The Mercenary Manager

1. Read the text.

Companies that have warned their workforce to confront the realities of job insecurity and limited careers are finding they have created a new type of mercenary manager prepared to move to the highest bidder, according to a new report. The survey by Ashridge Management Centre says the wave of insecurity that affected managers during the corporate downsizings of the early 1990s was an unpleasant experience for many, but it taught them to be more self-centered and independent about their careers.

The backlash for companies, according to Laurence Handy, Ashridge’s director of research, is that many managers are now more likely to look elsewhere to further their careers if their current employer is not meeting their expectations. “They are saying they want something that’s interesting, and they want pay for it. You now have a very hard-nosed group of people who have got the message,” he said.

Nearly three-quarters of the 553 managers who responded to the survey said they felt in control of their jobs. “This is a marked change from previous years’ research when the message coming from managers was that they didn’t feel in control of anything,” said Mr Handy. “Life has moved on and now managers are flexing their muscles,” he added. “The pressure is moving over to the other side with the laws of supply and demand and now companies are screaming that they are spending a fortune on headhunters.”

Managers are keeping their options open, says the report. More turn to their partners for career advice than to the personnel specialist or to their immediate boss. Trust in senior management also appears to have declined in some companies. Many of the managers interviewed in the survey complained that fear and threats were the prime motivators in their companies.

By Richard Donkin

From the Financial Times

2. Scan the text and choose the correct alternative:

1. If someone flexes their muscles they:

a. do not show their real power.

b. do body-building exercises.

c. show how much power they really have.

2. If you spend a fortune you spend:

a. a lot of money.

b. a little money.

c. an average amount of money.

3. If you keep your options open, you decide to commit yourself to:

a. something well in advance.

b. something just before it happens.

c. nothing for the moment.

4. If you turn to someone for advice, you:

a. ask them for advice.

b. refuse their advice.

c. give them advice.

5. A marked change in something is:

a. a big change.

b. a medium-size change.

c. a small change.

6. If you scream something you say it very:

a. clearly.

b. loudly.

c. softly.

7. Headhunters are:

a. people who collect heads.

b. specialized recruiters who look for people to fill top-level jobs.

c. the most important hunters in a group.

3. What do these figures refer to in the text?

1. 553

2. 1990

3. 3/4

4. Find in the text:

1. an adjective that means demanding and realistic.

2. a noun that means a reaction to something that has negative results.

3. a verb that is used to talk about developing your career.

4. a noun that means what someone hopes to obtain from something.

5. a verb that is used with the answer to point 4, meaning to satisfy what people hope to obtain.

5. Match the words to build new word combinations:

1. backlash	a. experience
2. wave	b. expectation
3. to keep options	c. bidder
4. to spend	d. advice
5. to confront	e. a fortune
6. career	f. downsizing
7. the highest	g. open
8. unpleasant	h. for companies
9. to meet	i. of insecurity
10. corporate	j. the realities

6. How would you spell these words: together, separately or hyphenated?

1. o t h e r s i d e

2. d o w n s i z i n g

3. t h r e e q u a r t e r s

4. w o r k f o r c e

5. b a c k l a s h

7. Explain in English the meaning of these words:

1. Respond – …

2. Decline – …

3. Research – …

4. Current – …

5. Downsizing – …

6. Expectation – …

7. Workforce – …

8. Backlash – …

9. Motivator – …

10. Survey – …

8. Find the synonyms to these words in the text. Check your answers with your teacher.

What are the differences in the synonyms?

Can you make some examples to illustrate their meanings?

1. To face, to encounter, to challenge, to defy – …

2. Employer, director, boss – …

3. To tell, to relate, to recount, to narrate, to announce, to declare – …

4. Force, weight, power, influence, compression – …

5. Rule, regulation, edict, code, formula, canon – …

6. To rule, to govern, to take over, to command, to direct, to lead, to conduct – …

7. Boss, director, proprietor, owner – …

8. Calling, vocation, occupation, profession, work, job – …

9. Autonomous, free, sovereign, separate, self-governing – …

10. Uncertainty, hesitation, anxiety, freight, risk – …

9. Give 5 characteristic adjectives to a “MERCENARY MANAGER” and 5 characteristic adjectives to a “LIBERAL MANAGER”.

Now discuss the results of your psychological portraits with your classmates.

Which manager as you think,

would be more successful at work;

which one would be welcome home;

which one is richer;

which one is more loved by people?

While answering the questions try to give well-grounded argumentation.

KEY:

4. 1. hard-nosed; 2. backlash; 3. further; 4. expectations; 5. meet

5. 1. h; 2. i; 3. g; 4. e; 5. j; 6. d; 7. c; 8. a; 9. b; 10. f

6. 1. other side; 2. downsizing; 3. three-quarters; 4. workforce; 5. backlash

8. 1. to confront; 2. manager; 3. to report; 4. pressure; 5. law; 6. to control; 7. employer; 8. career; 9. independent; 10. insecurity