• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

IELTS with Fiona

IELTS Made Easier

Members Academy
Log in

  • Home
  • Resources
  • Lessons
  • My courses
  • FAQs
  • About me
  • What’s New

IELTS Listening: Business Cultures

By ieltsetc on March 22, 2019 2

IELTS Listening Business Cultures 3 peoples sitting at a desk having a meeting

28-Day Planner: Day 26: Signal Words

How to keep your place in Listening Part 4

The black text is the question paper.

The blue text is the actual listening.

Follow the orange signals to find your place e.g.

  • Listing – Firstly, Secondly
  • Introductory sentences – The first type is called…, Another characteristic is …, The next type is known as…
  • Rhetorical questions (when the speaker asks a question to himself) – What are the benefits of this culture? Well,… What kind of person would this suit? Well, …
  • Linking words – But on the negative side
  • Other signals – Moving on now to…
  • Synonyms and exact words e.g. there aren’t many rules = few rules
  • Emphasis – one of the major benefits is…

Listen to the podcast here:

Business Cultures

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer

Power Culture

Characteristics of organization

  • small
  • 31 ……….power source
  • few rules and procedures
  • communication by 32. ….,……………..

Advantage:

  • can act quickly

Disadvantage

  • might not act 33 …………………………….

Suitable employee

  • not afraid of 34 ……………………………
  • doesn’t need job security

Role culture

Characteristics of organization:

  • large, many 35 ………………..
  • specialized departments
  • rules and procedures, eg job 36 ………….. and rules for discipline
Answers

Good morning everyone. Now whether you’re going to university to study business or some other subject, many of you will eventually end up working for a company of some kind.

Now, when you first start working somewhere you will realise that the organisation you’ve joined has certain characteristics. And we often refer to these social characteristics as the culture of the organisation – this includes its unwritten ideas, beliefs, values and things like that. One well known writer has classified company cultures by identifying four major types.

The first type is called the Power Culture, and it’s usually found in small organisations.

Power Culture

Characteristics of organization

  • small
  • 31 central power source

31. It’s the type of culture that needs a central source of power to be effective, and because control is in the hands of just one or two people there aren’t many rules or procedures.

  • few rules and procedures
  • communication by 32. conversation/conversations

32. Another characteristic is that communication usually takes the form of conversations rather than, say, formal meetings or written memos.

Now one of the benefits of this culture is that the organisation has the ability to act quickly, so it responds well to threat, or danger on the one hand, and opportunity on the other.

Advantage:

  • can act quickly

Disadvantage

  • might not act 33. effectively

33. But on the negative side, this type of organisation doesn’t always act effectively, because it depends too much on one or two people at the top, and when these people make poor decisions there’s no-one else who can influence them.

Suitable employee

  • not afraid of 34 risk/risks

34. And the kind of person who does well in this type of business culture is one who is happy to take risks, and for whom job security is a low priority.

  • doesn’t need job security

The next type is known as Role Culture – that’s R-O-L-E, not R-O-double L, by the way.

Role culture

Characteristics of organization:

  • large, many 35 levels

35.  This type is usually found in large companies, which have lots of different levels in them.

  • specialized departments

These organisations usually have separate departments that specialise in things like finance, or sales, or maintenance, or whatever.

  • rules and procedures, eg job 36 description/descriptions and rules for discipline

36. Each one is co-ordinated at the top by a small group of senior managers, and typically everyone’s job is controlled by sets of rules and procedures-for example, there are specific job descriptions, rules for discipline, and so on.

Advantages:

What are the benefits of this kind of culture? Well firstly, because it’s found in large organisations, its fixed costs, or overheads as they’re known, are low in relation to its output, or what it produces.

In other words it can achieve economies of scale.

  • economies of scale
  • successful when 37 technical ability is important

37. And secondly,  It is particularly successful in business markets where technical expertise is important

Disadvantages

  • slow to see when 38 change is needed

38. On the other hand, this culture is often very slow to recognise the need for change, and even slower to react.

  • Slow to react

Suitable employee

  • Does not want 39 responsibility

39. What kind of person does this type of culture suit? Well it suits employees who value security, and who don’t particularly want to have responsibility.


Task culture

Moving on now to Task Cultures – this type is found in organisations that are project-oriented.

You usually find it where the market for the company’s product is extremely competitive or where the projects themselves have a short life-span.

Usually top management delegates the projects,  the people and other resources. And once these have been allocated, little day-to-day-control is exercised from the top, because this would seem like ‘breaking the rules’.

Characteristics of organization:

  • project orientated
  • in competitive market or making product with short life
  • a lot of delegation

Advantages:

  • 40 flexible

40. Now one of the major benefits of this culture is that it’s flexible.

To get the actual Listening test and worksheet and a Listening, Speaking and Pronunciation course, come and join

The Members Academy.

In the Members Academy, you’ll find everything you need in one place. I choose and write all the materials, so I know you’ll get exactly what you need to prepare efficiently and effectively.

You also get access to me when you need help.

Get more listening practice here.

How to listen for signals and signposts (especially in Section 3).

Why you need to learn Modals of Deduction for the Listening Test.

How to keep your place in Listening Part 4.

How to do Multiple Choice Questions in Listening Part 4.

How to identify the distractors in Listening Part 3.

How to deal with a difficult Listening Part 4.

How to do a Gapfill Summary in Listening Part 4.

How to choose from a list in Listening Part 2.

How to complete a table in Listening Part 2.

How to label a map in Listening Part 2.

How to recognise distractors in Listening Part 4.

Multiple Choice and Tables in Part 4.

Listening to an expert interview (and an Australian accent) in Part 3.

How to review IELTS vocab topics through Listening Part 4.

  • How to use formal language in IELTS Task 2
  • How long will it take to increase my IELTS score?
  • How to show concession in IELTS Writing Task 2
  • How to use conditionals in IELTS Writing
  • Grammar for IELTS: How to write complex sentences

Want to know what’s new?

If you want to hear all about my new lessons, podcasts, YouTube videos, challenges and courses, get your name on my email list (oh you’ll also get my free 28-Day Planner).

Sign up for the free 28-Day Planner.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maria Laura says

    July 23, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    Excellent! thank you, Fiona. It helped me a lot

    Reply
    • ieltsetc says

      July 23, 2019 at 3:26 pm

      That’s great, thanks Maria!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Would you like to support my website?

In order to make sure you get a fantastic experience on my website I don’t use any advertising, and all the costs are paid for out of my own pocket.

If you’d like to help me keep these materials free for everyone, you are more than welcome to buy me a coffee! Many many thanks in advance.

Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

RSS My latest podcasts

  • IELTS Reading/Writing: Driverless Cars 🚘 January 11, 2021
  • IELTS Reading: Motivational Factors and the hospitality industry 👩‍🍳🧑‍🍳 December 29, 2020
  • IELTS Writing: How to hedge in Task 2 🌳🌳 December 20, 2020

Categories

  • Academic Writing Task 1
  • Grammar
  • GT Writing Task 1
  • IELTS Advice
  • IELTS General Training
  • IELTS Listening
  • IELTS Reading
  • IELTS Speaking
  • IELTS Vocabulary
  • IELTS Writing Task 2

Tags

Academic Reading P1 Academic Reading P2 Academic Reading P3 Agriculture Animals Buildings choosing from list Civilisation Crime education Finance gap-fill listening gap fill reading Gap Fill with answers grammar GT letters GT Reading GT Task 1 Health History ielts tips informal writing Inventions labelling a diagram Matching Headings matching people Matching Statements multiple choice listening multiple choice reading Nature pronunciation Research Speaking Tables Technology TFNG The Arts The environment The Future Transport travel Water work writing task 2 YNNG

What my students are saying:

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian

Charmian

From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:09:01+00:00

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian
From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/charmian/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas

Shreyas

I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:06:30+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas
I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once again for all resources.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/shreyas/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia

Sancia

I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5....

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T08:43:00+00:00

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia
I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5. I don't have enough words to thank you.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/sancia/

Ipek

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:16:09+00:00

Academy Member

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in one place. Fiona is an excellent teacher with passion and kindness to all of her students. She helped me a lot with IELTS and I improved my scores significantly in a very short time. Some days I had no spare time for studying and I listened her podcasts when I was driving to work and it also helped me a lot! I strongly recommend this course to all IELTS candidates.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/ipek/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek

Lily S

The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:12:42+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek
The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I have a super busy career and family life, my study time is very limited. When I first decided to take an IELTS test, I even didn't know where to start. After studying with Fiona for a while, in the first IELTS test, I got Band 8! Thank you so much for your hard work and your professionalism, Fiona!!!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/lily-s/
5
IELTS with Fiona

Work out your current score

IELTS Band Score Calculator

Popular Posts

  • How to use formal language in IELTS Task 2
  • How long will it take to increase my IELTS score?
  • How to show concession in IELTS Writing Task 2
  • How to use conditionals in IELTS Writing
  • Grammar for IELTS: How to write complex sentences

Recent posts

  • How to write an email to someone you don’t know
  • How to use ‘rise’ and ‘raise’
  • How to use have/get something done
  • What is ‘hedging’ in academic writing?
  • Words ending in -able or -ible

Come and see what’s going on

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Products

  • IELTS Speaking Mock Test Speaking Mock Test $45.00
  • IELTS Writing Feedback IELTS Writing and Speaking Assessment $99.00
  • Get 8 IELTS Writing Feedback Videos $200.00
  • IELTS Speaking Course syllabus Speaking Course and Mock Test $99.00
  • IELTS WRITING FEEDBACK IELTS Writing Assessment and Feedback Task 1 and Task 2 $50.00

Looking for something specific?

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • About me
  • Contact me
  • IELTS Band Score Calculator
  • IELTS Test 28-Day planner
  • Resources
  • My IELTS 10-minute lessons

Copyright © 2021 — IELTS Exam Training Courses • Privacy Policy • Disclaimer • All rights reserved

This site uses cookies: Find out more.