to form in the early
universe.
“As giant gas clouds formed after the
big bang and started to rotate, they
would have simply flown apart, like a conker when its
string breaks, without the mass provided by dark matter.
So galaxies would not have formed, nor stars, nor planets
— nor life, had it not been for dark matter. We are here because
WIMPs held our galaxy together,” Ghag says.
“That’s why we want to study them.”
■BS
LNGS
© Guardian News & Media 2012
ROBIN MCKIE is a British journalist and a science and technology
editor at The Observer.
Are you a fan of
Business Spotlight?
Receive business updates, language tips
and interact with our team!
big bang [)bIg (bÄN]
device [di(vaIs]
editor [(edItE]
emit sth. [i(mIt]
ethereal [I(TIEriEl]
gaseous state
[)gÄsiEs (steIt]
ghost matter
[(gEUst )mÄtE]
ratio [(reISiEU]
vapour [(veIpE]
xenon [(zi:nQn]
Urknall
Gerät
Redakteur(in)
etw. emittieren, ausstrahlen
ätherisch; hier: flüchtig,
kaum nachweisbar
gasförmiger (Aggregats-)
Zustand
etwa: “Geistermaterie”,
“Schattenmaterie”
Verhältnis
Dampf, Schwaden
Xenon
2/2013

■ TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Madder: a red root may be
used for green batteries
Ideas and inventions
Was gibt’s Neues? CAROL SCHEUNEMANN präsentiert technische
Innovationen und wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse. medium
Back to the roots
What’s red and green and full of energy? This sounds
like a trick question, but in fact, may hold the key
to powering electricity-hungry lifestyles in an environmentally
friendly manner — a simple battery that is
based on plant dye.
Chemists at City College of New York and Rice University
in Houston, Texas, have developed a lithium-ion
battery that uses purpurin, a red dye made from the
roots of the madder. It has been used for centuries to dye
cloth bright red, violet, orange or pink.
Many lithium-ion batteries use cobalt, combined with
lithium salt at a high temperature, to make the battery’s
Alamy/Mauritius
cathode, the negatively charged electrode. But mining
and transforming the minerals is expensive and damages
the environment. As luck would have it, the colour molecules
of purpurin can also act like the electrodes of a
battery, report the chemists in Scientific Reports, an online
journal published by Nature.
The team says the chemistry for producing purpurin
electrodes is “quite simple”. You just dissolve the dye in
an alcohol solvent and add lithium salt. When the ions
in the lithium salt bind with purpurin, the solution turns
from reddish yellow to pink.
Another benefit of growing the madder plants is that
they absorb carbon dioxide. And, because the batteries
contain no toxic chemicals, they can be thrown away.
The scientists at City College clearly are excited about
the potential of purpurin. “We can say it is definitely going
to happen, and sometime soon, because in this case
we are fully aware of the mechanism,” says George John,
professor of chemistry at City College.
An education revolution?
India’s Aakash 2
COMING UP
$20
The price of Aakash 2, an android tablet, for students
in India. The tablets are financed in part by the Indian
government.
Source: DataWind (UK), maker of Aakash/UbiSlate tablets
DID YOU KNOW?
Cigarettes may be good for birds. Nests that contain
cigarette butts have fewer mites and parasites. Scientists
believe that the nicotine and other chemicals keep the
insects away.
iStockphoto (2)
FIPEL
A type of lighting technology — field-induced polymer
electroluminescent — that could replace fluorescent
bulbs and LEDs.
Source: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
60 days
Length of time that bread stays fresh when sterilized
with a new microwave process. The technology is effective
at stopping mould, and killing salmonella bacteria
in food. It has the potential to reduce
bacterial infections in hospitals, too.
Source: MicroZap company (www.microzap.net) /
Texas Tech University
Kill bacteria, save bread
Sources: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Mexico; Royal Society Publishing
alcohol solvent
Lösungsmittel auf Alkohol-
[(ÄlkEhQl )sQlvEnt]
basis
bind with sth. [(baInd wID]
sich an etw. binden
butt [bVt]
Stummel, Kippe
carbon dioxide [)kA:bEn daI(QksaId] Kohlendioxid
charged [tSA:dZd]
geladen
dissolve sth. [dI(zQlv]
etw. auflösen
field-induced [(fi:&ld In)dju:st]
feldinduziert
fluorescent bulb [flO:)res&nt (bVlb] Leuchtstofflampe
madder [(mÄdE]
Färberkrapp (Rubia tinctorum)
mine (minerals) [maIn]
(Mineralien) abbauen
mite [maIt]
Milbe
mould [mEUld]
Schimmel
plant dye [(plA:nt daI]
Pflanzenfarbe
solution [sE(lu:S&n]
Lösung
82 www.business-spotlight.de
2/2013

A supporting role:
scaffolding helps
us to go up and up
LANGUAGE FOCUS TECHNOLOGY ■
iStockphoto
Vocabulary
access scaffolding [(Äkses )skÄfEUldIN] Zugangsgerüst
adjustment range [E(dZVstmEnt reIndZ] Einstellbereich
anchor tie [(ÄNkE taI]
Verankerung
beam [bi:m]
(Trag-)Balken, Ausleger
bearer [(beErE]
Stütze, Träger
brace frame [(breIs freIm]
Traggerippe
bridge pier [(brIdZ pIE]
Brückenpfeiler
civil engineer [)sIv&l endZI(nIE]
Bauingenieur(in)
clamp [klÄmp]
Klemme, Schelle
collar [(kQlE]
Kehlbalken
concrete slab [)kQNkri:t (slÄb]
Betonplatte, -riegel
confederation [kEn)fedE(reIS&n]
Verband
construction [kEn(strVkS&n]
Bauarbeit(en)
coupler [(kVplE]
Verbindungsstück
cross bracing [(krQs )breIsIN]
Querversteifung,
-verstrebung
deck [dek]
Gerüstbrett, -plattform
diagonal brace [daI)Äg&nEl (breIs] Diagonalkreuz, -strebe
drophead [(drQphed]
Fallkopf
erection [I(rekS&n]
Aufbau, Montage
facade scaffolding [fE(sA:d )skÄfEUldIN] Fassadengerüst
forming [(fO:mIN]
Formen, Formgebung
formwork [(fO:mw§:k]
Schalung; Schalungsgerüst
frame scaffolding [(freIm )skÄfEUldIN] Rahmengerüst
guard rail [(gA:d reI&l]
Schutzgeländer
heavy-duty [)hevi (dju:ti]
schwer belastbar
hoop iron [(hu:p )aIEn]
Bandeisen
ledger [(ledZE]
Querbalken
load-bearing capacity
Tragfähigkeit
[)lEUd )beErIN kE(pÄsEti]
mould [mEUld]
Gieß-, Schalungsform
plank(ing) [(plÄNkIN]
Bohle(nbelag)
prop head [(prQp hed]
Stützkopf
reinforced concrete [)ri:InfO:st (kQNkri:t] Eisen-, Stahlbeton
rigidity [rI(dZIdEti]
Stabilität
runner [(rVnE]
Längsholz; Längsträgerschiene
scaffold(ing) [(skÄfEUld(IN)]
(Bau-)Gerüst; Einrüstung;
Gerüstbau
shoring [(SO:rIN]
Hilfsgerüst
shoring tower [(SO:rIN )taUE]
Stützturm
slab prop [(slÄb prQp]
Deckenstütze
spindle [(spInd&l]
Spindelstab
standard, upright [(stÄndEd, (VpraIt] Stütze
suspended scaffold [sE)spendId (skÄfEUld] Hängegerüst
toeboard [(tEUbO:d]
Fußleiste, Bodenbrett
transom [(trÄnsEm]
Querbalken, -träger
tube [tju:b]
Rohr
Scaffolding
Ohne Hilfskonstruktion lassen sich weder
Stadiontribünen noch Autobahnbrücken
errichten. CLAIRE HART erklärt die Arbeit
einer Gerüstbaufirma.
advanced
When the organizers of the London 2012 Olympics
needed a way to support raised seats around the
swimming pools, they got advice from a scaffolding firm.
Scaffolding consists of tubes, couplers and decks that are
made of aluminium or steel. This provides a temporary,
raised platform for supporting workers or materials.
Specialists determine what size and type of scaffolding is
needed for a project, create the drawings and calculate the
amount of weight scaffolds are permitted to hold. Strict
safety standards and regulations must also be followed.
Various kinds of scaffolding exist for different purposes.
If you need to open or raise a roof, frame scaffolding will
support a protective cover. If you’re doing construction at
a train station, access scaffolding creates stairs that allow
passengers to reach their trains. Facade scaffolding even offers
space where giant advertising images can be hung.
A similar type of support system is called shoring, and it
is becoming increasingly important in bridge construction.
Heavy-duty shoring towers support the weight of the
concrete slabs that will later carry road or rail traffic.
Shoring towers also support formwork, the moulds into
which concrete is poured to make bridge piers. Shoring
towers were used, for example, during the construction of
the 245-metre-high piers that hold up the Millau Viaduct
in France, currently the tallest bridge in the world. ■BS
Exercise: Going up!
Choose the correct terms to complete the sentences.
a) _______ scaffolding can be used as stairs.
1. Access 2. Frame 3. Suspended
b) _______ shoring towers hold up great weights.
1. Heavyweight 2. Heavy-metal 3. Heavy-duty
For more information
BOOK
■ English for Architects and Civil Engineers, Sharon Heiden -
reich (Vieweg+Teubner)*
*This book is available at www.sprachenshop.de
WEBSITES
■ National Access and Scaffolding Confederation: www.nasc.org.uk
■ Scaffolding, Shoring & Forming Institute: www.ssfi.org
Answers: a–1; b–3; c–2
c) Vertical concrete structures of a bridge are called _____.
1. slabs 2. piers 3. formwork
CLAIRE HART is a business English and ESP trainer
who specializes in teaching technical English,
teacher training and materials writing. Contact:
clairehart@gmail.com
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 83

■ FEEDBACK READERS’ LETTERS
Vermisse Audio-Transkript
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The editor-in-chief, Business Spotlight, Fraun -
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or by fax to +49 (0)89/85681-210. Please
include your postal address, email address
and phone number. We reserve the right to
edit readers’ comments for clar ity or length.
Bis zu Business Spotlight Ausgabe 6/2012 konnte ich das
Audio-Transkript als PDF problemlos in die iTunes-Mediathek
importieren. Jetzt vermisse ich die Ausgabe 1/2013. Ist sie
woanders auf der Webseite zu finden? So wie ich das verstehe,
gibt es das herkömmliche Audio-Transkript als PDF nicht mehr
kostenlos. Wenn ich dies möchte, muss ich es neu gegen Bezahlung
abonnieren? Wenn dies so ist, finde ich es schade.
Walter Kläy, Galgenen, Switzerland
Thank you for your message. Starting with issue 1/2013, the complete audio
manuscript, including vocabulary, can be found in the audio booklet. The
booklet is available as a download for Premium members of the website (subscribers
to the magazine or to the CD can receive Premium membership without
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The booklet is visible on our website only when you are logged in.
The Editor
Random kindness
In Business Spotlight 5/2012, you featured an article about socalled
random acts of kindness as a way of improving customer
relations. Obviously, someone at the German airline
Lufthansa must have been reading this issue. An evening flight
from the UK was so seriously delayed that I missed the last
train from Düsseldorf and was forced to take a taxi home,
which cost €160. I wrote to Lufthansa and asked them at least
to award me some air miles as an apology. Ten days later, I received
a call from their customer service, in which they apologized
for the delay but regretted that they could not award me
any air miles. They were happy, however, to refund me the taxi
fare. They didn’t even ask for a receipt. I received the money
one week later.
Mike Seymour, Bonn
Enlightened discourse
In Ian McMaster’s “words of wisdom” to President Obama
(Business Spotlight 1/2013) he not so eloquently suggested,
“Ignore anti-democratic nonsense from some ignorant Republicans
about your having ‘no mandate’.” His choice of the word
“ignorant” was surprising. We are all ignorant to some degree
or other. This begs the question: is there something about having
an opposing point of view that offends the liberal mind?
As a conservative, I look at opposing views as opportunities for
enlightened discourse, certainly not condescension.
William Ganassin, via email
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84 www.business-spotlight.de

3/2013 PREVIEW ■
In the next issue:
iStockphoto
Moving experiences
More and more people are moving abroad for their jobs.
This can be an exciting adventure, but it also involves
many logistical and personal challenges. In our Global
Business feature, we bring you a special report on the
relocation industry.
Digital Vision (2)
That’s entertainment!
Do you dream of being a dancer like Patrick Swayze, a
singer like Pavarotti or an actor like Cary Grant? Or
would you rather be a painter or the manager of a
theatre? We talk to people who have made successful
careers in the arts.
SKILL UP!
Improve your
BUSINESS
VOCABULARY
with our
essential guide
The language of meetings
Whether we like it or not, meetings play an important part in our
business lives. Unfortunately, taking part in international meetings
is often difficult for non-native speakers of English. Find out
how good your language skills are with our special test.
In the next issue...
In the next issue...
PRODUCTION
PICTURE THIS: the factory floor
WORD BANK: key stages and places
ESSENTIAL IDIOMS: “take stock”
BusinessSpotlight 3/2013 is on sale from 10 April 2013
2/2013
www.business-spotlight.de 85

■ PEOPLE MY WORKING LIFE
Georgina Cooper
Online-shop owner
Als sie nach ihrem Modestudium keine Stelle fand, eröffnete sie
kurzerhand einen Online-Shop. Gemeinsam mit ihren Schwestern
verkauft sie nun Mode im Stil der Londoner Straßenmärkte. easy
You also have to be passionate about your job. To do the
creative side of this business, you need artistic skills.
Working for myself is great.
I have freedom and excitement, and no two days are the
same. But that does mean it’s difficult to switch off because
it’s my responsibility to make it work.
Georgina Cooper:
turned her love of
London’s street
fashion markets
into a business
My two sisters and I started and run the online
shop PretaPortobello.com, which sells clothes made by
the designers found in London’s street markets.
I’m responsible for everything creative,
from the look of the website, to the graphics and how we
present ourselves, as well as the online photos. It’s my job
to make sure we are a recognizable brand.
London in the UK.
I did a BA Honours degree in Fashion Studies
at the Bournemouth Arts Institute. It didn’t include business
training, so when we started — just after I had finished
university — I had a lot to learn!
It was hard to find a job in fashion,
and I was also not 100 per cent sure what I wanted
to do. People often liked the clothes I wore, which I bought
from the fantastic designers in London’s street markets
such as Portobello Road. Our idea was to enable people
who don’t live in London to buy from these designers.
I have learned most of the
skills since starting the company. To run a business, you
need confidence and must work hard. You can’t give up.
Sometimes, it can be very stressful.
And when we were starting the business, I worked
24/7, so my social life suffered. Because there are many
fashion sites, finding ways to be noticed is hard.
That my sisters and I have
built up a recog nized business out of what was, in fact, just
a hobby. PretaPortobello.com has become a favourite with
the press and customers from around the world. With our
“haggle” button, customers can bargain for discounts.
So much, not only
about business, but also about myself. My self-confidence
has grown, and the way I think about work has changed.
For example, it is not how long you work that is important,
but how efficiently you work. I’ve also learned that,
to succeed, you must do your research so you have a good
business strategy.
We want to build PretaPortobello.com into
a worldwide name. We want to be the one-stop shop for
up-and-coming, independent designers, and to be the website
for customers wanting to buy original alternatives to
mass-market clothing.
■BS
24/7 [)twenti fO: (sev&n] ifml. rund um die Uhr
BA (Bachelor of Arts) Honours degree Hochschulabschluss mit
[bi: )eI (QnEz di)gri:] UK
bestimmten Leistungspunkten
bargain for sth. [(bA:gIn )fO:]
um etw. handeln, feilschen
brand [brÄnd]
Marke
button [(bVt&n]
Button, Schaltfläche
confidence [(kQnfIdEns]
Vertrauen
discount [(dIskaUnt]
Preisnachlass
haggle [(hÄg&l]
feilschen
mass-market [)mÄs (mA:kIt]
Markt für die breite Masse
one-stop shop [)wVn stQp (SQp] zentrale Anlaufstelle
passionate: be ~ about sth. [(pÄS&nEt] von etw. begeistert sein
recognizable
erkennbar; hier: mit Wieder-
[(rekEgnaIzEb&l]
erkennungswert
research [ri(s§:tS]
Recherche(n)
switch off [)swItS (Qf]
abschalten
up-and-coming [)Vp En (kVmIN] Nachwuchs-
86 www.business-spotlight.de 2/2013

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BusinessSpotlight
SKILL UP!
VOKABELTRAINING LEICHT GEMACHT
AUSGABE 19
The world of
fashion
also:
On the catwalk | Small talk: dress codes

CONTENTS
NOTHING TO WEAR?
Your wardrobe is full but you have nothing to wear. How can that be? It’s very
simple. Every season, the fashion industry creates new styles, new colours and
new designs that make us want to spend lots of money on new clothes. In this
Skill Up!, we present the vocabulary you will need to talk about this topic.
In Picture This! (pages 4–5), we start with basic items of clothing and provide
you with useful words to describe your clothes in more detail. In addition, we
look at what could happen in an exclusive boutique, both up on the catwalk
and down on the shop floor. Don’t believe everything the seamstress tells you.
But there’s more to fashion than pretty models, as you can see in our Word Bank
(pages 6–7). On these pages, you can learn about the people who work in the
fashion industry. For useful verbs to describe what some of these people do,
turn to In Focus (pages 10–11). The fashion industry is an exciting place to
work, which is probably why we use so many fashion-related idioms to talk
about business activities. In Essential Idioms (pages 12–13), we show you how
to use shoestrings, caps and boots.
If you don’t know what you should wear, take a look at our guide to different
dress codes in Small Talk (pages 16–17), where you can also learn why some
people feel it’s important to have a dress code. What do you think?
Deborah Capras, deputy editor
bs.deputyeditor@spotlight-verlag.de
SKILL UP!
How many words in this guide can you use to
describe what you are wearing today? Use at
least three expressions per item of clothing.
Repeat this exercise tomorrow!
ANNA HOCHSIEDER is a Munich-based
teacher of English as a Second Language and
also writes on language issues in Spotlight and
Business Spotlight.
Contact: a.hochsieder@googlemail.com
SKILL UP! online
On our website, you’ll find selected
vocabulary from this guide in our
Word of the Day section. To listen to
the words, definitions and example
sentences — and to download the
MP3 file of each word — go to
www.business-spotlight.de/skill-up
2 SKILL UP!
ISSUE 19

The catwalk:
fashion industry
at its best?
Alamy/Mauritius
CHECKLIST: WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Below, you will find the contents of this issue of Skill Up! and a checklist of what you should
be able to do with confidence after studying this guide. Ask yourself what you can really do.
If you can’t say yes to every statement, go back and spend more time on learning the relevant
vocabulary. Don’t forget to read our Skill Up! tips and do the online exercises!
Contents Page(s) Checklist
Picture This!
Up on the catwalk 4–5 I can describe items of clothing using the right adjectives.
Word Bank
From cloth 6–7 I can talk about the textile industry and the people who
to clothes
work in it, and describe what they do.
False Friends
Slips and costumes 8–9 I can identify the false friends presented here — and
use the correct translations.
In Focus
Get the look 10–11 I know which specialist terms are typically used to
describe how clothes are made and altered.
Essential Idioms
Shoestrings and 12–13 I can correctly use idiomatic expressions that have their
boots
roots in the fashion industry.
Close Relations
In fashion 14–15 I can correctly use members of the “fashion” family.
Small Talk
All dressed up 16–17 I can talk about dress codes at work, in both formal and
informal situations.
Your Profile
My wardrobe 18 I can honestly say that I now feel more confident using
the vocabulary in this guide.
Preview 19
Not yet A little Yes!
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
ISSUE 19 SKILL UP! 3

PICTURE THIS!
19
17
18
16
Bernhard Förth
1
4
7
8
13
14
12
15
20
21
2
11
6
22
3
9
10
5
UP ON THE CATWALK
What you see on the Paris catwalk is not always what you can buy in the shops. Some
exclusive boutiques, however, have minifashion shows of their own.
It looked good
on the model!
1. seamstress Schneiderin
2. pincushion [(pInkUS&n] Nadelkissen
3. tape measure Maßband
4. customer Kunde/Kundin
5. hemline Rocklänge
6. stilettos [stI(letEUz] Stöckelschuhe
7. (coat) hanger Kleiderbügel
8. clothes rail Kleiderstange
9. catwalk (US runway) Laufsteg
10. knee-high boots kniehohe Stiefel
11. raincoat, trench coat Regenmantel
12. pocket Tasche
13. cuff [kVf] Manschette,
Ärmelaufschlag
4 SKILL UP!
14. belt Gürtel
15. buckle [(bVk&l] Gürtelschnalle
16. lapel [lE(pel] Revers
17. epaulet [)epE(let] Schulterklappe
18. collar Kragen
19. fashion model Model, Mannequin
20. sleeve Ärmel
21. mannequin [(mÄnIkIn] Schaufensterpuppe
22. ballgown, Abendkleid
evening gown [gaUn]
Model dialogue
Seamstress: It’s a size 10, but we can let it out a little.
Customer: No, it doesn’t fit me. It’s two sizes too small.
Seamstress: But look how the blue matches your eyes. It’s
just perfect.

From top to bottom
We’ve listed useful adjectives with the items they commonly describe. What other logical combinations
can you make?
hat
bowler hat [(bEUlE]
fascinator [(fÄsIneItE]
wide-brimmed hat
suit
impeccably tailored
[Im(pekEbli]
jacket, blazer
double-breasted
tartan
hoody [(hUdi]
zip-up [(zIp Vp] UK
jumper UK, pullover,
sweater
polo neck
(US turtleneck)
tight-fitting
V-neck
top
halter-neck
loose-fitting
Hut
Melone
ausgefallener Kopfschmuck
breitkrempiger Hut
Anzug; Kostüm
perfekt geschnitten
Jacke, Sakko, Blazer
zweireihig
mit Schottenkaros
Kapuzenjacke
mit Reißverschluss
Pullover
mit Rollkragen
eng anliegend
mit V-Ausschnitt
Top, Oberteil
rückenfrei mit Nackenband
bequem geschnitten
Bluse
tief ausgeschnitten
(Ober-)Hemd
kariert
gestreift
Krawatte
gemustert
(lange) Hose
weit geschnitten
elegant, schick
Kleid
knöchellang
rückenfrei
durchsichtig, transparent
Rock
bodenlang
schlecht sitzend
mit Falten, Falten-
gerade
kurze Hose
knielang
einfarbig; schlicht
blouse
low-cut
shirt
checked
striped
tie
patterned
trousers (US pants)
baggy
smart
dress
ankle-length
backless
see-through
skirt
full-length
ill-fitting
pleated [(pli:tId]
straight
shorts
knee-length
plain
On your feet
trainers (US sneakers)
court shoes (US pumps)
with low heels
open-toe shoes
patent shoes [(peIt&nt]
toe-strap sandals
What’s underneath?
Unterwäsche
passend
BH
gepolstert, Push-up-
Socken
Knie-
Strumpfhose
blickdicht
durchsichtig, Fein-
underwear
matching
bra
padded
socks
knee-high
tights
opaque
sheer
bequeme Turnschuhe
Pumps mit flachem
Absatz
(vorn) offene Schuhe
Lackschuhe
Sandalen mit Zehenriemchen
Essential verbs
be a size 10 (US 8)
change, get changed
change into sth.
fit (sb.)
get dressed/undressed
let sth. out
match sth.
put sth. on
suit sb.
take sth. off
try sth. on
wear sth.
Größe 38 haben/sein
sich umziehen
sich ein anderes Kleidungsstück
anziehen
(jmdm.) passen
sich anziehen/
ausziehen
etw. auslassen (z.B.
eine Naht)
zu etw. passen
etw. anziehen, anlegen
jmdm. stehen
etw. ausziehen, ablegen
etw. anprobieren
etw. tragen
iStockphoto
ISSUE 19 SKILL UP! 5

WORD BANK
Hemera
FROM CLOTH TO CLOTHES
Who are the key people working in the garment industry? Where do they work, and what
do they do, exactly?
Raw fibres are cleaned
and spun into thread
or yarn, which is
then woven on looms.
The finished cloth
may be dyed, printed
or embroidered.
A look at textiles
textile industry [(tekstaI&l]
cotton mill
textile mill
weaving mill
textile manufacturer
furrier [(fVriE]
tanner
weaver
textile equipment
loom
thread [Tred]
yarn
finished cloth
textile processes
bleach
dye [daI]
print
spin
weave
Textilbranche
Baumwollfabrik
Textilfabrik, Spinnerei
und Weberei
Weberei
Textilhersteller(in)
Kürschner(in)
Gerber(in)
Weber(in)
Geräte und Zubehör
zur Textilherstellung
Webstuhl
Faden
Garn, Nähgarn
fertiger Stoff, fertiges
Tuch
Textilverarbeitung
bleichen
färben
(be)drucken
spinnen
weben
The cloth and the design
Textile mill:
mass production
mass production
Massenproduktion
blue-collar worker Fabrikarbeiter(in)
child labour
Kinderarbeit
clothing/garment factory Kleiderfabrik
sweatshop [(swetSQp] ausbeuterischer
Betrieb
small-scale production Produktion in kleinen
Handwerksbetrieben
cutter
Zuschneider(in)
dressmaker
Damenschneider(in)
fitting model
Anprobemodell
milliner [(mIlInE] Hutmacher(in),
Modistin
pattern maker Schnittmusterher -
steller(in)
seamstress
Näherin, Schneiderin
tailor
Herrenschneider(in)
tailor’s workshop Schneiderwerkstatt
needlework
Handarbeit
crochet sth. [(krEUSeI] etw. häkeln
embroider sth. [Im(brOIdE] etw. (be)sticken
knit sth. [nIt]
etw. stricken
sew sth. [sEU]
etw. nähen
6 SKILL UP! ISSUE 19

Haute couture, prêt-à-porter or bespoke?
The term haute couture usually refers to expensive clothes made by famous fashion houses. In addition
to designing clothes that are made to measure, such fashion houses produce prêt-à-porter,
or ready-to-wear, collections in standard sizes. Clothes made for the mass market are also called
off-the-rack or off-the-peg. Bespoke tailoring is completely original clothing made by a tailor or
dressmaker for an individual customer. In US English, this is called custom tailoring.
bespoke tailoring (US custom tailoring)
ready-to-wear, off-the-rack, off-the-peg
maßgeschneiderte Kleidung
von der Stange, Konfektions-
In the shops
department store Kaufhaus
draper UK
Stoffhändler(in)
fabric(s) department Stoffabteilung
fabric(s) store Stoffgeschäft
fashion adviser Modeberater(in)
fashion merchandiser Modeeinkäufer(in)
gentlemen’s outfitters Herrenausstatter
haberdasher Kurzwaren -
händler(in) (UK);
Herrenausstatter(in)
(US)
personal shopper persönliche(r)
Einkäufer(in)
wardrobe consultant Modeberater(in)
window dresser Schaufensterdekorateur(in)
iStockphoto
Dressmakers have to
start somewhere
THE DETAILS
‡ The plural noun clothes [klEUDz] refers to the things that you wear to cover your body:
“I hate shopping for clothes.”
‡ The uncountable noun clothing [(klEUDIN] is more formal and refers to clothes collectively:
“We manufacture sports clothing.”
‡ As an uncountable noun, cloth [klQT] refers to the material that is used to make clothes. As a countable
noun, it refers to a small piece of fabric:
“What kind of cloth did you use? It feels very soft.”
‡ Apparel [E(pÄrEl] is a formal word for clothes or clothing and is more commonly used in the US:
“Fashion trends in children’s apparel are generally influenced by adult fashions.”
‡ Attire [E(taIE] is also a formal word for clothes:
“We are expected to wear formal business attire at work.”
‡ The word garment is a countable noun and can be used to refer to one particular item of clothing:
“What do you call the long black garment worn by a priest? It’s a cassock, isn’t it?”
‡ An outfit is a set of clothes often worn together, for example for sports or a special occasion:
“The classic gentleman’s business outfit consists of a suit and tie.”
ISSUE 19
SKILL UP! 7

FALSE FRIENDS
SLIPS AND COSTUMES
There are many words in German and English that sound similar but have very different
meanings. They are “false friends”. Learn the correct translations of these terms.
knickers
slip
iStockphoto (3)
What’s Slip in English?
Slip = knickers UK, panties US
“I won’t need to take much. Just a toothbrush
and a clean pair of knickers.”
It’s not slip!
slip = Unterrock, Unterkleid
“This dress is almost transparent, so I always
wear a slip underneath.”
label
What’s Etikett in English?
Etikett = label, tags
“He told me it’s 100 per cent cotton,
but that’s not what it says on
this label.”
It’s not etiquette!
etiquette = Verhaltensregeln
“According to Korean etiquette,
business cards should be presented
with both hands.”
etiquette
8 SKILL UP!
Photodisc

changing cubicle
cabin
Digital Vision
iStockphoto (3)
What’s (Umkleide-)Kabine in English?
Umkleidekabine = changing cubicle/room
“I’m sorry, but you’re allowed only three items
in the changing cubicle, madam.”
It’s not cabin!
cabin = Blockhütte
“We have a tiny cabin on the beach in Cornwall.
It’s beautiful.”
suit
What’s Kostüm in English?
Kostüm = suit
“Most of my female colleagues wear a
blue or grey suit to work.”
It’s not costume!
costume = Theaterkostüm; Tracht;
Verkleidung
“How embarrassing! We all understood
that we had to come in a costume.”
costume
M
SKILL UP! Audio
You can do an exercise on
false friends on Business
Spotlight Audio.
YOUR PROFILE
Write down example sentences that are useful to you. This makes it easier to remember false
friends and other tricky expressions.
ISSUE 19

IN FOCUS
Banana Stock
GET THE LOOK
The people who create the latest look
use specialist terms to describe what
they need and what they do. Here, we
present the most common expressions.
Same, but different
Some materials have exactly the same names
in English and German. The pronunciation,
Honestly, sir. It’s wool, not synthetic!
however, may be slightly different (chiffon
[(SIfQn], flannel [(flÄn&l], jersey [(dZ§:zi],
Equipment
mohair [(mEUheE], organza [O:(gÄnzE], tweed
[twi:d]), or the same (denim [(denIm], nylon
bale/roll of cloth Stoffballen
[(naIlQn], polyester [)pQli(estE]).
bobbin [(bQbIn]
Spule
dress form
Kleiderbüste, -puppe
iron
Bügeleisen
Materials
ironing board
Bügelbrett
Natural fibres
Naturfasern
muslin [(mVzlIn] Nesselstoff, Musseline cashmere [(kÄSmIE] Kaschmir
needle
Nadel
cotton
Baumwolle
pattern
Schnittmuster
leather
Leder
pin
Stecknadel
linen [(lInIn]
Leinen
pincushion [(pIn)kUS&n] Nadelkissen
silk
Seide
pinking shears
Zackenschere
wool
Wolle
[(pINkIN SIEz]
Synthetic fibres
Kunstfasern
scissors [(sIzEz] Schere
acrylic [E(krIlIk]
Acryl
sewing machine [(sEUIN] Nähmaschine
Lycra [(laIkrE]
Elastan, Lycra®
swatch
Stoffprobe
rayon [(reIQn]
Viskose
tailor’s chalk
Schneiderkreide
spandex
Elastan
tape measure
Maßband
Weaves
Gewebearten
thimble
Fingerhut
corduroy [(kO:dErOI] Cord
(clear) thread
(durchsichtige(r))
felt
Filz
Faden, Nähseide
poplin [(pQplIn]
Popeline
yarn
Garn, Zwirn
taffeta [(tÄfItE]
Taft
terry, terry cloth Frottierstoff
M SKILL UP! Audio
twill
Köper, Twill
You can do an exercise on velvet
Samt
Business Spotlight Audio.
10 SKILL UP! ISSUE 19

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
‡ The words cloth, fabric, material and textile
all describe the product you get if you weave
or knit fibres together.
‡ The word textile is mainly used in the context
of production:
“He works in the textile industry (or: in textiles).”
‡ The word cloth is frequently used in the context
of buying and selling:
“They import fine Indian silk cloth.”
‡ Cloth is often used for light materials, while
fabric describes heavier ones:
“We produce fabrics for making curtains.”
‡ The word material is more general, as it can
also be used for other substances that things
are made from, such as wood or plastic.
Textile worker:
sew, stich, shorten
The finer details
bodice [(bQdIs]
button
buttonhole
crease, pleat
cut
fold
hook and eye
lining
right side
seam
tuck [tVk]
Velcro fastener [(velkrEU]
wrong side
zip (US zipper [zIp(&r])
Oberteil, Mieder
Knopf
Knopfloch
Falte
Schnitt
Falz; Falte
Haken und Öse
Futter
rechte Seite
Saum, Naht
Abnäher
Klettverschluss
linke Seite
Reißverschluss
SKILL UP!
Words are easier to remember if you organize
them in a meaningful way. Instead of
making long lists, group words into categories
as shown on this double page. Focus
on a limited number of words that are especially
useful to you. Remember that your
short-term memory can probably store only
about seven new words at a time.
What to do?
alter sth.
baste sth.
darn sth.
drape sth.
embroider sth. [Im(brOIdE]
fitted: have sth. ~
gather (fabric)
hem sth.
lengthen sth.
let sth. out
make adjustments (to sth.)
sew (sth.) [sEU]
shorten sth.
stitch sth.
take sth. in
undo sth. [Vn(du:]
etw. (ab)ändern
etw. heften
etw. stopfen
etw. drapieren
etw. (be)sticken
sich etw. anpassen
lassen
(Stoff) kräuseln
etw. säumen
etw. verlängern
etw. weiter machen
(an etw.) Änderungen
vornehmen
(etw.) nähen
etw. kürzen
etw. steppen;
flicken, stopfen
etw. abnähen, enger
machen
etw. auftrennen
iStockphoto
ISSUE 19 SKILL UP! 11
Digital Vision

ESSENTIAL IDIOMS
SHOESTRINGS AND BOOTS
There are many idiomatic expressions containing words about clothes and fashion. Read
the dialogues to learn how some common ones can be used in business situations.
SKILL UP!
First, read the two versions of the short conversations. Then
cover up the idiomatic version and read the simpler version
again. Can you remember how to say the same things idiomat -
ically? Read the translations to check your understanding.
No money: tighten those belts
First, the idiomatic way
Steve: This project is coming apart at the seams. We need to
hire a specialist.
John: I’d hire one at the drop of a hat if we had the money.
But we have to tighten our belts.
Steve: We can’t do this on a shoestring.
Now, more simply
Steve: This project is in danger of failing. We need to hire a
specialist.
John: I’d hire one immediately if we had the money. But we
have to spend less money.
Steve: We can’t do this on a tiny budget.
Check the translations
come apart at aus den Fugen
the seams geraten
at the drop of a hat auf der Stelle
tighten one’s belt den Gürtel enger
schnallen
on a shoestring mit sehr kleinem
Budget
Hemera
First, the idiomatic way
John: Put your thinking caps on.
Nora: Speaking off the cuff here... we need to
make the designs more dramatic.
Steve: Nora, you’re talking through your hat.
What we need is a specialist.
Nora: Keep your shirt on, Steve!
Check the translations
put on one’s thinking cap
off the cuff
talk through one’s hat
Keep your shirt on!
Now, more simply
John: Start thinking hard.
Nora: Speaking without preparation here... we
need to make the designs more dramatic.
Steve: Nora, you’re talking about things you don’t
understand. What we need is a specialist.
Nora: Relax, Steve!
scharf nachdenken
aus dem Stegreif
dummes Zeug reden
Reg dich nicht auf!
Thinking cap’s on: but
nothing’s happening
ISSUE 19

Shall we give her
the boot?
Ouch, that’ll hurt
First, the idiomatic way
Nora: What do you think of the new designs?
Steve: So old hat.
Nora: Do you have anything else up your sleeve?
Steve: No! Honestly, Nora. I think we should give
the designer the boot. She’s flying by the
seat of her pants!
Check the translations
old hat
Schnee von gestern,
olle Kamellen
up one’s sleeve: etw. in der Hinterhave
sth. ~ hand haben
boot: give sb. the ~ jmdn. feuern
fly by the seat of nach Gefühl und
one’s pants US nicht mit Verstand
handeln
Now, more simply
Nora: What do you think of the new designs?
Steve: So boring and outdated.
Nora: Do you have a secret plan to surprise us?
Steve: No! Honestly, Nora. I think we should fire
the designer. She has no experience and
is relying only on her instinct, not knowledge.
First, the idiomatic way
Steve: The designer just went into John’s office
— dressed to kill and cap in hand. I
wouldn’t want to be in her shoes right
now.
Nora: Or John’s. It’ll be hard to find someone
to fill her shoes.
Steve: Not really. The new guy starts next
week. I hope he’s not all mouth and no
trousers as well.
Nora: I had no idea!
Looking good:
dressed to kill
Now, more simply
Steve: The designer just went into John’s office
— wearing attractive clothes and looking
very humble. I wouldn’t want to be
in her situation right now.
Nora: Or John’s. It’ll be hard to find someone
to replace her.
Steve: Not really. The new guy starts next
week. I hope he doesn’t just talk about
things, but works hard, too.
Nora: I had no idea!
Check the translations
dressed to kill aufgetakelt, aufgedonnert
cap in hand UK unterwürfig
shoes: be in sb.’s ~ in jmds. Haut stecken
fill sb.’s shoes an jmds. Stelle treten
all mouth (and no nur große Reden schwintrousers):
be ~ gen
iStockphoto (3)
ISSUE 19 SKILL UP! 13

CLOSE RELATIONS
IN FASHION
The word “fashion” is both a noun and a verb. It can also be turned into an adjective or
adverb. Here, we take a look at this word family and common “fashion” expressions.
+ -conscious fashion-conscious
+ -forward fashion-forward
+ y
fashionably
fashion
+ able fashionable
+ ista fashionista
+ ness
un + unfashionably
fashionableness
un +
unfashionable
+ ed fashioned
old- +
old-fashioned
parrot- +
parrot-fashion
“Fashion is made to
become unfashionable”
Coco Chanel (1883–1971),
French fashion designer
SKILL UP!
Notice that compound nouns are often
written as two (or three) separate words,
while compound adjectives are usually
written with a hyphen:
“She’s not just fashion-conscious — she’s
a fashion victim!”
The family
fashion
fashion sth.
fashionability
fashionable
fashionableness
fashionably
fashion-conscious
fashioned
be fashioned
fashion-forward
fashionista ifml.
old-fashioned
parrot-fashion:
repeat sth. ~ UK
unfashionable
unfashionably
Mode
etw. formen, gestalten
modische Aktualität
modisch
Modizität
modisch
modebewusst
gestaltet, geformt
gefertigt sein
trendbewusst
Modedesigner(in);
Modefan
altmodisch
etw. wie ein Papagei
nachplappern
unmodisch
unmodisch
iStockphoto (2)
14 SKILL UP! ISSUE 19

Useful expressions
after a fashion
be all the fashion
be in fashion
be the height of fashion
come (back) into fashion
fashioned by hand
go out of fashion
in an orderly fashion
in your own fashion
like it’s going out
of fashion
so einigermaßen
große Mode sein
in Mode sein
im Trend liegen
(wieder) in Mode
kommen
von Hand geformt
außer Mode kommen
auf ordentliche Weise
auf eigene Weise
wie wild
Useful nouns
fashion house Modehaus, Mode -
unternehmen
fashion industry
fashion magazine
fashion people
fashion show
fashion statement
fashion victim ifml.
Modebranche
Modezeitschrift
Schickeria
Modenschau
modisches Statement;
Aussage über
sich, die man durch
seinen Modestil
macht
Person, die jeden
Trend mitmacht
USE THE FAMILY
l I’ve worked in the fashion
industry all my life.
l You don’t have to spend a lot
of money to make a fashion
statement.
l She’s a model and has been
booked for fashion shows in
Paris, London and New York.
l The great fashion houses usually
present their ready-to-wear
collections twice a year.
l All our products are fashioned
by hand.
l I can’t believe you bought that
skirt. You’re such a fashion
victim.
“If you are not
in fashion,
you are nobody”
Philip Stanhope,
4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773),
British statesman
The height of fashion:
black and white
IN ACTION: FASHION
‡ Things can come (back) into fashion or go out of fashion. If something
is fashionable, it’s all the fashion or the height of fashion:
“Extreme shoulder pads were the height of fashion in the 1980s. I
hope they never come back into fashion again!”
‡ If you do something in a particular fashion, you do it in a certain way:
“Please queue in an orderly fashion and wait until it’s your turn.”
‡ If you do something in your own fashion, you do it the way you usually
do things:
“She knows what she’s doing. Let her do it in her own fashion.”
‡ The expression after a fashion is used to show that something is not
very good or is not being done very well:
“Is the printer working again?” — “After a fashion. But we really
should buy a new one.”
‡ The verb fashion (often be fashioned) means to make something,
often using a lot of effort and skill:
“These shoes are fashioned from recycled material.”
‡ If you do something like it’s going out of fashion, you do it in an extreme
way:
“They’re firing people like it’s going out of fashion.”
ISSUE 19 SKILL UP! 15

SMALL TALK
ALL DRESSED UP
Talking about fashion and complimenting each other on our clothes are common topics
for small talk — but it’s also a serious topic at work.
Situation:
Clare works for an internet company, while Lynne,
a good friend, is a banker. One evening, Clare
makes a compliment about Lynne’s dress, which
leads to a discussion about dress codes at work.
Clare: Wow, Lynne. You look so elegant in that little black
dress. You have such a great sense of style. Is it
your office do tonight?
Lynne: It is. Do I really look all right? I wouldn’t normally
show this much cleavage to my colleagues. Hope
I don’t have a wardrobe malfunction.
Clare: Don’t be daft. The dress is gorgeous.
Lynne: My daughter chose it. She’ll be out in a minute
— all dressed up to the nines.
Clare: How nice! Maybe she could give our staff some
fashion tips. You should see the way some of
the guys come to work. Such scruffs! Unironed
T-shirts, low-rise jeans with the boxers showing...
I’m surprised they haven’t been arrested for indecent
exposure!
Lynne: Don’t you have a dress code?
Clare: They wouldn’t be seen dead in a three-piece suit.
Lynne: I don’t think bankers even wear those any more.
Although, come to think of it, my boss does have
a pinstriped one. Oh, well, there’s no accounting
for taste, is there?
Clare: They could at least cover up a bit.
Lynne: I know they’d fire our guys if they turned up wearing
grunge. Tell me this — what do your guys wear
for dress-down Fridays?
Clare: You really don’t want to know. I wouldn’t say it’s
smart casual. Do you even have those at the bank?
Lynne: We do — and I find dress-down Fridays really
stressful, I can tell you. It’s like a competition.
Everyone wants to show off their good taste in
clothes. The only problem is, not everyone has good
taste — or a daughter to choose the right dress.
16 SKILL UP!
all dressed up to
the nines UK
boxers
cleavage
come to think of it
cover up
dress code
dress-down Friday
aufgetakelt
Boxershorts
Dekolleté
At the office do:
a little black dress
wenn man es recht
bedenkt
sich anständiger kleiden
Kleiderordnung
Casual Friday (mit
lege rer Kleiderordnung)
good taste in clothes guter Kleidergeschmack
gorgeous
hinreißend, wunderschön
grunge
Grunge (bewusst
abgewetzte Kleidung)
indecent exposure
unsittliche Entblößung
little black dress ifml. kleines Schwarzes
low-rise jeans herunterhängende
Jeans
office do UK ifml.
pinstriped
scruff UK ifml.
sense of style
Party im Büro
mit Nadelstreifen
ungepflegte Person
Stilgefühl
smart casual lässig elegant
there’s no
über Geschmack lässt
accounting for taste sich nicht streiten
three-piece suit
ungebügelt
versehentliche Entblö-
ßung intimer Körperteile
unironed
wardrobe
malfunction ifml.
wouldn’t be seen
dead in sth. ifml.
Photos.com; Inagram
dreiteiliger Anzug
würden nie im Leben
etw. tragen

DRESS CODES
A dress code is a set of rules on how to dress correctly for a particular occasion. Dress codes
differ depending on the country, industry, company, wearer’s status and age, and the time of
day. The list below shows some examples of how various dress codes may be interpreted. While
the rules for formal dress codes such as “white tie” or “black tie” are quite specific, there
are no universally accepted rules for more informal dress codes. One company’s definition of
“business casual” may be very different from another’s. If in doubt, ask!
men
women
casual jeans, polo shirt, sports jacket or blazer skirt or jeans and T-shirt or jumper
smart casual dress trousers, polo shirt and suit jacket smart jeans or skirt and twinset (shortsleeved
jumper and matching cardigan)
business casual blue or grey suit and shirt or trouser or skirt suit
smart jumper, no jeans, no tie
business two- or three-piece dark suit with trouser suit or classic skirt suit and coloured
pastel shirt, cuff links and tie
blouse
semi-formal dark suit, shirt and tie with or long dress or cocktail dress
without a waistcoat
black tie black or dark blue dinner suit (UK) or long, simply cut evening gown
tuxedo (US), black bow tie and white shirt,
waistcoat or cummerbund
white tie black tailcoat, white waistcoat long, fancy evening gown
and white bow tie
SKILL UP!
In English, we don’t use the
word “smoking” for any items
of clothing. In the UK, men
wear a dinner jacket, in the
US, a tuxedo (or tux). If you’re
mad about fashion and would
like to learn more, watch the
old episodes of Sex in the City
with the subtitles turned on.
The women are always talking
about clothes — that is, when
they’re not talking about sex.
Paying compliments
Everyone likes to be told that they look good. Nevertheless, paying compliments
at work can be risky. A compliment might be seen as flattery
(Schmeichelei ) or as a chat-up line (Anmache). While compliments
between women are usually less problematic, men should be careful.
A polite comment on a dress (“That colour suits you”) should be OK.
ISSUE 19
The classic look: a
suit or a dress

YOUR PROFILE
YOUR WARDROBE
Personalize this guide by adding your own example sentences — which should reflect
words and expressions you need in order to talk about your circumstances.
FASHION FOR EVERYONE
Describe in detail the last items of clothing that you bought to wear at work and in your leisure time.
If you work in the fashion industry, explain what your company does. If you don’t, think about the last time
you used the services of the fashion industry. What does it offer that you can’t do yourself?
Use the idiomatic expressions in this guide to describe recent events at your company. How many idioms
are relevant to your situation?
SMALL TALK: THE PERFECT DRESS CODE
Does your company have a dress code? Write a mini-dialogue in which you discuss the topic of dress
codes at work using expressions from our Small Talk section.
18 SKILL UP! ISSUE 19

In the next issue
PREVIEW
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IMPRESSUM
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Maja Sirola
AUTOREN: Deborah Capras, Anna Hochsieder
REDAKTION: Margaret Davis, Hildegard Rudolph,
Elisabeth Schneider-Eicke, Michele Tilgner
BILDREDAKTION: Sarah Gough (Leitung),
Thorsten Mansch
GESTALTUNG: loop grafikdesign München
REDAKTIONSASSISTENZ: Barbara Hiller,
Sabine Hübner-Pesce, Reinhild Luk
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MARKETINGLEITUNG: Holger Hofmann
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VERLAG und REDAKTION:
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© 2/2013 Spotlight Verlag, auch für alle
genannten Autoren, Fotografen und Mitarbeiter.
PRODUCTION
Mass production in China or 3-D printing at
home? Our next Skill Up! presents the language
you will need to talk about production
processes and trends.
PICTURE THIS: the factory floor
WORD BANK: key stages and places
ESSENTIAL IDIOMS: “take stock”
also:
SMALL TALK
A factory tour
Comstock
Cover photograph: iStockphoto
ISSUE 19
Let me
show you
around

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