Not the Nine O'clock News

A TV series broadcast by the BBC between 1979 - 82 starring Rowan Atkinson, Gryff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith and Pamela Stevenson. It was an alternative and humorous review of current issues and news, hence the title as it was the complete opposite of the BBC's evening news programme The Nine O'Clock News.

See Interesting Links: British Humour: Not the nine 0'clock news- New Job

In the 1970's there were various new pieces of legislation relating to employment. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 were two important pieces of legislation designed to encourage the employment and equal treatment of women and people from ethnic minority groups. This sketch is based on these two Acts and, of course, taken to the extreme when the owner of the company is looking to recruit a new man..... woman.

Other examples of surreal British humour are Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969 - 74) with John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman.

More recent comedy series include 'The Office' with Ricky Gervais, first broadcast in 2001 and later recreated in other European countries and the USA (with Steve Carrell). Based in an office in Slough, the vain and pompous General Manager, David Brent (Gervais) and his co-workers reflect real life work situations.....

Glaxosmithkline introduces tiered price scheme for vaccines

This week GSK announced it was introducing a tiered price scheme for the vaccine Rotarix, a vaccine that prevents a disease that causes diarrhea and kills around half a million children a year. The vaccine will be made available in developing countries for 1.50 GBP instead of the 30 GBP it currently costs in developed countries. This reflects the growing trend towards social responsibility on a global scale.

See Interesting links - Glaxosmithkline - introduce tiered price scheme for vaccine

Keith Wandell current President and CEO of Harley Davidson

In an interview with Mike Gousha in June 2010, Keith Wandell President and CEO of Harley Davidson talks about the future of HD in the state of Wisconsin and what he sees as the priorities to manage the internal costs of the company amongst other issues.

See Interesting links - Keith Wandell President CEO HD talks to Mike Gousha (10:39 mins)

Following our discussions on Monday about CEO pay, see Interesting links - Keith Wandell Pay Package for 2009. He was appointed on 1st May 2009 and during his first 8 months his pay package was $6.4 million, despite reporting a 4th quarter loss of $218.7 m, the first in 16 years.

Corporate survival - Harley Davidson

Charlie Rose interviews Chairman of Harley Davidson Jeff Bleustein (2002) about the history of the company. A company that started over 100 years ago, it has had to change it's corporate strategy over the years to survive, and especially in the last 20 years. Watch this video to learn how the company sought to attract younger and new riders.

Business strategy

Next week we will be discussing business strategy in some well known international companies such as Nike and Geox.

Listen to the Founder and Chairman of Geox, Mario Moretti Polegato talk to Markus Karlsson at France24 about their business strategy for 2011.

Mario Moretti Polegato is Italian, he speaks English slowly and with grammatical errors however he is able to clearly communicate his message.

Getting things done: Direct orders or a softer approach?

This week (9th May) we'll be looking at how direct orders can demotivate people while a softer approach will lead to more positive results.

These two short video sketches from classic British comedians, 'The Two Ronnies' with Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and 'Blackadder' with Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson help to illustrate the point.

See interesting links:

British Humour: Blackadder - Hugh Laurie is all man

British Humour: Two Ronnies - Your nuts, my Lord.

Where does all the money come from?

Here's an interesting animated video by Paul Grignon answering the question, "Where does all the money come from?". It's called Money as Debt and there are 5 parts, each between 7 - 10 minutes long. Just click on the arrow to the side of the screen to move from one part to another.

See Interesting Links: Top documentary films - Money as debt

Homework Week 8 11th April (For Monday 18th April)

This week's home work is to prepare a Powerpoint presentation on 'My favourite product'. It can be anything that you think is really great, from an electronic gadget or computer game to an exciting holiday or innovative food product.

Maximum length of the presentation 5 minutes.

Remember to include a description of the product, it's unique selling point(s), how you discovered it and why you think it is great.

In order to enhance your learning experience and give you the opportunity to review your presentation, you will be video recorded and the video saved onto your own personal pen-drive. You will have the opportunity to do at least one other recorded presentation during the course and the pen-drive will be yours to keep.

New 'Interesting Links'

The Top Documentary Films website offers an excellent selection of documentary films that cover a wide range of topics. From art and science to politics and philosophy. Click on Interesting links 'Documentary Films' to access this site.

Matt Ridley: When ideas have sex, a 16 minute TED video on how throughout history human progress is the result of the meeting and mating of ideas.

New Interesting links

British comedy - My blackberry is not working

Next week we'll watch a typical example of British humour with Ronny Corbett and Harry Enfield in the video sketch "My blackberry is not working". For a sneak preview, see the 'interesting link' "British Humour: My blackberry is not working".

Week 4: Homework

This week we heard 5 people talking about their jobs using phrases such as 'I'm responsible for', 'my job entails' etc. This week's homework is to write half a page maximum about your job using these kinds of phrases and e-mail to me by Monday 21st March. In addition you will talk about your job to the rest of the class.

Applying for Jobs

Here are two new 'interesting links' well worth looking at if you are thinking of applying for a job in English.  

'Applying for jobs: The Careers Advisory Service UK' provides useful tips and examples on applying for jobs. Although it is aimed at the UK job market, it provides best practice advise on writing CV's, covering letters, preparing for interviews and assessment centres.   

'Applying for jobs: Total Jobs UK' also provides helpful advice and templates for writing CV's, covering letters, interviews, getting feedback as well as information about flexible working practices which are much more common outside Spain.  It also provides access to their jobs website.

Become a follower of the Inforges EfB Blogspot

All you need to do is click on 'Seguir' and follow the instructions.

Help us develop the Blogspot by sending us your ideas on what you would like to see here. We have already added a number of interesting links ranging from news and reference to humour and talks. What else would you like to see? Add your comments.

Week 3: Hans Gosling video 200 years, 200 countries, 4 minutes

Hans Gosling is a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician and public speaker. He is Professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute and co-founder of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. In this short video he demonstrates the changes in economic wealth and life expectancy over the last 200 years in 200 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Your homework this week is to watch the video (See interesting links Hans Gosling: 200 years, 200 countries, 4 minutes) and write a brief summary of the key points in this talk. Also include also what you think about his findings and e-mail this to me.

We will discuss in class on Monday 14th March. Happy watching!

Quote of the week

“In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product and profits. Unless you've got a good team, you can't do much with the other two.”

Lee Iacocca

Week 2: Companies

This week we'll be looking at different types of companies and the issues facing them. To illustrate this issue we have selected two interviews with Carlos Ghosn, the CEO Renault-Nissan which show interesting insights into the complexities facing today's multi-national companies. One is a 12 minute video interview conducted by France 24 on the 28th January 2010 during the Economic World Forum in Davros and the other is an interview with Reuters published on the 25th February 2011.

See interesting links "Carlos Ghosn CEO Renault-Nissan: Interview France 24 on 28.1.2010"

See interesting links "Carlos Ghosn CEO Renault-Nissan: Interview Reuters 25.2.2011"

Welcome to our English for Business Blog!

The course starts Monday 21^st February in Inforges at seven o´clock .  Our first session will be getting to know one another, talking about companies and what they do and of course what you want from the course over the next 16 weeks. 

Flexibility is the key for learning and practising English, so we are offering not only traditional classes but also 1-1 telephone conversation and e-mail contact with the tutor every week. Use these opportunities to set your agenda to meet your personal Business English goals.

Don’t forget this Blog, where you will find supplementary material for each class enabling you to prepare and get the most from this English for Business course. 

Next week (28^th February) you will present your company to the rest of the group.  For ideas check out http://sbinformation.about.com/od/sales/a/presentationtip.htm

Quote of the week:

"If you find yourself saying 'But I can't speak English...', try adding the word '...yet' - Jane Revell & Susan Norman (Writers)

Your teacher, ANNE GEE