Conf.univ.dr.

Ana-Maria IUGA

COMUNICARE N AFACERI

LIMBA ENGLEZ
NOTE DE SEMINAR Pentru uz intern

Editura ALMA MATER Sibiu, 2010

CUPRINS
SEMESTRUL I 1. Grammar in Context ...................................................................... 5 2. Cultural Approaches concerning .................................................. 13 3. The European Union Democracy/ Global Business Relations .. 18 4. Microeconomic Terms.................................................................. 27 5. Banking Terms and Notions ......................................................... 35 6. Adjective Intensifiers.................................................................... 47 7. Marketing Campaigns .................................................................. 53 SEMESTRUL II 8. Styles in Written Communication ................................................ 59 9. The Memorandum, The Report .................................................... 69 10. Guidelines for writing business documents ................................ 78 11. The Pronoun and qualifying expressions.................................... 85 12. The contract: - types ................................................................... 94 13. Whos Who in economics ......................................................... 103

SEMESTRUL I
1. Grammar in Context
1.1. Communicative Situations It is difficult to come to an understanding unless one has a grasp of the full complexity of language, and hence of language learning. Language is multifaceted to the extent that human activity is various. There is an enormous variety of walks of life/occupations/lifestyles, each of which has its own language and cultural setting. We may divide the walks of life/occupations/lifestyles into two categories: those that are common to everybody and those that are concerned with specialized topics familiar only to a few. Obviously, those walks of life/occupations/lifestyles that are common to many people are concerned with everyday existence. Examples of these universal topics are socializing, shopping, travelling, eating out, telephoning friends, greetings and introductions, and reading newspapers. So, when one learns a language, one must be exposed to linguistic items relating to these universal topics. Yet in addition to such topics, there is an enormous range of specialized topics that are of significant importance only to sections of the population. Examples of these are as follows: sports, hobbies and interests, business, banking and finance, medicine, academics, literary criticism, travel and tourism, biology, chemistry, physics, agriculture
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and law or military matters. The list is endless. The extent to which an individual will need language pertaining to any of these specific topics depends upon how important the topic is to him in his everyday life. If the topic is not at all important for him, there is no need for him to know any of the linguistic items pertaining to it. At the other end of the scale, when we reach the stage at which any topic constitutes an individual's profession, it becomes crucial that he have a mastery of the specialized language pertaining to it. Each topic will contain certain tasks, specific to it, which an individual will need to accomplish and which require him to use language. Here are some examples taken from different fields: - University Professor: - Giving lectures, participating in seminars, reading and writing papers for publication, reading and writing books, discussing academic topics with students and conducting examinations, oral and written. - Businessman/businessperson/executive: -Giving presentations, negotiating, participating in meetings, writing reports, press releases, letters, faxes and memos, telephoning, note taking, socializing and entertaining. - Research Scientist: - Writing the results of experiments, writing reports on the significance of the results, giving presentations, participating in seminars, reading recent research. - Army Professional: Training soldiers, discussing strategies and tactics, giving instructions, writing reports, giving interviews to the press

These lists are quite general in scope. It is possible, and desirable, to define the fields of expertise more specifically so that the accompanying tasks can be defined precisely. In addition, each defined task should be divided into its various subtasks, so that the linguistic items to be learned may be identified more easily. In general, we may state the situation as follows. Human life, and hence human language, is concerned with many and various topics. Each topic requires certain communicative tasks to be performed, and these tasks require mastery of certain task-based skills. Such skills are: reading and writing texts of various styles, register and lengths, listening in various styles, accents and registers, speaking

appropriately in a variety of contexts including socializing, negotiating, interviewing, presenting information and pronouncing material in a clear and culturally acceptable way. People who are engaged in different activities need to master different skills. In order to acquire the desired skills, a range of linguistic items specific to each skill must be mastered. - Specialized vocabulary: Each field will have vocabulary, which is special to it. Some of the words may have meanings specific to the field, different from their meanings in everyday life. - Register: Basically, register is concerned with the levels of politeness and formality to be found in language and the attitudes or values conveyed by certain words and phrases. Within each field, there will be specific registers to be learned. Speaking and writing in different social and cultural contexts require language with different levels of formality and politeness. Register is very complex and highly
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developed in English and includes not only certain forms of grammatical structure, but specific kinds of vocabulary. Using even a single word inappropriately can have disastrous consequences. - Functions: Each field will have different linguistic functions, which need to be performed, such as apologizing, complaining, introducing, requesting, refusing requests and making suggestions. Each function may be performed in different registers. - Structures: Certain tasks require certain structures much more than others. For example, a mastery of the various forms of conditional sentence is essential for writing philosophy, but is hardly needed at all for writing personal letters. Different human activities require different communication skills, which in turn require mastery of specific linguistic items. Within this broad definition, we may identify two central areas: content and methodology. So, for instance, a course in English for Business Purposes will be concerned with developing all of the linguistic skills, which are required in order to function at a professional level in the world of international business. For some people, even a course entitled "English for Business Purposes" will prove to have too broad a scope and for them, a course designed for their specialization within the field of business will be appropriate, for instance in Advertising, Accounting, Marketing or Human Resources. In general, we may say that learning should take place in contexts that are as authentic as possible and content-based. The requirement of authenticity means that learning materials should use
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actual texts produced by people working in the field under consideration. For instance, a class on how to write business reports should use good examples of reports produced by actual businessmen/businesspersons/executives. A class devoted to the oral skills needed to function in the currency exchange market should use, as listening materials, recordings of conversations carried out on the telephone by actual dealers. The requirement that the learning materials be content-based means that they should focus on specific problems that people are likely to encounter in their everyday working lives. For instance, to develop fluency in a course on negotiating, a case study, which presents a real negotiating situation-, faced by actual companies or in specific military, police or community departments- could be used. The extent of the authenticity of the learning materials will vary depending upon two related factors: the language level of the trainees and the degree of linguistic complexity of the skills presented and practiced. If the language level is low, then perforce the degree of authenticity will be compromised. As the language level increases, the degree of authenticity becomes greater. Romanian people have a very specific way of discussing things. If you are brought up with it, you see no problem. However, in terms of strategies for communication in Business English, the Romanian way may be ineffective. It is over direct and often could be received as an abusive one. Therefore, I decided to investigate the case and find some solution.

Unfortunately, there was absolutely no data and no descriptive evaluation of Romanian strategies for communication. Searching libraries, I came across Intercultural Communication - a Discourse Approach by Scollon and Scollon. It focuses on professional communication in a cross-cultural context and

emphasises the importance of proper meaning interpretation. Briefly, Scollon and Scollon suggest that in most cases, a sudden breach of any kind of professional communication could be owed to the misinterpretation of signals, verbal messages and gestures particular to a given culture. Therefore, they believe that to eliminate or lower the risk of a breach, professional students should be informed about potential problems and sensitised to peculiarities of an alien code of practice. Nevertheless, it is virtually impossible to predict every professional problem, one might say. To solve this problem, the authors suggest a skeleton for situation-context analysis Grammar of Context. The main purpose of Grammar of Context is to analyze and describe the environment in which a communicative situation occurs. It takes into consideration the following factors: 1. Scene - participants expectations in terms of location and communication content ( what information should be used and how) 2. Key - participants expectations of the communication tone (formal / informal) 3. Participants - their status; relationship with each other 4. Message Form - whether it is speaking, writing, or other media
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5. Manifestation - deals with the way members of a particular group find out about a code of practice; whether it is explicit a companys statute // regulation, or tacit common knowledge, traditional behaviour

LOL-speak, fractured grammar, and emoticons are all finding their way into the college essays of Canadian students with increasing and disturbing frequencies, if a report in that nation's popular press is to be believed. Entitled "Students failing because of Twitter, texting," the report is based in part on the failure rate of an English language exam administered by the prestigious University of Waterloo in Ontario. The failure rate has now approached one third, up from 25 percent a few years ago, and a University administrator blames failure of basic grammar. Emoticons and textspeak have apparently made their way into these exams, and the administrators are horrified. All of which flies in the face of some research that's only a few years old, which suggests that teens who are heavy texters actually have a reasonable grasp of grammar. One of those studies, in fact, was performed with Canadian teens, some of whom have probably made their way to college in the intervening years. Although it would be tempting to ascribe the apparent differences to those between anecdote (in the form of college English exam scores) and formalized studies, the differences may really be a matter of what's being measured. The earlier studies focused on how the students were expressing themselves, and focused on the
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complexity of the communications; these came through despite what our report termed "informal diction and bizarre acronyms." It's precisely that informal diction, like replacing "because" with "cuz" and merging "a lot" into a single word, that's grating on college administrators. At the same time, liberated from the tyranny of character limits, students are apparently sprinkling commas liberally throughout the text. Thus, it looks like students are retaining the ability to express themselves in rich terms, but are either incapable of recognizing when to adopt formal usage, or incapable of doing so when necessary. Either of those should be easier to fix than an inability to express ideas through text. Of course, given the historical evolvability of the English language, chances seem good that the teens won't so much fix the problem as force those with higher expectations to meet them halfway.

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2. Cultural Approaches concerning

2.1. Time, being late 2.2. Team Work, Difficult People/Situations What is your cultural approach to the following aspects? Answer the following questions: 1. Time Do you tolerate being late - If yes, how much? 2. Eye contact Is it important for a communicative event? Do you need to maintain it? If yes, for how long? 3. Small Talk Do you use it? Do you think it is important? What is your personal attitude to it? 4. Silence How do you understand silence? Is it meaningful? 5. Teams Is it natural for you to work in teams? 6. Difficult people & situations

- What is your way of dealing with interruptions and difficult people? Business English serves the role of a medium for a corporate communication; it is used and influenced by different cultures. Therefore, by raising cultural awareness we help improve both the language and the working relationships. Informal communication is vital for achieving certain types of work-related tasks. Research on scientific collaboration has shown

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that physical distance is the strongest predictor of collaboration between researchers. Physical proximity promotes frequent,

impromptu face-to-face communications, which are crucial for the planning and negotiation phases of projects. Work on software development also has demonstrated that the degree to which project workers engage in interpersonal communication strongly predicts project success. Furthermore, other work has shown negative impacts on teamwork when opportunities for ad hoc communication are reduced, as in remote collaboration. Work becomes more difficult to coordinate and advance despite the use of longer and more taskfocused meetings in remote settings. Sociological studies of organizational life stress the primary role of mundane office conversations in helping workers learn, understand, adapt, and apply formal procedures and processes.[] Despite research from various disciplines showing the value of informal interactions, evidence indicates that people in the workplace do not recognize its value. Kraut & Streeter (1995) found impromptu communication is under-utilized compared with its value, whereas formal communication techniques are overused relative to their value. Our own preliminary evidence supports this result. In a series of interviews with a dozen employees in a Fortune 500 U.S. corporation, we found that although people reported gaining most of their workrelated news and information from informal interactions, those same people said they used almost exclusively formal approaches to convey information to other parts of the company. Most commonly, they reported their information to a high-level management group and
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asked that they pass the information down the hierarchy in their staff meetings. In many cases, they wrote a document to convey information and either gave it to managers to give to their employees, or made it available to employees directly (in email, mailings to the home, or by publishing it on the company's internal World Wide Web pages). Some also gave formal presentations to supplement the document. When we asked information disseminators if they had considered spreading their information through word of mouth, they either had not thought of it or did not trust it. They were concerned that information passed informally would be distorted and misinterpreted and might not become available to all the intended recipients. Say whether the statements below it are true (T) or false (F). Read the part that has helped you choose your answer: The farther they are from each other, the more effectively scientists can cooperate. Sometimes interpersonal communication makes it difficult for the team to concentrate on their specific tasks. Corporate workers should be discouraged from engaging in routine conversation during office hours. Unfortunately, only sociologists recognize the value of interpersonal communication. Researchers interviewed dozens of employees in 500 U.S. corporations.

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 The employees used to find out about the latest projects and developments within the firm most of the time by talking to their colleagues.

To communicate effectively you need to be familiar with the process and the variables involved. The basic communication process includes a source, a message, a channel and a receiver. The source is you, including your communication skills, your attitudes and your purpose, as well as your knowledge of the subject, your audience, and the context in which you are communicating. The message includes the code or language you are using as well as the messages treatment, that is, what content is selected and how it is organized. You can think of the channel as both the senses and the medium of communication used. For instance, seeing and hearing, are the senses variously involved in reading the printed page, listening to a tape, or speaker, watching TV, video. Generally, the more channels we use, that is, the more senses we stimulate, the more effective the communication. Keep Marshall McLuhans aphorism "the medium is the message" in mind. McLuhan overstates his point but, by affecting different senses and thus our perception of reality, the media or technology used can itself influence the message we receive and how we respond to it. Recall that radio and print reports of the Ethiopian drought and famine a few years ago were largely ignored. We really did not receive the message until it was conveyed through photos and TV video footage.

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Receivers are the final link in the communication process. They must accurately receive and decipher your message. How well your audience understands the message you intend will depend on not only the previous factors, but also their own knowledge, attitudes and context. The process of communication is on going and dynamic, is irreversible, requires perception of meaning, and occurs in a situational context. There are many barriers to effective, accurate communication. These can be mechanical, involve differing perceptions or values (not having the same understandings), or be a matter of semantics, that is, the use of words, images, or examples that are beyond the receivers intellectual or cultural ability to understand. Non-communication is not possible. Every word, every gesture communicates something to the receivers, to your audience. In addition, once communicated, they cannot be retracted. You want to communicate your intended message and enhance your professional reputation. You do not want to be remembered for a lacklustre presentation and a garbled message. First impressions are difficult to overcome! Communicating well benefits you, your audience, and society as a whole. Thinking about communication as a process is useful because it helps explain why we must establish the purpose and goals of our message, why we need to know our audience, what media we select, what meaning is perceived, and more.

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3. The European Union Democracy/ Global Business Relations

3.1. Human Rights,Disctimination, Social Assistance A worldwide economic recession in the early 1980s brought with it a wave of 'euro-pessimism'. Nevertheless, hope sprang anew in 1985 when the European Commission, under its President Jacques Delors, published a 'white paper' setting out a timetable for completing the European single market by 1 January 1993. The Communities adopted this ambitious goal and enshrined it in the Single European Act, which was signed in February 1986 and came into force on 1 July 1987. The political shape of Europe was dramatically changed by the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. This led to the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990 and the coming of democracy to the countries of central and Eastern Europe as they broke away from Soviet control. The Soviet Union itself ceased to exist in December 1991. Meanwhile, the European Communities were changing too. The member states were negotiating a new treaty that was adopted by the European Council (i.e. their presidents and/or prime ministers) at Maastricht in December 1991. This 'Treaty on European Union' came into force on 1 November 1993. The EEC was renamed simply 'the European Community' (EC). Moreover, by adding areas of

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intergovernmental cooperation to the existing Community system, the Treaty created the European Union (EU). It also set new ambitious goals for the member states: monetary union by 1999, European citizenship, new common policies - including a common foreign and security policy (CFSP) - and arrangements for internal security. The new European dynamism and the continent's changing geopolitics led three more countries - Austria, Finland and Sweden to join the EU on 1 January 1995. The Union now had 15 member states and prepared for its most spectacular achievement - replacing its national currencies with a single European currency, the euro. On 1 January 2002, euro notes and coins came into circulation in 12 EU countries (the 'euro area'). The euro is now a major world currency, having a similar status to the US dollar. As the world moves forward into the 21st century, Europeans must together face the challenges of globalization. Revolutionary new technologies and the Internet explosion are transforming the world economy. However, these profound economic changes bring with them social disruption and culture shock. Meeting in Lisbon in March 2000, the European Council adopted a comprehensive strategy for modernizing the EU economy and enabling it to compete on the world market with other major players such as the United States and the newly industrialized countries. The 'Lisbon strategy' includes opening up all sectors of the economy to competition, encouraging innovation and business investment, and modernizing Europe's education systems to meet the needs of the information society.
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At the same time, unemployment and the rising cost of pensions are both putting pressure on the member states' economies, and this makes reform all the more necessary. Voters are increasingly calling on their governments to find practical solutions to these issues. Scarcely had the European Union grown to encompass 15 member states when another 12 began knocking at its door. In the mid 1990s, it received membership applications from the former Soviet bloc countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), the three Baltic states that had once been part of the Soviet Union (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), one of the republics of the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia) and two Mediterranean countries (Cyprus and Malta). The EU welcomed this opportunity to help stabilize the European continent and to extend the benefits of European unification to these young democracies. Accession negotiations with the candidate countries were launched in Luxembourg in December 1997 and in Helsinki in December 1999. The Union was on the way to its biggest enlargement ever. For ten of the candidate countries, negotiations were completed on 13 December 2002 in Copenhagen. The European Union had 25 member states in 2004, and continued growing as more countries joined in the years ahead. More than half a century of integration has had an enormous impact on the history of Europe and on the mentality of Europeans. The member state governments, whatever their political colour, know that the age of absolute national sovereignty is over and that only by joining forces and pursuing "a destiny henceforward shared" (to quote
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the ECSC Treaty) can their ancient nations continue to make economic and social progress and maintain their influence in the world. Integration has succeeded in overcoming age-old enmity between European countries. Attitudes of superiority and the use of force to resolve international differences have been replaced by the 'Community method' of working together. This method, which balances national interests with the common interest and respects national diversity while creating a Union identity, is as valuable today as ever. Throughout the Cold War period, it enabled Europe's democratic and freedom-loving countries to stick together. The end of east-west antagonism and the political and economic reunification of the continent are a victory for the spirit of Europe - a spirit that European peoples need more than ever today. The European Union offers a response to the huge challenge of globalization - a response that expresses the values Europeans believe in. The EU offers, above all, the best possible 'insurance policy' for a free and peaceful future.

What do we understand by Democracy today? What are the fundamentals of Democracy? Democracy comes from the Greek word, "demos," meaning people. In democracies, the people hold sovereign power over legislator and government.

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Although nuances apply to the world's various democracies, certain principles and practices distinguish democratic government from other forms of government. Democracy is government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all citizens, directly or through their freely elected representatives. Democracy is a set of principles and practices that protect human freedom; it is the institutionalization of freedom. Democracy rests upon the principles of majority rule, coupled with individual and minority rights. All democracies, while respecting the will of the majority, zealously protect the fundamental rights of individuals and minority groups. Democracies guard against all-powerful central governments and decentralize government to regional and local levels,

understanding that local government must be as accessible and responsive to the people as possible. Democracies understand that one of their prime functions is to protect such basic human rights as freedom of speech and religion; the right to equal protection under law; and the opportunity to organize and participate fully in the political, economic, and cultural life of society. Democracies conduct regular free and fair elections open to all citizens. Elections in a democracy cannot be facades that dictators or a single party hide behind, but authentic competitions for the support of the people.

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 Democracy subjects governments to the rule of law and ensures that all citizens receive equal protection under the law and that their rights are protected by the legal system. Democracies are diverse, reflecting each nation's unique political, social, and cultural life. Democracies rest upon fundamental principles, not uniform practices. Citizens in a democracy not only have rights, they have the responsibility to participate in the political system that, in turn, protects their rights and freedoms. Democratic societies are committed to the values of tolerance, cooperation, and compromise. Democracies recognize that reaching consensus requires compromise and that it may not always be attainable. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit."

On the surface, the principles of majority rule and the protection of individual and minority rights would seem contradictory. In fact, however, these principles are twin pillars holding up the very foundation of what we mean by democratic government. Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public issues; it is not another road to oppression. Just as no selfappointed group has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.

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 Minorities - whether because of ethnic background, religious belief, geographic location, and income level, or simply as the losers in elections or political debate - enjoy guaranteed basic human rights that no government, and no majority, elected or not, should remove. Minorities need to trust that the government will protect their rights and self-identity. Once this is accomplished, such groups can participate in, and contribute to their country's democratic institutions. Among the basic human rights that any democratic government must protect are freedom of speech and expression; freedom of religion and belief; due process and equal protection under the law; and freedom to organize, speak out, dissent, and participate fully in the public life of their society. Democracies understand that protecting the rights of minorities to uphold cultural identity, social practices, individual consciences, and religious activities is one of their primary tasks. Acceptance of ethnic and cultural groups that seem strange if not alien to the majority can represent one of the greatest challenges that any democratic government can face. Nevertheless, democracies recognize that diversity can be an enormous asset. They treat these differences in identity, culture, and values as a challenge that can strengthen and enrich them, not as a threat. There can be no single answer to how minority-group differences in views and values are resolved - only the sure knowledge that only through the democratic process of tolerance, debate, and willingness to compromise can free societies reach agreements that embrace the twin pillars of majority rule and minority rights.
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Social assistance and welfare services provide protection to society's most vulnerable groups, i.e., those with no other means of support such as single parent households, victims of natural disasters or civil conflict, handicapped people, or the destitute poor. Social assistance interventions may include welfare and social services to highly vulnerable groups such as the physically or mentally disabled, orphans, or substance abusers cash or in-kind transfers such as food stamps and family allowances temporary subsidies such as life-line tariffs, housing subsidies, or support of lower prices of staple food in times of crisis Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:

social insurance, where people receive benefits or services in

recognition of contributions to an insurance scheme. These services typically include provision for retirement pensions, disability insurance, survivor benefits and unemployment insurance.

income maintenancemainly the distribution of cash in the

event of interruption of employment, including retirement, disability and unemployment

services provided by administrations responsible for social

security. In different countries this may include medical care, aspects of social work and even industrial relations.

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More rarely, the term is also used to refer to basic security, a

term roughly equivalent to access to basic necessitiesthings such as food, clothing, shelter, education, money, and medical care. Social protection refers to a set of benefits available (or not available) from the state, market, civil society and households, or through a combination of these agencies, to the individual/households to reduce multi-dimensional deprivation. This multi-dimensional deprivation could be affecting less active poor persons (e.g. the elderly, disabled) and active poor persons (e.g. unemployed). This broad framework makes this concept more acceptable in developing countries than the concept of social security. Social security is more applicable in the conditions, where large numbers of citizens depend on the formal economy for their livelihood. Through a defined contribution, this social security may be managed. But, in the context of wide spread informal economy, formal social security arrangements are almost absent for the vast majority of the working population. Besides, in developing countries, the state's capacity to reach the vast majority of the poor people may be limited because of its limited resources. In such a context, multiple agencies that could provide for, social protection is important for policy consideration. The framework of social protection is thus capable of holding the state responsible to provide for the poorest sections by regulating non-state agencies.

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4. Microeconomic Terms
4.1. Definitions Selected Glossary of Microeconomic Terms1 Adjustment process: Path by which a system moves from a position of disequilibrium to one of equilibrium. Aggregation: A method of simplifying theory by combining many markets into a large, composite market. Allocation: The determination of what goods and services will be produced from available resources. Allocation can be done with markets or with hierarchy. Antitrust policy: Policy that makes companies act in a competitive manner by breaking up companies that are monopolies, prohibiting mergers that would increase market power, and finding and fining companies that collude to establish higher prices. Arbitrage: Simultaneously buying in a cheap market and selling in an expensive one. Budget Constraint: A line that separates outcomes that are affordable from outcomes that is not affordable. Occasionally it is called a consumption-possibilities frontier.

After: English International Lyon internet pages

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Change in demand: A shift in the demand curve. Change in quantity demanded: A change in the amount people buy because a change in price moves them along a stationary demand curve. Change in quantity supplied: A change in the amount sellers sell because a change in price moves them along a stationary supply curve. Change in supply: A shift in the supply curve. Circular flow: The flow of products from businesses to households and the flow of resources from households to businesses. Consumer Sovereignty: In a market economy, it is ultimately the wants of the consumers, not the preferences of the producers that determine what goods and services are produced. Contingent behaviour: Behaviour that exists when each person's actions depend on what he expects others to do. Cross-price elasticity (cross-elasticity): A measure of whether goods are substitutes or complements. Demand curve: The relationship between price and the amount of a product people want to buy. Derived demand: The demand for a resource depends on, or is derived from, the demand for the things that the resource helps produce. Disequilibrium: A condition that exists when a system is not at rest and has a tendency to change.

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Dollar voting: An explanation of how a market economy determines what goods are produced made with an analogy to the political process of voting. Duopoly: A market in which there are two sellers. Economic efficiency: A situation in which value is maximized. Given resources, technology, and preferences, no changes will increase value. It is also called the Pareto optimality. Economic inefficiency: A situation in which there is potential value that no one captures. Given resources, technology, and preferences, there is some change, which will improve the well-being on one individual without harming anyone else. Entrepreneur: An individual who creates new: a new organization, market, or product, usually in the quest for profit. Entrepreneurs are innovators. Equilibrium: A condition that exists when a system is at rest and has no further tendency to change. Externality: A cost or benefit that a decision maker passes on to a third party. Pollution is an example of a negative externality. Excise tax: A sales tax on a specific item. Fixed cost: Cost that does not change as output changes. Free rider: Person who does not pay for good or service

because there is no way to exclude those who do not pay from using the good or service. Game theory: An analysis of interactions in which the outcome a person faces depends not only on his strategy of action, but also on the strategies of others.
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Human capital: Peoples assets in the form of investment in themselves. Inferior good: A good that people buy less frequently if their incomes rise. Invisible hand: A phrase that expresses the belief that the best interests of a society can be served when individual consumers and producers compete to achieve their own private interests. Law of demand: The principle that there is an inverse relationship between the price of a good and the quantity that buyers are willing to purchase. Law of diminishing returns: Adding more of one input while holding other inputs constant eventually results in smaller and smaller increases in added output. Lorenz Curve: A graphical way to illustrate the equality or inequality of the distribution of income. Marginal cost: The change in total cost caused by a one-unit change in an activity, or the slope of the total cost curve. In the case of a business, the change in total cost is caused by a change in output. Marginal rate of substitution: The ratio at which people will trade good B for good A. Marginal rate of transformation: Slope of the productionpossibilities frontier, which shows how much of good B must be given up to produce more of good A. Marginal resource cost: The change in total cost caused by a one-unit change in an input.

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Marginal revenue: The change in total revenue resulting from a change in sales; the slope of the total cost curve. Marginal revenue product: The change in total revenue

resulting from a one-unit change in an input. Market failure: A situation in which a market yields a result that is economically inefficient, that is, there is value that is not captured. Maximization principle: The rule that net benefits are maximized when marginal benefit equals marginal cost. Monopoly: An industry with only one seller. Monopolistic competition: An industry that has easy entry and exit, but in which sellers are price searchers. Moral hazard: Insurance problems; when the cost of a disaster is reduced with insurance, people have less incentive to avoid the disaster. Negative-sum game: In terms of game theory, an interaction in which losses exceed winnings. Normative analysis: An analysis based on a judgment about what is desirable and what is undesirable. Paradox of Value: The puzzle of why essential items such as water are cheap while frivolous items such as diamonds are expensive. The paradox is easily resolved when one understands the difference between total value and marginal value. Pareto optimality: See Economic efficiency. Present value: Money in the future is less valuable than an equivalent amount of money now because money in the future gives
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fewer options. The comparison of money in different time periods is made with a present value computation. Price ceiling: Legally established maximum price a seller can charge. Price-discrimination: Charging different prices for the same good or service. Price floor: Legally established minimum price a seller can be paid. Price searcher: A seller (buyer) who can influence price by the amount he sells (buys). Price taker: A seller (buyer) who has no control over price, but sells (buys) at the given price. Principal-agent problem: The potential conflict of interest when a person (the principal) has someone (the agent) acting on his behalf. Producers' surplus: The difference between the lowest price a producer will accept and the actual price; also called economic rent. Production function: The mathematical way of stating that output depends on inputs. Progressive tax: A tax that charges a higher percentage of income as income rises. Proportional tax: A tax that charges the same percentage of income, regardless of the size of income. Public good: A good or service that, once produced, has two properties: Benefits are available to all and there is no way to bar

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people who do not pay (free riders) from consuming the good or service. Quota: Limit on the quantity of a good that may be imported in any time period. Regressive tax: A tax that charges a lower percentage of income as income rises. Rent seeking: Efforts to obtain value through transfer without providing anything in return. Scarcity: The condition in which human wants exceed the available supply of goods, time, and resources. In a world without scarcity, there would be no economics. Shortage: The market condition existing when quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied. Generally, an increase in price will eliminate a shortage. Speculation: Attempting to buy when the price is low and sell when it is high. Sunk cost: Is cost which cannot be recovered. Surplus: The market condition existing where the quantity supplied is greater than the quantity demanded. Generally, a decrease in price will eliminate a surplus. Tariff: Excise tax on imported goods. Tax incidence: Taxes can be shifted from those who write the check to the government to others. The study of tax incidence is the study of who ultimately bears the burden of the tax. Utility: An abstract variable, indicating goal-attainment or

want-satisfaction.
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Utility function: A mathematical way of saying that utility depends on consumption of goods and services. Zero-sum game: An interaction in which the sum of winnings and losses equals zero.

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5. Banking Terms and Notions

5.1. Definitions A well-functioning financial sector increases economic growth. If an economy does not allocate savings to the most productive uses, it will grow more slowly than it can grow. From a microeconomic point of view, the primary purpose of financial markets is to allocate available savings to the most productive use. Markets are interrelated, and a problem in one market can have its source in a different market. This finding is a starting point for macroeconomics. Macroeconomists ask two central questions: "Is this market a likely source of instability that shows up as inflation or recession," and "Will the adjustment process in this market cause problems for the overall adjustment of the economy." Changes in one part of the economy are rapidly transmitted to other parts through financial markets. Such transmission is not limited to questions of tariffs or to the market for foreign exchange; all financial markets transmit. When most people think of financial markets, they think of the stock market. A stock is a share in the ownership of a corporation, and through the stock market, one can buy and sell. The stock market has high visibility because it is open to anyone who can collect several

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hundred dollars together. However, the stock market is only a very small part of the total financial market and plays only a minor role in macroeconomic theory. Markets for debt are much larger than the stock market in terms of their daily transactions. These markets have less visibility because many require hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to enter directly. Some of these markets for debt do play an important role in macroeconomic theory. Whenever economists include an interest rate in their discussion, a market for debt is playing a role in their thinking. There are many kinds of transactions that take place in the market for debt. Some transactions are highly publicized: when a big corporation issues marketable bonds with the aid of a brokerage house, the brokerage house advertises the event to attract buyers. Transactions on the New York Bond Exchange are also very visible-they are reported in the financial section of major newspapers. Many more transactions involve financial intermediaries and less publicity. Eventually most people visit a bank (or a savings and loan association, which has become almost identical) to arrange a loan. Large corporations, small businesses, non-profit groups, and individuals all use banks to obtain funds. In addition to lending money to individuals and groups, banks are part of financial markets in other ways. Banks borrow and lend funds among themselves in the funds market. They buy and sell foreign exchange. They buy and sell government and commercial debt. Finally, one form of bank debt serves as money in modern
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economies, and banks create this debt because of their financial transactions. Prices in the debt market are interest rates, what one pays (or receives) for the use of funds for some period of time. Because they aggregate financial markets, economists often talk about "the interest rate." In fact, there are many interest rates. Rates differ depending on factors such as the risk of default, the liquidity and time to maturity of the debt, and the tax status of the interest payments. The press commonly reports several interest rates. The prime rate was once the interest rate that large commercial banks charged their most credit-worthy customers for short-term loans. In recent years, banks have usually given their best customers discounts from the prime, so this definition is no longer accurate. A good definition of the prime is hard to give other than - it is the rate that banks publicize. The funds rate is the rate that banks charge one another for funds they borrow on an overnight basis. The discount rate is the rate at which banks may be permitted to borrow from a Central/Federal Reserve bank. Finally, the interest rate on 13 and 26 week Treasury Bills is used by many banks to determine rates that they pay on some of their accounts. This interest rate is probably the one most economists have in mind when they talk about "the interest rate." In practice, all these rates tend to fluctuate together. Though many of us hold savings bonds, very little of the debt is financed with them. More of the debt is in the form of long-term debt (bonds), medium-term debt (notes), and short-term treasury bills, or Tbills for short.
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Financial intermediaries, large companies, and governmental units buy T-bills. Organizations find them a safe and profitable way to invest funds available for short periods of time. The attractiveness of T-bills is enhanced by the secondary market that has developed. A secondary market does not sell newly-issued securities, but previously issued - or "used" - securities. (The stock and bond exchanges are examples of secondary markets.) The existence of this secondary market has made T-bills very liquid, that is, T-bills can be converted into cash quickly and cheaply. However, because it does not deal in small transactions of $50000 or $100000, it is not visible. It is an over-the-counter market, which means transactions are done by computer or telephone. T-Bills are now sold as book-entry security, which means they are in the form of a paper certificate, but are only entries in the books of the Treasury. Most people do not enter financial markets directly but use intermediaries or middlemen. Commercial banks are the financial intermediary we meet most often in macroeconomics, but mutual funds, pension funds, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and to some extent insurance companies are important financial intermediaries. When people deposit money in a bank, the bank uses the funds to make loans to homebuyers for mortgages, to students so they can pay for their education, to business to finance inventories, and to anyone else who needs to borrow. A person who has extra money could, of course, seek out borrowers himself and bypass the

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intermediary. By eliminating the middleman (intermediary), the saver could get a higher return. Financial intermediaries provide two important advantages to savers. First, lending through an intermediary is usually less risky than lending directly. The major reason for reduced risk is that a financial intermediary can diversify. It makes a great many loans, and even though some of those loans will be mistakes, the losses will be largely offset by loans that are sound. In contrast, an average saver could directly make only a few loans, and any bad loans would substantially affect his wealth. Because an intermediary can put its "eggs" in many "baskets," it insures its depositors from substantial losses. A second advantage financial intermediaries give savers is liquidity. Liquidity is the ability to convert assets into an able form to spend money - quickly. A house is an illiquid asset; selling one can take a great deal of time. If an individual saver has lent money directly to another person, the loan can also be an illiquid asset. If the lender suddenly needs cash, he must either persuade the borrower to repay quickly, which may not be possible, or he must find someone else who will buy the loan from him, which may be very difficult. Though the intermediary may use its funds to make illiquid loans, its size allows it to hold some funds idle as cash to provide liquidity to individual depositors. Only when a great many depositors want to withdraw deposits at the same time, which happens when there is a "run" on the institution, will the financial intermediary be unable to provide liquidity. Unless it can obtain help from the government or other institutions, it will be forced to suspend payments to depositors.
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Financial intermediaries help large numbers of people to use, though indirectly, financial markets. Although these intermediaries are important in the macroeconomic functioning of the economy, they are usually stable and change only slowly. With the exception of those intermediaries that issue deposits against which checks may be written, economists do not expect disturbances to arise in financial intermediaries. As a result, macroeconomic theory does not pay much attention to them. A financial market is an "efficient market" if its prices take into accounts all knowledge that people have about that market. If there is knowledge, which is not being used, unexploited profit opportunities exist, and in financial markets, these opportunities should be quickly taken. If one knows that a stock or bond is undervalued and that it will rise in value, one will make a large amount of money by buying until it does rise. Because profit opportunities are quickly exploited once they become known, one cannot "beat" an efficient market unless one has special information that is unavailable to others. The idea of efficient markets suggests that one should not place a great deal of faith in any forecasts about interest rates or stock prices, because if the person making the forecast really does know what will happen, he could keep quiet and get rich. The speculators play a useful role in an efficient market where prices adjust very quickly to new information. They are coolly rational individuals looking at the fundamental values of items, buying when prices are too low and helping lift these prices, and selling when prices are too high and helping to lower these prices. As a result,
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prices correctly transmit information about values, which people can then use to make decisions. An efficient market will not be the source of economic disturbances. However, it can transmit disturbances, and this alone would be enough to interest economists. An important reason people buy items in financial markets is in the hope of selling them at a profit. Thus trading in these markets involves not only an analysis of the fundamental value of an asset, but also an analysis of how other people will react. If people are confident that others will buy the item for more than they paid for it, then they will buy it even if it has little value to them. The idea described above has been called the "greater-fool" theory. It implies that although one may be a fool for buying an asset that is overpriced, one can profit if there are still greater fools who will pay even more for it. Markets based on the "greater-fool" theory always collapse. Eventually the greatest fool is found, and once he is found, the process cannot continue. It can affect the production of an economy if the speculations cause enough financial disruption. They will cause bankruptcies, reduce people's trust in others, and cause unemployment for the people who became speculators. A speculative crash in financial markets is not enough, by itself, to trigger a recession. The federal government not only regulates financial markets and intermediaries, it is also a major financial intermediary itself. Two agencies with important regulatory functions are the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance
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Corporation (FDIC). The SEC regulates behaviour in stock and bond markets, and also specifies which information a publicly-traded company must provide to shareholders. The FDIC insures deposits at commercial banks and, with the demise of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation in the 1980s deposits at savings and loan associations. The U.S. government makes extensive loans for agriculture and housing. Because the government can borrow at a lower interest rate than most private borrowers can, and because it does not need to make a profit, it can lend at lower interest rates than private intermediaries can. The government also subsidizes borrowers by guaranteeing loans that private lenders make. However, the issues that these actions of the government raise are primarily microeconomic in nature. From a macroeconomic perspective, by far the most important government institution involved in financial markets is the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve System (often referred to as the "Fed" by economists and bankers) is the central bank of the United States. A central bank functions as a banker's bank. Just as individuals and businesses have deposits at a regular bank and can write checks on these deposits, banks have deposits at a central bank and can write checks on these deposits. The Federal Reserve System is a rather strange "central" bank because it is composed of 12 separate banks. When you examine your paper currency, you will see the district number and letter of one of these 12 banks on the left side of the portrait. This strange structure exists because of the political realities that faced Congress when it
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established the system in 1913. In 1935, Congress reduced the independent authority of these 12 banks and centralized policymaking authority in a group called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) which decides monetary policy. Though today the individual Reserve banks retain little independent power, the president of each can serve as a voting member of the FOMC. In the market for foreign exchange, people trade one country's money for another's. If, for example, you decide to travel to Thailand, you will need to buy some bahts, the currency of Thailand, either before you go or once you get there. In your transaction, you will supply dollars to the foreign exchange market and demand bahts. The foreign exchange market provides an excellent illustration of how financial markets can transmit disturbances. The market is usually considered to be an efficient market, not subject to runaway speculative binges. The heart of the market is the trading by a number of very large banks. A trade worth a million dollars is very small in this market, but it is the prices of these very large bank transactions that newspapers report when they publish exchange rates. When you deal in smaller amounts when you travel to Thailand, you will get less favourable prices. The market for foreign exchange can be analyzed in terms of supply and demand. Americans demand foreign money (and supply dollars) when they buy things abroad, such as vacations, goods, services, factories, and financial assets. Foreigners supply foreign currency (and demand dollars) when they buy things here, such as vacations, goods, services, factories, and financial assets. Though
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when you buy a Japanese camera, you do not deal in the foreign exchange market, someone did in the process of bringing the camera to you. It may have been the American importer, who would have sold dollars to buy yen, and then used the yen to buy the camera. On the other hand, it may have been the Japanese exporter, who sold cameras for dollars and then sold the dollars for yen. In either case, dollars were supplied to the foreign exchange market and yen were demanded. The exchange rate, or the price of foreign money, is an important price when we buy things made in other countries. Two things affect the price of the Japanese camera as seen from America. The first is the yen price of the camera, and the second is the dollar price of the yen. If either one increase: Japanese cameras will become more expensive and Americans will want fewer of them. The exchange rate also affects the price of American goods as seen in Japan. When foreign currency is cheap, foreign products are cheap in dollars, and Americans will want a lot of them. To buy these foreign products, Americans must buy a lot of foreign exchange. When the price of foreign exchange is expensive, so also are foreign products and Americans will not want many. Hence, they will not need as much foreign exchange. Let us consider what will happen if the United States increased its tariffs. Because tariffs are taxes on imports, foreign products will become more expensive for Americans. As a result, Americans will want to buy fewer imports, which is usually the desired result of
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tariffs. However, if the exchange rate is: a floating rate, that is, one that can take whatever value supply and demand dictate, the story has not ended. Because of the tariff and the resulting decrease in imports, foreign money becomes cheaper for Americans and American dollars become more expensive for foreigners. If dollars become more expensive, foreigners will find American goods more expensive. The end effect of a tariff with floating exchange rates, then, is to cut not just imports, but to cut exports as well. If a country treats the foreign exchange market as any other market, allowing the marketplace determine the price of foreign money, it has a system of floating exchange rates. This is what most of the Western world has had since the 1970s. However, governments have often fixed prices in this market. In doing so they simultaneously establish price floors and price ceilings--they will neither let the price rise nor fall (except within a small range). There are two ways a government can keep exchange rates fixed. One method, which has been common in less-developed nations, is called a fixed and unconvertible exchange rate because the exchange rate is fixed, but domestic currency cannot be freely converted into foreign money. Governments using it almost always set the price of foreign exchange below the market-clearing price (which means that they price their own currency too high), and thereby cause a shortage of foreign money. The government prevents the market-increasing price to eliminate this shortage by outlawing private transactions in foreign exchange and requiring citizens who obtain foreign exchange to sell it to the government. Because the government becomes the only
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legal source of foreign money, those who want to buy products from abroad must obtain those funds from the government, which rations these funds to those purposes it deems most worthy. Though this system is hard to justify on economic grounds, and is often evaded with extensive black-marketing, the system gives rulers a powerful tool to reward friends and punish enemies. The second method is a fixed and convertible exchange rate. With this method a government does not abolish the private market for foreign exchange, but fixes exchange rates by standing ready to absorb any surpluses or to fill any shortages. If the price of foreign exchange is set above the market-clearing price, there will be a surplus of foreign exchange (and a shortage of the domestic currency). At this price, people will want to sell more foreign exchange than they want to buy. The government can prevent this surplus from lowering price by stepping into the market and buying the excess foreign exchange. On the other hand, if the price that the government sets is below the market-clearing price, there will be a shortage of foreign exchange called a balance of payments deficit. The government can prevent the shortage from raising price by selling foreign exchange into the market. The government can obtain this foreign exchange from reserves it stored up when there was a surplus, or by borrowing from other countries, or by selling assets such as gold. It should be obvious that a government can only fill a balance of payments shortage temporarily and that if it runs for too long; the country will run out of foreign exchange to provide to the market. Now most of the industrial world has floating exchange rates.
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6. Adjective Intensifiers
6.1. Expressions and Phrases There are some words which can be used to 'intensify' many adjectives 'very' 'really' 'totally' 'absolutely' 'completely' 'utterly' 'entirely'. It's very tall. We're really happy. She's totally exhausted. I'm absolutely horrified. He's completely hopeless. You look utterly miserable. I'm entirely satisfied.

Certain adjectives have their own 'special' intensifiers which are often used with them. Here are some common ones: blind drunk He was blind drunk and behaved really badly.

bone dry I must have a drink. I'm bone dry.

brand new I've just bought a brand new car.

crystal clear The sea near Rhodes is crystal clear.

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dead easy That exam was dead easy. I've certainly passed.

dead lucky He's won three lottery prizes this year. He's dead lucky.

dead right I agree entirely. You are dead right.

dirt cheap I bought my car for a dirt cheap price from an old lady who had hardly driven it. fast asleep / sound asleep I was in bed and fast asleep by nine. I was sound asleep and I didn't hear anything.

paper thin These office walls are paper thin. You can hear everything said in the next office. pitch black There's no moon. It is pitch black out there.

razor sharp Be careful with that knife- it is razor sharp.

rock hard It's impossible to dig this soil it is rock hard.

stark naked The hotel door slammed behind me and I was left standing stark naked in the middle of the corridor. stone deaf
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He can't hear a thing. He's stone deaf.

wide awake I was wide awake by six.

wide open Who left the door wide open?

Food Phrases2 If you 'bolt down' food, you eat it very quickly. This expression is informal. He bolted down the food. He really enjoyed it. I'm so busy that I'm going to bolt down some food and get straight back to work. If you 'wolf down' food, you also eat it quickly but specifically because you are hungry. This is also informal. Did you see the way she wolfed down that food? She must have been ravenous. After the marathon, I wolfed down some fish and chips. If you consume a lot of drink (usually alcohol) quickly, you 'knock it back'. This is informal and is often used quite negatively. He was knocking back the champagne at the reception. We must watch Bill carefully in the bar with the clients. He can really knock it back. If you eat an excessive amount of food, you 'pig out'. This is informal.
2

From: http: // business english. com 49

 I'm not hungry because I pigged out on chocolate this afternoon. We really pigged out in the restaurant. If you 'plough through' some food, you eat it all but with some difficulty because there is a lot of it. In American English, 'plough' can be written as 'plow'. He served a huge plate of spaghetti and it took me ages to plough my way through it. They served us snake. I didn't like it but I plowed my way through it to be polite. If you 'put away' food or drink, it can mean you eat or drink a lot of it. (Obviously, it can also mean that you place the food or drink in a fridge or cupboard the context of the sentence should make clear the meaning.) Watch Peter. He's been putting away a lot of beer and he sometimes turns aggressive when he's drunk. He has put away some sandwiches but is still hungry. If you 'pick at' your food, you only eat a small amount of it, usually because you are not hungry, you are on a diet or because you are ill. She only picked at her food, even though it was delicious. We were so busy talking that we only picked at our food. If you 'cut down' or 'cut back' on a particular food or drink, you consume less of it.

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 My doctor told me to cut back on the amount of salt in my diet. I need to cut down the amount of fried food I eat. If you 'eat up', you finish all your food. I don't like tripe but I ate it all up when it was served to us by our hosts. Eat up. It's time to go. If you 'drink up', you finish all your drink. We seem to have drunk up all the orange juice. Drink up. It's time to go. If you 'polish off' some food, you finish it completely and quickly. The guests polished off all the food in the first thirty minutes. He has just polished off two whole pizzas and still says he is hungry. If you 'dish up' some food, you put it onto plates or dishes, ready to be served. I've heard she is going to dish up something really special. Can you collect up the starter plates, while I dish up the main course? 'Serve up' is another way of saying the same thing as 'dish up'. They served up a six-course meal for their guests. It's no better than the food we serve up in our canteen and twenty times more expensive. If you 'lay on' some food or drink, you provide it.
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 We've laid on a buffet lunch for our visitors. They lay on a small drinks party for us. If you make a meal very quickly and easily, you 'whip it up'. This is informal. Have a seat and I'll whip us up something to eat. I could whip up a salad, if you are hungry. If you make food quickly and without much effort, you 'knock it up'. I knocked myself up a quick meal from what was left in my fridge. Do you want me to knock up some lunch? If you make food hot so that it can be eaten, you 'heat it up'. I've already prepared the food for the party. All we need to do is to heat up the pizzas. I could heat up a can of soup if you are hungry. If you 'warm up ' cold food, you are making it hot again so that it can be eaten. I'll warm up that stew from last night. The canteen makes a large quantity once a week and then just warms up the amount needed every day.

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7. Marketing Campaigns
7.1. Case study: - Verity, - Impact ads, - Transworld Definition: A specific, defined series of activities used in marketing a new or changed product or service, or in using new marketing channels and methods Effective marketing is often what separates rapidly growing companies from slow-growing or stalled companies that started at the same time, serve the same market and offer similar merchandise. Companies such as Gillette, Frito-Lay and Coca-Cola have succeeded in highly competitive mass markets for consumer goods because, while they certainly produce competitive products, they out-market their rivals. If you expect your business to grow to any size, you'll have to become an effective marketer, advertiser and promoter of your business. In fact, you're likely to grow to the extent that you master marketing, and no more A marketing campaign isn't something that comes to you while you're taking a shower. Successful campaigns tend to be carefully researched, well thought-out and focused on details and execution, rather than resting on a single, grand idea. Planning a marketing campaign starts with understanding your position in the marketplace and ends with details such as the wording of an advertisement. Keep in mind that your plan for a marketing campaign is not supposed to be a prison. You have to leave room to make changes as

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you go along because no plan can perfectly capture reality. But you should also be able to commit fully to implementing your plan--or some future version of it--if you want to take a strong step toward growth. Here are some ways to launch your campaign: Speak at community events. Offering your expertise at public occasions is an easy way to get the word out about your business. You'll maximize your impact and lend credibility to your product or service. Ask customers for referrals. Generating referrals from current customers is one of the best ways to market your business. Don't forget to query your vendors (they're likely to have many contacts) and explain to your customers exactly what kinds of referrals you're looking for and how they can help. Spend two days in your customers' shoes. To find out what your customers really want, visit a wide range of businesses they're likely to frequent. Observe how customers are treated, as well as the kinds of services that appear important to them; then adapt your business accordingly. Offer free samples. If you can get someone to try your product or service, chances are they'll buy it later. Have employees pass out product samples in front of your business; if you provide a service, offer free services on a trial basis.

The chapter is dedicated to a description (case studies) of three marketing companies: - Verity, Impact Ads and Transworld.
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CASE STUDY: I. This is a conversation between the managing director Andrew Hodge to Stephen Johnson, the assistant sales director who will choose who will manage his company's marketing campaign:

Andrew Hodge: Well, have you decided which one it is going to be? Stephen Johnson: Well, its tough - but I think it is between Impact Ads and Verity. Andrew Hodge: What is wrong with Transworld? Stephen Johnson: Well, they are a little low on substance. They keep saying they are a 'top' company, but they do not say what they are top of! They say they have original designs, and ideas, but they do not give any examples. I would like to know more about their campaigns and their clients. The only thing they do say is that they are cheaper than the others - but do they give value for money? I could find more about them, but if a marketing company can't sell itself, can it sell for us? I like Verity's idea; of working closely with us at every stage of the process I think we need something like that. They seem to me to be a good company, and all the people who have worked with them tell me that they do exactly as they say - they work with you, and they don't mess you around. Andrew Hodge: And Impact? Stephen Johnson: That's the problem. They are good, very good. They are very expensive, but they do a fantastic job. If you look at
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their list of satisfied customers, it is as long as your arm. They are a young team, very professional, very innovative but they are a bit light on their management consultancy side - they know it too, so they have brought in an outside partner. They will do a very good campaign, but we will have to organize it a lot more for them - their service is less complete. Andrew Hodge: So they do less, but do it well? Stephen Johnson: Very well. And they are cheaper than they look. Andrew Hodge: So it's going to be Impact then? Stephen Johnson: Well, if we end up with Impact, it will be no bad thing. But I have been talking to George Halds at Verity - they have a new young employee, Sandra Sean. She's got some original ideas, and they want to give her a try on a big project. And she is almost as good as Impact in one way - they tried to poach her from Verity earlier this year!

CASE STUDY: II Who we are: When John Weznik lost his job in 1935, he started an advertising company from his own kitchen at home. Verity advertising was born. Now Verity has 85 employees and offices in London, Paris and New York. Still today, we keep to our founder's principles of integrity, customer service, and dynamic advertising campaigns tailored in close consultation with our clients.

What we do: Verity advertising makes you, the client, an active

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partner in our advertising campaigns, combining our knowledge of the advertising market with your knowledge of your product to make an unbeatable partnership. How we do it: Verity has an intimate knowledge of the markets, and our skilled analysts will work with your managers and designers, bringing marketing into every aspect of design, production and sales, optimizing them to meet what you are seeking. Market share, and all the rest are all very well, but what you really, really want, is customers buying your product in large amounts, and at good margins. That is what it is all about. And that's what Impact Ads will get you. You have seen our award-winning marketing campaigns; you know our clients are some of the top companies in the Fortune 500. We have come from nowhere to the top in 10 years, because we are good, we hire the best, we have one of the most creative and innovative teams in the business. We are not just a talented team. We work closely with Valerie Maxim management consultants guaranteeing that our campaigns do not just grab the attention of the public, but make good business sense too. We are not the cheapest in the business, but the ROI we generate speaks for itself! CASE STUDY: III Your campaign needs a company that is top for quality top for price and top for performance. You need Transworld - the advertising company with the ideas and results that are changing the industry. Contact us today, to find how we can turn your campaign into a
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dynamic, powerful monster that leaves your competition stopped dead in their tracks! For the past two decades, we have combined innovation, highquality concept designs and strategic vision, to make ourselves the first choice to help you meet the challenge of successfully reaching your target audience. From concept to completion, Transworld supplies the experience and the support that gives your message maximum impact. No other advertising agency supplies the value for money that Transworld can bring to your campaign. With our slim, flat management structure, helped by the latest in IT, we put more of your expenses back into your campaign than any other agency in the business.

Questions concerning the three case studies: 1. Which company emphasizes that it costs less? 2. Which company stresses its relationship with clients? 3. Which company puts most weight on the quality of its product? 4. Which is the oldest company? 5. Which company has the least aggressive sales pitch? 6. Which company tells you least about itself? 7. Which company offers the least complete service? 8. Which company stresses it will generate income?

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SEMESTRUL II

8. Styles in Written Communication

8.1. Technical Specifications This chapter deals with company or newspaper reports, marketing, advertising and public relations and discusses some basic guidelines for writing style for some of the types of business documents including business letters. To begin with, we will briefly define different types of report: Organizational policies and procedures

These are the operating documents for organizations; they contain rules and regulations on how the organization and its members are expected to perform. Policies and procedures are like instructions, but they go much further. Feasibility, evaluation, recommendation reports

This group of similar reports does things like compare several options against a set of requirements and recommend one. It considers an idea (plan, project) in terms of its "feasibility," in terms of some combination of its technical, economical, social practicality or possibility. It passes judgment on the worth or value of a thing by comparing it to a set of requirements, or criteria.

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Technical background reports

This type is the hardest one to define but the one that most people write. It focuses on a technical topic, provides a certain background on that topic for a specific set of readers who have specific needs for it. This report does not supply instructions, nor does it supply recommendations in any systematic way, nor does it report new and original data. Primary research reports

This type presents findings and interpretation from laboratory or field research. Business plans Technical specifications

This type is a proposal to start a new business.

This type presents descriptive and operational details on a new product. Business Plans and Technical Specifications3 A business plan is a document used to start a new business or get funding for a business that is changing in some significant way. Business plans are important documents for business partners who need to agree upon and document their plans, government officials who may need to approve aspects of the plan, and of course, potential investors such as banks or private individuals who may decide to fund the business or its expansion.

From: Online technical writing resources 60

A business plan is very much like a proposal, except for at least one big difference. The prospectus seeks to start a new business or significantly expand an existing business. A proposal, on the other hand, seeks approval to do a specific project. For example, a business plan might seek funding and other support to start a software company to create computer games. A proposal, on the other hand, might bid to do the development work for some specific computer game. Common sections in business plans: Many of the elements of the plans are only typical and not necessarily in any required order. For your plan, you will need to think about the best sequencing of the sections and about other sections that might also be necessary. Product or service to be offered - One of the most important sections of the business plan is the description of the actual product or service to be offered by your company. If it is a description of a product--a physical object - you need to use the techniques for description. If you are going to offer a service, explain it, and take readers on a step-by-step tour of how the service will be handled. Technical background on the product or service - If your product or service involves technologies or technical processes potentially unfamiliar to your readers, explain these. Remember that business plans often go to nonspecialists who, despite their lack of technical expertise,

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have the investment funds or the legal understanding to get your business going. Market for the product or service - Critical also to any business plan is the exploration of the existing marketplace into which your product or service fits. What other companies offer the same thing you plan to offer? How much business do they do? How are they different from each other? How will your business differ from them? Process by which the product or service is produced - If applicable, explain how the product or service will be produced. Explain how the proposed business will operate on a day-to-day basis. Facilities and personnel needed for the operation - Plan to discuss the facilities (storefronts, warehouses, production facilities, vehicles) your business will require as well as the personnel that will be needed. Projected revenues from the operation - Of obvious importance in any business plan is the discussion of the revenues you project for your business. If you know the estimate of total revenues for the market area in which you plan to operate, what percentage do you explain to win? Obviously, in your first few years, you may operate at a loss - at what point in time do you project to break even? Funding necessary for start up and operation - The plan should also discuss the funding you'll need to get the

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business started as well as the operating costs - the funding needed to run the business on a daily basis. Legal issues related to the proposed business - Your business plan may also need to discuss your business, its products, or its services in relation to government regulations - for example, environmental restrictions. Qualifications and background of the personnel - Important too is the section that presents your qualifications to start and operate the business you are proposing. Of course, "you" can mean a number of people with whom you are working to start the business. This section can be very much like a collection of resumes, although you want to write an introduction in which you describe your group's

qualifications as a whole. Discussion of feasibility and investment potential - You will want to include in your plan a discussion of the likelihood of the success of your business. Obviously, you believe that it will be a success, but you must find a way to support this belief with facts and conclusions in order to convince your readers. In addition, you must discuss what sort of return on investment readers can expect. Investment offering - And finally, you may need to present what kinds of investment apparatus you are actually offering.

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In planning your business plan, remember that you try to provide whatever information the audience may need to consider your idea. Your goal is to convince them you have a good idea and to encourage them to invest in it (or to approve it in some way). It is okay to provide marginal information - information you are not quite sure that readers will want. After all, you section off the parts of a business plan with headings; readers can skip over sections they are not interested in. Format for business plans: Business plans, even those for small operations, can run well over 15 pages - in which case you will want to bind the plan. As you plan the format of your business plan, you will want to think about designing it so that readers can find and read essential information quickly. This means setting up an abstract, but calling it "Executive Summary" or "Prospectus Overview." Try to group similar sections. In the preceding section that lists the various kinds of information to include in a plan, some of the suggestions should be combined - for example, the sections on financial aspects of the proposed business. Finally, make use of appendixes for unwieldy, bulky information. Enable readers to quickly find the main sections of the plan, without having to wade through tables and charts that go on for pages and pages.

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Technical Specifications are descriptions of products or product requirements. More broadly, they can provide details for the design, manufacture, testing, installation, and use of a product. You typically see specifications in the documentation that comes in the package with certain kinds of products, for example, CD players or computers. These describe the key technical characteristics of the item. However, specifications are also written as a way of "specifying" the construction and operational characteristics of a thing. People who actually construct the thing or go out and attempt to purchase it then use them. When you write specifications, accuracy, precision of detail, and clarity are critical. Poorly written specifications can cause a range of problems and lead to lawsuits. Graphics, tables, and lists are heavily used, but some details can only be provided through sentences and paragraphs. For these reasons then, specifications have a particular style, format, and organization. Make every effort to find out what the specific requirements are for format, style, contents, and organization. If they are not documented, collect a big pile of specifications written by or for your company, and study them for characteristics like those described in the following. Use two-column lists or tables to lists specific details. If the purpose is to indicate details such as dimensions, materials, weight, tolerances, and frequencies, regular paragraph-style writing may be unnecessary.
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Make sure that each specification receives its own numberletter designation. In sentence-style specifications, make sure each specific requirement has its own separate sentence.

Use the decimal numbering system for each individual specification. This facilitates cross-referencing.

Graphics specifications:

and

tables

used

to

present

information

in

Use either the open (performance) style or the closed restrictive style, depending on the requirements of the job. In the open or performance style, you can specify what the product or component should do, that is, its performance capabilities. In the closed style, you specify exactly what it should be or consist of.

Cross-reference existing specifications whenever possible. Various government agencies as well as trade and professional associations publish specifications standards. You can refer to these standards rather than include the actual specifications details.

Use specific, concrete language that identifies as precisely as possible what the product or component should be or do. Avoid words that are ambiguous - words that can be interpreted in more than one way. Use technical jargon the way it is used in the trade or profession.

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Test your specifications by putting yourself in the role of a bumbling contractor--or even an unscrupulous one. What are the ways a careless or incompetent individual could misread your specifications? Could someone wilfully misread your specifications in order to cut cost, time, and quality? Obviously, no set of specifications can ultimately be "foolproof" or "shark-proof," but you must try to make them as clear and unambiguous as possible.

For specifications to be used in design, manufacturing, construction, or procurement, use "shall" to indicate requirements. In specifications writing, "shall" is understood as indicating a requirement. Provide numerical

specifications in both words and symbols: for example, "the distance between the two components shall be three centimetres (3 cm)." Writing style in specifications can be very terse: incomplete sentences are acceptable as well as the omission of functions words such as articles and conjunctions that are understood. Exercise great caution with pronouns and relational or qualifying phrases. Make sure there is no doubt about words such as "it," "they," "which," and "that" refer to. Watch out for sentences containing a list of two or more items followed by some descriptive phrase - does the descriptive phrase refer to all the list items or just one? In cases like these, you may have to take a wordier approach for the sake of clarity.

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Use words and phrasing that have become standard in similar specifications over the years. Past usage has proven them reliable. Avoid words and phrases that are known not to hold up in lawsuits.

Make sure your specifications are complete - put yourself in the place of those who need your specifications; make sure you cover everything they will need.

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9. The Memorandum, The Report

9.1. The Business Letter, E-mails A memorandum or memo is a document or other communication that helps the memory by recording events or observations on a topic, such as may be used in a business office. The plural form is either memoranda or memorandums. A memorandum may have any format, or it may have a format specific to an office or institution. In law specifically, a memorandum is a record of the terms of a transaction or contract, such as a policy memo, memorandum of understanding, memorandum of agreement, or memorandum of association.

Alternative formats include memos, briefing notes, reports, letters or binders. They could be one page long or many. If the user is a cabinet minister or a senior executive, the format might be rigidly defined and limited to one or two pages. If the user is a colleague, the format is usually much more flexible. At its most basic level, a memorandum can be a handwritten note to one's supervisor. Dean Acheson famously quipped that "A memorandum is not written to inform the reader but to protect the writer". Charles Peters wrote that "bureaucrats write memoranda both because they appear to be busy when they are writing and because the memos, once written, immediately become proof that they were busy."

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A specific type of memorandum is the policy briefing note (alternatively referred to in various jurisdictions and governing traditions as policy issues paper, policy memoranda, or cabinet submission amongst other terms), a document for transmitting policy analysis into the political decision making sphere. Typically, a briefing note may be denoted as either for information or for decision.

Origins of term The origins of the term briefing lie in legal briefs and the derivative military briefings.

Purpose The primary purpose of a briefing note for decision is to support decision making to help (or sometimes influence) a decision-maker to make a better decision in a particular problem situation than he might otherwise have made without the analysis. This is the summary of a management consultancy report commissioned by Chapman clothing. Summary of Report Situation analysis: Chapman Clothing co has been selling clothes for the past 73 years. They have two factories making their product domestically, and they use contract work from abroad. Their product is retailed at
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department stores across the country, and they feature in a number of mail order catalogues. Recently they launched an internet site for customers who want to buy direct. As can be seen from the sales figures for the past 12 months, sales dropped sharply in the first part of the year. There has been some recovery in clothing sales to men and women but sales of children's clothing remain flat. Market trends Recently the market for their product has expanded, with a greater proportion of the national income being spent on clothing. As can be seen from chart 1A sales in the early part of the decade have been flat, and even fell in the recent recession, but they have since recovered strongly. Though there was a slight dip the year before last, figures have climbed ever since, and there is no sign yet that the market has peaked. Outlook Strong competition both at home and abroad has forced down the cost of fabrics, and the company's buyers have closed a number of very favourable deals, locking suppliers into long-term contracts on very favourable terms. However, it appears the company's competitors have done the same. This means that the market over the coming two years will be very competitive. Therefore, it is important that Chapman clothing find a strong selling point, either in terms of price, style, quality image or some combination of these.
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Competition As you can see from the pie charts, which show Chapmans share of the market as a dark blue wedge, it can be seen that the company's market share today (chart A) is less than it was five years ago (chart B). In short, Chapmans has been losing market share. This is mainly due to the expansion of the market leader Tommy Dee and Andreas. The red wedge represents imported clothing from foreign brands, and it can be seen that this sector too is expanding. This means that smaller domestic companies, such as Chapmans are being squeezed. Risks and opportunities The fact that more people are spending more money on their clothes means that Chapmans has a chance to approach new customers in an expanding market. Technological change means that there are new ways to find customers, such as marketing through the internet. Chapmans has good brand recognition, and an established customer base. The challenge for this company is to break out of its present market, and expand into new ones. The risk is clearly shown in the falling sales figures at a time when the market is expanding. New brands such as Andreas are expanding aggressively, and their products are seen as very attractive by certain key market segments. The risk is that Chapmans sales might continue to decline to the point where retailers lose interest in stocking their goods, after which the company has a serious risk of failing.
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Questions: 1. Who is this report for? - A newspaper - Shareholders - A management consultancy - Company directors 2. What is the challenge mentioned in the sector headed 'Outlook'? - To keep prices down - To find cheaper suppliers - To make the product distinctive - To compete for two years 3. How would you describe the tone of the risks and opportunities? Critical Optimistic Pessimistic Balanced Electronic mail, most commonly abbreviated email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages. E-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model in which e-mail server computer systems accept, forward, deliver and store messages on behalf of users, who only need to connect to the e-mail infrastructure, typically an e-mail server, with a network-enabled device for the duration of
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message submission or retrieval. Originally, e-mail was always transmitted directly from one user's device to another's; nowadays this is rarely the case. An electronic mail message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field. The basics of good business letter writing are easy to learn. The following guide provides the phrases that are usually found in any standard business letter. These phrases are used as a kind of frame and introduction to the content of business letters. At the end of this guide, you will find links to sites that give tips on the difficult part of writing successful business letters arguing your business objective. By using these standard phrases, you can give a professional tone to your English business letters. The Start Dear Personnel Director, Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to) Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with. - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)
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Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend) The Reference - With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 rd March, - your phone call today, - Thank you for your letter of March 5 th . The Reason for Writing - I am writing to inquire about - apologize for - confirm Requesting - Could you possibly? - I would be grateful if you could Agreeing to Requests - I would be delighted to Giving Bad News - Unfortunately - I am afraid that

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Enclosing Documents - I am enclosing - Please find enclosed - Enclosed you will find Closing Remarks - Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way. - there are any problems. - you have any questions. Reference to Future Contact - I look forward to ... - hearing from you soon. - meeting you next Tuesday. - seeing you next Thursday. The Finish - Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to) - Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to) - Best wishes, - Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)

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Sample Letter Here is a sample letter using some of these forms:

Ken's Cheese House 34 Chatley Avenue Seattle, WA 98765 Tel: Fax: Email: kenny@cheese.com October 23, 2006

Fred Flintstone Sales Manager Cheese Specialists Inc. 456 Rubble Road Rockville, IL

Dear Mr Flintstone: With reference to our telephone conversation today, I am writing to confirm your order for: 120 x Cheddar Deluxe Ref. No. 856 The order will be shipped within three days via UPS and should arrive at your store in about 10 days. Please contact us again if we can help in any way. Yours sincerely, Kenneth Beare Director of Ken's Cheese House
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10. Guidelines for writing business documents

10.1. Operating Documents Style in Business Correspondence4 Writing business letters and memos differs in certain important ways from writing reports. Keep the following advice in mind when you write and especially when you revise your business letters or memos.

State the main business, purpose, or subject matter right away. Let the reader know from the very first sentence what your letter is about. Remember that when business people open a letter, their first concern is to know what the letter is about, what its purpose is, and why they must spend their time reading it. Therefore, avoid roundabout beginnings. If you are writing to apply for a job, begin with something like this: "I am writing to apply for the position you currently have open...." If you have bad news for someone, you need not spill all of it in the first sentence. Here is an example of how to avoid negative phrasing: "I am writing in response to your letter of July 24, 1997 in which you discuss problems you have had with an electronic spreadsheet purchased from our company." If you are responding to a letter, identify that letter by its subject and date in the first paragraph or sentence. Busy recipients who write
4

From the internet: site maintained by Patrick Burne, a retired business communication consultant 78

many letters themselves may not remember their letters to you. To avoid problems, identify the date and subject of the letter to which you respond: Keep the paragraphs of most business letters short. The paragraphs of business letters tend to be short, some only a sentence long. Business letters are not read the same way as articles, reports, or books. Usually, they are read rapidly. Big, thick, dense paragraphs over ten lines, which require much concentration, may not be read carefully - or read at all. To enable the recipient to read your letters more rapidly and to comprehend and remember the important facts or ideas, create relatively short paragraphs of between three and eight lines long. In business letters, paragraphs that are made up of only a single sentence are common and perfectly acceptable.

"Compartmentalize" the contents of your letter. When you "compartmentalize" the contents of a business letter, you place each different segment of the discussion - each different topic of the letter - in its own paragraph. If you were writing a complaint letter concerning problems with the system unit of your personal computer, you might have these paragraphs: A description of the problems you've had with it The ineffective repair jobs you've had The compensation you think you deserve and why

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Study each paragraph of your letters for its purpose, content, or function. When you locate a paragraph that does more than one thing, consider splitting it into two paragraphs. If you discover two short separate paragraphs that do the same thing, consider joining them into one.

Provide topic indicators at the beginning of paragraphs. In the first sentence of any body paragraph of a business letter, try to locate a word or phrase that indicates the topic of that paragraph. If a paragraph discusses your problems with a personal computer, work the word "problems" or the phrase "problems with my personal computer" into the first sentence. Doing this gives recipients a clear sense of the content and purpose of each paragraph.

Place important information strategically in business letters. Information in the first and last lines of paragraphs tends to be read and remembered better. Information buried in the middle of long paragraphs is easily overlooked or forgotten. Therefore, place important information in high-visibility points. For example, in application letters that must convince potential employers that you are right for a job, locate information on appealing qualities at the beginning or end of paragraphs for greater emphasis. Place less positive or detrimental information in less highly visible points in your business letters. If you have some difficult things to say, a good (and honest) strategy is to de-emphasize by placing them in areas of less emphasis. If a job requires three years of experience and you only
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have one, bury this fact in the middle or the lower half of a body paragraph of the application letter. The resulting letter will be honest and complete; it just will not emphasize however weak points unnecessarily.

Find positive ways to express bad news in your business letters. Often, business letters must convey bad news: a broken computer keyboard cannot be replaced, or an individual cannot be hired. Such bad news can be conveyed in a tactful way. Doing so reduces the chances that business relations with the recipient of the bad news will end. To convey bad news positively, avoid such words as "cannot," "forbid," "fail," "impossible," "refuse," "prohibit," "restrict," and "deny" as much as possible.

Focus on the recipient's needs, purposes, or interests instead of your own. Avoid a self-centred focusing on your own concerns rather than those of the recipient. Even if you must talk about yourself in a business letter a great deal, do so in a way that relates your concerns to those of the recipient. This recipient-oriented style is often called the "you-attitude," which does not mean using more you but making the recipient the focus of the letter.

Avoid pompous, inflated, legal-sounding phrasing. Watch out for puffed-up, important-sounding language. This kind of language may seem business-like at first; it is actually
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ridiculous. Of course, such phrasing is apparently necessary in legal documents; but why should we use it in other writing situations? When you write a business letter, picture yourself as a plain-talking, common sense, down-to-earth person (but avoid slang). Give your business letter an "action ending" whenever appropriate. An "action-ending" makes clear what the writer of the letter expects the recipient to do and when. Ineffective conclusions to business letters often end with rather limp, noncommittal statements such as "Hope to hear from you soon" or "Let me know if I can be of any further assistance." Instead, or in addition, specify the action the recipient should take and the schedule for that action. If, for example, you are writing a query letter, ask the editor politely to let you know of his decision if possible in a month. If you are writing an application letter, try to set up a date and time for an interview.

If you operate a small business, you naturally want to cultivate a professional image while not spending tons of money to do it. This can be tricky, since everything associated with doing business costs quite a bit these days. However, there are some shortcuts you can take to develop an expert image that won't cost an arm and a leg.

1. Design your own stationery. You can buy discount or clearance computer paper at any business supply store or outlet. Make it simple, not fancy or extravagant, in off-white or pastel shades. The effect should be simple and stately, not garish or brash. Using MS
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Word or another software program, experiment with the font, ink, and proportion sizes to center your company's name at the top, or move it to one side. Below the name in smaller print should come your address and contact information. You can design a logo to arrange this information, and then use the logo.

2. Create labels or make envelopes to match. You can buy matching stationery envelopes from the office supply store. Then have them pre-printed from a local graphics artist or do it yourself with a personal hand stamp that you can order. Another option is to print labels with your return address in logo format, or you can always print one envelope at a time, as needed. Prepare both large (9x12) and letter-size envelopes as well.

3. Use your newly designed logo for other personally made forms for office use, such as memorandums, invoices, and fax transmittal sheets. Keep a supply of several forms on hand. When the logo starts to fade from too much copying, you may want to re-do your logo or letterhead or farm it out to a local printer if it doesn't cost too much.

4. Create excel spreadsheets, or another type, for charts, graphs, and business accounts and records. Name these and store print copies in files by the same name. You can use a smaller version of the logo in the corner or at the top if you prefer.

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5. Phone pads, note pads, and other office forms can be created by using the logo as indicated. You will need order forms, billing statements, receipts, and bank statements that reflect your company's image. You can also design a Website or start a newsletter to get your company's name and image out into the community. You want customers (and even potential customers) to associate your logo with your name so they will remember it for the future. Keep colors, sizes, and designs consistent when possible. Buy from the same supplier for this reason, or match as closely as you can when your current supply runs out. You may have to switch to another item number or supplier if the items no longer match to avoid looking unprofessional. In addition, you will need to get plain bond paper for other types of forms and writing, along with file folders, a rolodex, and storage boxes or cabinets for supplies and files. Keep plenty of paper on hand, as you will need to keep good records for future reference.

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11. The Pronoun and qualifying expressions

The Conventions of Formal Written Register

If you decide that your writing should be more formal, or your professor has asked you to write more formally, here are some conventions to follow. a) Avoid Words and Expressions from Spoken English Informal words and expressions common in spoken English (colloquialisms) are often inappropriate when using formal written register. Try to:

Remove slang Hillary totally flipped after the Speaker of the House ragged her in the press. First Lady Hillary Clinton became incensed after the Speaker of the House criticized her in the press.

Where possible, choose more formal vocabulary Following the clean-up, algae levels in the river were pretty good compared to before. Following the clean-up, algae levels in the river were much improved.

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The Presidents assistant checked out the incident and got back to her the next day. The Presidents assistant investigated the incident and reported to her the next day.

Avoid contractions The English Monarchy wasn't responding to the needs of the population. The English Monarchy was not responding to the needs of the population.

Find alternatives to beginning a sentence with so, and, or but So, air pollution increased significantly across the region.

As a result, air pollution increased significantly across the region. And postmodernists agree that her opinions are steeped in nineteenth century thinking. In addition, postmodernists agree that her opinions are steeped in nineteenth century thinking. But this essay will argue in favor of a neo-structuralist approach to the problem. However, this essay will argue in favor of a neo - structuralist approach to the problem.

Rephrase lists which include etc. The consequences were higher taxes, lower wages, unemployment, etc.
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The consequences included higher taxes, lower wages, and unemployment. b) Use Impersonal Constructions When Expressing Opinions I believe NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. We argue that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. You can see that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented.

In all the examples above, the writer believes that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. The phrases I believe, we argue, and you can see can all be found in samples of academic writing across the disciplines. However, as mentioned above, some professors believe I, we and you are not always appropriate in formal written register. If you need to increase formality in this area, we recommend you use impersonal structures. This can be done in a variety of ways. First, an opinion can be stated directly. It should be obvious what the writer believes if she/he writes: NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. The writer can also invoke authority. Jane Kay has argued that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented.

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Many scholars believe that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. Whether the writer agrees or not with the opinion will become clearer in the sentences which follow: Jane Kay has argued that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. This is confirmed by the catastrophic events which followed. Many scholars believe that NATOs strategy was poorly designed and carelessly implemented. However, this paper will challenge these claims. Using Qualifying Words and Phrases Sometimes writers state opinions directly: American cultural hegemony is destroying local traditions all over the world. Research shows, however, that academic writers are often cautious about making such strong claims or statements in their work; that is, they prefer to comment on, or hedge, an opinion: It is possible that American cultural hegemony is destroying local traditions all over the world. or Arguably, American cultural hegemony is destroying local traditions all over the world. or American cultural hegemony may be destroying local traditions all over the world. This is done in formal writing for several reasons. As stated above, the approach of formal register is objective and rational, rather than
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subjective and polemical. If you state your opinions directly, without qualifications, then you may sound dogmatic, and the reader might think that you are simplifying the issue(s) involved. In addition, by leaving room for some uncertainty - even when you are convinced yourself - you leave space for your readers to reach their own conclusions, based on the evidence you present. In the end, they may indeed be persuaded by your evidence that American cultural hegemony is destroying local traditions all over the world. As Joseph Williams has pointed out, academic disciplines have various approaches to how doubt and certainty should be expressed; you should examine texts in your field to see when and how qualifying comments are made. Some common techniques include using modals (such as can and may) adverbs (including possible and apparently) as well as adjectives (such as certain and probable). Sentence Length, Complexity and Punctuation There are no rules governing sentence length or complexity in English. Sentences can be short and complex, or long and simple. Generally, it is best to vary the length and complexity of sentences so the readers interest is maintained and/or they are not overburdened. In general: Try to combine very simple sentences.

Not In 1976, he was assassinated. This was bad politically. Chaos resulted.
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But His assassination in 1976 resulted in political chaos.

Do not include too many ideas in the same sentence:

Not His assassination in 1976 resulted in political chaos as all three opposition parties refused to recognise the presidents hand-picked successor, and for several weeks the situation remained uncertain and tense until a delegation from the OAU arrived in the country and met with members from all sides in the dispute, and brokered a peaceful resolution to the crisis before any violence took place.

But His assassination in 1976 resulted in political chaos. All three opposition parties refused to recognise the presidents hand-picked successor, and for several weeks the situation remained uncertain and tense. Finally, a delegation from the OAU arrived in the country, met with members from all sides in the dispute, and brokered a peaceful resolution to the crisis before any violence took place.

In other words, use punctuation, conjunctions and linkers to vary sentence complexity. In some cases, punctuation choices can drastically change meaning. We suggest you read work aloud; often the placement of commas, semi-colons and periods (full stops) becomes clearer when you listen to the text. For further
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recommendations on the use of other elements of punctuation, such as dashes or quotation marks, consult style manuals in the library.

There are some rules to help you make comparisons in English. 1 If the adjective (describing word) is one syllable, you can add -er. For example, small smaller; big bigger; nice nicer. 2 If the adjective has two syllables, but ends in -y, you can change the end to -ier. For example, lucky luckier; happy happier. 3 With other English adjectives of two syllables and more, you can't change their endings. Instead, you should use more + adjective. For example, handsome more handsome; beautiful more beautiful and so on. 4 When you compare two things, use 'than'. "She's younger than me." "This exercise is more difficult than the last one." 5 When you want to say something is similar, use 'as as'. For example, "She's as tall as her brother" or "It's as nice today as it was yesterday." 6 When you want to say one thing is less than another, you can either use 'less than' or 'not as as'. For example, "This programme is less interesting than I thought" or "This programme is not as interesting as I thought." 7 Remember that some adjectives are irregular and change form when you make comparisons.
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For example, good better; bad worse; far further. Using qualifying expressions You can vary the strength of the comparison by using "qualifying" expressions. 1. Comparing two things You can use "a lot", "much", "a little", "slightly" and "far" before "more / less than": "She's a lot more intelligent than him." "This car is much faster than the other one." "They are much less wealthy than they used to be." "He's a little taller than his sister." "She's slightly less interested in football than him. "We are far more involved in charity than they are." When you use these qualifying expressions in English, remember the rules about using -er. If the adjective is one syllable, or ends in -y, add -er: "He's far taller than her." (NOT "He's far more taller") "I'm much lazier than you!" When the adjective is two syllables and more, you need either "more" or "less": "He's a little more prepared for the exam than she is." (NOT "He's a little prepareder")

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2. Saying how two things are similar You can use "almost as as", "not quite as as", "(not) nearly as as", "nowhere near as as", "twice as as" and "half as as" to change the extent of the similarity. "She's almost as good as you!" "He's not quite as confident as Susie." "I'm not nearly as intelligent as her!" "This painting is nowhere near as famous as the first." "She's twice as old as him! "He's half as interesting as you!"

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12. The contract: - types

12.1. - content 12.2. - negotiation In daily life, most contracts can be and are made orally, such as purchasing a book or a sandwich. Sometimes written contracts are required by either the parties, or by statutory law within various jurisdiction for certain types of agreement, for example when buying a house or land.

As a means of economic ordering, contract relies on the notion of consensual exchange. In American English, the term extends beyond the legal meaning to encompass a broader category of agreements. Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. Contract management includes negotiating the terms and conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as documenting and agreeing on any changes that may arise during its implementation or execution. It can be summarized as the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of

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maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk.[1] Common commercial contracts include employment letters, sales invoices, purchase orders, and utility contracts. Complex contracts are often necessary for construction projects, goods or services that are highly regulated, goods or services with detailed technical specifications, intellectual property (IP) agreements, and international trade. A study has found that for "42% of enterprises...the top driver for improvements in the management of contracts is the pressure to better assess and mitigate risks" Contracts can be of many types sales contracts (including leases), purchasing contracts, partnership agreements, trade

agreements, and intellectual property agreements. A sales contract is a contract between a company (the seller) and a customer that where the company agrees to sell products and/or services. The customer in return is obligated to pay for the product/services bought. A purchasing contract is a contract between a company (the buyer) and a supplier who is promising to sell products and/or services within agreed terms and conditions. The company (buyer) in return is obligated to acknowledge the goods / or service and pay for liability created. A partnership agreement may be a contract which formally establishes the terms of a partnership between two legal entities such that they regard each other as 'partners' in a commercial arrangement.
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However, that such expression may be merely a business-expression to reflect the desire of the contracting parties to act 'as if' both are in a partnership with common goals.

Having a negotiation strategy going into contract negotiations is critical. As the person negotiating a contract you must be willing to concede on some terms and conditions to get what you want. Of course, any contract negotiation requires two parties willing and able to accept that each has their own agendas in writing a contract in favor of one party versus the other. Developing a sound contract requires both parties to share in the potential risks.

Some of the negotiation strategies used by contract lawyers and contract negotiators can be recognized as soon as you meet the other party. One of the most common negotiation strategies is to be overbearing and create an image of intimidation by coming to a contract meeting with a large group. Another common contract negotiation strategy is to state that you can't change any term or condition and it is what is. However, just remember every term and condition is negotiable the key is to find a win win negotiation or common ground between both parties.

The person initiating or paying for the contract has a little more bargaining power in negotiations even though the other party will act like they can't accept risks. As the person negotiating a contract you must decide what is the repercussions if I just walk away from the
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deal if you can't reach a common ground. If the other party is standing their ground and you really need a term or condition in your favor don't be afraid to tell them that you're going to cancel the deal. This will get the attention of the other party and then open the line of communication.

Contracts are a tool to establish who, what, when and how a particular service or product with perform. The art of negotiation is nothing more than talking and reaching a common understanding of the duties of each party.

Some people negotiating a contract make it really more complicated than it really is all about. When negotiating a contract you have to minimize risks and after that all the little details are about making a business decision and standing by your word to get the job done or that the product will perform according to the specification and requirements.

The outsourcing contract is one of the most important documents in an outsourcing relationship. The contract, terms and the quality of the contract will largely influence the outsourcing relations, governance and overall the success of the outsourcing venture. In order to take full advantage of outsourcing and minimize risks all involved parties should carefully consider a few guidelines; Align the goals and objectives of both the service provider and the customer
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 Measure accurately what work is being accomplished. Match the work performed with invoices. Accurately forecast the demand for outsourced resource. Jointly, with the service provider, innovate, re-engineer work processes and achieve technology innovation to improve productivity, efficiency and quality. Use rewards and incentives for innovation and improvements. Build in the contract gainsharing, incentives and penalties. Ensure transparency and accountability. This will largely determine the development of the outsourcing relationship Plan for change. Build in as much flexibility as possible. Negotiate and re-negotiate agreements. The contract must provide enough flexibility to meet unforeseen demand changes upward or downward. Effective outsourcing contract negotiation requires that needs, business and technology requirements, projected demand growth, peak periods, projected business shifts, and required service levels are all known. - Manage contract cycle, maintain version history and control change process. Keep the contract and related documents up to date. - Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Be realistic. After the honeymoon is over difficult issues might arise along the way and hurt the outsourcing relationship badly. - Preparation should start before the contract is signed. Be clear on dispute resolution, termination rights, change control, approval
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process,

intellectual

property

ownership

and

handling

of

subcontractors. Have a clear exit strategy. - Pricing should be negotiated in order to reflect planned growth and projected as well as un-projected peak demand. Wherever possible, demand should be quantified in advance to obtain a more favorable price. Un-projected demands will likely drive costs higher because of the service provider's motivation to build as much into the annuity portion of the contract as possible. Reserve the right to renegotiate requirements and pricing if necessary. Today, contracts between the customer and the service provider(s) generally fall into one of the following categories; - Labor based contracts. There is an hourly or monthly labor rate assigned to different skill levels. Here the contract anticipates a general volume of work, has quality of service goals, and places constraints on the total labor anticipated for accomplishing the work within that framework. In this type of contract there is little to no incentive for the service provider to improve efficiency, since the result is fewer billable hours and less revenue. - Transaction based contracts. The service provider is paid for completed transactions. Usually there are service quality goals, as well as expected transaction volume. This type of contract could encourage the service provider to find ways to be more efficient to process more transactions with the same resources. This type of contract is typical for BPO services.

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- Goal based contracts gainsharing. The customer and the service provider establish efficiency and effectiveness goals together in a way that it encourages improvements. This is accomplished as a result of transparency and accountability. The customer and the service provider can jointly investigate efficiency and effectiveness initiatives, quantify the potential impact, and share the benefits of achieving the goal of the initiative. Key terms to negotiate The most difficult issues that arise in the outsourcing transaction involve pricing and service levels and how the parties measure performance and adjust for changes in the customers needs and the business and technology environment in which they are operating. To resolve those issues it is necessary to examine and understand the different perspectives of the supplier and the customer. The customer is turning to the supplier for its expertise in providing various services and dealing with technology and/or business process issues in a professional, cost effective manner. The customer wants the supplier to take responsibility for the operation of a portion or all parts of the outsourced functions/process. The customer, however, is dependent to a certain degree upon the

outsourced functions for the success of its business. Accordingly the customer wants to be sure that it achieves the predefined goals of outsourcing gets quality service at the lowest price. The supplier, on the other hand, wants a long-term, profitable relationship. At the same time it has to be concerned about any threats
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against its return on investment such as financial penalties for failure to meet service levels or missing deadlines, re-pricing or re-scoping as a result of benchmarking. These are threats to the suppliers profitability and the return on investment. The contents of an outsourcing contract - The scope and detailed definition and description of services and/or products to be delivered. - Provide a clear statement on the rights and obligations of both parties, so that each party know what it must do under the agreement and what benefits it will receive in return. Governance structure, representation and reporting

requirements - General conditions about security, privacy and warranties - Set out the plan and schedule that will apply to the delivery and implementation of the products and services specified in the agreement. - Provide a clear procedure for the parties to control changes to the project and agree on the impact that any changes will have on the timetable and the price. - Set out the basis by which the customer will measure and accept the services/products delivered and how the payment(s) will then apply. - Define the procedures to resolve any disputes promptly and provide effective and commercially realistic remedies for both parties

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in the event of contractual default by the other. It also should include any limitation of liability, termination and re-negotiation conditions. - Define any ownership of rights, products, licenses and intellectual property.

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13. Whos Who in economics

Selection of Who's Who related to Economics (For more detail on most of these entries, see the History of Economic Thought website at http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/)

Becker, Gary. b. 1930. One of the many prominent economists associated with the University of Chicago, Becker won the Nobel Prize in economics for his applications of economic methods to a variety of novel situations.

Boulding, Kenneth. b. 1910. This British born economist taught for many years at the University of Michigan and then at the University of Colorado.

Buchanan, James. b. 1919. A founder of a branch of economics called Public-Choice economics; Buchanan won a Nobel Prize for his contributions to economics in 1986.

Fischer, Irving. 1867-1947. an amazingly prolific writer on a wide range of topics, Fisher may have been the most important American-born economists during the first half of the twentieth century. A professor at Yale University, he made contributions in many areas of economics, including monetary theory, mathematical

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economics, index numbers, and the theory of interest. Among the reform movements he championed were prohibition of alcohol and eugenics.

Friedman, Milton. b. 1912. One of the most important economists of the twentieth century, Friedman is noted for his studies of monetary history, his development of the permanent income hypothesis, and his argument that most intellectuals overvalue political processes and underestimate the importance of market processes in a free and prosperous society. Friedman won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1976.

Hayek, Friedrich. - Austrian borne economist who taught both in England and the United States, Hayek won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1974. He opposed most government interventions into the economy. He is perhaps best knows for his early recognition that markets have the ability to coordinate widely dispersed information.

Hicks, John. b. 1904. This British economist is best known for his development of the IS-LM model of macroeconomics.

Jevons, W. Stanley. 1835-1882 an economist who was part of the "Marginalist Revolution" in the late nineteenth century.

Keynes, John Maynard. 1883-1946. the author of the General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936), the ideas of this
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British economist have dominated the approach to macroeconomics for most of the twentieth century.

Knight, Frank. 1885-1972. Knight taught at the University of Chicago from 1928 until 1958, helping to give the economics department at that institution its special flavour.

Malthus, Thomas. 1766-1834. An English economist who is remembered for his theory of population, published originally in 1798 as Essay on the Principle of Population.

Marshall, Alfred. 1842-1924. the most influential economist at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, his textbook was the standard for several generations of students. Marshall taught at Cambridge University in England from 1885 until 1908.

Marx, Karl. 1818-1883. A German social philosopher whose writings have had enormous influence on the theory and practice of socialism. His Communist Manifesto (1848) was a call to action, while his Das Kapital, unfinished at his death, contains his theoretical structure.

Mill, John Stuart. 1806-1873. the son of James Mill (1773-1836) who was also an influential writer in economics, John Stuart Mill's

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most important work in economics was Principles of Political Economy (1848).

Modigliani, Franco. Though born in Italy, Modigliani has spent most of his professional career teaching in American universities. He won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1985 for several important contributions to the field, one of which was the life-cycle hypothesis of consumption.

Okun, Arthur. 1928-1980. An American economist who came to prominence as a member and then chair of the Council of Economic Advisors during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations during the 1960s. Okun's Law is named after him. It is a statistical regularity that says a 1% reduction in unemployment yields a 3% increase in real GDP.

Pareto, Vilfredo. 1848-1923. - An Italian economist and sociologist.

Popper, Karl. - An Austrian-born philosopher whose writings on the methods of science have been influential.

Rawls, John. Rawls is not an economist, but rather a philosopher whose writing on justice, based on a social contract model, have influenced many economists.

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Ricardo, David. 1772-1823. Ricardo was the most influential economist in the generation after Adam Smith. His principle work was The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). He made important contributions in the understanding of foreign trade, but his theory of value sent economics down a blind alley that was not abandoned until the 1870s.

Robbins, Lionell. 1898-1984. - A British economist prominent between World War I and II.

Say, Jean Baptiste. 1767-1832. This French economist spread the message of Adam Smith in France.

Schumpeter, Joseph. 1883-1950. This Austrian-born economist was one of the giants among economists in the first half of the twentieth century. Schumpeter emphasized the dynamic nature of market economies.

Smith, Adam. 1723-1790. A Scottish intellectual whos most important work was The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Smith is often called the father of economics.

Stigler, George. b. 1911. This Nobel Prize winner of 1982 was one of the mainstays of the Chicago school of economics. His work was in several fields of microeconomics.

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Stiglitz, Joseph. b. 1943. Stiglitz is well known for his work in analyzing markets where price determines quality rather than the reverse.

Thornton, Henry. 1760-1815. a banker, philanthropist, and Member of Parliament, Thornton's is now only remembered for as author of An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain (1802), which many economists consider the most insightful work on monetary theory written prior to the late nineteenth century.

Walras, Leon. (1834-1910). He was one of the first mathematical economists; a man who formally developed the theory of general equilibrium.

Wicksell, Knut. 1851-1926. Wicksell was a Swedish economist who wrote at the turn of the century and had a profound influence on the Swedish economists who came after him. His work only gradually was recognized in the English-speaking world for its originality and depth. He made important contributions to the literature on business cycles and capital theory.

Thumbing through the entries in Who's Who in Economics does give a unique insight into the concerns and findings of the world's leading economists - a vital resource for the profession.

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