Being ethical

1.
Useful Vocabulary:

harm   причинять вред; наносить ущерб

environment   окружение,
окружающая обстановка; окружающая среда

retailer           розничный
торговец, лавочник

lobby   пытаться
воздействовать на членов парламента/конгресса, «обрабатывать» их

claim   требование;
претензия; притязание; заявление, утверждение

covenant         договоренность,
сделка, соглашение; договор

bribe   взятка,
подкуп

entrepreneur  бизнесмен,
делец, предприниматель

frustrate         разочаровывать;
обманывать ( надежды, ожидания )

fade     вянуть;
ослабевать, постепенно затихать/умирать; замирать

2.
The text:

Being
ethical can be a clever marketing strategy. Increasingly consumers are
influenced by “non-commercial” factors, such as whether a product harms the
environment. Firms, such as Ben & Jerry’s, an ice-cream maker, and Body
Shop International, a cosmetic retailer, have strengthened their brands by
publicizing their ethical standards. Cummins Engine, a maker of diesel engines,
made its products greener while lobbing for stricter pollution laws.

But such
ethical self-promotion can be dangerous. Body Shop was publicly force to change
a claim that its products were not tested on animals (some of the ingredients
in its cosmetics had been tested on animals by other firms in the past). The
error led many consumers to question Body Shop’s ethical standards.

Some
think that the best way to persuade manages to think more ethically is to take
more account of stakeholders. Laura Nash of Boston University’s
Institute for the Study of Economic Culture argues that managers should see
their role in terms of “covenants” with employees, customers, suppliers and so
on. Such covenants should have a single goal: to ensure that a business creates
long-term value in a way that is acceptable to all of these “stakeholders”. A
manager would view his business in terms of relationships rather than products;
and see profit as a result of other goals rather than an objective in itself.
But such ideas tend to go against shareholder capitalism.

The best
answers may be simple ones. Ethics rules should be clear (for instance, should
an employee pay bribes where this is accepted business practice?) and they
should be regularly tested. Some companies are turning to “ethical audits”. In
its annual report Ben & Jerry carries a “social
performance report” on the firm’s ethical, environmental and other failings.
Carried out by Paul Hawken, a green entrepreneur, the
audit has sometimes frustrated Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the company’s
founders. So far, however, they have always published it. That may be why Ben
& Jerry’s reputation remains good where others fade.

From
The Economist

3.
Provocative thinking:

1. How
important it is from your viewpoint to be ethical in business?

2. How
fair is it to test products on animals?

3. What
can be done against bribery?

4. Do you
believe that «white lies» are worth using sometimes?

5. Is it
possible to succeed in modern business being absolutely honest?

4.
Sat whether these statements are true or false, according to the article.

Correct
the false ones:

1. Being ethical is a safe way in business.

2. Non-commersial factors gain popularity these days.

3.When
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the company’s founders, were dissatisfied with
the results of ethical audit sthey preferred to keep
it secrtet.

4.There
is a big danger that the the company reputation may
be damaged by unsatisfactiry ethical audits and Ben
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield’s case proves it right.

5. There
are examples when a company strengthened its positions by making its ethical
principals transparent.

5.
Explain this in English:

1.
Profit — …

2.
To persuade — …

3.
Standard — …

4.
Consumer — …

5.
Employee — …

6. Find
antonyms to the following words:

1.
Clever — …

2.
Hard — …

3.
Strict — …

4.
Dangerous — …

5.
To frustrate — …

7. Find
synonyms to the following words:

1.
To force — …

2.
To change -…

3.
To test — …

4.
Environment — …

5.
Clear — …

8.
a) Jumbled words. Make real words out of them:

1.
GYLERARUL —

2.
LECECTAPAB —

3.
NETERPENERRU —

4.
PUSLIPER —

5.
LATINOSEHRIP —

b)
Compose a sentence including all the guessed words.

9.
a) Word-matching:

1. long-term                                                                a.
to change

2. single                                                                      b.
founder

3. force                                                                       c.
of relationship

4. social performance                                                  d.
standards

5. ice-cream                                                                e.
terms

6. terms                                                                      f.
engines

7. to persuade                                                             g.
on animals

8. marketing                                                                h.
value

9. company                                                                 i. maker

10. test                                                                       j.
the environment

11. regularly                                                                k.
goal

12. diesel                                                                    l.
strategy

13. to harm                                                                 m.
tested

14. to question                                                            n.
report

15. business                                                                o.
managers

b)
Translate these combinations in Russian and make your own sentences using at
least two of the combinations above in each.

10. a) Find all the irregular verbs in the text, including
the modal verbs.

b) Give
the three forms of them.

c)
Make your own sentences incorporating two or more of the verbs above.

11.
Play a game.

Individually
create as many word combinations with these verbs as you can.

VERBS:

1. to harm

2. to answer

3. to lead

Then
in a group start reading them one by one.

The
person who will run out of combinations is left out.

The
one who will stay longer is the winner.

KEYS:

5. 1. False; 2.
True; 3. False; 4. False; 5. True

8. a)
1. regularly; 2. acceptable;
3. entrepreneur; 4. supplier;
5. relationship

9. a)
1. h; 2. k; 3. a; 4. n; 5. i; 6. c; 7. o; 8. l; 9. b;
10. g; 11. m; 12. f; 13. j; 14. d;
15. e

10. to be; to have; to make; can; to
lead; to think; to take; to see; shall; to go; may

Compiled by Alena Pavlova