I. Write a business letter/ an email/ a fax to your business partner from Japan/China/ Norway and reply them.

II. Memos are supposed to be not too long (40-50 words). Look at the task and a possible answer, which is too long (100 words). Underline the most important information in the memo and cross out any phrases, which give unnecessary details. Then, write a shorter version of the memo.

Task: You work in the Human Resources Department. The government has recently increased the amount of social security tax for all workers. Write a memo to your staff informing them:

# what the change in tax is # who will be affected #when the new rules will take effect

 

A possible answer

To: All staff

From: Daniel de Rivaz, Payroll Officer

Date: 13 May

Subject: Tax changes

 

I would like to point out to all staff that following the recent changes in the tax law announced by the government last week, in future the rate of social security tax will be 11%, which is an increase from the 10% it was before. This new rate will apply to everyone (the level of your salary is not important) and you will be taxed this amount starting in July. If you have any questions or want more information, you are welcome to contact me, Daniel de Rivaz, in the Human Resources department during normal working hours.

 

III. You work for APIS Car rental, a small but growing car hire business. You have just received this fax. Read the fax and the notes, using all the information, write a letter in reply to Dave Duffy. (120-140 words)

To: APIS Car rental

From: Dave Duffy (Purchasing manager)

 

Further to our meetings with you last week, we would like to discuss the possibility of a 6-month trial contract. Here is a reminder of our requirements:

- 24-hour availability for car collection

- coverage of all our main locations in the UK (London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Newcastle)

- the option of chauffeur driven cars for senior executives.

We expect to make on average about 30-40 car rentals per week and it is vital that we know you are able to manage this quantity.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Notes:

· offer discount for 12-month trial

· cars can be collected between 7am and 8pm. Extra fee if outside those hours

· ask for approximate amount of cars they need for each location. The number of cars you have in fleet is: London 50, Birmingham 25, Manchester 30, Glasgow 20, Leeds 10, Newcastle 0

· mention that you do not own depot in Newcastle but have a good partner, they offer modern fleet of cars, flexible hours, fast service, fair rates

· prices for cars can vary from one location to another

IV. Read an abstract from the interview with Oleg Bondari, who works for a global chemicals company in Ukraine and answer the following questions.

1. How does Oleg compare email and “other forms of communication”?

2. What does he do to reduce the chance that he will be misunderstood by people he does not know so well?

3. What does he do when he receives an email irritating him?

Oleg: My feeling is that there is a bigger risk of misunderstanding with email than with other forms of communication, particularly when handling sensitive information. And, for me, the shorter the email, the bigger the chance you will be misunderstood. So if I do not know the person I am writing to so well, then I try to give clear explanations and expectations – to try not to be ambiguous. I try to give more background to the problem, for example. Usually this makes my emails a bit longer than ones to the people I know. This is a general rule that I follow across all cultures. If the email channel is not working for some reason or other, then I phone. And when I get an email irritating me, I leave it and do not respond immediately, then read it again later and maybe think, there is misunderstanding from my side. And that stops me replying too quickly.

 

 

LECTURE 3

EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION FOR PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES IN DIFFERENT CULTURES.

 

To make your writing effective and efficient has always been a hard nut to crack for business partners, especially while writing internationally. There are certain characteristics of written passages that will definitely denote your piece of writing as being clear and well-organised or inefficient and confusing. Apart from the structure and generally accepted conventions of business writing coherence plays a vital role in writing between cultures. Although there are different types of coherence, it is generally defined as the degree to which a document makes sense to the reader. Author credibility, appeal to the reader’s emotions and logic all inform the success of global coherence. There are three distinct versions of coherence to be analysed – parallel progression, sequential progression and extended parallel progression.

Parallel progression is when the topic of successive sentences is the same. This is similar to a relay race, in which a runner passes a baton to the next runner. The result is a seamless exchange of information from beginning to end of the letter. This strategy demands less of the reader because the topic is always clear as it progresses within a paragraph. English-language writers follow parallel progression.

Sequential progression appears more complex because topic transfer is not direct or obvious. Instead of handing a baton off to the next runner, the exchange is interrupted. The race continues but it seems less direct. In actuality, writers from cultures using sequential progression see this type of writing as effective because it incorporates crucial details. From a sequential perspective, writers from cultures emphasizing parallel progression appear simple and obvious, whereas parallel-progression writers view sequential-progression documents as delayed and unfocused.

Extended parallel progression is when a document introduction and conclusion are consistent, but are separated by a non-sequential body. In this respect, extended parallel progression combines elements of both parallel progression and sequential progression. The effect is one in which a claim is stated, shifts suddenly to a related but peripheral point, and then returns to the original claim. Russian, French and Spanish writers follow extended parallel progression.

All three types of global coherence begin and end with an implicit or explicit claim. But their paths are different. One strategy gives a sense that the argument proceeds directly from beginning to end. Another jumps from one sentence to the next, leaping from comment to topic. And a third strategy ties both ends of the text together with loose filler. The essential point behind these different writing strategies is that they are all examples of good writing. The problem comes when reading a document with different cultural assumptions.

 

If you would like to learn how to write a business report in English follow these tips and use the example report as a template on which to base your own business report. First of all, business reports provide important information for management that is timely and factual. English learners writing business reports need to make sure that the language is precise and concise. The writing style used for business reports should present information without strong opinions, but rather as direct and accurately as possible.

· Reports: Example Report

· Terms of Reference

Margaret Anderson, Director of Personnel has requested this report on employee benefits satisfaction. The report was to be submitted to her by 28 June.

Procedure

A representative selection of 15% of all employees were interviewed in the period between April 1st and April 15th concerning:

· Overall satisfaction with our current benefits package

· Problems encountered when dealing with the personnel department

· Suggestions for the improvement of communication policies

· Problems encountered when dealing with our HMO (Health Maintenance Organisation)

Findings

- Employees were generally satisfied with the current benefits package.

- Some problems were encountered when requesting vacation due to what is perceived as long approval waiting periods.

- Older employees repeatedly had problems with HMO prescription drugs procedures.

- Employees between the ages of 22 and 30 report few problems with HMO.

- Most employees complain about the lack of dental insurance in our benefits package.

- The most common suggestion for improvement was for the ability to process benefits requests online.

Conclusions

1. Older employees, those over 50, are having serious problems with our HMO's ability to provide prescription drugs.

2. Our benefits request system needs to be revised as most complaints concerning in-house processing.

3. Improvements need to take place in personnel department response time.

4. Information technology improvements should be considered as employees become more technologically savvy.

Recommendations

· Meet with HMO representatives to discuss the serious nature of complaints concerning prescription drug benefits for older employees.

· Give priority to vacation request response time, as employees need faster approval in order to be able to plan their vacations.

· Take no special actions for the benefits package of younger employees.

· Discuss the possibility of adding an online benefits requests system to our company Intranet.