UPP.INT.12.2. CORPORATE CULTURE

I. DESCRIBING YOUR COMPANY'S STRUCTURE

1. CORPORATE CULTURE

Corporate culture and values

Most large companies have a set of core values (core values) they communicate to employees to shape the corporate culture (corporate culture). My company believes strongly in corporate social responsibility. We have a strong focus on ethics. One of our core values is to be adventurous. We're not afraid to try new things. We are determined to succeed. Nothing is impossible. Open communication is a key core value. Anyone can talk to the executives at any time. We are a passionate company. We really believe in what we're doing. Nouns ending in *-ty* Many of the words for core values are nouns ending in -ty. Honesty and quality are two important core values. Creativity is highly valued. We're very innovative. Humility is important. We do the best we can, and we try never to be arrogant.

2. CONFUSABLE VERBS

Confusable verbs

Some verbs look similar and have similar, but not identical, meanings. They are often confused and used incorrectly. It may help to remember which verb takes an object and which doesn't.

Lie can mean 'to recline.' It does not take a direct object. Lay can mean 'to place' or 'to put.' It always has an object. Here are the present and past forms:

Present lie / lay Past lay / laid Past participle lain / laid

You can lie on the couch in the break room if you're not feeling well.

When I arrived at the office, I laid my jacket on the couch.

Note that lay off comes from the verb lay and means 'to put someone out of employment'.

During the recession, they were forced to lay off employees.


Two other verbs that can be confused are rise and raise. Rise means 'to go higher' and never has a direct object; raise means 'to lift higher' and almost always has an object. Here are the present and past forms:

Present

rise / raise  

Past

rose / raised

Past participle

risen / raised 

When profits rose, the company rewarded everyone.
We encourage everyone to express their opinions. Just raise your hands.


3. DESCRIBING CORPORATE VALUES

Emphasizing what is important

When you are explaining your company's corporate values, make sure it's clear which values are most important. We are strongly influenced by the needs of our community. The number one thing for us is producing innovative products. We focus strongly on ethics. It all boils down to helping the community. Profits come first. We have a strong sense of ethics. We have a strong sense of ethics. One thing to think about with corporate culture is the extent to which companies really do what they say that they do. We practice what we preach. Our core values are really implemented in our daily activities. Core values at my old company were just for signs on the wall. It was just lip service.

II. EXPLAINING YOUR COMPANY'S STRUCTURE

1. COMPANY STRUCTURE

Company locations

The structure of global companies can be complicated. They may have parts of the company located in different places around the world. Our headquarters are in London, but we have large branch offices in Hong Kong and New York. Our main factory is located in Seoul. Internal structure The internal structure of a company may include various layers of management. My company has a vertical structure. Communication comes from the top and moves downward. It's rather rigid, if you ask me. I'm in a company that's organized horizontally. I work with a team to make decisions. We're restructuring our company so teams will be cross-functional. Designers, developers and production will be on the same team.

The company is top-heavy. There are just too many executives.

We're going to flatten our company's structure because there are too many levels in the hierarchy.


2. PROPOSING MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Use expressions with be, need or say to make proposals that you feel very strongly or confident about.

Mutual trust is a key element.
An easy solution would be to hire a new project manager.
We need to be sure managers are on the same page.
I say we require that departments communicate more frequently.

Use expressions like these to make proposals more tentatively:

My thought is to encourage expansion by creating a richer corporate culture.
We could maybe even have a forum.

What if we carry out an analysis? I'd like to analyze the internal and external threats first. You can use expressions with propose and suggest to offer proposals.I propose that, just one day a week, we don't have any meetings. What I'm proposing is that we incorporate employee feedback. I say we use instant messaging more often – just a suggestion.

3. SUPPORTING AN OPINION

Supporting someone's opinion

When you're discussing something, the person you're talking with will use different phrases to state their opinions and seek agreement. There are a number of ways you can agree with them. Have a look at these examples.

A: It goes without saying that our company is too top-heavy.
B: I know exactly what you mean.

A: You and I both know that we have to restructure the company.
B: I couldn't agree more.

A: Our company is really vertical. Does that kind of structure make sense to you?
B: No, it doesn't make sense.

A: I reckon a horizontal structure would be more efficient.
B: That's becoming really obvious to me.

A: It's apparent to me that we need to move our headquarters.
B: Yeah, just look at the facts.




III. BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE TEAM

1. TEAMWORK

Talking about teamwork

Use compound words with team to talk about working as a team.

Each team member excels in different areas.
Teamwork creates better results.
We should organize weekend team-building activities.
I need employees who are good team players.

Use incorporate and promote to talk about strategies for building effective teams.

Get ideas from your team, and incorporate the ideas into your project.
We need to promote the team's creativity.

A mission statement expresses a company's main goals. It also summarizes what the company believes in, its principles or values.

To achieve our goals, we need to write a mission statement that clearly outlines our principles.
One critical principle is that each employee has to make a commitment to the company.

A goal can be broken down to a series of tasks designed to achieve it.

Before we hire a new manager, the first task is to write a job description.


2. DESCRIBING WAYS TO ACHIEVE A GOAL
Use words like way, method, strategy, approach and technique to describe ways to achieve a goal. 
Notice that these words all have roughly the same meaning.

One way to build an effective team is to allow members to brainstorm project ideas.
The best method for building a strong team is to develop trust among its members.
Here's another good technique: Celebrate smaller achievements as you work toward the larger goal.

Use expressions with you and it to give advice to someone on how to achieve a goal.

The first thing you should do is establish good communication. You never want to give people tasks that don't match their skills. It's a good idea to have short, daily meetings. It's important to socialize with your team members. You can also use metaphors to describe ways to achieve a goal. In the first example, colleagues are compared to baseball players. In the second, teamwork is compared to gardening. Plant the seed is an idiom meaning 'do something that will develop in the future.'

Your colleagues are like players on a baseball team. Each team member has a unique skill that helps the entire team get the job done.
You have to plant the seed of excitement to motivate people to work together.


4. INFINITIVES

Form infinitives with to + the base form of the verb; for example, to make. Use them in a variety of structures to explain a function or purpose. For example, you can use a noun and an infinitive:

Employees need to make a commitment to succeed.

It's a good idea to identify each person's skills.

You can also use adjectives and infinitives:

It's good to try to incorporate everyone's ideas.

It’s important to develop trust among team members.

Form an infinitive in the passive with to + be + past participle; for example, to be encouraged. He needs to be encouraged, not criticized. It's helpful to be engaged in the process. Infinitives can be used together: Some people need to be encouraged to work in teams. It's important to work together to accomplish goals. To + verb performs the same function as in order to + verb, which is used to express purpose. To + verb is more common, especially in spoken English.

Pull all the skills together in order to build an effective team.

To better understand your goals, you should write a mission statement.

IV. GIVING ADVICE ABOUT OFFICE POLITICS

1. OFFICE POLITICS

Maintaining good relationships

Dealing with office politics (office politics) is often a matter of maintaining good relationships with everyone. Office politics? It all boils down to good relationships with the higher-ups and your coworkers. Part of maintaining good relationships is participating in office activities. Don't express annoyance, or there may be repercussions.

Making yourself valuable

It's critical that you keep learning new things and understand the corporate culture so that you can fit in. Notice how things get done in the office so that you can become an important part of daily processes. Update your job-related skills constantly so that you remain valuable. 2. GIVING ADVISE WITH "IF" Using *if* to give advice We often use sentences with an if clause to give advice. Notice that the verbs in these examples are in the present. If it's possible, find a mentor: a more experienced colleague. If you're respectful to your colleagues, you're less likely to get stabbed in the back. 3. USING METAPHORS Using metaphors in writing A metaphor is a comparison of two things that, on the surface, don't seem related. Writers use metaphors to add emotion to their writing or to help people understand an abstract idea. You can't hide from office politics, so don't stick your head in the sand. If you respect your coworkers, you probably won't get stabbed in the back. If you do something bad to someone, they'll get revenge. What goes around comes around. The office is the modern jungle.