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1、新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书 Unit 1AIve just moved from a company with a very strict hierarchy to a fast-growing software company and its been hard coming to terms with the changes. I mean, dont get me wrong, I enjoy my new job a lot more. I have a lot more responsibility now and everythings done in project teams
2、 and managed by objectives. The one thing I do miss however, is that now, once a projects running, the teams pretty much on its own and left to solve any problems by itself. Before, there was always a superior I could turn to for help, and to be honest, Id be much happier if that were still the case
3、. Especially when youre starting a new job, having someone to talk to can make things a lot easier. I produce technical documents, you know, users manuals and that sort of thing nothing creative, Im afraid. Our teams responsible for its own work schedules. And as long as everythings finished before
4、the machines shipped, its up to us when we do it. So youd think with e-mail and everything, wed all be able to work from home or come and go as we please but thats not the case. Unfortunately, its a very conservative company so everyones still clocking in and out at the same time. I suppose the mana
5、gers have always worked a routine nine to five and just cant imagine anything else being possible. Im an IT consultant and Im working for a small leisure group on a one-year contract. So Im travelling around Europe a lot, which I know sounds very glamorous, but its just a case of jetting in, fixing
6、a hotels computer and then jetting out again. It also mean Im on call and work very shall we say flexible hours, including many weekends. Oh and Im also responsible for the website, which I work on from home. What I miss is support from colleagues, you know, being able to discuss problems or things
7、like the latest technology with other IT professionals in the same job. So, yes, its definitely the social side of my job Id like to improve. Well, Im a temp and Im working as a PA for a law firm in London just now. Its a medium-sized firm thats growth quickly so its organisation is very much like t
8、hat of a smaller company. OK, I know its unreasonable to expect a definite job description I mean, if something needs doing, then I think whoevers available should do it. But Im already responsible for managing the diaries and correspondence of two senior managers, so when the telephones ringing all
9、 day and people keep asking me to photocopy reports or even make them coffee, it just becomes impossible to get anything done. I work for the UK subsidiary of a Japanese company and its very Japanese in terms of the way its run. Ive just got a new boss, whos come over from Japan. We seem to be getti
10、ng on pretty well at the moment he always has time for me and gives me lots of support. The only thing is, I dont really have a huge say in what I do which is all right but sometimes it would be nice to be able to show a bit of initiative. Our work processes are totally standardized as fixed routine
11、s, which I dont mind. Its just that I always have to consult him before I can make even the smallest alteration to any job of any sort. 新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书 Unit 1BI = Interviewer N = Neil I So, Neil, why did BT decide to introduce Options 2000? N Well, we started looking at flexible working back in 1993.
12、 And subsequent staff surveys showed that 96 per cent of our office-based staff wanted to work at home two or three days a week. We thought about how we could respond to this and soon realised that flexible working was very much a win-win-win situation. Its a win for technology, using our own produc
13、ts and practicing what we preach. And of course, it reduces BTs office space and cuts costs. But I think the real driver for change was accepting that our people wanted to work differently. I Right. And how many of them will actually end up working from home? N Our targets 10,000 by the end of the y
14、ear. I 10,000! N Yes, thats out of about 55,000 office-based staff. I And what effect has this had on company structure? N Well, the companys been organised around business units for some time now. It used to be very much departmentalised, with work being done in series, you know, passed from one de
15、partment to the next. But product life cycles are a lot shorter nowadays for the Internet, say, its less than 6 months even. So people come together for a specific purpose and then go off to join new projects when the jobs done. I So, these organisational changes must have had quite an effect on BTs
16、 culture. N Well, as I said, weve been developing a project-oriented culture. So, people now are paid for what they actually do and not for sitting at a desk from nine to five. But the really fundamental change is that weve become a lot more collaborative, both internally and in our dealings with partners and clients. And people are, of course, now getting used to working on several teams at once, which means they tend to get a lot
