BUSINESS ENGLISH

Starting Every Day With a Song

1. Before you read

Do you have your personal know-how of getting in the mood for work? Share it with your friends.

2. Read the text.

For staff and managers of Asda, each working day gets off to a raucous start. “Give me an A!” they cry, “Give me an S! Give me a D! Give me an A! What does it spell? Asda!”

Customers of the supermarket chain may be alarmed to see and hear the company chant, but Asda insists chanting, singing or hand-clapping is one of the best motivational tools around.

Asda’s spokeswoman says she believes the daily chant unites the workforce. Asda’s chant was adapted for the UK from the version sung at Wal-Mart, its parent company. The song now accompanies all sales conferences, company events and even managerial meetings.

“The directors are just as happy to chant as the cashiers are and they have told us that it helps them get through the business of the day more efficiently and quickly. Chanting isn’t compulsory though,” she adds, “and if people don’t want to join in, they won’t be penalized. As for the customers, they love to see us enjoying our work with a good shout and sometimes they even want to join in.”

By Virginia Matthews,
from the Financial Times

3. Provocative thinking

1. Would you like to join Asda company? Give your reasons.

2. Have you ever come across such means of motivation? Where was it?

3. Sport teams are motivated by a strong sense of team-work, intensive training and the need to win. What means of sport motivation do you think can work well in business motivation?

4. Can you think of some other unusual ways of encouraging the employees?

5. How would you react if the top managers at your work would suggest chanting?

4. True or false

1. A chant is used in a number of different situations.

2. The company chant at Asda is for staff only, not managers.

3. A chant is a type of song.

4. The chant is made of the letters of the company’s name.

5. When Asda employees chant, the customers in the store are asked to participate.

6. The chant is exactly the same as the one used at Wal-Mart.

7. Asda believes that chanting motivates employees and makes them work better.

5. Explain in English what is meant by:

1. to be alarmed – …

2. sales conference – …

3. management meeting – …

4. supermarket – …

5. compulsory – …

6. to adapt – …

7. working day – …

8. motivational tool – …

9. daily – …

10. cashier – …

6. Find synonyms to these words in the text:

1. big store, boutique = …

2. cry, scream = …

3. to punish, to discipline, to correct = …

4. manager, boss, head = …

5. alert, danger, signal, fright = …

6. hoarse, harsh, rough = …

7. employees, staff = …

8. speedily, fast = …

9. to like, to love, to be enthusiastic about = …

10. to participate, to unite, to connect, to link = …

7. Guess who is meant:

1. A person whose job is to receive and pay out money in a bank, shop, hotel, etc.

2. A person, or organization, that buys something from a shop or business.

3. A person who controls all the work in an organization.

4. A person who speaks on behalf of a group.

5. A person who is next in authority after the head of a business.

8. Word-groups

Find a word that will go together with all the options.

1. _____ conference, _____ clerk, _____ director, _____ are good this season

2. _____ of supermarkets, _____ of accidents

3. _____ oriented, _____ service, permanent _____

4. _____ education, ____ measures, ____ military service

5. to _______ for the clients’ needs, to _______ to local conditions, to _______ the library for use as an office

9. Find all the irregular verbs in the text and compose sentences of your own using them.

10. Being “politically correct” in terms of denoting the sex and not infringing upon smb’s interests has made a lot of fuss recently.
Here is a clue of how to sound “politically correct” not offending any sex and other social groups:

a) Find the example of sexist language in the text.

b) Give the nouns of the opposite sex:

1. boy – _________
2. husband – _________
3. father – _________
4. brother – _________
5. nephew – _________
6. uncle – _________
7. son – _________
8. king – _________
9. gentleman – _________
10. bride – _________
11. monk – _________
12. headmaster – _________
13. bachelor – _________
14. cock – _________
15. bull – _________
16. actor – _________
17. count – _________
18. duke – _________
19. emperor – _________
20. god – _________
21. host – _________
22. czar – _________
23. prince – _________
24. poet – _________
25. widow – _________
26. hero – _________
27. fox – _________
28. dog – _________
29. boar – _________
30. drake – _________

KEY:

4. 1. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. F; 6. F; 7. T

6. 1. supermarket; 2. to shout; 3. to penalize; 4. director; 5. alarm; 6. raucous; 7. workforce; 8. quickly; 9. to enjoy; 10. to join

7. 1. Cashier; 2. Customer; 3. Top-manager; 4. Spokesperson; 5. Deputy

8. 1. sales; 2. chain; 3. customer; 4. compulsory; 5. to adapt

9. to get, to give, to do, to spell, to see, to hear, to sing, to be, to say, to have

10. 1. boy – girl; 2. husband – wife; 3. father – mother; 4. brother – sister; 5. nephew – niece; 6. uncle – aunt; 7. son – daughter; 8. king – queen; 9. gentleman – lady; 10. bride – groom; 11. monk – nun; 12. headmaster – headmistress; 13. bachelor – spinster; 14. cock – hen; 15. bull – cow; 16. actor – actress; 17. count – countess; 18. duke – duchess; 19. emperor – empress; 20. god – goddess; 21. host – hostess; 22. czar – czarina; 23. prince – princess; 24. poet – poetess; 25. widow – widower; 26. hero – heroine; 27. fox – vixen; 28. dog – bitch; 29. boar – sow; 30. drake – duck

Сompiled by Alyona Pavlova,
Moscow State University of Printing Arts