Institute of linguistic and intercultural studies chair of applied modern languages in economics and law

Services and facilities

Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location. Conventions form the most important source of income for some hotels and motels. In the US, for example, an estimated number of about 10 mln people attend conventions yearly. Conventions assure a steady income from both sleeping accommodations and meeting rooms that are used for conferences and lectures. Dining facilities are the source of additional revenue through the sale of food and drinks. Local residents also use the catering services, meeting rooms and ballrooms for social gatherings and business meetings.

Hotels differ from motels in that most motels have drive-up, exterior entrances to the rooms, while hotels tend to have interior entrances to the rooms, which may increase guests' safety and present a more up market image. The hotel for travellers is usually located within city boundaries and caters for people travelling on business or for pleasure. Motels provide lodging for the same group of persons, but are often situated near or along major highways.

1. Answer the following questions:

2. What is the difference berween a hotel and a motel?

3. Why is it profitable for hotels to host conventions and meetings?

4. What does the accommodation fee usually depend on?

5. Are there any five-star hotels in Chisinau?
2. Join pairs of antonyms.

1.	d.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

1. guest a. expenditure

2. temporary b. interior

3. hotel c. minor

4. highway d. host

5. revenue e. products

6. resident f. home

7. exterior g. permanent

8. major h. path

9. services i. visitor

3. Give English equivalents for the following:

4. Fill in the gaps with the words in the box.

HOTEL RECEPTION SERVICE

A hotel receptionist always works in one of the “front offices” near the front hall, or _____________________ (1). Usually all members of ___________________ (2) who work in these offices have direct personal or telephone _________________ (3) with the guests. In a large hotel, the _______________________ (4) welcomes and registers the guests. In a smaller hotel, this official performs the ______________ (5) of advance registrations clerk, enquiry clerk, and bookkeeper.

A hotel receives ___________________ (6) requests in different ways. In many hotels telephone bookings are the most common. They are quick and make it possible to get full information from the _______________________ (7). Hotels often ask their potential guests to confirm the booking _________________________ (8).

In many countries, _______________________ (9) reservations are preferred. As compared to reservations by telegram, email is fast and the _________________ (10) is made in no time.

A number of hotels now have _____________________ (11) terminals. This facility inks their reservation system with other hotels, with airline seat reservation systems, and with _______________________ (12) in the offices of major travel agents.

6. Do the crossword.

1. ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___

2. ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3. |___|___ ___ ___ ___

4. ___|___|___ ___ ___

5. ___ ___ ___ ___|___|

6. ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7. ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

8. ___ ___ ___ ___|___|___

9. ___ ___|___|___

10.___ ___ ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___

11. ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

12. ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___

13. ___ ___|___|___

1. classification on the basis of a number of features; 2. equipment or buildings which make it easy to do smth; 3. to deal with or provide for smth; 4. motor hotel; 5. sound or signal giving a warning; 6. not expected to change/going on for a long time; 7. conference, congress or other gathering of members of a society, political party, or of businesspeople; 8.firm and non-fluctuating; 9. symbol of hotel rating; 10. antonym to “arrival”; 11. supplementary; 12. place visited for health or recreation reasons; 13. of small size or length.

COMPANY STRUCTURE
All modern businesses are composed of groups of people known as specialist units or departments which execute the different jobs needed to run a successful business. This helps to organize and control the employees and make sure the necessary work is done efficiently. There are additional benefits of organizing people into groups: it helps to develop team spirit also usually improves motivation and productivity. The groups have department heads or managers in charge of them.

There are different ways of organizing the business into groups, and each way has its advantages and disadvantages. Under hierarchical or pyramidal structure, for example, one or a group of persons are at the top and an increasing number of people form successive levels below. Each staff member knows his/her supervisor/superior and subordinates. Yet the activities of most companies are too complicated to be run in a single hierarchy.

The matrix structure is used in organizations where there is a great deal of interaction between departments and where employees report to more than one manager. Thus, one and the same staff member will work in his/her respective department (marketing, production, personnel, etc,) and will simultaneously participate in cross-divisional projects, reporting to both the respective department head and the Project Manager. So there are risks associated with a situation when personnel members are confused about whom they should report first.

For manufacturing companies, the functional structure ensures optimal control and accountability. The company is divided into a number of departments (finance, production, purchasing, etc.), each with its manager. A senior manager, whose functional title may be Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for internal supervision and coordination between departments. However, the system may not be suitable for large businesses with many different markets and/or products. Its positive and negative features are stated below.

1. Specialization by function is more efficient. Employees get experienced in and competent at one particular job.	1. Communication is weakened by a lack of communication across and between functions.
2. Accountability is clear: each staff member knows his/her job tasks and responsibilities.	2. Departments may become over-focused on their own agendas and lose sight of the overall business objectives.
3. Clarity is improved: it is clear who is in charge of this or that operation.	3. The system can lose flexibility because things have to be done ‘by the book’.

KEY WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:

1. Fill in the table matching company departments with their functions.

1. scientific research; 2. advertising/promotion; 3. making balance sheets; 4. laboratory tests; 5. hiring employees; 6. developing new products; 7. market studies; 8. concluding sales contracts; 9. sociological studies; 10. paying salaries; 11. dismissing workers; 12. buying raw materials; 13. dealing with banks; 14. installing equipment; 15. dealing with payments; 16. dealing with buyers; 17. personnel training; 18. interviews on TV; 19. manufacturing goods; 20. making payments; 21. receiving complaints from customers.

2. Match the job titles with the descriptions of functional responsibilities.

3. In the text, find equivalents for the following words and expressions:

4. Form as many derivatives from the words below as you can.

a) match department names with the definitions provided below, and

b) explain the functions of the departments whose definitions are

lacking.

1. The __________________________ department is in charge of all the workers and their needs and training; develops motivation strategies to improve productivity.

2. The task of the __________________________ department is to buy all the different inputs the business needs.
3. The ____________________________ department is responsible for looking after all the money needed to run the business. It may be divided into two units:

3a. management accounting department/section

3b. financial accounting department/section
4. The ____________________________ department is trying to bring the product manufactured by the company to the attention of buyers, make more people buy it, and organize the work of sale channels. This brings revenue and (hopefully) profit.
5. The ____________________________ department is in charge of improving existing products and developing new ones.
6. The ___________________________ department is responsible for manufacturing the products. It may consist of two units:

6a. component manufacture/section

6b. product assembly
7. The ________________________________ is in charge of developing company strategy, integration and coordination of the functions.
6. Do the crossword below:
1 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___

2 ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

4 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

5 ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___

6 ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___

8 ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

9 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

10 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___|___|

1. scientific work; 2. the way in which smth is organized; 3. junior in rank or position; 4. in charge of; 5. person with a position of authority; 6. main office of a company; 7. antonym to ‘subordinate; 8. one of several divisions of a business, shop, university, etc.; 9. synonym to ‘staff’; 10. a number of persons united for business or commerce.
7. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box.
responsible to departments managers in charge of board human managing directors shareholders production

deputy directors responsible for marketing limited

DIRECTORS AND MANAGERS

As a rule a private ........................... (1) company has only one director. A public limited company must have at least two ….................. (2). Usually there is no upper limit to the number of directors a public company may have.

A limited liability company (companie cu răspundere limitată/общество с ограниченной ответственностью), or a corporation is headed by the ……......... (3) of directors elected by the ……................... (4). The directors appoint one of their number to the position of managing director to be ....................... (5) the day-to-day running of the company. In large organizations, the .....................(6) director is often assisted by a general manager. Some companies also have assistant general managers. Many directors have deputies, who are named ............................. (7).

Directors need not be shareholders. They are ......................... (8) the management of a company's affairs. They are not subject to any residence or nationality restrictions.

Big companies have many ....................... (9) heading departments. They are all ....................... (10) the managing director. Among various departmental managers, the following can be mentioned: sales and .................(11) manager, .................... (12) resources manager, industrial engineering, or ....................... (13) manager, etc. The number of ......................... (14) depends on the size of the company.

SUPERMARKET ECONOMICS

Supermarkets offer valuable economic lessons. The modern supermarket illust­rates in a small way how the market system operates in the economy as a whole.

Each supermarket has tens of thousands of items of various sizes and brands. Store owners and managers compete for the customers' dollars by trying to offer the best service and the greatest variety of goods possible at prices their customers are willing to pay. They attempt to maintain a bright and cheerful atmosphere that will make shopping pleasant for large numbers of customers.

The modern supermarket provides everything from basic foods to best-quality branded foodstuffs produced by the most famous foods manufacturers of the world. Almost all the items here are sold packaged.

Customers can choose their purchases or have lunch at numerous bars. Their children have fun riding three-wheeled bicycles with baskets for the purchases. Additional assortment also includes cosmetics, detergents, toys, kitchen utensils, small electric appliances, and even videos of recent movies.

Information about consumer preferences in this huge mix of products is generated by a simple procedure. Consumers take their selection to the checkout line. Checkout clerks enter information about the sale on the store's computer by passing the product's bar code across a scanner.

The store responds to differing consumer preferences for health, economy, convenience and even vanity by stocking the goods consumers prefer. Products that fail to satisfy are replaced by more attractive products. "Winners" are selected and "losers" gradually lose shelf space.

Ultimately producers either improve their products or pass from the scene. The consumer is really king, and the market registers consumer preferences and reconciles supply with demand.

1. What supermarkets in Chisinau do you know?

2. What items are usually sold in big supermarkets?

3. What can you say about supermarket prices?

4. Where would you go shopping if you want to buy high-quality

foodstuffs?

5. Where would you go shopping if you want to buy cheaper foodstuffs?

6. What foodstuffs are considered the most competitive?

7. What is your favorite soft drink brand?

8. What is bar code used for? Who reads it?

9. Who are the winners and the losers in a supermarket?

10. How would you explain the term 'shelf life' of a product?

2. In the text, find equivalents for the following words and expressions:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

1. to make something better

2. having too high an opinion about

oneself

3. to be unsuccessful

5. to bring two people, or opinions, or

phenomena to an agreement

6. place where you pay for the goods

you have bought

7. to enjoy

8. to keep up/support

9. to try to do better than another person

or another company

10. single article or unit in a list/thing

for sale

11. a large store, usually selling food,

where customers serve themselves

and pay at a checkout;

12. very large.
3. Find an odd word in each line.
a. department store supermarket trade outlet theatre shop

b. customer client seller buyer purchaser

c. goods shares commodities wares items

d. fee tax royalty honorarium salary

e. vanity price cost value worth
4. Choose the right word.
1. When there is no ... on an item, the checkout clerk must consult the price-list.

a. postal code b. telephone code c. bar code

2. This trade outlet failed to respond to customer ... for economy: the goods are too expensive here.

a. differences b. references c. preferences

3. In the conditions of economic ... each supermarket must offer its clients as many additional services as possible.

a. operation b. competition c. production

4. It is not easy to ... the best goods at reasonable prices.

a. select b. elect c. neglect

5. Your pronunciation must be ... as soon as possible.

a. approved b. improved c. proved

6. Shops of all kinds are ... trade outlets.

a. wholesale b. supply c. retail

7. Match the beginnings of the sentences with their endings.