UNIT 3 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Vocabulary, Describing relations, page 23 Positive meaning

build up relations cement verb to make something such as an agreement or friendship stronger: The university's exchange scheme for teachers has cemented its links with many other academic institutions. foster (ENCOURAGE) verb to encourage the development or growth of ideas or feelings: I'm trying to foster an interest in classical music in my children. They were discussing the best way to foster democracy and prosperity in the former communist countries. develop encourage establish improve

Negative meaning
break off relations cut off

maintain

disrupt verb to prevent something, especially a system, process or event, from continuing as usual or as expected: A heavy fall of snow had disrupted the city's transport system. The meeting was disrupted by a group of protesters who shouted and threw fruit at the speaker. endanger jeopardise damage sour verb to (cause to) become unpleasant or unfriendly: This affair has soured relations between the two countries. undermine verb to make someone less confident, less powerful or less likely to succeed, or to make something weaker, often gradually: The President has accused two cabinet ministers of working secretly to undermine his position/him. Criticism just undermines their confidence.

strengthen promote restore verb to return something or someone to an earlier good condition or position: After a week in bed, she was fully restored to health (= she felt healthy again). 1

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The former leader was today restored to power in the first free elections for twenty years. resume (START AGAIN) verb FORMAL If an activity resumes, or if you resume it, it starts again after a pause: Normal services will be resumed in the spring. He stopped to take a sip of water and then resumed speaking. The talks are due to resume today. takeover bid (Finance) an offer made to the shareholders of a company to buy their shares at a particular price in order to gain control of the company: They have launched a surprise $133 million takeover bid for the fitness group. The shareholders voted against acceptance of the takeover bid. to launch/make/mount/withdraw a takeover bid to accept/consider/defeat/reject a takeover bid a friendly/hostile/an unfriendly/unwelcome takeover bid invoice (Accounting) a list of goods that have been sold, work that has been done, etc. showing what you must pay: If you pay the invoice within 15 days, you get a 5% discount off your next purchase. When you confirm your booking, an invoice will be automatically raised and sent to you. The software generates invoices and sends them electronically to the customer. to generate/issue/raise/send/submit an invoice to pay/settle an invoice_

impose (FORCE) verb 1 to officially force a rule, tax, punishment, etc. to be obeyed or received: Very high taxes have recently been imposed on cigarettes. Judges are imposing increasingly heavy fines for minor driving offences. The council has imposed a ban on alcohol in the city parks. imposition noun the imposition of the death penalty/martial law/sanctions credit (PRAISE) noun 1 praise, approval or honor: She got no credit for solving the problem. Her boss took credit for it/took (all) the credit instead.

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2 be a credit to sb/sth to do something that makes a person, group or organization feel proud or receive praise: She is a credit to her family. strain verb to become stretched or to experience pressure, or to make something do or experience this: the meaning of the word as used in your book is best seen in the following explanation and example: strained adjective 1 If a relationship is strained, problems are spoiling that relationship: Relations between the two countries have become strained (= difficult) recently.

UNIT 3 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Listening Doing business in South America

Be aware that people are warm and friendly. Personal contacts are very important. They like to get to know you well before doing business with you. Long business lunches or dinners may be necessary. They like to take their time before doing business.

Doing business in China

The Chinese like to work with friends and relatives. You often need an intermediary with local knowledge to helop you establish business
relationships.

They will trust you if you are loyal and respectful. You have to win trust and respect. Expensive gifts are part of business culture.

The best way to build business relationship

Have clear objectives at the beginning. Know what you are trying to achieve and deliver. Review the relatioship from time to time. Have as much face-to-face contact as possible. Be open and sharing. Remember that trust is the foundation of an effective business relationship. Keep your word. deleiver what you say you will. Don't promise more than you can do.

UNIT 3 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Reading:AIG knows everyone - suggested answers to some related

exercises
The main factors responsible for AIGs success in Asia:

the companys long-standing presence in the area (roots dating back more than half a
century)

Greenbergs constant focus on the region and persistent lobbying on behalf of the
company in China

the companys constant pursuit of close relationships with Asian governments, regulators
and powerful businessmen Objective: to get unrestricted access to Chinas vast insurance market Mr Greenbergs role: forging relationships with governments and influential people by representing the company in high-level discussions Importance of Asia: a growth area for insurance and if the company is to continue to grow, it needs to maintain its strength in Asia and increase it by expanding into China Verbs that combine with the noun relationships to mean develop: pursue relationships (lines 49-50) build relationships (line 56) forge relationships (lines 82-83) Exercise G untapped potential long-standing presence unrestricted access affiliated agents emerging markets high-level discussions leading nations

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market capitalization (also market cap, capitalization) noun [U,C] (Stock Exchange) the total value of all a companys shares, calculated by multiplying the number of shares by their price on the stock exchange: With a market capitalization of more than $100 billion, the company stands in a class of its own in Wall Street. affiliated company noun [C] a company that is closely connected to or controlled by another larger company or organization: There are 33 000 people working in our wholly owned and affiliated companies. SYN SUBSIDIARY Subsidiaries and groups of companies A subsidiary is a company that is controlled by another company, called a holding company or a parent company. (See note at HOLDING COMPANY) Companies that are subsidiaries of the same holding/parent company are often called sister companies, related companies or affiliates: We share customer information with our affiliates. A holding/parent company and its subsidiaries are called a group or group of companies. Often the word Holdings or Group is used in the names of holding/parent companies: InterContinental Hotels Group, parent company of Holiday Inn_ untapped adjective available but not yet used: They regard Mexico as a huge untapped market for their products. technology that creates energy from a previously untapped source untapped demand/markets/opportunities/potential/resources/talent underwriter (Insurance) a person whose job is to estimate the risks involved in a particular activity, decide if it can be insured and how much sb must pay for insurance embed (-dd-) verb to fix something firmly into a substance embedded adjective fixed into the surface of something: The thorn was embedded in her thumb. unrivalled adjective having no equal; better than any other of the same type: The museum boasts an unrivalled collection of French porcelain.

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scale (SIZE) noun the size or level of something, especially when this is large: We don't yet know the scale of the problem. Nuclear weapons cause destruction on a massive scale (= cause a lot of destruction). My parents used to entertain friends on a large/small scale (= they had large/small parties). benchmark noun a level of quality which can be used as a standard when comparing other things: Her outstanding performances set a new benchmark for singers throughout the world. benchmark a benchmark case adjective

benchmark verb to measure the quality of something by comparing it with something else of an accepted standard: His reports pointed out that we do not have reliability in the sense of all schools being benchmarked against the best. benchmarking noun rigorous benchmarking of research performance The Government is planning to launch a benchmarking scheme to guide consumers. lobby (PERSUADE) verb to try to persuade a politician, the government or an official group that a particular thing should or should not happen, or that a law should be changed: Small businesses have lobbied hard for/against changes in the tax laws. [+ to infinitive] Local residents lobbied to have the factory shut down. [+ object + to infinitive] They have been lobbying Congress to change the legislation concerning guns. ensue verb FORMAL to happen after something else, especially as a result of it: The police officer said that he had placed the man under arrest and that a scuffle had ensued. ensuing adjective [before noun] happening after something and because of it: An argument broke out and in the ensuing fight, a gun went off. He lost his job and in the ensuing months became more and more depressed. pursue (ATTEMPT) verb If you pursue a plan, activity or situation, you try to do it or achieve it, usually over a long period of time: He decided to pursue a career in television.

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We need to decide soon what marketing strategy we should pursue for these new products. She is ruthless in pursuing her goals. forge (MAKE) verb to make or produce, especially with some difficulty: The accident forged a close bond between the two families. She forged a new career for herself as a singer. edge (ADVANTAGE) noun an advantage over other people: In terms of experience, she definitely had the edge over the other people that we interviewed.

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Multi-word verbs, page 26, exercise C We'll have to call the meeting off tomorrow./We'll have to call off the meeting tomorrow. Let's put off the presentation until next week./Let's put the presentation off until the next week. We know our suppliers will never let us down. /We can count on our suppliers to meet their deadlines. We have now set up a first class distribution network in Europe. Could you please draw up a contract as soon as possible./ Could you please draw a contract up as soon as possible. Could you set up a meeting with them for next week./ Could you set a meeting up for next week. We've held on to the same market share that we had last year. The new sales manager gets on very well with his team.

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How can businesses build up market share? multi-word verbs exercise To complete the exercise use the following verbs, but you have to supply the particle yourself (you also have to decide about the form of the verb itself): build ? / find ? / get ? / put ? / set ? / set ? / set ? / start ? / Of course, before companies can _______________ market share, they have to ________________ the market in the first place. They have to _______________ how the market works, how distribution is _______________ and so on. When they have _______________ enough information, they can _______________ to attack the market, perhaps __________________ in just a small area to begin with. They may try to ______ themselves _______ from competitors by offering a product with special features, or they may compete on price.

key: build up, get into, find out about, set up, put together, set out, starting off, set themselves apart

UNIT 3 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Case study: Getting to know you

The following jumbled word all appear in your text. Try to unjumble them and find them in the text.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

a a a a a c a c a a

c c e e c e f e h b h

i o i n t u

r r x

s s

s s s

s s

e i i i

l l r n n n

t n o r

y o s t r t v

e e i l c c e e e e g e e h g

m n i n i n

i l r n

s v t u o r u

a c c e c e e g

Key:

accessories franchises exhausts reliability environmental conscience generating vehicles accurate encourage

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UNIT 3 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Company Activity Based in Structure Special features of the company Kimsoong Car manufacturer Korea, European HQ in Paris Retail franchises in most European countries; also tyre and exhaust-fitting services Reliability at low prices Basic models include many features that are usually options Environmentally aware Social conscience: makes donations to environmental groups, eco-car under development Hoped-for benefit To build up long-term customer relationships customers may buy 3 or 4 cars over 10-year period thereby increasing profits

Actions Look after existing customers well. develop better understanding of customers through accurate customer profile. Customer loyalty programme (cost shared 50/50 with franchises) To encourage staff to be more active in building up good customer relations

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