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Autorki:

Elżbieta Kozioł, Joanna Kołakowska

Redakcja:

Ewa Walenda

Projekt okładki:

Sebastian Bieganik

Łamanie:

Tomasz Babik

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SPIS TREŚCI

Wstęp

Część 1. Cross-cultural encounters – Spotkania międzykulturowe

Lekcja 1. First encounter: Culture – Przystanek pierwszy: Kultura

Lekcja 2. Second encounter: Time for business – Drugi przystanek: Czas na biznes

Lekcja 3. Third encounter: Is it all about power? – Trzeci przystanek: Czy zawsze chodzi o władzę?

Lekcja 4. Fourth encounter: I or we? – Przystanek czwarty: Ja czy my?

Lekcja 5. Fifth encounter: Between masculinity and femininity; is culture gender-sensitive? – Przystanek piąty: Między męskością i kobiecością, czyli czy kultura ma płeć?

Lekcja 6. Different is dangerous – about uncertainty avoidance in cultures – Inne oznacza niebezpieczne – o unikaniu niepewności w kulturach

Lekcja 7. Gratification for the (im) patient? – Gratyfikacja dla (nie)cierpliwych?

Lekcja 8. You can’t have your cake and eat it? – Indulgence and restraint in cultures – Nie można mieć wszystkiego? – o pobłażaniu i umiarze w kulturze

Lekcja 9. A doomed search for universal laws – Poszukiwanie uniwersalnych praw skazane na porażkę

Lekcja 10. Emotions under control – Emocje pod kontrolą

Lekcja 11. The captains of their fate – Kowale swojego losu

Lekcja 12. Who are you? or What do you do? – Kim jesteś? vs. Co robisz?

Część 2. Business dilemmas – Dylematy biznesowe

Lekcja 1. Business ethics – Etyka biznesu

Lekcja 2. Ethical dilemmas at work – Dylematy etyczne w pracy

Lekcja 3. It is a difficult decision – To trudna decyzja

Lekcja 4. Compliance policy – Polityka compliance

Lekcja 5. It is all about making a rational choice – Chodzi o racjonalny wybór

Lekcja 6. Rational choice in practice – Racjonalny wybór w praktyce

Lekcja 7. Rational choice – case study 1 – Racjonalny wybór – studium przypadku 1

Lekcja 8. Rational choice – case study 2 – Racjonalny wybór – studium przypadku 2

Lekcja 9. Rational choice – case study 3 – Racjonalny wybór – studium przypadku 3

Lekcja 10. Rational choice – case study 4 – Racjonalny wybór – studium przypadku 4

Lekcja 11. The present and the future of business ethics – Teraźniejszość i przyszłość etyki biznesu

Lekcja 12. Code of conduct – Kodeks postępowania i etyki biznesu

Część 3. The power of language – Potęga języka

Lekcja 1. The origin of languages – O pochodzeniu języka

Lekcja 2. On language acquisition – O przyswajaniu języka

Lekcja 3. Our language, our identity – Nasz język, nasza tożsamość

Lekcja 4. Do you speak Globish? – Czy mówisz w języku Globisz?

Lekcja 5. Troublesome dialects – Kłopotliwe dialekty

Lekcja 6. Language – uses and abuses – Użycia i nadużycia językowe

Lekcja 7. The anatomy of swearing – Anatomia przeklinania

Lekcja 8. Jargon and slang – Żargon i slang

Lekcja 9. Write about it! – Napisz o tym

Lekcja 10. The printed word – Słowo drukowane

Lekcja 11. How to tell a story? – Jak opowiedzieć historię?

Lekcja 12. The art of public speaking – Sztuka przemawiania

WSTĘP

Polish Your HR English. Angielski (nie tylko) dla HR-owca to książka, która z pewnością przyda się nie tylko osobom pracującym w dziale personalnym. Obecnie znajomość języków obcych jest powszechnie wymagana na rynku pracy. Świat daje nam dziś wiele możliwości, lecz byśmy mogli z nich w pełni skorzystać, znajomość języków obcych jest koniecznością. W globalnych korporacjach język angielski jest ważniejszy od języka lokalnego, dlatego wszyscy, którzy chcą go szlifować, powinni sięgnąć po książkę Polish Your HR English. Angielski (nie tylko) dla HR-owca.

Książka została podzielona na trzy części:

– Cross-cultural encounters – Spotkania międzykulturowe,

– Business dilemmas – Dylematy biznesowe

oraz

– The power of language – Potęga języka.

Pierwsza część „Cross-cultural encounters” koncentruje się na kwestiach komunikacji międzykulturowej w kontekście biznesowym. Znajdzie się w niej analiza natury i przyczyn nieporozumień ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem roli języka. To tematyka dla osób, które chcą lepiej zrozumieć kulturę korporacyjną i język wielonarodowych przedsiębiorstw.

Część druga „Business dilemmas” pokaże, jak istotne znaczenie mają kwestie etyczne i moralne w prowadzeniu przedsiębiorstw i zarządzaniu nimi. Znajdą się w niej również konkretne sytuacje, w których podjęcie właściwej pod względem etycznym decyzji, jest kluczowe dla przedsiębiorstwa.

Z kolei tematyka części trzeciej „The power of language” będzie dotyczyła języka jako narzędzia komunikacji. Czytelnik dowie się, w jaki sposób ustalony dawno temu system dźwięków i znaków pozwala na przekazywanie myśli, idei oraz uczuć.

Każda z części składa się z 12 lekcji. W każdej lekcji znajduje się ćwiczenie oraz pomocny słowniczek.

CZĘŚĆ

1

CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS
SPOTKANIA MIĘDZYKULTUROWE

W‍ ramach części pierwszej zachęcamy do lektury serii artykułów, które koncentrują się na kwestiach komunikacji międzykulturowej w kontekście biznesowym. Będziemy analizować naturę i przyczyny nieporozumień ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem roli języka. Pokażemy, w jaki sposób język jest odzwierciedleniem naszej kultury i nierzadko nieświadomych postaw w życiu codziennym. Przyjrzymy się nieudanym fuzjom, nie do końca przemyślanym restrukturyzacjom i zmianom w kulturach korporacyjnych. Sprawdzimy, jak nasze działania i wypowiedzi są zaprogramowane przez język. Pokażemy, że ich zrozumienie może pozwolić uniknąć błędów większych niż językowe. Cross-cultural Encounters to tematyka dla osób, które chcą lepiej zrozumieć kulturę korporacyjną i język wielonarodowych przedsiębiorstw.

LEKCJA 1

FIRST ENCOUNTER: CULTURE
PRZYSTANEK PIERWSZY: KULTURA

Podczas‍ pierwszej lekcji dowiemy się, że zarówno XIX-wieczny brytyjski ambasador, jak i europejski biznesmen z XXI w. są zaprogramowani kulturowo i językowo. Pomimo globalizacji, pewne skróty myślowe nadal są niezwykle karkołomne, zarówno dla języka, jak i kieszeni. Winna temu jest kultura, w której funkcjonujemy. Trochę o historii, trochę o biznesie i trochę o obieraniu cebuli… A wszystko z użyciem popularnych idiomów, które nie zawsze brzmią tak samo po polsku i po angielsku.

ONCE UPON A TIME…

To start with, could you please have a look at these two seemingly different texts to find out what they could have in common:

Somewhere in Central Europe, a highly successful automotive company‍ decides to make hay while the sun shines and enters a new market in Western Europe. So far, the company has recorded major profits from the sales of one of its models called NOVA – a nice, sporty city car with dynamic design. However, it seems that the success won’t be replicated in Spain, where the company is expanding now. Everybody in the company is wondering why the model is not doing as well as in other parts of Europe. It takes some time until the Sales Department at the headquarters realizes that the name chosen for the car is extremely unfortunate. In Spanish it means „doesn’t go”, which sounds rather like a mockery than a catching product name. Pity that nobody had checked it earlier…

(a story based on facts)

The English elchi (ambassador) had reached Tehran a few days before we arrived there, and his reception was as brilliant as it was possible. (…) Then all the proper attentions of hospitality were shown.(…) All these attentions, one might suppose, would be more than sufficient to make infidels contented with their lot; but, on the contrary, when the subject of etiquette came to be discussed, interminable difficulties seemed to arise. (…) First, on the subject of sitting. On the day of his audience of the Shah, he would not sit on the ground, but insisted upon having a chair; then the chair was to be placed so far, and no farther, from the throne. In the second place, of shoes, he insisted upon keeping on his shoes, and not walking barefooted upon the pavement; and he would not even put on our red cloth stockings. And then, on the article of dress, a most violent dispute arose. (…) He said, that he would appear before the Shah of Persia in the very same dress he wore when before his own sovereign.

(THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN BY JAMES MORIER, 1780–1849)

Incomparable as the two stories may seem, they have one thing in common. In both cases the nature of the problem stems from cultural misunderstanding or, in other words, cultural miscommunication. What leads to communication gridlock is the fact that we tend to take other people and their behavior for granted. This means that we impose our beliefs, values, behavioral patterns on other people and their respective beliefs and values which do not necessarily have to be the same and actually very rarely are when we consider multinational organizations and societies.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF CULTURE

All communication is cultural. It draws on the ways we have learnt to speak and act. It draws on our culture. But what is culture? It can mean various things. There is culture understood as civilization and is used to refer to education, literature and fine arts. And in a much broader sense, there is culture which describes patterns of thinking, feeling and acting, which includes as mundane things as eating, greeting, showing or not showing your feelings, keeping a certain physical distance or maintaining body hygiene.

Culture is learnt, not inherited. It derives from our environment and not from our genes. According to Hofstede, it is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. What is more, it should not be confused with human nature on the one hand and human personality on the other. Human nature is inherited and is universal for all human beings. It constitutes a sort of an operating system which defines basic physical and psychological abilities, like being able to feel fear, desire for love or the ability to observe and interpret environment. However, the way we express emotions is conditioned by our culture. Hence, it means that the same human ability to express, for example, joy can manifest itself in various ways, depending on the culture and its code. It is crucial to know the code to decipher the superficial representation of a type of emotion which is known to the whole human race. Finally, at the top there is personality, which is a collection of person-specific features both inherited and acquired through environment and our personal experiences. To sum up, at the bottom of the pyramid there is human nature, universal and inherited, on the second level there is culture, acquired and group-specific and at the top there is personality, both learnt and inherited, which is person-specific. It means that only culture does not depend on our genes and is totally conditioned by the environment.

PEELING ONION

In order to understand the concept of culture let’s think about an onion. Each culture is specific and manifests its unique features in several ways or layers – through symbols, heroes, rituals and values.

SYMBOLS build the outer layer of the onion because they are the most visible. They include e.g. language, fashion, haircut or status symbols. What country does Coca-Cola trademark make you think about? I am pretty sure it is the USA. The next layer corresponds to HEROES – alive or dead, real or imaginary characters, whose traits are highly prized and valued in a given culture. Heroes constitute role models: Batman in the USA, Asterix in France, etc. Heroes are more stable than symbols but still they are time and fashion-bound, which means they may come and go.

Having removed the second layer, we get to RITUALS. These are collective activities which, despite their superfluous character, are thought to play an essential role in a society. Rituals can include various activities like ways of greeting, good manners, social and religious norms.

And finally, we reach the core of culture – VALUES. Values are preferences expressed by people living in a given culture which help them to make choices and take decisions. Values are acquired mostly subconsciously at a very early age and it is difficult to change them when a person is adult. Generally, it is not possible to see somebody’s values. They can only be inferred from behaviour and accompanying circumstances. So, don’t judge a book by its cover!

To sum it up, the layers help us visualize how complex the concept of culture is and hence, how difficult it is to change culture.

WHEN IN ROME…

…do as the Romans do. Better said than done. It seems than it is not enough to learn a language and cultural norms to be able to live in a foreign country. When a foreigner comes to a new country, they can only see the outer layers of the onion, i.e. the visible aspects of the culture: its symbols, heroes and rituals. These can be, to a major extent, understood and learnt. Yet, at a first glance it is not possible to understand the underlying values, which constitute the core of the culture. Hence, most foreigners go through a difficult and painful phase until they reach a moment of comfortable existence in a foreign country.

At the very beginning each foreigner experiences a period of euphoria. It is also referred to as honeymoon time. We come to a new place as if we were tourists and are overwhelmed by its unique character and exotic, social environment. Everything is interesting and exciting, at least for the first three or four weeks.

Then there is a phase of culture shock. Once the euphoria has evaporated, a foreigner starts to live a normal live in a new environment and that is where difficulties appear. Although one can communicate in a foreign language and has some cultural knowledge, they get the impression that they are always getting the wrong end of the stick and talking at cross purposes with‌ the locals. It is culture shock. Every foreigner has to go through this phase to understand that the values and norms of the new culture are different from their home culture.

With‌ culture shock behind, a foreigner can start the adaptation process. They acquire local values and social norms. They slowly learn to think in a new culture. This takes time, depending on the person and the new country. Ultimately, it should lead to the state of balance, when one feels‌ at home or even better. And when the person comes back to their home country, they experience another culture shock…

THREE‍ GOLDEN RULES

I‍ hope you have seen that there is more to CULTURE than meets the eye. A foreign language, although indispensable to survive, is only a tool of the mental software – the culture.

Before‌ we embark on the next episode of our cross-cultural encounters, please do bear in mind the three golden rules of a cross-cultural communicator:

– Don’t‍ take anything for granted!

– Read‍ between the lines.

– Be‍ open – minded

See‌ you soon.

GLOSSARY:

behavioural‌ patterns – wzorce‌ zachowań

better‍ said than done – łatwiej‌ powiedzieć, niż zrobić

decipher‌ – rozszyfrować

don’t‌ judge a book by its cover – nie‌ sądź po pozorach

evaporate‍ – ulotnić‌ się, wyparować

feel‌ at home – czuć‌ się jak w domu

fine‍ arts – sztuki‍ piękne

get‍ the wrong end of the stick – źle kogoś‍ zrozumieć

good‌ manners – dobre‌ maniery

gridlock‍ – zator,‌ impas

impose‌ – nakładać

incomparable‍ – nieporównywalny

layer‌ – warstwa

make‌ hay while the sun shines – kuć‍ żelazo póki gorące

mockery‍ – drwina,‍ kpina

mundane‍ – przyziemny,‍ zwyczajny

read‍ between the lines – czytać‌ między wierszami

role‌ model – wzór‍ do naśladowania

stem‌ from – brać‌ się z, pochodzić od

superfluous‌ – zbędny,‌ zbyteczny

talk‌ at cross purposes – mówić‌ o różnych rzeczach, nie zdając sobie z tego sprawy

to‌ take sth for granted – brać‌ coś za pewnik

unfortunate‌ – niefortunne

When‌ in Rome (do as the Romans do) – Jeśli‌ wszedłeś między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one.

EXERCISE:

MATCH‍ THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS WITH THE CORRECT IDIOM:

a. feel‌ at home

b. take‌ for granted

c. make‌ hay (while the sun shines)

d. When‍ in Rome (do as the Romans do)

e. don’t‌ judge a book by its cover

f. ‌ talking at cross purposes

g. got‍ the wrong end of the stick

h. ‌ read between the lines

1. Anne‌ _________________________________. I said how nice he was and she thought I wanted to go out with him.

2. There’s‌ a sale at K-mart this week. I think I’ll _____________________ and buy myself something at cut price!

3. We‍ will do whatever we can to make you ______________. Enjoy your stay here.

4. Jill:‍ Everyone in my new office dresses so casually. Should I dress that way, too? Jane: By all means. ______________________________.

5. Don’t‌ believe everything she says so literally. Learn to ___________.

6. I‌ think we’re ________________________ here. You mean the old building, but I was talking about the new one.

7. We‌ _____________so many things in this country – like having hot water whenever we need it. But it’s not like this everywhere.

8. She‌ doesn’t look very bright, but ____________________.In fact, she is really good at what she’s doing.

Key:‍ 1.g 2.c 3.a 4.d 5.h 6.f 7.b 8.e

LEKCJA 2

SECOND ENCOUNTER: TIME FOR BUSINESS
DRUGI PRZYSTANEK: CZAS NA BIZNES

W‍ drugiej lekcji Cross-cultural encounters spróbujemy zmierzyć się z pojęciem czasu. Przyjrzymy się, jak czas, pomimo swojej obiektywnej natury, jest postrzegany i interpretowany w różnych kulturach. Spróbujemy zrozumieć, dlaczego punktualność może oznaczać wiele rzeczy, w zależności od szerokości geograficznej, i dlaczego w niektórych krajach lepiej jest dogrywać interesy po oficjalnych godzinach pracy. Przy okazji poznamy angielskie słowo „czas” w wielu bardziej i mniej znanych konfiguracjach. Czas na lekturę!

SIX‍ HOURS LATE = BEING ON TIME IN GHANA

I‍ was invited to attend a women’s conference in Ghana, West Africa. Before I set off, I brushed up on all things African – from greetings, to dress, to food, and language. I even prepared myself, or so I thought, for understanding the African concept of time (…) The driver that was arranged for me was an hour late the first day. After conveying the‌ message of how I need to be at the conference the next day on time, he assured me he understood. The next day, as promised, he came early, technically, and was only 45 minutes late. Some progress had been made. But when I tried to arrange a trip to the Cape Coast Castle, one of the longest surviving slave export points in Ghana, the wheels fell off again. After trying twice to get to the castle (once, he was a no show, and the next time he arrived 4 hours late!), I was able to secure another driver. I understood now that being 2–3 hours late was customary and was even considered punctual. Realizing that I had my American blinders on with everything I read, didn’t allow me to fathom that lateness could extend to up to 6 hours. Thinking in American terms, I understood „late” to be at most an hour. Factoring in the lateness and knowing that the castle closed around 4pm, was an hour away, and I wanted to be there by noon, I was able to convey that I needed to be at the castle by 10am. I was told the driver would be there at 8am. I had time to rest, get breakfast and be ready by 10am. Success! The new driver came 2 hours „late”/on time and I managed to get to the castle by noon.

(Monica‍ Moffit, Business News, July 2012)

The‌ story above illustrates how the perception of time varies across‍ cultures. In this article, we are going to see how the idea of time, lateness and punctuality is deeply rooted in‍ one’s culture. The concept of time may be a universal one, however the perception is subjective and depends on a range of factors. Hence, it is not that unlikely that different attitudes to punctuality, arriving at meetings and sticking‌ to deadlines can lead to misunderstandings or a personal affront. Last but not least, we will take a closer look at how these differences are reflected in a language when dealing with or talking about time. So take‍ your time and read this article carefully!

RELATIVITY‍ OF TIME

The‍ notion of time seems to be universally shared and understood. After all, aren’t 90 seconds the same in Berlin and in Beijing? 90 seconds are 90 seconds everywhere, but the attitudes to these 90 seconds can vary immensely across cultures.

Time‍ is also heavily related to space. Spacial representations of time are ubiquitous around‍ the world. People use clocks, sundials,‍ hourglasses, calendars and graphs to represent and measure time. This relation is also visible in language. You can postpone‍ a meeting, or move‍ it forward. A student can be bored by a long seminar and may need to take‌ a short break. Or when you are so tired that you can hardly tell‍ the time, it means that you must be working‍ round the clock.

In‍ the European and American way of thinking, time starts in the past, continues in the present and stretches further into the future. In contrast, the African perception of time exists basically in two stages: deep past and present. Technically speaking, these two notions of time are not compatible. On a practical note, how should one talk about future intentions and plans?

USING‍ TIME: MONOCHRONIC V. POLYCHRONIC CULTURES

Depending‌ on the way we treat time in our culture, we use it in different ways. To illustrate two totally different ways of using time, let me give you an example of an American and a Mexican businessman. Almost instinctively, we know that Mexican and American businessmen are more than likely to have problems when they start to do business together. And it is not because one is a bad businessman and the other a good one but because their cultural roots, including their attitudes towards time, are different.

There‌ are cultures that tend to view time as a commodity. In‌ such cultures people know they should not waste or‌ lose time because time‍ is money. Such an attitude is typical of the USA and Nordic European countries. Because time is valuable, it should be used in the most effective way. You should do one thing at a time and move systematically from one topic to another. People like to focus on one issue at a time and are concerned with completing tasks and meeting objectives. In such cultures, very frequently referred to as MONOCHRONIC cultures, punctuality is highly valued. Showing up late for a meeting is interpreted as a lack of respect for other attendees. During‍ a meeting, one should stick to the agenda and avoid going‌ off at a tangent. Similarly, deadlines are stuck to and obeyed in monochronic cultures.

In‍ POLYCHRONIC cultures, on the other hand, time is viewed as something that cannot be controlled and is rather flexible. This attitude is typical of southern European and Latin American countries as well as the Middle East. Here, things are planned, not that much on the basis of an agenda but rather on events. Sticking to a plan or agenda is not the ultimate aim. Building a relationship, networking or problem solving is perceived as equally or even more important a goal than the agenda itself. In practice, timetables and deadlines are superseded by‌ the focus on individual needs and strengthening interpersonal bonds.

Going‌ back to the American and Mexican businessmen, it is clear that major discrepancies are‌ bound to appear. The Mexican prefers to spend‌ time, seeing it as an opportunity, while the American views time as a precious commodity, which should not be wasted. Naturally, this will lead to major differences in the way the two men do business. The American will expect things to be done systematically, one at a time, while the Mexican businessman will engage in many activities simultaneously. When‍ talking to his American partner, the Mexican businessman will be calling his son to pick us his car from the garage or answering a phone call from his wife. It will not necessarily be a sign of impoliteness when he invites questions from his secretary, popping in every now and then to find out something, which seems totally trivial and uninteresting to the American guest. Without adequate insight, both men could feel offended by what seems to them an inappropriate business attitude. In fact, it is merely a difference‌ between the MONOCHRONIC and POLYCHRONIC culture.

HOW‌ LATE SHOULD A PUNCTUAL PERSON BE?

The‍ differences in perception of time, translate into tangible discrepancies‌ in everyday activities. Take, for example, the idea of scheduling‍ meetings and punctuality.

In‌ the USA, business meetings are scheduled in the morning when people are supposed to be fresh and the most resourceful. In polychronic cultures, like Spain, people tend to schedule meetings later in the day. Their working day starts later because they take time to be with their families in the morning. Additionally, they take longer lunch breaks, which may stretch up to 2–3 hours. This relaxed attitude to time, which usually manifests itself after a weekend, has a special term that has been coined to refer to high absenteeism on a Monday – St. Monday, which is likely to become a national holiday.

At‍ times, in polychronic cultures business time and personal time overlap. In‍ countries like Japan, real business takes place over dinner and drinks, hours after the working day finishes. Not realizing this and turning down such an offer from a Japanese partner could result in losing a real opportunity to strengthen business bonds and do business.

As‌ for social occasions, the notion of punctuality is also far from universal. For a dinner invitation at 8 pm, representatives of monochronic cultures (e.g. Germans, Americans, the Dutch) arrive at‍ 8 pm sharp or by 8.15pm at the latest. Such punctuality would embarrass an Italian or a Latin American, who might still be running around in their underwear. According to the polychronic culture and its etiquette, one should not be more than thirty minutes late, leaving ample‌ time for the host to get ready for unpunctual guests. It is worth taking this into consideration, especially when hosting guests of different cultural origins.

KEY‍ TAKEAWAYS

The‍ fact that different cultures perceive time in different ways does not make one culture better than the other. It simply makes it different.

When‍ doing business overseas, one should try to keep a clear understanding of time and differences of time perception across cultures and use it to one’s own advantage.

When‍ doing business in a foreign country with different time orientation than you own cultures, try to start to measure time with the local clock. It should save your time and spare possible mistakes.

Good‌ luck!

GLOSSARY:

ample‌ time – wystarczająco‌ dużo czasu

at‌ 8 pm sharp – punkt‌ ósma

at‌ times – czasami

attendee – uczestnik‍ spotkania

commodity – towar

convey – przekazać,‌ zakomunikować

discrepancy – rozbieżność

go‍ off at a tangent – odbiec‍ od tematu

hourglass – klepsydra

merely – zaledwie

overlap – nakładać‌ się na siebie

postpone‍ a meeting – przełożyć‌ spotkanie

rooted – zakorzeniony

schedule‌ a meeting – planować‌ spotkanie

simultaneously‍ – jednocześnie

stick‌ to deadlines – trzymać‍ się/przestrzegać terminów

sundial – zegar‌ słoneczny

supersede – zastępować,‍ wyprzeć

tangible – namacalny

take‍ a break – zrobić‌ sobie przerwę

take‌ your time – nie‍ spiesz się

tell‍ the time – powiedzieć,‍ która jest godzina

time‍ is money – czas‌ to pieniądz

ubiquitous – wszechobecny

vary – różnić się

waste time – trwonić czas

EXERCISE

CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER:

1. I’ve been working for 3 hours now and I feel extremely tired. I desperately need to _________ a break.

a. bring

b. take

c. took

d. brought

2. _______________. We don’t need to hurry. There’s plenty of time left before the train leaves.

a. Take a time.

b. Leave a time

c. Leave your time

d. Take your time

3. Let’s stay with the topic and not go_______ a tangent.

a. of at

b. of by

c. off at

d. off by

4. I suggest we meet at 9 am. But 9 am _____. Try not to be late.

a. sharply

b. sharp

c. hard

d. hardly

5. Could you please wait until I’ve finished my presentation. You’ll have ______ time for questions later. I will answer all the questions then.

a. few

b. little

c. ample

d. sample

6. Germans are famous for ___________ to deadlines.

a. keeping

b. sticking

c. getting

d. obeying

7. Although Anne is only 5, she can already _____ the time.

a. tell

b. say

c. speak

d. read

8. Because of the rain the match had to be _______ until next week.

a. moved

b. scheduled

c. postponed

d. shifted

1. b 2. d 3. c 4. b 5. c 6. b 7. a 8. c

LEKCJA 3

THIRD ENCOUNTER: IS IT ALL ABOUT POWER?
TRZECI PRZYSTANEK: CZY ZAWSZE CHODZI O WŁADZĘ?

W trzeciej lekcji Cross-cultural encounters staniemy oko w oko z władzą, a właściwie przyjrzymy się jej z różnych odległości – w zależności od subiektywnego punktu widzenia przyjętego w danej kulturze. Spróbujemy zrozumieć, jak hierarchia kształtowana od dzieciństwa przez szkołę i powielana w pracy wpływa na funkcjonowanie w biznesie. Od strony językowej skupimy się na słownictwie związanym z relacjami personalnymi i pozycją w hierarchii społecznej.

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. This famous maxim from G. Orwell’s Animal Farm cynically illustrates the idea of egalitarianism. This is an ironic twist to the original purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were supposed to keep order within Animal Farm by uniting animals together against the humans and thus prevent the animals from following humans’ habits. Yet, the original idea that all animals are equal was gradually amended to differentiate between the equal and the more equal ones, trying at the same time to stick to the illusion of an egalitarian society. To cut the long story short, everybody knows how unequally it finished.

By nature, people, societies and nations are not equal. To be precise, depending on the culture one has been brought up in and in which one lives, people cultivate different levels of inequality. Why? To answer this question, I will direct you to the first article from this series, where I explained the nature of culture with its layers. Social practices, i.e. patterns of behaviour, which originate in the deepest and most unconscious part of our culture, stem from values. This means that to a major extent, more or less equal practices are not something that we can consciously steer and mould. These are behavioural patterns, which are triggered by the software of the mind, i.e. culture. In other words, one can be an advocate of egalitarianism or a supporter of social inequalities without realizing it. It is only when the two attitudes are compared that the differences start to be visible.

One of the most important attempts to tackle and systematise the subject is the development of the power distance dimension, as one of the dimensions to describe various national cultures. The author of the theory, Geert Hofstede, a Dutch researcher in the field of organisational studies, defines power distance as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.

WHY SHOULD IT MATTER?

Scientific as it may seem, the theory can have a very practical impact on our lives. Allow me to tell you a story about Korea Air lines of the 80s, an airline that had crash rates substantially above those of the industry norms. Much of these were attributed to a high power distance culture. The reasoning behind it was that pilots were always held in the highest esteem and their decisions could not be challenged because subordinates were not expected to speak up. As a result, there was a lack of communication and collaboration, which led to further increases in human error, simply because there were not enough checks and balances in the process. This mismanagement can be said to be largely due to the high power distance, which was not appropriately dealt with in this particular industry.

HIGH POWER DISTANCE VS LOW POWER DISTANCE

AT WORK…

In the work environment, high power distance demonstrates itself in centralised power, a vertical hierarchy and major esteem for superiors. Contacts between bosses and subordinates, initiated only by superiors, are emotionally burdened. This means that emotionally neutral attitudes are not common in such an environment. On the contrary, employees bear feelings, which are either extremely bad or enthusiastic towards their bosses. There are two extreme boss models in the high power distance working place: ,a good old father’ or ,a bad stingy boss’. The position one holds within a structure is clearly marked. Status symbols of all sorts are more than welcome: a bigger and more accessible parking space, an expensive company car, a bigger office, a higher salary, etc. If there is a case of malpractice and using power to one’s own advantage, it can be justified and hushed up. The positive version of this cultural model has employees cherishing a high esteem for the boss and indentifying themselves with him/her and the company both inside and outside the working environment. Countries typical of high power distance culture include: Malaysia, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, China, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In contrast, low power, distance cultures are characterised by a flat hierarchy. It is not that easy to differentiate between superiors and subordinates because the differences are not that clearly marked. There should not be any major discrepancies between the two groups in terms of education and remuneration as it is not that unlikely that one day the roles will be swapped or reversed. As a consequence, status symbols are few and they are not overtly manifested; the same parking space, toilet and canteen. Any malpractice on the side of the management is stigmatised. Whistleblowing is highly appreciated. Typical low power distance countries include: Austria, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, UK, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands.

AT SCHOOL…

The power distance pattern at work stems in a natural way from the power distance learnt at school. In high power distance countries, the role of the teacher is central to the educational development of the child. The teacher is in a position to plan, oversee and control the student’s learning path. On a practical note, students stand up when the teacher enters the classroom and they can speak only when the teacher allows them to do so. The teacher deserves utmost respect and obedience, both inside and outside school. In fact, the transmission and dissemination of knowledge depends to a major extent on the teacher, their skills, knowledge and wisdom.

Low power distance countries prefer a decentralised educational model. It is the student who plays a central role in the process. The relation between the teacher and the student is founded on mutual respect and partnership. The students are expected to search for the answer on their own. Creativity and initiative are highly appreciated. In the classroom, students are encouraged to ask questions whenever they do not understand something, which can even lead to open dissent which is not penalized. The teacher facilitates the dissemination of knowledge, which as such is conveyed to the student in a form of objective data and facts. Multiplied in adult life, these two extreme models of the educational system reinforce further social differences in the work environment.

AT HOME…

Looking for the origins of the differences in power distance, we should go back to the family as a pattern-setter. In cultures with high power distance, family members build a hierarchy with the parents, typically the father, at the very top. Independent thinking and creativity are not perceived as virtues. Children are expected to be obedient and respectful towards their parents. In exchange for this, parents protect or even overprotect their children from any outside risk. These strong family bonds do not get weaker as time passes and children grow up. Even when they are adults, children can rely on their elderly parents when taking important decisions. These proportions are reversed in low power distance families, where children are taught to be independent and creative. What is more, they are allowed to make mistakes because this is treated as a part of the learning process. Family relations are partner-like and no major hierarchy emerges. With time, children become more and more independent at the expense of weakening family bonds. Ideally, each family member should be an autonomous identity with a life of their own, loosely connected with other family members.

NOT EQUALLY GOOD FOR EVERYONE

Multiplied respectively in the family, school and work milieus, these two power distance patterns: the low and the high one, represent two extremes. Obviously, there is a lot of room between them for more moderate versions. What should be remembered is that in business terms, there is no universal management model for all cultures. The famous MBO, management by objectives, which implies smooth and ongoing partner-like negotiations between the subordinates and superiors, is undoubtedly good for the American culture (low power distance country). However, it would be a mistake to apply the MBO model to a Chinese business (high power distance country), where the expanded vertical hierarchy disables smooth communication across management levels. To put it in a nutshell, all animals are…different.

GLOSSARY:

amend – poprawić

burdened – obciążony

commandment – przykazanie

cut the long story short – przejść do sedna

egalitarianism – egalitaryzm

emerge – pojawiać się

equal – równy

family bonds – więzy rodzinne

hush up – wyciszyć

i.e. (łac. id est) = that is – to jest

inequalities – nierówności (społeczne)

inequality – brak równości

justification – usprawiedliwienie

milieu – środowisko

mould – kształtować, modelować

power distance – dystans władzy

remuneration – wynagrodzenie

subordinate – podwładny

substantially – znacząco

superior – przełożony, zwierzchnik

swap – zamienić

tackle – stawić czoło, wziąć się za

unequally – nierówno, w nierówny sposób

whistleblowing – reagowanie na sytuacje wskazujące na nadużycie władzy, donosicielstwo w pozytywnym znaczeniu

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH APPROPRIATE WORDS:

1. Despite his junior position he had a good working relationship with his immediate s__________.

2. Developing countries frequently face the problem of u_________ distribution of wealth. The rich are few and have a lot and the poor are many and have very little.

3. The writer’s work perfectly reflects his own social and cultural m_______.

4. Dishonest and illegal practices of the former boss wouldn’t have been disclosed if it hadn’t been for the internal w_____________ channels in the company.

5. Despite the crisis, the steel industry still enjoys high rates of r__________. Its employees are ones of the best paid in the country.

6. The emotional b______ between mother and child is said to start already in the womb.

7. The government is working on a policy aimed at reducing i__________ between men and women.

8. The whole affair was h__________ by the government and very little information leaked to the media.

1. superior 2. unequal 3. milieu 4. whistleblowing 5. remuneration 6. bond 7. inequalities 8. hushed up

LEKCJA 4

FOURTH ENCOUNTER: I OR WE?
PRZYSTANEK CZWARTY: JA CZY MY?

W czwartej lekcji przyjrzymy się relacjom jednostki z grupą. Przekonamy się, że postrzeganie siebie w stosunku do grupy, w której się funkcjonuje, ma ogromne znaczenie dla relacji rodzinnych, szkolnych i biznesowych. Będzie też kilka wskazówek dla menedżerów, m.in. jak uniknąć wpadek językowych i biznesowych, oraz możliwość sprawdzenia, czy jesteśmy bardziej typem indywidualistycznym, czy kolektywistycznym. Od strony językowej skoncentrujemy się na przymiotnikach i rzeczownikach opisujących relacje społeczne.

THE SWEDISH AND THE SAUDIS – NOT A PERFECT MATCH

„A medium-size Swedish high-technology corporation was approached by a compatriot, a businessman with good contacts in Saudi Arabia. The company sent one of their engineers let me call him Johannesson to Riyadh, where he was introduced to a small Saudi engineering firm, run by two brothers in their mid-thirties, both with British university degrees. Johannesson was to assist in a development project on behalf of the Saudi government. However, after six visits over a period of two years, nothing seemed to happen. Johannesson’s meetings with the Saudi brothers were always held in the presence of the Swedish businessman who had established the first contact. This annoyed Johannesson and his superiors, because they were not at all sure that this businessman did not have contacts with their competitors as well but the Saudis wanted the intermediary to be there. Discussions often dwelt on issues having little to do with the business like Shakespeare, of whom both brothers were fans. Just when Johannesson’s superiors started to doubt the wisdom of the corporation’s investment in these expensive trips, a telex arrived from Riyadh inviting him back for an urgent visit. A contract worth several millions of dollars was ready to be signed. From one day to the next, the Saudis’ attitude changed: the presence of the businessman-intermediary was no longer necessary, and for the first time Johannesson saw the Saudis smile, and even make jokes.

So far, so good; but the story goes on. The remarkable order contributed to Johannesson being promoted to a management position in a different division. Thus, he was no longer in charge of the Saudi account. A successor was nominated, another engineer with considerable international experience, whom Johannesson personally introduced to the Saudi brothers. A few weeks later a telex arrived from Riyadh in which the Saudis threatened to cancel the contract over a detail in the delivery conditions. Johannesson’s help was asked for. When he came to Riyadh it appeared that the conflict was over a minor issue and could easily be resolved but only, the Saudis felt, with Johannesson as the corporation’s representative. So the corporation twisted its structure to allow Johannesson to handle the Saudi account although his main responsibilities were now in a completely different field.” (Geert Hofstede, Cultures and Organisations)

This true story illustrates how the perception of oneself and the relation with other members of a group can have long-term effects on various domains of our life, including business. The ,miscommunication’ described above shows how the two nationalities, the Swedes and the Saudis, have different concepts of the role of personal relationships in business. The underlying difference between the two nationalities concerns with whom the business is done: for the Swedes it is with the company, for the Saudis – with the person they have got to like and trust. This shows another fundamental difference across cultures: the role of the individual and the role of the group.

INHERENTLY COLLECTIVIST

It is estimated that a vast majority of people in our world live in cultures where the interests of the group prevail over the interests of the individual. These are collectivist societies. Collectivism represents preference for tightly-knit social framework across the society. It starts in a family which will be understood here as a number of people living closely together on an everyday basis. In collectivist cultures, the immediate family apart from parents and children typically includes further relatives, such as grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. Hence, the term ,extended family’ has been coined to reflect this social phenomenon. The child born in a collectivist culture is consistently equipped with key values and beliefs which make them think of themselves as part of a ,we’ group as opposed to a ,they’ group. An individual builds their identity on group identity. What is more, the group is seen as a source of protection from the outside environment, in exchange for which the individual owes lifelong loyalty to the group, both in psychological and practical terms. This can have extremely tangible effects especially when we take into consideration that in collectivist cultures resources are shared. A typical example will include family members collectively covering the cost of sending one member of the family to university, the expectation being that when this person gets a well-paid job in the future, the income will be also shared.

As there is a correlation between collectivism and high power distance, we can foresee what will happen with an individual from a collectivist culture at school. On top of the rigid hierarchy and the distance between the teacher and students, the teacher will perceive a student as a member of an ,in-group’, not as an independent individual. This will prevent both sides from entering into open conflicts as the loss of face will not only affect the student or the teacher but the whole group (s) he belongs to and could possibly lead to hostile relationships between the two groups. Last but not least, the purpose of education in collectivist cultures is to acquire skills and knowledge that are necessary and indispensable in order to be an acceptable group member. One’s own interest and aptitudes are not of the main objective when deciding on an individual learning path.

PROGRESSIVELY INDIVIDUALIST

It is estimated that a minority of people live in societies where the interests of an individual prevail over the interests of the group. Yet, the majority of these people are located in developed parts of the developing world, hence, they are more outstanding than their collectivist counterparts who are either in the minority in developed countries or constitute a majority in developing and under-developed countries, thus being less ,visible’. Individualism can be defined as a preference for a ,loosely-knit’ social framework in which individuals are expected to only take care of themselves and their immediate relatives. In such societies, children are born to ,nuclear families’, consisting of parents and an only child or possibly two or three children. Interestingly, in some societies there are an increasing number of single-parent families. Other relatives are either unknown or live too far to be regularly seen. From their early childhood, individuals tend to define their self-image in terms of ,I’ and not ,we’.

Since a high level of individualism is correlated with low power distance, at school students expect to be treated as individuals. This impartial attitude without taking into account the student’s background is fundamental in achieving the main objective of education, which is to equip a student with skills, knowledge or a qualification to allow them to function on their own in a society of other individuals. Key decisions concerning education are dictated by individual preferences. Hence, in typically individualist cultures it is less likely that children will share the occupation of their parents.

WHICH ONE IS WHICH?

Naturally, the two models described above show two extremes and there is a lot of room in between. In order to take a look at individual examples that can share some features of both models, let’s have a look at how individualism is measured in practical terms. Geert Hofstede, who conducted his research on a representative sample of IBM employees, decided to examine the dimension of individualism vs. collectivism by measuring the importance attached to work goal items, which for the individualist pole included:

– Personal Time – having a job with the right work-life balance, leaving sufficient time for personal life

– Freedom – having enough authority to decide how to approach working tasks and objectives

– Challenge – having work that is a source of self-accomplishment

On the opposite side, it was believed that collectivist employees were to appreciate:

– Training – opportunities to improve one’s skills

– Physical conditions – having good physical working conditions, such as AC, enough working space, etc.

– Use of skills – the impression of one’s skills and abilities being fully used by the employer

Having arrived at the scale 0–100, where 0 indicates a highly collectivist culture, while 100 a highly individualist one, Hofstede positioned Sweden somewhere towards the very top of the scale with the score of 71 while Saudi Arabia scores around 26. The discrepancy is more than visible. It is, however, even more striking when we compare the index for countries from the same continent: Portugal (27) and Great Britain (89). Individualism is typical of western countries, an example being Germany (67) with its major focus on personal achievement and personal rights. Yet, probably the best illustration is the USA (91) with its ,from rags to riches’ American dream. This belief that anyone, regardless of their social status and roots, can achieve a better quality of life than their parents’ is a perfect embodiment of individualism.

As for Poland, according to Hoefstede’s research, we represent a certain contradiction in terms with quite high individualism (60) and even higher power-distance (68), which should be negatively correlated. In practical terms it means that we are individuals with a strong need for hierarchy. A piece of advice for managers who would need to establish a second level of communication with individuals in a structure, giving the impression that they see and appreciate how these individuals are important yet unequal in the hierarchy.

As for oneself, have a look at the work goal items and see which set seems more like your cup of tea.

I, WE AND THE COMPANY

Speaking about the workplace in individualist and collectivist societies, one should speak about managing a group vs. managing individuals. This translates into plenty of factors that condition e.g. the hiring process, relationships with the employer as well as the appraisal and bonus system. To highlight the most extreme examples, let us look at South Korea (score of 18), where the employee/employer relationships are perceived as family bonds and hiring policy dwells on the membership in a certain in-group (which in other countries could be classified as nepotism). In contrast, in individualist countries like the Netherlands (80), the relationship between the employer and the employee is purely business-like. All decisions concerning hiring and promotion need to be transparent and based on merit alone. To conclude, one does not need a great imagination to foresee most basic problems when managing staff from such different cultural backgrounds.

HOW NOT TO GET LOST

The key takeaway is to bear in mind the fact that management and training techniques have almost exclusively been developed in individualist countries. This means that their basic assumptions will not hold in more collectivist societies. There is no ,one solution’ here. Properly trained managers who are aware of the differences in cross-cultural communications are definitely an invaluable asset to the company. And finally, far-fetched assumptions and mental shortcuts in multinational environments are the easiest way to managerial failures. At times, a longer route can be more economical.

GLOSSARY:

prevail over – dominować nad

tightly-knit – zwarty

rigid – sztywny, niezmienny

indispensable – niezbędny

aptitude – talent, zdolność

loosely-knit – luźny, o luźnej strukturze

an only child – jedynak

impartial – bezstronny

work-life balance – równowaga pomiędzy pracą a życiem osobistym

authority – władza

self-accomplishment – samorealizacja

from rags to riches – od pucybuta do milionera

embodiment – ucieleśnienie

(not) be your cup of tea – odpowiadać komuś, (nie) być w czyimś guście

far-fetched – naciągany, daleko posunięty

mental shortcuts – skróty myślowe

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH CORRECT ADJECTIVES OR NOUNS

1. The firm prides itself on giving _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, objective and quality advice to clients.

2. Despite the overwhelming stress she maintained _ _ _ _ _ control over her emotions.

3. Mobile phones have become an/a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ part of our lives.

4. It is a very close and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ community. You will need some time to get accepted by them but then in exchange for your loyalty, you’ll receive a lot of support.

5. He’s one of the people who made his American dream come true. His “from rags to _ _ _ _ _ _ story is really impressive.

6. In literature, this character is a classical _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of evil.

7. The number of _ _ _ _ children in developed countries is increasing as people tend to have their first child quite late.

8. Since people are shifting towards a nuclear family, the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ family can be seen in more traditional societies.

1. impartial 2. rigid 3.indispensable 4. tightly-knit 5. riches 6. embodiment 7. only 8. extended

LEKCJA 5

FIFTH ENCOUNTER: BETWEEN MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY; IS CULTURE GENDER-SENSITIVE?
PRZYSTANEK PIĄTY: MIĘDZY MĘSKOŚCIĄ I KOBIECOŚCIĄ, CZYLI CZY KULTURA MA PŁEĆ?

W piątej lekcji przekonamy się, że kultury mogą mieć cechy męskie i kobiece. Nie są one zależne od liczby kobiet i mężczyzn w populacji, lecz od wartości ważnych dla danej kultury, które stereotypowo są postrzegane jako męskie lub kobiece. Przyjrzymy się również kwestii płci kulturowej. Czytelnicy będą mogli sprawdzić, czy pod względem wartości i zachowań są bardziej kobiecy czy męscy.

A POLITICALLY (IN) CORRECT JOKE

As the subject of gender seems to be a divisive one, let me start with a joke to make a light and friendly beginning:

A teacher was explaining to her class that in French, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

„House” is feminine „la maison” „Pencil” is masculine „le crayon”.

A student asked, „What gender is ‚computer’?”

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female and asked them to decide for themselves whether „computer” should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for their recommendation.

The men’s group decided that „computer” should definitely be of the feminine gender („la computer”), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women’s group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine („le computer”), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

As we already know, cultures only exist by comparison. Here, we have a perfect opportunity to make comparisons. The different worlds of men and women have been juxtaposed and opposed by anthropologists, sociologists, and all possible types of researchers. In the popular culture, the belief has been rooted and nourished that men are from Mars and women from Venus (as if we really knew what life on these respective planets is like). A lot has been said about this topic. Yet, the aim of this article is not to further discuss the differences between the women’s and men’s worlds but to build on what is culturally perceived as typical of men or women and thus analyse another dimension of cultural differences: masculinity and femininity.

SEX VS GENDER

First, it is crucial that we sort out some metalanguage issues as the English language has developed a lot of words to describe features typical of men and women. It is obvious that men and women represent different sexes with real and measurable biological differences, which can be referred to as male and female. Yet, in each culture there is a set of behavioural patterns which are considered to be characteristic of men and women, thus building their gender identities. These culturally determined roles are described as masculine and feminine. This differentiation, unlike the biological one, is subjective. A woman can be said to be behaving in a masculine way, which means that her behaviour deviates from what is culturally classified as feminine. To sum up the linguistic repertoire at our disposal, there are male and female sexes to refer to objective biological differences and masculine and feminine genders to talk about cultural behavioural patterns.

BUILDING ON STEREOTYPES

What is masculine and what is feminine differs across cultures. Yet, generalizing there is a certain behavioural pattern which is attributed to men and a different one attributed to women. To some extent, you can call them stereotypes and frown upon such a simplication. But these are the founding criteria of yet another cultural dimension: masculinity vs femininity, which describes how ,hard’ or how ,soft’ a culture is.

If you were to describe your ideal working place, which of the following criteria would be of major importance to you? Please choose from the following:

A.

1. salary – a possibility to earn a good salary

2. recognition – being rewarded for one’s achievements

3. promotion – a  possibility of being promoted; a clear career path

4. challenge – a motivating and demanding job which gives a sense of personal satisfaction

B.

5. good relations with your supervisor (s)

6. cooperation – working in a team of people who like working with others

7. place of residence – a job which offers good and comfortable living conditions for the employee and their family

8. job security – security of employment, a stable job.

If you have chosen most of the criteria from group A, it means that you represent a masculine culture. If your ideal working criteria come from group B, you seem to come from a feminine culture. In his research on a group of IBM employees, Geert Hofstede discovered that men pay most attention to criteria 1 and 3, while women typically cherish criteria 5 and 6. Translating this pattern into a broader perspective, it is possible to analyse cultures according to their masculine and feminine factors. The masculinity side represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive. The countries representing high masculinity index include: Japan, Austria, Venezuela, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, Great Britain and Germany. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented. Countries typical of feminine values include: Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and Spain.

BUILDING MASCULINE/FEMININE SOCIETY

Gender roles are absorbed in a gradual yet consistent way. Starting from the family which provides the basic source of cultural programming, children absorb their inherent values, grender behaviour included. The relationship between the wife and the husband constitutes the first gender pattern. At the one extreme there are cultures which score high in terms of masculinity and power distance. In other words, these are ,unequal’ and ,tough’ cultures with a strong and powerful father and a submissive mother. Here, a popular term ,machismo’ is used to describe the role model of the father. At the other extreme, there are cultures which are ,equal’ and ,soft’. This means they are characteristic of low power distance and low masculinity index. In such cultures, both the mother and the father nurture personal relationships, the quality of family life and emotional well-being of family members. The wife and the husband share their housework in an unbiased and cooperative way.

At school, the gender roles get fossilized. In feminine cultures, an average student is a norm while in masculine ones each student tries to be the best. It is so because in masculine countries students are taught to be competitive and win. On the contrary, in feminine countries students consider competitiveness pathetic and value modesty and group solidarity. Students from masculine cultures aim at a brilliant career with promotion opportunities while their more feminine colleagues pay attention to personal interests and self-satisfaction when deciding on their career path.

MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY AT WORK

Equipped with their cultural programming, innocent graduates start their first job. They will have plenty of opportunities to activate their inherent feminine or masculine behavioural patterns. In masculine cultures, conflicts at work are resolved via confrontation according to the maxim Let the best win. The working ethos is very strong and people tend to think that they live in order to work. Employees are highly competitive and get adequate recognition for their achievements. In feminine cultures, negotiations and mutual concessions are the best ways to resolve conflicts. Hence, trade unions or any other forms of employees’ self-representation are present and consulted with. People believe they work in order to live. When dealing with their co-workers, employees are cooperative and modest. The employer tends to reward their staff equally, according to individual needs, not achievements. Interestingly, in masculine cultures men are expected to make progress in their career. Masculine professional success is taken for granted, while women can decide for themselves if they want to embark on a competitive career path. In feminine cultures, on the other hand, there is no such discrepancy in terms of work ambitions. This means that in masculine countries men have more masculine traits than women while in feminine cultures both men and women are equally feminine in their work attitudes. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine).

Where is Poland on this scale? According to Hofstede, Poland with its index of 64/100 is a masculine society. This means that we tend to believe that we live in order to work and emphasise competition, performance and assertiveness at work. Yet, our masculinity is not as strong as e.g. Japan’s so there is some chance of mutual understanding when working with colleagues from feminine countries.

CLASSICAL MISINTERPRETATIONS

Being able to differentiate between masculine and feminine features of cultures, let’s try to explain the source of miscommunication in the following situation. A young Dutch engineer decided to apply for the post of a junior manager in an American company based in Europe. He submitted a cover letter together with a brief CV listing his educational background (university diploma with good notes), work experience (quite rich) and personal interests (quite unique). To his surprise, during the interview, most questions concentrated on his experience in designing tools, especially the ones produced by the company in question. The English terminology used by the interviewer was incomprehensible to the interviewee, who believed there was no point in asking about things he would be able to learn in the new job. He was prepared to answer questions focusing on his education and past work experience. But such were only few. To cut the long story short, the company turned him down, leaving him puzzled, perplexed and … jobless. The source of this miscommunication lies in totally different attitudes of the Dutch (feminine) and the American (masculine) culture. American candidates treat job recruitment process as a true competition. Their boast of their qualifications and achievements in their CVs, at times promising things which will be almost impossible to deliver, e.g. learning the local language in three months. The American employer from our story had been expecting such an „overdone” CV. Instead, he got a brief selection of university and work dates with volunteer work highlighted, which he interpreted as not good enough. The Dutch employee, on the other hand, had been taught to prepare a true yet modest picture of oneself. He expected further questions to elaborate on his skills and qualifications but these did not come. In his opinion, the employer should have been interested in his work experience and qualifications instead of focusing on his future skills. In the end, a good candidate did not get a job because the prospective employee misread his communication.

A personal piece of advice: it is worth being more feminine because the emphasis on cooperation helps to understand other people And how feminine/masculine are you?

GLOSSARY:

divisive (adj.) – sporny

juxtapose (v.) – zestawić, porównać

nourish (v.) – wspierać, żywić

male (adj.) – samczy, o człowieku: męski

female (adj.) – samiczy, o człowieku: kobiecy

gender (n.) – płeć (rozumiana kulturowo i społecznie)

masculine (adj.) – męski

feminine (adj.) – kobiecy

frown upon (v.) – wyrazić swoją dezaprobatę

career path (n.) – ścieżka kariery

recognition (n.) – uznanie

deviate (from) (v.) – odbiegać od

submissive (adj.) – uległy

nurture (v.) – pielęgnować

pathetic (adj.) – żałosny

modesty (adj.) – skromność

puzzled (adj.) – zdziwiony

perplexed (adj.) – wprawiony w osłupienie

boast of – chwalić się

TASK

AFTER READING THE ARTICLE CLASSIFY THE FOLLOWING ATTITUDES AS EITHER MASCULINE (M) OR FEMININE (F). GOOD LUCK!

1. Managers should be decisive and assertive.

2. The major driving factors at work are competitiveness and challenges.

3. Both parents take care of material and emotional issues in a family.

4. One should be modest and humble.

5. We live in order to work.

6. A child is expected to achieve average grades at school.

7. Conflict are resolved by fighting them out.

8. Personal relationships and friendships are the most important.

9. One sympathises with the strong ones.

10. An intuitive and mediating managerial style is appreciated.

1. M, 2. M, 3. F, 4. F, 5. M, 6. F, 7. M, 8. F, 9. M, 10. F

LEKCJA 6

DIFFERENT IS DANGEROUS – ABOUT UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE IN CULTURES
INNE OZNACZA NIEBEZPIECZNE – O UNIKANIU NIEPEWNOŚCI W KULTURACH

W szóstej lekcji postaramy się oswoić temat niepewności. Pokażemy, że zachowawczość lub chęć podejmowania ryzyka są uwarunkowane kulturowo, a poziom odczuwanego stresu u dorosłego zależy od tego, czy nasi rodzice pozwalali nam się bawić brudnymi zabawkami w piaskownicy. Menedżerowie dowiedzą się, jak pogodzić chęć tworzenia i przestrzegania przepisów z gotowością działania bez zbędnych formalności. A wszystko to przy okazji ćwiczenia strategii słowotwórczych.

FRANCISCUS OF ASSISI AND CORPORATE MEETING CODES

People have always tried to think up new rules that they could later learn to avoid. It seems to be true at different times and in different cultures.

,Franciscus of Assisi heard moaning in the night and found a monk who was starving. He didn’t want to eat because he was determined to fast. But his body was collapsing and he went too far. Franciscus urged him to eat but the monk said „No, I want to persist”.

Then, Franciscus sat down in the moonlight and started to eat though he wasn’t hungry. He said: „We honour God by fasting but also by staying healthy. How can we serve him if we are too weak to stand on our legs? Tonight, I honour and serve him by eating.” And he ate some more. Finally, the monk joined him and started eating.’

And on a similar note but in different times:

,A new employee has organised a meeting at 10:00 AM. He arrives on the dot and he opens the door and... another meeting is still going on. The employee reminds the people inside that it is 10:00 AM and one man says: „yes, we know but it’s not still 10:10 AM!”

In terms of cultural beahaviour, Franciscus of Assisi can be described as flexible and innovative, unlike the new employee, who wasn’t familiar with the unwritten rule that meetings do not start on time and a 10 minute delay is universally accepted.

These two anecdotes describe how people approach situations, which are novel and surprising. Some people feel comfortable in unknown conditions and can adapt easily, while others need a set of rules in order to acclimitise to new situations. The same can be said about cultures. There are cultures, which maintain rigid codes and laws and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Their members feel uncomfortable in new situations and thus can be said to exhibit ,high uncertainty avoidance’. At the other extreme, there are cultures whose members feel quite comfortable with novelty and change. These are ,low uncertainty avoidance’ cultures.

READINESS TO TAKE RISK

In practical terms, uncertainty avoidance deals with approaching risk. If you belong to the group that needs fixed rules to proceed, it means that your uncertainty avoidance is high. If, on the other hand, you prefer to let things happen and see how the situation is going to develop in practice, your uncertainty avoidance is low.

In more philosophical terms, uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man’s search for ,the Truth’. It shows to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimise the possibility of such situations by adopting strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level with a belief in the absolute ,Truth’; ,there can only be one Truth and we have it’.

UNCOVERING UNCERTAINTY

It is believed that researchers first came up with the idea of uncertainty avoidance when they asked how people perceive and rate stress at work. Although stress seems to be an inherent part of professional life, respondents’ answers appeared to show a certain pattern, depending on their country of origin. Funnily enough, British employees always exhibited a lower level of stress when compared with their German counterparts, regardless of the job status and responsibilities. The study showed that a German cleaning lady experienced more stress at work than a British manager.

The key questions asked when studying the dimension of uncertainty avoidance dealt with:

– The estimation of the level of stress at work

– The approach towards rules at work; should they be unconditionally observed even if their breach could be profitable for the company?

– The willingness of the employee to stay in one job:

a) not more than two years

b) between two and five years

c) more than five years

d) until retirement.

When analysed globally, the answers to these questions help us to understand the general idea of avoiding new and potentially risky situations. An employee who is prone to stress is believed to observe the rules and will not risk potential ambiguity resulting from an unauthorised change of rules. Similarly, they will not be tempted by new job offers, unless forced to look for a new job, because the change of workplace will result in plenty of new and dangerous situations. Countries typical of high uncertainty avoidance include: Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Japan, Poland, Peru, France and Spain. In these cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, innovation may be resisted, security is an important element in individual motivation.

At the other extreme, there are cultures, which score low in terms of uncertainty avoidance. These are: Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Hong Kong and Great Britain. Adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situation and pragmatism is a fact of life. People do not need a lot of structure and predictability in their work life. Plans can change overnight, new things pop up and people seem to be fine with it. It is a natural part of their work life. What is more, curiosity is natural and is encouraged from a very young age. On a practical level, at the workplace low uncertainty avoidance is also reflected in the fact that people admit that they are in doubt or do not know something. It is ok to say „I do not know” and employees are comfortable in ambiguous situations in the workplace.

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE TRAITS

In general, the difference in the degree of avoiding uncertainty depends upon various socio-economic and socio-religious factors. Countries with a high uncertainty avoidance index appear to show certain similar characteristics:

– Countries who have a long history rank higher on the uncertainty avoidance scale.

– The population of the country is homogeneous.

– New ideas are not encouraged and instead, sticking to the structure is preferred.

– Citizens are cynical of their nation.

– Belief in superstitions and luck is higher.

Looking at countries where citizens are more likely to take risks, the following traits apply:

– These countries have been formed recently or have gained independence recently.

– The population consists of multicultural and multilingual people.

– Risk taking ability is valued and is seen as a quality of successful entrepreneurs.

BUILDING (UN) CERTAINTY

As with previous dimensions, all cultural patterns are first absorbed in the family. A small child is taught what is good, and what is bad, what is dirty and what is clean and what is dangerous and what is safe. The idea of ,dirtiness’ seems, however, to be culture-bound. Children are taught to classify what is dirty and what is dangerous, starting from their playground and immediate environment. Interestingly, Italian nannies tend to prevent children from going into some places and touching certain objects because they are dirty and dangerous, while American parents or grandparents will not mind letting their children do so because they see no dirt or danger in it. The reason for this lies in the fact that Italy has uncertainty avoidance index of 75, while the USA scores 46.

The basic classification is later translated into more complex ideas. At school, students from high uncertainty avoidance cultures expect the teacher to know answers to all the questions and have the knowledge to be transmitted in a difficult and highly scientific way. In low uncertainty avoidance cultures, on the other hand, teachers are allowed not to know everything and encourage unorthodox solutions and ideas.

In the professional life, work is the basic factor contributing to the feeling of certainty. Thus, high uncertainty avoidance cultures exhibit the internal need to be professionally occupied and value punctuality and precision. Their opposites, low uncertainty avoidance cultures, do not condemn inactivity and do not pay that much attention to punctuality and details. The most visible difference lies in the attitude towards written rules and regulations, which are treated as indispensable in high uncertainty avoidance cultures, while the low uncertainty avoidance countries try to minimalise them as much as possible. Maybe this could be the answer – at least to some extent – why Great Britain has no single constitutional document, but an uncodified, unwritten constitution in form of many written and unwritten sources?

LOOKING AHEAD

The approach towards risk and new situations has a major influence on people’s outlook on the future. High uncertainty avoidance cultures are sceptical of the future in general and dislike changes and innovations. They are not interested in seeing what the future will hold for them. They would rather stay where they are. On the contrary, low uncertainty avoidance cultures are curious about the future. They see it in bright colours, envisaging positive changes and innovations.

On a final note, these unconscious attitudes are reflected in the language we speak. In English ,curiosity killed the cat’, in Polish it ,takes you to hell and is the first step to condemnation’. Does it mean that our uncertainty avoidance changes when we speak a foreign language? This is food for thought…

GLOSSARY:

ambiguous – dwuznaczny, niejasny

ambiguity – dwuznaczność, niejasność

breach – naruszenie

condemn – potępiać

condemnation – potępienie

curiosity killed the cat – ciekawość to pierwszy stopień do piekła

homogenous – jednolity, jednorodny

inactivity – bezczynność

indispensable – niezbędny

measures – środki

pop up – pojawiać się

prone to – narażony na

superstitions – przesądy, zabobony

tempt – kusić

uncertainty avoidance – unikanie niepewności

uncoditionally observed – bezwarunkowo przestrzegane

unorthodox – niekonwencjonalny

what the future will hold – co przyniesie przyszłość

willingness – chęć, gotowość

TASK

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES WITH THE RIGHT FORM OF THE WORDS GIVEN IN BRACKETS:

1. Her ____________views tend to attract controversy. (ORTHODOX)

2. The company accused him of ___________ his contract. (BREACH)

3. His role in the affair is ________. It may endanger his public function. (AMBIGUITY)

4. Don’t suddenly take up violent exercise after years of ___________. (ACTIVE)

5. I’m absolutely ______ that I’ve locked the door. (UNCERTAINTY)

6. Price seems to play an enormous role in people’s _________ to reduce their driving behaviour. (WILLING)

7. There was widespread international ______________ of the bombing. (CONDEMN)

8. I opened the packet just to satisfy my ___________ .(CURIOUS)

1. unorthodox 2. breaching 3. ambiguous 4. inactivity 5. certain 6. willingness 7. condemnation 8. curiosity

LEKCJA 7

GRATIFICATION FOR THE (IM) PATIENT?
GRATYFIKACJA DLA (NIE)CIERPLIWYCH?

Dzięki siódmej lekcji przekonamy się, że kultury można podzielić na mniej i bardziej cierpliwe. Oczekiwanie na obiecaną gratyfikację wydaje się być uwarunkowane kulturowo. W praktyce może oznaczać to skłonność do oszczędzania bądź rozrzutności. Menedżerowie dowiedzą się, że efektywne motywowanie pracowników zależy od ich kulturowego „zaprogramowania” na szybkie otrzymanie nagrody. Podobnie, powodzenie negocjacji jest uwarunkowane podświadomym oczekiwaniem na nagrodę, która w przypadku różnych kultur może być bardziej lub mniej oddalona w czasie. Nie każda nagroda jest nagrodą właściwą. Dobrze o tym wiedzieć, rozdzielając dobra w środowisku wielokulturowym.

After years of scrimping and saving, a husband told his wife the good news: „Honey, we’ve finally got enough money to buy what we started saving for in 1979.” „You mean a brand-new Cadillac?” she asked eagerly. „No,” said the husband, „a 1979 Cadillac.”

The husband was persistent enough to be able to save the whole sum needed to buy a car of his dreams. Unfortunately, with the automotive industry progressing so fast and inflation working against the real value of his savings, the car of his dreams became a faded reminiscence of the desired model. Any piece of advice? He should have bought a cheaper car. Or he should have taken a loan to buy the car, provided he could have afforded monthly installments.

The joke quoted above seems to be mocking the value of unconditional persistence which makes one follow their original decisions despite changing circumstances. Not only is there no gratification at the end of the rainbow but you also see that someone took the pot of gold long ago and has made the best of it.

The story illustrates another cultural dimension: short vs. long-time orientation. In other words, it describes societies’ time horizon. Long term-oriented societies attach more importance to the future. They foster pragmatic values oriented towards rewards, including persistence, saving and capacity for adaptation. In short term oriented societies, values promoted are related to the past and the present, including steadiness, respect for tradition, preservation of one’s face, and fulfilling social obligations. Similarly to the previous dimensions discussed, the short vs. long-time orientation has also been researched by a Dutch social psychologist and anthropologist, Geert Hofstede.

THE POT OF GOLD

Apparently, the dimension of short vs. long time orientation seems to go beyond the time perspective. To put it in a nutshell, it is concerned with the idea of gratification, the pot of gold, which is to be found at the end of the rainbow; the reward can be obtained sooner or later.

The difference in the readiness to wait can be clearly and poignantly visible nowadays in a time of crisis. During one conference of the G20 countries, Americans brought up a proposal to deal with the economic crisis by printing money, believing that this will stimulate consumption and demand for goods on the market and bring the economy back on the right track. The Chinese and some Europeans, on the other hand, proposed a saving plan. The Americans wanted people to spend more (immediate gratification), while the Chinese and Europeans wanted people to save more (prolonged gratification). This is a clear difference in time orientation.

CONFUCIAN WORK DYNAMISM

Short vs. long time orientation or the fifth dimension, as it is called and referred to in Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, was actually triggered by Michel Bond, who based his research on a questionnaire developed with the help of Chinese employees and managers, with a clear Chinese culture bias. The survey was then conducted among students from 23 countries. It included values from the teaching of Confucius, which in practical terms can be divided according to the time perspective. The values typical of the Chinese philosophy include perseverance, ordering relationships by status, thrift and having a sense of shame. These can be put on the long-term orientation axis because they are orientated towards the future. At the other extreme, there are short-time values typically orientated towards past and present: personal steadiness and stability, protecting your face and reciprocation of greetings, favours and gifts. The time orientation refers to the time needed to obtain gratification. In other words, how long should one walk before one finds their pot of gold?

The results of the study have shown that high long-term orientation scores are typically found in East Asia, with China having 118, Hong Kong 96 and Japan 88. They are moderate in Eastern and Western Europe, and low in the Anglo countries, the Muslim world, Africa and in Latin America. Interestingly, the five Eastern economic dragons (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore) are in the top 10. Also, the index across all 23 countries strongly correlated with the economic growth data published by the World Bank for the period between 1965 and 1987 (which covers the time the survey was given).

TOP INDUCEMENTS

Cultures demonstrating a short-term orientation seem to be more concerned with the past and present and tend to focus their efforts and beliefs on matters related to the short-term, while cultures demonstrating a long-term time orientation are more concerned with the future and focus their efforts on future orientated goals.

Knowing about a person’s cultural time orientation – whether they’re short-term orientated or long-term orientated – is vital because it constitutes a decisive factor in motivation. Organizations and managers who know the time orientation of their employees will be able to fashion appropriate motivating incentives that align with their orientations, such as a bonus – a short-term incentive – or an additional contribution to an employee’s retirement fund, which is a long-term orientated incentive. To sum up, if you want to reward or motivate an employee, you should do so by using means appropriate to individual needs and expectations.

Another crucial field, where a person’s cultural time orientation plays a major role, are negotiations. If you recall the very basic idea of running negotiations; it all comes down to trading. And if you want to be a successful and effective trader, you need to have assets, which will be perceived as valuable by your partner to trade them for what you want to get in exchange. Imagine that you and your company are just about to enter into negotiations with a foreign company about a joint venture in the foreign company’s country. Your company comes from a culture with short-term orientation, while the foreign company stems from a country with long-term orientation. You come to the table armed with both short-term and long-term inducements to convince the foreign company to pursue the joint venture. If you are a seasoned negotiator with experience across cultures, you know you must focus your discussion and argument for the joint venture on the long-term benefits for the foreign company. If you relied primarily on the short-term inducements, the company may not see much value in the joint venture and refuse to proceed.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR?

Countries in Asia score the highest in terms of long-term orientation. Western countries are typical of short-term orientation. Where is Poland on this map? According to Hofstede, Poland scores 32, making it a short-term orientation culture. As other societies with a short-term orientation Poland ,exhibits great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save, strong social pressure to ,keep up with the Joneses’, and impatience for achieving quick results’.

KEY TAKEAWAY

It may look like a hackneyed truth, but these two different orientations, short-term and long-term, are neither good nor bad. They are simply different orientations towards life. Take it or leave. As a manager you are bound to take it.

GLOSSARY:

scrimp and save – ciułać

persistent – wytrwały

faded reminiscence – wyblakłe wspomnienie

installments – raty

persistence/perseverance – wytrwałość

thrift – gospodarność

reciprocation – odwzajemnienie

inducement – motywacja, zachęta

incentive – bodziec

align (with) – pokrywać się z

assets – atuty, środki

seasoned negotiator – doświadczony negocjator

propensity – tendencja, skłonność

hackneyed – oklepany, wyświechtany

TASK

CATEGORISE THE FOLLOWING TRAITS APPROPRIATELY UNDER LONG-TERM ORIENTATED CULTURE (LTO) OR SHORT-TERM ORIENTATED CULTURE (STO):

a. emphasis on persistence

b. relationships ordered by status

c. status not a major issue in relationships

d. personal steadiness and stability important

e. invest in mutual funds

f. personal adaptability important

g. be thrifty, save

h. emphasis on quick results

i. spend

j. invest in real estate

LTO: a, b, f, g, j

STO: c, d, e, h, i

LEKCJA 8

YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT? – INDULGENCE AND RESTRAINT IN CULTURES
NIE MOŻNA MIEĆ WSZYSTKIEGO? – O POBŁAŻANIU I UMIARZE W KULTURZE

W ósmym odcinku spróbujemy przybliżyć temat poczucia szczęścia w różnych kulturach. Pokażemy, że przyzwolenie na bycie szczęśliwym jest uwarunkowane kulturowo. Folgowanie swoim potrzebom i przyjemnościom czy umiar w nadziei na większy zysk – to nie tylko dylemat jednostki, lecz przede wszystkim różnica kulturowa.

At the very beginning I am afraid I need to warn you. The topic is hopeless. It is extremely subjective. There is no way I am going to be able to cover it thoroughly. So I decided not to be objective. It is going to be a light-hearted article with some marketing hints. There is no other way I would dare to tackle it – one of the greatest issues in our lives: HAPPINESS.

Having warned you properly, I will start with a politically incorrect joke, which illustrates various ideas of happiness as perceived by various members of national cultures.

An Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Russian were once discussing the meaning of true happiness.

The Englishman said, „True happiness, my friends, is rising early on a frosty autumn morning, getting on top of a good horse, and galloping off behind the hounds in pursuit of the fox. A hard ride over fields and fences and rivulets until the fox is brought down. A ride back with the ears and the tail and then sitting before a roaring fire with a glass of good port. Ah, that is true happiness.”

The Frenchman said, „That is not true happiness. That is merely animal pleasure. True happiness is meeting with the love of your life, having an intimate meal in a topnotch restaurant with champagne, and then retiring to a wonderful hotel room, where you can make frantic and impassioned love all night long. Ah, that is true happiness.”

The Russian said, „That is not true happiness. That is merely a good time. True happiness comes when you are sitting in your apartment after a hard day at the factory, your little Ivan on your knee, and reading your copy of ‚Pravda’. There comes a knock at the door. Three men in ill-fitting brown suits come storming in and say, ‚Stepan Stepanovich?’ and you say, ‚He lives in the room upstairs.’ Ah, that is true happiness”.

AIMING AT THE DEFINITION OF HAPPINESS

In order to illustrate how vague the actual meaning of happiness seems to be, let me quote merely two definitions of happiness that I have randomly ,googled’:

„Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude”.

Denis Waitley (an American motivational speaker and writer, consultant and best-selling author)

„Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”.

Aristotle

These two definitions concentrate on different aspects of human existence, making the author’s figure central to the definition. And there are as many definitions of happiness as the people trying to define it. Yet, it is perfectly clear for everybody what they need to define. It is just the result that differs.

READINESS TO BE HAPPY AS AN OBJECTIVE CRITERION

Being such a vague and subjective term, happiness has been used in cultural studies to single out the latest dimension in the theory of cross-cultural communication by Geert Hofstede. It is referred to as Indulgence vs. Restraint and putting it in a nutshell, it basically deals with the idea of happiness. Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun and basically feeling happy. Restraint stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms, postponing the moment of happiness until one is sure it is deserved.

In terms of geographical patterns, indulgence tends to prevail in South and North America, in Western Europe and in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Restraint prevails in Eastern Europe, Asia, and in the Muslim world.

WHAT ARE INDULGENT/RESTRAINED CULTURES?

The fundamental difference between indulgent and restrained cultures is the number of people declaring themselves very happy. Naturally, indulgent cultures will have a higher percentage of such people while restrained cultures will boast of only few such optimists.

What is more, members of indulgent societies generally believe that they are able to control their life, whereas restrained societies’ members exhibit a perception of helplessness, believing that what happens to them is not their own doing.

Indulgent societies see freedom of speech as something vital. Similarly, leisure and sports activities play an important role in people’s lives. In restrained cultures, freedom of speech is not a primary concern. People are not very involved in sports and leisure activities and moreover, these are not of any major importance. Interestingly, in indulgent societies there are more obese people than in restrained societies, which is a direct result of self-indulgence in terms of eating habits. On a similar note, restrained cultures are characterized by stricter sexual norms. These are definitely more lenient in indulgent cultures.

Last but not least, indulgent societies are not primarily concerned with maintaining order, while restrained ones definitely are, which manifests itself, for example, in a high number of police officers.

INDULGENCE AND RESTRAINT BUSINESS

To summarise the underlying difference between indulgent and restrained cultures, it generally comes down to the degree to which you are free to have fun and enjoy life through gratifying your natural drives (like food, sex, leisure activities, etc.). Indulgent cultures (such as Mexico and the USA) tend to be happier, more optimistic and extrovert. They place a high value on friendship, leisure time and health, and believe that it is important to have control over your own life. Restrained cultures (such as Egypt, Poland, Romania or Bulgaria), on the other hand, tend to take a more frugal and cynical outlook, favouring moral discipline and believing that gratification should be repressed. These are often very religious cultures, formed of tightly-knit communities.

Since the dimension of indulgence vs. restraint deals with people’s everyday needs and activities, a deeper analysis of people’s values and expectations could be extremely profitable for market research and advertising.

When communicating with customers from indulgent cultures, you should, in general, promote open and objective discussion, in particular by:

– Making any interaction fun

– Using and encouraging user-generated content

– Providing a platform for honest discussion

– Reflecting loose and flexible gender roles by using a range of role models

In restrained cultures, successful business communication with customers is based in particular on:

– Frugality and showing how the business can save money

– Serving the community

– Strict and traditional gender roles

– Structured and predictable ways of presenting information on websites, hoardings etc.

FORMAL REGISTER OF COMMUNICATION

Bearing in mind the tips above, it seems t be clear that the same product will be presented and advertised differently, depending how indulgent or restrained a market is. A permissive father working as a freelance writer could be an attractive role model to be used in advertising in indulgent societies. Yet, in restrained cultures, it will probably be a major waste of an advertising budget. And this shows that at the end of the day even cultural differences are easily translated into budget figures.

GLOSSARY:

vague – mglisty, niejasny

indulgence – pobłażanie

restraint – umiar

gratification – gratyfikacja, nagroda

drives – popędy

to suppress – hamować, tłumić

to prevail – dominować, panować

indulgent – pobłażliwy

restrained – powściągliwy, tłumiony

lenient – pobłażliwy

frugal – skromny, oszczędny

tightly-knit communities – społeczności o bliskich więzach

gender role – rola związana z płcią (męska lub kobieca)

role model – wzorzec kulturowy

frugality – oszczędność

hoarding – billboard

permissive – pobłażliwy, liberalny

TASK

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD TO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES SO THAT THEY CONTAIN TRUE AND CORRECT INFORMATION:

a. „Happiness” is an extremely ……………… (vague/clear) idea whose real meaning is difficult to grasp.

b. Western societies seem to promote ……………… (lose/loose) role models.

c. American culture is typical of ……………… (suppressing/gratifying) human needs and drives.

d. (Frugality/Gratification) ……………… is highly appreciated in restrained cultures.

e. Tightly-knit communities are more likely to represent the ……………… (restrained/indulgent) cultural model.

f. (Restrained/Restraint) ……………… characterises societies that regulate gratification of needs by strict social norms.

g. A ……………… (permissive/strict) society is not primarily concerned with maintaining public order.

h. Indulgent cultures tend to promote more ……………… (lenient/frugal) sexual norms.

a. vague, b. loose, c. gratifying, d. frugality, e. restrained, f. restraint, g. permissive, h. lenient

LEKCJA 9

A DOOMED SEARCH FOR UNIVERSAL LAWS
POSZUKIWANIE UNIWERSALNYCH PRAW SKAZANE NA PORAŻKĘ

W dziewiątej lekcji zobaczymy, jak różne kultury odmiennie podchodzą do przestrzegania przepisów. Pokażemy, że prawo, nawet jasno i konkretnie sformułowane, może być odmiennie interpretowane lub wręcz świadomie łamane przez przedstawicieli niektórych kultur. Odmienne zapatrywania na przepisy i regulacje rodzą kolejną różnicę kulturową. Widać ją zarówno przy akceptowaniu niestosownego zachowania w pracy, jak i przechodzeniu przez pasy na czerwonym świetle. Istnieją kultury, które przestrzegają prawa restrykcyjnie, i takie, które wyjątków popartych mocnymi argumentami mają bardzo wiele.

ARE YOU A UNIVERSALIST OR A PARTICULARIST?

Consider for a moment this dilemma: You are a passenger in a car driven by a close friend, and your friend’s car hits a pedestrian. You know that your friend was going at least eighty-five kilometres an hour in an area where the maximum speed was fifty kilometres an hour. There are no witnesses.

Your friend’s lawyer says that if you testify under oath that the speed was only fifty kilometres an hour, then you would save your friend from any serious consequences. What would you do? Would you lie to protect your friend? What right does your friend have to expect your help? On the other hand what are your obligations to society to uphold the law?

You can say that this is a matter of following your heart rather than your head or the other way round. In a broader perspective, this dilemma illustrates the cultural difference in a readiness to adhere to rules and laws. This cultural dimension has gained visibility in the works of Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden Turner. They grouped national cultures across the continuum from a ,universalist’, rule-based, culture on one side to a ,particularist’ or relationship-based culture on the other.

Going back to the theoretical dilemma with the car and the pedestrian. This question was used in research involving 15, 000 managers from 28 countries. Trompenaars and Hampned Turner discovered that North Americans and North Europeans were predominantly universalist in their responses, which also included the reply to the car and pedestrian question. In other words, North American and North Europeans would not feel obliged to testify something, which was not true, even at the cost of their friend’s being penalized. They would definitely put the law first. Yet, only 70 per cent of the French or Japanese would so unconditionally adhere to the law, which means that almost one third of society would be ready to lie if this was to save their friend’s future. At the other extreme, there are particularist Asian and South American countries, where obligations resulting from relationships override general laws. In Venezuela, for instance two thirds would lie to save their friend.

WHAT DOES THIS SHOW?

The universalist approach can be briefly defined in one sentence: What is good and right can be defined and ALWAYS applies. In practical terms, this means that rules and laws are developed to be used, and obeyed by citizens in almost every aspect of their lives. This is visible in general trust in courts. The more universalist a country is, the greater is the need to protect the truth. Typically, lawyers are involved to draft, check and approve numerous regulations. Contracts are detailed and thorough, taking into account all possible factors and changes. Companies do not refrain from going to court to mediate conflicts. Big businesses definitely tend to prevail in universalist ountries. Yet, the universalist approach is also visible in everyday situations when we take for example crossing the street at the red light. In a very rule-based society, like the U.S., you will be frowned upon even if there is no traffic. It tends to imply equality in the sense that all persons, or citizens, falling under the rule should be treated the same.

In particularist societies, on the other hand, far greater attention is given to the obligations resulting from relationships and unique circumstances. Instead of assuming that one good route must always be followed, the particularist reasoning is that friendship has special obligations and hence may come first. Less attention is given to abstract codes in society. Particularist countries think that the relationship is more important than the contract and that a good deal requires no written contract – specific people and a specific situation matter more than the universal rules.

Interestingly, there is a correlation between either universalism or particularism and the dominant religion in a given country. Further research was conducted in the work environment aimed at analyzing differences between European countries. The following story was presented to managers who were asked to choose their answer considering the three options given:

‘You are a manager of a big company’s department. You are aware that one of your employees who has personal problems is constantly delayed at work. What right does your employee to expect his fellow workers to protect him from you?’

A. He has a definite right to expect his fellow workers to cover for him.

B. He has some right to expect his fellow workers to cover for him.

C. He has no right to expect his fellow workers to cover for him.

The percentage of C answers among the managers from different European countries is as follows:

Germany 94

Sweden 91

UK 84

Belgium 57

France 43

The study above suggests that universalists are more common in Protestant countries (Germany, Sweden). Predominantly Catholic countries tend to be more particularist (France, Belgium).

To sum up, the key differences between the universalist and the particularist approaches can be highlighted across the following discrepancies:

Universalist

Particularist

■ Focus is more on rules than relationships.

■ Legal contracts are readily drawn up.

■ A trustworthy person is the one who honors his or her word or contract.

■ There is only one truth or reality, which has been agreed to.

■ A deal is a deal.

■ Focus is more on relationships than on rules.

■ Legal contracts are readily modified.

■ A trustworthy person is the one who honors changing mutualities.

■ There are several perspectives on reality relative to each participant.

■ Relationships evolve.

FOR MANAGERS

Most of the management theory taught and applied in the world has come from the Anglo-American culture, the one that most of the founders of the theory belong to. Anglo-American culture is a highly universalist culture, one that assumes that the rules that work for it, will work universally. And that might be a dangerous illusion.

It is not that difficult to imagine potential conflicts resulting from the discrepancies in attitudes to business, contracts and deals between representatives of universalist and particularist cultures. Let’s take China and Canada, which are quite far apart on this continuum. Canadian business practices usually revolve around a quick relationship building activity and then promptly move on to getting down to business. In Canada, a business relationship can be built quickly and once initial social ,rites’ (a couple of beers or a round of golf) are out of the way, most Canadian business people are happy to start drafting contracts. Once a contract is signed, it is a deal.

Doing business in China is totally different. Contracts should be viewed as a starting point and the beginning of a long and happy relationship. If circumstances change, the Chinese would like to think that, based on the relationship built over the last few years, you would modify the contract so as not to have the Chinese incur all the burden of changing circumstances. After all, in a particularist culture, rules are guiding principles, but must be flexible in the face of changing circumstances.

RECONCILIATION?

Is it possible to reconcile the two attitudes? Forever, probably not. But for the

purpose of doing business at a given moment with a particular group of people, provided some cultural awareness is involved – definitely YES.

I suggest you try adopting central guidelines with local adaptation and discretion:

To be more universalist

Be prepared for „rational”, „professional” arguments and presentations that push for your acquiescence

Do not take impersonal, „get down to business” attitudes as rude

To be more particularist

Be prepared for personal „meandering” or „irrelevancies” that do not seem to be going anywhere

Do not take personal, „get to know you” attitudes as small talk

The key message is to understand that whatever is referred to as ,normal’ and you believe it to be ,normal’ does not always look like the other party’s ,normal’. Understanding and accepting that ,normal’ business practices change around the globe, allows you to anticipate problems before they happen, saving your time and money. And this is what people around the globe generally look for.

GLOSSARY:

to uphold the law – stać na straży prawa

to adhere to rules – przestrzegać zasad

to testify – zeznawać

to override general laws – znosić ogólne prawa, być ważniejszym niż ogólne prawa

to refrain from – powstrzymywać się od czegoś

to be frowned upon – być nieakceptowanym

mutualities – wzajemności

to get down to business – zabrać się do interesów

social rites – społeczne rytuały

to draft a contract – naszkicować kontrakt

burden – ciężar, obciążenie, brzemię

to reconcile – pogodzić

discretion – własne uznanie, swoboda działania

irrelevancies – błahostki

TASK

MATCH THE VERBS FROM COLUMN A WITH THE NOUNS FROM COLUMN B AS THE COLLOCATE:

A

B

a. to get

1. to rules

b. to refrain

2. a contract

c. to override

3. two attitudes

d. to adhere

4. the law

e. to draft

5. down to business

f. to reconcile

6. existing laws

g. to uphold

7. from going to court

a. 5, b. 7, c. 6, d. 1, e. 2, f. 3, g. 4

LEKCJA 10

EMOTIONS UNDER CONTROL
EMOCJE POD KONTROLĄ

W lekcji dziesiątej przekonamy się, że kultury różnią się w sposobie wyrażania emocji, co pozwala je podzielić na „neutralne” i „emocjonalne”. Zobaczymy, że niezadowolenie lub entuzjazm może objawiać się odmiennie w zależności od konwencji wyrażania emocji w danej kulturze. Znaczenie mają także humor, ironia i niedopowiedzenia, które w niektórych społeczeństwach stanowią drogę ujścia dla niewypowiedzianych emocji. Każdy pracownik firmy międzynarodowej, w ramach kursu survivalu, powinien nauczyć się odkodowywać emocje zawarte w wypowiedziach, chociażby dlatego, żeby nie brać ironii za dobrą monetę.

ANOTHER MONDAY MORNING

It is Monday morning. You arrive late at work because of yet another unforeseen traffic jam, which you got stuck in on your way to work. In the office there is a terrible commotion reaching far beyond simple agitation, which can only forecast a long and busy day. Finally, hoping for mental detachment from your workmates buzzing around and shuffling papers, you sit down in front of your computer screen only to discover three urgent e-mails from your boss. One of them says that the meeting you are about to chair will start half an hour, which means that it has just started... Of course, you are angry and frustrated. How do you express these feelings? Do you shout, scowl and gesture vividly to let off steam? Or would you rather stay calm and restrain your body language, keeping your emotions suppressed and subdued? Depending on whether your culture is emotional or neutral, your answer will be very different.

EMOTIONS VS. REASON

In relationships between people, reason and emotion both play a role. Which of these dominates, will depend upon whether we are affective, that is we show our emotions easily, or whether we are emotionally neutral in our approach. Members of cultures, which are affectively neutral, do not express their feelings but keep them carefully controlled. In contrast, in cultures high in affectivity, people show their feelings plainly by laughing, smiling, grimacing, scowling and gesturing; they attempt to find immediate outlets for their feelings. It is crucial to bear in mind that neutral cultures are not necessarily cold or unfeeling, nor are they emotionally constipated or repressed. In fact, the amount of emotion we show is often the result of convention. The basic question is: „Do we display our emotions?” Neutral societies are characterized by NOT overtly revealing what one is thinking or feeling by cool and self-possessed conduct, lack of physical contact, gesturing and facial expressions, and monotone, oral delivery of presentations. The actual emotions can only be traced in accidental revelation of tension in face and posture. In contrast, affective societies are characterized by nonverbal and verbal display of thoughts and feelings, transparency and expressiveness in release of tensions, easy flow of emotions, vehemently and without inhibition. Last not least, affective cultures easily display heated and animated expressions and are fond of dramatic delivery of statements. The style of interacting is vivid, loud and full of ,big’ words. Clearly, the fact of belonging to a neutral or affective culture can play a major role when dealing with people of different cultural origins.

PRACTICAL SHORTCUTS

Interculturalsit, Fons Trompenaars classified countries on spectrum from ,neutral’ to ,affective’. The most neutral cultures include: Japan, Poland (!) and Austria. At the other extreme, there are France, Argentina, Russia, Spain and Italy.

In a nutshell, neutral cultures:

– Do not openly or directly show emotions and opinions and consider it inappropriate to exhibit emotions in certain situations.

– Value self-control, being calm and rational, and not going to emotional extremes.

– Can be viewed as cold or aloof.

– Discourage touching or excessive gestures and body language.

– May speak in monotone in formal conversations.

– Separate their emotions from the decision making process, and prefer to focus on logic.

Affective cultures, on the other hand:

– Express emotions more immediately, openly and passionately.

– Can be seen as being out of control and inconsistent.

– Have a wider range of facial expressions and physical gestures during conversation.

– Talk loudly when excited, and love the art of arguing and debate.

– Are more enthusiastic and spontaneous.

– Consider their emotions (intuitions) in their decision making process.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN AND SPEECH IS SILVER

Taking all these aspects into consideration, it is easy to imagine that there can be a variety of problems of communication across cultural boundaries, which arise from the differences between emotional and neutral approaches. Analysis of verbal communication patterns shows how they can result in different meanings perceived by emotional and neutral cultures. For instance, when talking to another person, an oriental language speaker would allow relatively longer silence between sentences, which is likely to be interpreted by western people as a failure to communicate. Another example is that oriental societies tend to have a much more monotonous tone of voice, which is a symbol of self-control and respect. To some western cultures, however, this monotonous pattern could be mistaken as a lack of interest in communicating. And it would definitely be understood as a sign of indifference by Latin societies whose ,exaggerated’ way of communicating shows that you have your heart in the matter. At the same time, the Latin ,ups’ and ,downs’ in the tone of the voice will be interpreted as not being serious by neutral countries. Clearly, it is not sheer coincidence that the Japanese say: „Only a dead fish has an open mouth” compared with the English saying: „Empty vessels make the most noise.”

BEWARE OF HUMOUR AND UNDERSTATEMENT

Humour can be a powerful weapon providing it is used skillfully. Affective and neutral cultures vary on the permissible use of humour. Depending on the intention, humour, irony and understatement can be used to obtain certain goals. Yet, the matter is so subtle that it is very easy to get the wrong end of the stick and look foolish. The British and Americans tend to start their workshops and presentations with an anecdote or cartoon, which is to make a joke about the main point to be covered. Once tried with a German audience, the practice turned out to be a complete failure. Instead of general amusement, there was a silence, nobody laughed. Still, there was a lot of laughing in the bar in the evening. The reason was simple – for Germans it was not permissible to laugh in a professional setting, among strangers.

The British seem to use humour to let off emotions dammed up behind the stiff upper lip. Similarly, they love understatement, which allows them to express emotionally-loaded content in a neutral way, making it look funny at the same time. If you happen to overhear the British speaking of being ,underwhelmed’ by somebody’s performance or regarding it with ,modified rapture’, this is a way of transforming negative emotions into laughter, but only for the insiders who can understand that you are winking at them.

For an employee in a neutral country it is crucial to get the message of the employer hidden in the polite question: „If you could see your way to kindly troubling yourself in a matter so minor, I would be in your debt”. In affective language, this translates as „Do it or else”.

RECONCILIATION

Overtly neutral and highly affective cultures tend to have problems doing business together. The ,Neutrals’ can be perceived as ice-cold and disinterested while ,Affectives’ may be seen as out of control and inconsistent. When such extremes meet, it is crucial to refrain from making judgments based on the emotions displayed or the lack of them. The key thing is to be able to interpret the seemingly opposite behaviours and look at the underlying values. Do not treat it as a kind of understatement: „Feel free to have a look at the advice below”:

For Affectives

For Neutrals

Put as much as you can on paper before a meeting.

When the affectives are expressing goodwill, respond warmly.

Lack of emotional tone does not mean that they are disinterested or bored, only that they do not like to show their hand.

The affectives’ enthusiasm, readiness to agree or vehement disagreement does not mean that they have made up their mind.

Be prepared for discussions focused on the object and not so much on you as persons.

Be prepared for discussions mostly focused on you as persons and not so much on the object being discussed.

GLOSSARY:

commotion (n.) – zamieszanie

agitation (n.) – pobudzenie, poruszenie

to buzz around (v.) – kręcić się, latać

to let off steam (v.) – dać ujście emocjom

to suppress (v.) – hamować,

subdued (adj.) – przytłumiony, powściągliwy

affective (adj.) – afektywny, emocjonalny

neutral (adj.) – neutralny

overtly (adv.) – otwarcie

overt (adj.) – otwarty, jawny

vehemently (adv.) – gwałtownie, zaciekle

inhibition (n.) – zahamowanie

inhibited (adj.) – powściągliwy, skrępowany, pełen zahamowań

aloof (adj.) – powściągliwy

permissible (adj.) – dopuszczalny

understatement (n.) – niedopo-wiedzenie

to dam up (v.) – powstrzymywać

to get the wrong end of the stick – źle coś zrozumieć

modified rapture – umiarkowane uniesienie

inconsistent (adj.) – niekonsekwentny

TASK

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES WITH ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEHAVIOUR:

1. She has always kept herself a______ from her colleagues at work and been considered an outsider.

2. The audience seemed a bit s______, clapping politely but without rapture after each song.

3. Despite v________ opposition, the Act became law.

4. The use of calculators during examinations is not p___________.

5. Why is the Ministry i________ in its approach a tax exemption issue? It is not logical why some entities should qualify for it and why some cannot.

6. Some people are i_______ about discussing sexual matters.

7. I’d like to remind you that any o_____ form of discrimination on the basis of sex, religion or political views is illegal.

8. I always tried to remain n_______ when they started arguing.

1. aloof 2. subdued 3. vehement 4. permissible 5. inconsistent 6. inhibited 7. overt 8. neutral

LEKCJA 11

THE CAPTAINS OF THEIR FATE
KOWALE SWOJEGO LOSU

W jedenastej lekcji zobaczymy, że w zależności od położenia na mapie ludzie różnią się pod względem orientacji swojego życiowego kompasu. Przedstawiciele kultur wewnątrzsterownych wierzą, że można poskromić środowisko i kształtować je według własnych potrzeb. W środowisku biznesowym przełoży się to na działania proaktywne i rozwojowe. Na przeciwległym biegunie plasują się kultury zewnątrzsterowne, które współgrają z otaczającym je środowiskiem. Przedstawiciele takich społeczeństw świetnie sprawdzają się w kontaktach z klientami i doskonale dostosowują się do ich potrzeb. Będąc menedżerem, warto zlokalizować punkt dowodzenia firmy, aby mieć pewność, że jest pod kontrolą.

Most of you are familiar with the Sony Walkman – the first small battery-powered tape player with headphones. Now rather obsolete, it revolutionized our music-listening habits in the late seventies and eighties. Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony, was the person who changed the perception of Japanese products by building an international company whose name is now associated with innovative and high-quality products around the world. In an interview in 1982, Akio Morita explained that he conceived the notion of the Walkman while he was searching for a way to enjoy music without disturbing others. This is in sharp contrast to the later marketing strategy and ,normal’ motivation for using a Walkman in northwest Europe and North America, where users choose the product to enjoy music wherever they are, without being disturbed by other people. This part of the history of the Sony Walkman illustrates two different approaches towards nature and the environment we live in.

WHERE IS THE POWER?

A. It is worthwhile trying to control important natural forces, such as the weather.

B. Nature should take its course and we just have to accept it the way it comes and do the best we can.

These two contradictory statements were presented to managers in a study that was to examine managers’ relation to nature. To make the pattern translate into the reality of business, the alternatives were more personally related:

A. What happens to me is my own doing.

B. Sometimes I feel that I do not have enough control over the directions my life is taking.

Statements A present the orientation that we can control nature and our environment to achieve goals. This means that the source of authority is within our head. Thanks to our personal judgment, decisions taken and choices made, we subdue and control the environment which surrounds us. In contrast, statements B illustrate the belief that we should not control the environment but go along with its laws and forces. Only then we can achieve our goals. The ,source of authority’ and information is in the ,outer world’.

Each pair of alternatives focuses on the difference between the inner-directed (statements A) and the outer-directed orientations (statements B). Our ancestors, who were forced to struggle for survival, being besieged by all kinds of natural elements such as the wind, floods, fire, cold, earthquakes, famine, pests and predators, had no other choice but to go along with the environment and make their lives totally dependant on external factors. Economic development has helped our predecessors to keep nature at bay and gradually cease the predominant fear that nature would overwhelm human existence. This has made the source of authority gradually shift from the outer world to the human internal decision making process.

Being understood as a set of external conditions, nature can have a variety of impacts on the way we do business. The study quoted above managed to differentiate between inner-directed and outer-directed societies. North America and Western Europe are mostly inner-directed; with the USA, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, France and Switzerland scoring the highest. This is in contrast to Asian and Arabic societies, which are predominantly outer-directed, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia being just a few examples. Former communist countries in Europe are also characteristic of outer-directedness and look for the source of authority in the external environment. To a major extent this can be due to communism, which has taken its toll on people’s mentality. Whether nature can be tamed or not, can be perceived differently by various societies. It can become a problem when these societies decide to do business together without prior knowledge of their respective differences.

A STRATEGY OR PHILOSOPHY OF BUSINESS?

Before we get down to business, could you please think of different kinds of sport, which originated in in Asian and Western societies? Western sports such as football or basketball seem to idealise the clash of the opposites. The interaction is based on open rivalry and high competitiveness. In Asian martial arts, on the other hand, the rivalry is given form, style and time to ripen. First you need to let yourself be directed by the force of the opponent, learn their ,ways’ in order to be able to use their power until they become a part of ,your nature’. As a result, over time, you can become a more formidable competitor.

Similarly, the same approaches are seen in management styles. Western businesses are bound to start with a mission statement. They will refuse to operate without an upfront business strategy – a plan coined in advance to wrest competitive advantage from other corporations. By taking all these precautions in military style, the organization is showing that it is determined to prevail in the environment despite all the odds that might appear to be against them. Quite differently, an Asian business, although also theoretically equipped with a mission statement and a business strategy, will focus on emergent strategies and give them recognition, status and formal sanction if they have proved to be valuable and successful. By the outer-directed process of adopting strategies initiated by and originating at the company’s grassroots, the organization is constantly adjusting its activities, being at the same time shaped by the environment.

MANAGERIAL PITFALLS

The stakes are high and pitfalls are many. Paradoxically, Western inner-directed managers seem to ,succeed’ in imposing their uniform procedures on outer-directed societies, where their mother company has sent them to work for a year or two in its subsidiary. Yet, the fact that the new rules are not debated openly does not necessarily mean that they will be followed. Outer-directed cultures do not like to confront things directly and verbalise their lack of agreement. They believe that if something is against nature, sooner or later it will fail.

A good example of a bad idea to implement a Western strategy into Asian business practice is the pay-for-performance programme. Initiated by the headquarters of a French company, it was to be copied in one of its subsidiaries in Indonesia. The programme assumed that each employee could enhance their performance, which was the sales of computers, by personally inducing greater effort and creativity. As a result the company would have greater sales and the employee would earn a substantial bonus. The Asian manager, who claimed that employees did not want to overload customers with things that they did not want, questioned this Western mechanism. Employees felt that it was not right to hurry people into buying things without letting them think over their decisions. Additionally, they thought it was not ethical to push customers into buying more than they should as it could have bad economic results for them and their families. Employees stressed, „Paying for performance does not change inevitable trends”. The mechanism of pay-for-performance was not consistent with the local values and norms and that was the reason why it did not work.

RECONCILIATION

Following an automotive metaphor, businesses should build in designs that combine flexibility and strength. Most companies are struggling to achieve balance between the technology/development push and the market pull. If they focus too much on the inner development, pushing the technology to its extreme, they could end up in a market niche with no clients. On the other hand, if the business just follows what their clients desire, letting itself be totally directed by their needs, it might not deliver fast enough and be at the customers’ mercy. To sum up, business leaders and managers need to reconcile inner- and outer-directedness and make use of the existing forces without contradicting them. This should bring the company not only safely but also in a good shape to its destination.

GLOSSARY:

obsolete (adj.) – przestarzały, zdezaktualizowany

subdue (v.) – podporządkować, poskromić

inner-directed (adj.) – wewnątrzsterowny

outer-directed (adj.) – zewnątrzsterowny

besiege (v.) – oblegać

famine (n.) – głód

pest (n.) – zaraza

predator (n.) – drapieżnik

keep sth/sb at bay – trzymać coś/kogoś na dystans

cease (v.) – zaprzestać, wstrzymywać

overwhelm (v.) – obezwładnić, przejąć kontrolę

take one’s toll – odcisnąć piętno

precaution (n.) – środek ostrożności

odds (n.) – przeciwności

pitfall (n.) – pułapka, potrzask

inevitable (adj.) – nieuchronny, nie do uniknięcia

be at sb’s mercy – być na czyjejś łasce

TASK

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES WITH THE RIGHT WORD. PAY ATTENTION TO THE CORRECT COLLOCATION:

1. Before the trip I took the __________________ of insuring my camera. It can get stolen or lost easily.

2. The company invested a lot in the computer hardware that have quickly become ___________. It’s completely useless now and needs to be substituted by new models.

3. The secretary felt she was ________ by e-mails and reports to write and was not able to deal with all of them.

4. Looking at the players and their poor performance, it is _____________ that we will lose the game today.

5. A thick wall was installed to ________ the noise at bay.

6. After the boat’s motor failed, they were at the __________ of the weather.

7. Due to growing environmental concerns, the EU is working on the law to ________ using plastic expandable bags.

8. He gave me advice on how to avoid the __________ associated with the purchase of a used car.

1. ASC 2. ACH 3. ASC 4. ASC 5. ACH 6. ACH 7. ASC 8. ACH

LEKCJA 12

WHO ARE YOU? OR WHAT DO YOU DO?
KIM JESTEŚ? VS. CO ROBISZ?

W ostatniej lekcji rozdziału Cross-cultural Encounters zmierzymy się z iście filozoficznym dylematem, jakim jest postrzeganie własnej osoby. W praktyce sprowadza się to do pytania, czy jesteśmy postrzegani przez pryzmat naszej płci, warstwy społecznej, rodziny i szkoły, czy raczej podlegamy ocenie na podstawie naszych jednostkowych dokonań. Przekonamy się, że pewne kultury automatycznie przypisują nam cechy grupy społecznej, z której pochodzimy, a inne, ignorując naszą przeszłość, pochodzenie czy status społeczny, przywiązują wagę jedynie do naszych osiągnięć i sukcesów. Takie różnice w postrzeganiu mają duże znaczenie w doborze strategii zarządzania ludźmi w biznesie. Menedżerowie będą mogli zaobserwować, że motywowanie i docenianie pracowników może przybierać różne formy, w zależności od tego, czy mamy do czynienia z kulturą „przypisanego” statusu społecznego, czy sukcesu wypracowanego indywidualnie.

JUST AN INTERVIEW QUESTION…

Let’s imagine that you are being interviewed by your potential boss and, quite naturally, she/he is interested in knowing more about your educational background. The apparently insignificant choice between ,What did you study?’ vs. ,Where did you study’ underlines the difference in the perception of the candidate by the future boss. In an achievement culture, the first question is likely to be ,What did you study?’ In contrast, this question will be rephrased as ,Where did you study?’ and only if it was a lousy university or one they do not recognize will this ascriptive interviewer ask what you studied.

ACHIEVEMENT VS. ASCRIPTION

The situation above illustrates the cultural difference between what can be called ,achievement’ and its opposite; that is ,ascription’. In fact, this dimension of cultural difference distinguishes societies on the basis of how they generate and distribute status and authority. The basic question to be asked is: ,Do we have to prove ourselves to receive status or is it given to us?’

Achievement means that people are judged on what they have accomplished and on this record alone. Ascription means that status is attributed to you by things such as birth, kinship, gender, age, interpersonal connections, or your educational record. The former kind of status is called achieved status and the latter ascribed status. Achieved status refers to doing; ascribed status refers to being. Achievement-oriented societies or organizations justify their hierarchies by claiming that senior people have ,achieved more’. In ascription-oriented cultures, however, hierarchies are justified by ,the power-to-get-things-done’.

FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

Translating this discrepancy into business terms, we can fish out a few differences which can be extremely meaningful in everyday business existence.

In achievement-oriented societies, status is based on what members have accomplished. Hence, any use of titles and formal degrees is restricted to situations where they are relevant to the competence brought to the task. What is more, respect for superiors is based on their previous achievements, demonstrated adequacy of their knowledge and good performance of their jobs. As a results, most senior managers are of varying ages and genders and have obtained their positions through accomplishments rather than just seniority. Typical achievement-based societies include the USA, Canada, Australia and Scandinavia.

In contrast, ascription-oriented societies ascribe status based upon social position, age, gender, wealth and other ,inherited’ factors. Any business encounters are characterized by extensive use of titles, especially if these clarify the person’s status in the organization. Business entities are equipped with a robust hierarchical spine which specifies exactly the position of each company member in relation to others. Respect for superiors in the hierarchy is seen as a measure of commitment to the organization and its mission. As a result, most senior managers are male, middle-aged and promoted on their seniority. Typical ascription-oriented societies not only include Japan, Russia and Saudi Arabia but also France and Italy.

EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES

The idea of ascription vs. achievement can be applied to current management theories and can help to explain some difficulties in making such theories work in various places around the globe.

In general, it can be said that an important question in current leadership and management theories is how much employees should be involved in the decision-making process. Participatory management practice activities such as participation in decision-making, management-by-objectives (MBO) and self-managing teams have been advocated as motivating for the employees and beneficial for the company’s bottom line. They have also been presented as universal theories applicable anywhere in the world without concern about the cultural context. Yet, it has been recognized that despite similar business goals, companies need to take into account the local context and preferences of local employees whose beliefs and values may not necessarily smoothly fit in with management theories.

While taking a more in-depth look into the issues of participatory management techniques and interpersonal leadership, the following questions have been prepared for employees:

„To what extend should your immediate manager:

– delegate responsibility to you?

– share decision-making with you?

– discuss company strategies with you?

– take advice from you?

– appreciate your taking your own initiative?

This short questionnaire aims to ,capture the flavour’ of contemporary work psychology and corporate behaviour in various cultural settings. Its goal is also to check how satisfied the employees are with their duties and delegation of responsibilities. In other words, do the employees appreciate being empowered?

The results of the research show that there is no unanimous answer to the question. In general, the following conclusions can be drawn from the research:

1. In cultures where promotion and status are accorded by achievement, employees seem to have a higher preference for empowering than if promotions were based on ascription.

2. In cultures where there is a strong belief in hierarchical order and promotions and status are accorded on the basis of ascription, employees demonstrate a lower preference for empowerment.

To cut a long story short, in cultures where authority is seen as instrumental and connected to a specific work position (achievement-oriented cultures), employees tend to respond enthusiastically to the idea of being empowered and having more duties. In contrast, in cultures where authority is seen as personal and is connected to the person who holds the position, not to the position itself (ascription-oriented cultures), employees do not fancy the idea of delegation of responsibilities and having more power. This could disturb the inner balance of hierarchical order. Moreover, this can be interpreted as an act of defiance against social order. A lesson to be learnt by managers – do not assume that participation management practices are applicable in every culture. There are cultures where ascribed attributes are more valued than achieved ones.

MIDDLE-OF-THE ROAD APPROACH

How do you get along with Ascriptives if you belong to Achievers and how do you deal with Achievers if you are an Ascriptive? In a nutshell: Respect what people ARE so that you can better take advantage of what they DO. Depending on which camp you side with, below are some tips on how to reconcile both styles.

Asriptives should:

– respect the knowledge and input of Achievers despite them seemingly having little experience.

– limit the use of titles and degrees to situations where it is necessary to stress their competences.

– not underestimate the need of Achievers to do better.

Achievers should:

– show that they respect the status and influence of Ascriptives even if it is not immediately supported by their achievements.

– use their own titles when it is important to highlight one’s position in an organization.

– not underestimate the importance of ascriptions which are of little importance to them.

GLOSSARY:

lousy (adj.) – nędzny, kiepski

ascriptive (adj.) – przypisujący

achievement (n.) – osiągnięcie

ascription (n.) – przypisanie

kinship (n.) – pokrewieństwo, powinowactwo

gender (n.) – płeć

fish out (v.) – wyłowić

seniority (n.) – starszeństwo

robust (adj.) – solidny

spine (n.) – kręgosłup

company’s bottom line – wynik finansowy firmy

in-depth look – dogłębna analiza

capture (v.) – uchwycić

flavour (n.) – smak, charakter

empowering (n.) – wzmacnianie pozycji, upoważnianie

empower (v.) – wzmocnić, upoważnić

defiance (n.) – prowokacja, bunt, opór

TASK

CLASSIFY THE FOLLOWING OPINIONS AS EXPRESSED EITHER BY ACHIEVERS (ACH) OR BY ASCRIPTIVES (ASC):

1. Oh, she is too young to be the boss.

2. They didn’t even look at my portfolio of articles! We devoted most of the time to discussing my university career. What a waste of time for me.

3. We want to avoid the instability that comes from only valuing most recent performance, so we must…

4. I can see myself promoted to a higher position in the company after years of diligent work.

5. It is not about challenging the status quo but we have to react more quickly to the changing business environment. We need managers with a new vision and courage.

6. He doesn’t value the competences I have achieved in my first year of training!

7. I’m afraid I’d need to consult it with my senior manager before letting you know about our final decision.

8. Boss, I think we can skip this phase. It’s so much time-consuming and it doesn’t move us any further. I know it was introduced by our former director, but I think John has a better idea.

1. precaution 2. obsolete 3. besieged 4. inevitable 5. keep 6. mercy 7. cease 8. pitfalls

CZĘŚĆ

2

BUSINESS DILEMMAS
DYLEMATY BIZNESOWE

Druga część książki „Business Dilemmas” dotyczy dylematów typowych dla świata biznesu. Pokażemy w niej, jak istotne znaczenie mają kwestie etyczne i moralne w prowadzeniu przedsiębiorstw i zarządzaniu nimi. Jak trudne są sytuacje dotyczące rozwiązania dylematu biznesowego, a także dlaczego zaufanie jest wartością, której znaczenie trudno przecenić. Przyjrzymy się także konkretnym sytuacjom, w których podjęcie właściwej pod względem etycznym decyzji, jest kluczowe dla przedsiębiorstwa.

LEKCJA 1

BUSINESS ETHICS
ETYKA BIZNESU

Etyka biznesu jest stosunkowo nową dziedziną wiedzy. Rozwija się ona jednak bardzo dynamicznie zapewne dlatego, że tak długo, jak istnieje aktywność gospodarcza człowieka, tak długo tej sferze działalności towarzyszą dylematy moralne.

Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing. Taken at face value this definition may seem short and simple but if you stop reading and think about it for a while, you will soon notice that it does not explain much. You will soon notice that the definition does not answer any questions you might have, quite the contrary; numerous questions arise. How do we know what is right or what is wrong? Where and how can we learn this? Is it possible to learn this? Who can we ask for guidance? These questions could go on and on and on. No wonder philosophers have been discussing ethics for at least 2500 years, since the time of Socrates and Plato. Those who venture to study their works can decide if the philosophers have come up with any satisfactory answers or if they have made things even more complicated. However, they definitely make us realise how important addressing the issues related to ethics is. People have not changed significantly in the many years since the ancient philosophers walked the Earth. The rules of conduct and explanations of virtue and goodness that they propose can all help modern man attain a fuller and more satisfying understanding of his responsibilities as a member of society and the purpose of his existence.

PHILOSOPHERS ON ETHICS

Plato devoted a great deal of his life to exploring ethics and is the originator of several highly regarded ideas in Western philosophy. To Plato, actions are only good to the extent that a virtuous person takes such actions. He focuses on the idea that what we call ,good’ is neither dependent on the actions we take, nor on the results of those actions, but on the person that we are. For Plato ethics boils down to two basic things: well-being (which he calls eudaimonia) and excellence (which he calls arete) and according to Plato, excellence leads to well-being. Excellence is a set of virtues that Plato tried to define and enlist. Lots of difficult questions plagued Plato along the way, which eventually led to his conviction that knowledge of knowledge itself is the ultimate virtue and a necessary component for any individual who is to achieve ,well-being’.

Socrates introduced the concept of teaching ethics and acceptable standards of conduct in 400 B.C. and has had a profound and lasting impact on the course of Western philosophy and history ever since. Socrates believed that the most pertinent questions that philosophy had to deal with related to how people should live their lives, what kinds of actions were righteous, and how people should live together in communities. He believed virtue was found primarily in human relationships, in love and friendship, and could not be achieved through material gains.

Aristotle’s most influential book, an important study of personal morality and the ends of human life, has for many centuries been widely read. Though written more than 2,000 years ago, it offers the modern reader many valuable insights into human conduct. Among its most outstanding features are Aristotle’s conviction that there are no known absolute moral standards and that any ethical theory must be based in part on the understanding of psychology and firmly grounded in the realities of human nature and daily life. According to Aristotle, the highest good and the end toward which all human activity is directed is happiness. One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development of reason and theoretical knowledge.

ETHICS IN THE BUSINESS WORLD

If ethics is defined as doing the right thing, then business ethics should be defined as doing the right thing in the world of commerce. But if we delve deeper into this issue and get to the point of understanding that doing the right thing may mean that we need to constrain the pursuit of self-interest, things can get a bit complicated. Business is about making profits and implementing ethical concepts may mean we will need to constrain the pursuit of profits when the actions of individuals or firms affect others. Apparently, it seems there is an inherent conflict between morality and the pursuit of profit. The implication is that if a company has to choose between profit and doing the right thing, profit will always win. Actually, doing the right thing can sometimes be quite costly for a business, and doing something unethical may pay off, at least in the short term. No wonder there are people who argue that the term ,business ethics’ is an oxymoron, that the words ,business’ and ,ethics’ are in contradiction of each other. But is it really so?

Several studies have looked for a correlation between good ethics and good corporate performance. There are plenty of examples out there of consistently profitable companies that also have a long history of ethical conduct. Other studies have looked at how socially responsible firms perform on the stock market, and have concluded that ethical companies probably provide higher returns. It is true that some studies show no real correlation between ethical behaviour and corporate profits but on the other hand we do know that no study has been able to prove a negative correlation between ethics and profitable operations.

Business is a cooperative activity and as such, its very existence requires some minimum ethical standards. No business, just like no community, can survive if its members begin to believe that it is OK to lie to one another, to steal from each other, or to go back on promises. This kind of unrestrained self-interest results in a breakdown of society. Without minimum ethical standards in a society, its business activities will also collapse.

Another thing is that businesses act rationally when seeking profits. That rational self-interest might actually dictate acting unethically when there is something to be gained while doing the right thing is very often costly. But because business involves reputation and relationships, unethical behaviour usually backfires in the long term. If a business takes advantage of its employees, its customers, or its suppliers, these groups and maybe even others will often find a way to retaliate – by refusing to work for them or buy from the company. Over time, unethical behaviour can undermine good relationships with all of the stakeholders of a business: employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and even the community in which the firm is located. Especially so nowadays, with the Internet and social media around, more information than ever is available about corporate conduct, both good and bad. Because most people prefer justice and fairness, they are more likely to want to do business with a company that does good than one that does not. In the end it is unethical behaviour that becomes costly, and conversely ethical behaviour creates its own competitive advantage. Businesses act ethically because good, ethical behaviour is the best long-term strategy for a company.

FIVE BRAINY QUOTES ON ETHICS

Ethics has been an intriguing subject ever since the ancient philosophers drew our attention to it ages ago. Lots of our contemporaries still find it worth discussing and have their say about it on lots of occasions. They approach the issue of business ethics from a variety of angles giving a deeper insight into the matter.

„Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have right to do and what is right to do’. (Potter Stewart) The law is the key starting point for any business. Nevertheless, it does not cover all situations in all circumstances and that is probably why most leading businesses also have their own statements of business principles, which set out their core values and standards.

„History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them’. (B.R. Ambedkar) The force, which may suppress these vested interests, is the rational self- interest and long term benefits which best ethical practice can bring to the business. Namely, when the reputation of the business becomes its competitive advantage.

,In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so’. (Immanuel Kant) This is a very interesting observation, which pinpoints the key difference between the law and ethics. The law only applies if you break it and are caught, otherwise nothing happens and there are no consequences of your naughty actions. Ethics has more to do with your inner sense of what is right and a guilty conscience can bother you to an extent that no fine or penalty would.

,The more moral the people are in their business dealings, the less paperwork you need, the more handshakes you can have, the more the wheels of capitalism work better, because there is trust in the marketplace. Business ethics is not a joke. And, in fact, I think most business that I’ve dealt with encourage exactly that type of behaviour’. (Rick Santorum) Sounds like utopia, but it is still very tempting to imagine what a wonderful place this world would be if all people shared high moral standards. Then, indeed no written contracts would be necessary, no bureaucracy needed, a gentleman’s word and a handshake would suffice to make a business deal.

,If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct’. (Dee Hock) Leading others to achieve common goals involves getting their trust. Obviously, there is no better way to make people trust you than becoming a role model they would like to follow. You cannot expect other people to be honest and reliable if you are not a person of integrity yourself.

Ethical behaviour is a requirement for human life. It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it our actions would be random or aimless, governed solely by our animal instinct. A proper foundation of ethics requires a standard of values to which we can refer when taking actions. It is arrived at by an examination of man’s nature and recognizing his peculiar needs. A system of ethics include our relation to others and recognize the importance of others, not only for our physical survival but also for our well-being and happiness. The same principles that determine an individual’s actions also apply to business.

GLOSSARY:

guidance – pokierowanie

attain – uzyskać

boil down to – sprowadzać się do

pertinent – trafny

conviction – przekonanie

delve into – zagłębiać się w

constrain – ograniczyć

pursuit – pogoń

backfire – nie powieść się

retaliate – wziąć odwet

suffice – wystarczać

EXERCISE

FROM THE WORDS IN BOLD, FIND THE ONES, WHICH MEAN THE SAME AS THE WORDS BELOW.

1. be enough – ......................................................................................................

2. achieve, gain – ..................................................................................................

3. repay – ...............................................................................................................

4. bind, inhibit – ...................................................................................................

5. hunt, quest – .....................................................................................................

6. advice, instruction – .......................................................................................

1. suffice, 2. attain, 3. retailiate, 4. constrain, 5. pursuit, 6. guidance

LEKCJA 2

ETHICAL DILEMMAS AT WORK
DYLEMATY ETYCZNE W PRACY

Zadaniem etyki biznesu nie jest nakłanianie ludzi, aby działali bardziej moralnie. Chodzi natomiast o to, żeby umożliwić menedżerom i ich pracownikom wyrobienie sobie własnego poglądu na temat właściwego postępowania. Ludzie działający w sferze szeroko pojętego biznesu muszą żyć z konsekwencjami swoich decyzji. Wartość etyki polega więc na ujawnianiu faktycznych problemów zawartych w sporach wokół moralności i ukazywania istotnych argumentów przemawiających za możliwymi stanowiskami. To z kolei pozwala podejmować przemyślane decyzje oparte na racjonalnych informacjach. Najpierw trzeba jednak poznać, co stanowi istotę naszych dylematów i sporów etycznych.

The concept of business ethics has evolved significantly over time. Historically, it referred to operating a business in a way that does not break the law or violate any major moral guidelines. In the 21st century, business ethics has broadened to include more proactive efforts toward good citizenship and honest business practices. This is based on public expectations that companies should meet demands for honest treatment of customers, community involvement and charitable activity, fair working conditions for employees and environmentally friendly business activities.

In a perfect world, businesses and their employees would always do the right thing. However, our world is far from being perfect and the word ,right’ is not always simple to define. That is why problems often occur. Ethical dilemmas in the workplace are quite common, and they are not always easy to address. The concepts seem to be pretty straightforward but what is challenging is the execution of compliance rules and regulations. For some reason even if organizations have great policies and follow all the rules and procedures, a high risk of unethical behavior still exists. Employees must deal with pressures to perform and help the company succeed as well as fight personal temptations to take the easy way out. In the end, workers will be likely to face many dilemmas in their careers. That is why companies should provide training and information to assist them in making the right decision.

Here are some factors which affect ethical behaviour in the workplace.

PRESSURE FROM MANAGEMENT

When it comes to ethics, the approach of senior managers may turn out to be of key importance. If they just talk about ethics but fail to walk the talk, they become guilty of modeling inappropriate behaviour in their employees. Setting a good example, top to bottom in the company hierarchy, will definitely enhance the desired model of behaviour throughout the organization.

The problem of failing to walk the talk may stem from the fact that some leaders have an irrational sense of entitlement. Because of their position, talents or experience they could feel that they have the right to act differently than others and deserve more freedom and tolerance. They do not see anything wrong with differentiating between the sets of moral values which they apply to their own actions and the actions of their employees.

On the other hand, even people with high moral standards may feel the need to be obedient to authority, even when they are being asked to do something they sense is wrong. They are either not strong enough to speak their mind and defy their superiors or they may believe that their bosses know better and have the ultimate power of deciding what is right or wrong. Therefore, ethical dilemmas can arise when people feel pressured to do immoral things to please their bosses or when they feel that they cannot point out their coworkers’ or superiors’ bad behaviour.

Ethical problems also prevail when an organization begins rewarding the wrong things. Due to misplaced incentives individuals may begin cutting corners on safety, quality etc. Trying hard to meet the targets and not being able to meet all their goals, employees are forced to prioritize and naturally, they will opt for focusing all their efforts on things their bosses are more likely to reward them for. This may lead to sacrificing aspects which are likely to stay out of the spotlight. Each company’s culture is different, but some companies stress profits and results above all else. In these environments, management may turn a blind eye to ethical breaches if a worker produces results.

AMBITION

Individual workers may be under financial pressure or simply have an insatiable hunger for recognition. If they cannot get the rewards they seek through accepted channels, they may be desperate enough to do something unethical, such as selective reporting or taking credit for another person’s work to get ahead. At work, people need to weigh different obligations when making decisions. Policies and procedures, ethics guidelines, directions from superiors, customer needs and strategic goals all affect the final outcome. Although workers may know all these guidelines, they may feel intense pressure to get results. This conflict between the compliance policies and the need to produce short-term results can cause ethical dilemmas. People who admire ethical behaviour and want to be recognized for their high moral standards while ardently longing to be successful and fearing that their less ethical peers might leave them behind, try to overcome this dilemma. They do so by stating that they will cut corners now and one day, when they have achieved fame and fortune, they will be good workers and they will set a good example. This is a classic case of the-ends-justify-the-means situation. Sometimes it takes a long time to verify this conviction and understand that one cannot really succeed at the cost of sacrificing their integrity on the altar of their ambition or financial reward.

KNOW-HOW

Lack of knowledge on how to deal with ethical dilemmas may result in refusing to take action or even admitting that some problem actually occurred. For example, if an employee may not be sure how to approach a possibly unethical situation, he or she may simply opt to close it out without having the difficult conversation about ethics. It is ironic that a word like ,transparency’ can have several confusing meanings. While transparency as a concept is often associated with social responsibility and compliance, it is really all about information. It is about the ability of the worker to have full access to the information he wants, not just the information the manager is willing to provide. Transparency embodies honesty and open communication because to be transparent someone must be willing to share information when it is uncomfortable to do so. Transparency is also the organization being upfront and visible about the actions it takes, and whether those actions are consistent with its values. In an organization where there is an alignment between their standards and their values, there is no fear in raising or disclosing difficult issues.

It is a common practice for many companies to already include ethics training as a key component of the induction process for new employees, but ethics training is seldom offered on an ongoing basis. It means that as time goes by, employees can lose sight of an organization’s code of conduct along with the definition of the ,right thing to do’. Because ethics training initiatives require financial resources and support, many companies offer a training programme without updates, case studies, or examples of unethical situations. A truly dynamic ethics training programme should focus on embedding the company’s code of conduct into daily work life.

SOCIAL FACTORS

The social aspect focuses on the forces within the society. Family, friends, colleagues, neighbors and the media are social factors. These factors can affect our attitudes, opinions and interests. So, they can also impact our code of conduct. Due to the influence of these factors, sometimes defensive ,logic’ is prevalent. This manifests as saying ,everyone is doing it, so why shouldn’t I do it?’ or ,Why should I stick my neck out?’ Different cultures have norms that vary from place to place in the business world. For example, you might have to face a request for a bribe in order to conduct business in certain countries in South America. This might be unethical to you but considered an acceptable norm in their workplace. Social aspects cannot be neglected because they shape who we are as people and determine how we behave. Company leaders should analyse these factors and be fully aware of how they operate. Companies which notice the necessity to observe and focus on these factors will be able to predict the potential ethical traps their employees may fall into and equip them with tools and regulations to avoid potential dangers.

RIGHT VS. RIGHT

In some cases, the ethical dilemmas organizations face are even more difficult because there is not a ‘wrong’ answer. The toughest ethical dilemmas in the workplace occur when two or more competing alternatives are present, each having its own set of ethical values, the choice of which always offers a less-than-ideal solution. This happens because we are often pitting two favorable outcomes against each other. ,Right’ versus ,right’ is the toughest ethical challenge to navigate. For example, say there is one job promotion to offer a member of a team. Two candidates are equally qualified. One employee has more seniority and has been waiting longest in line for a promotion, and the other has a better attitude and needs the promotion to provide for a large family. Picking either person will leave the other feeling that they were treated unfairly, but both cannot be promoted because the company’s resources are limited.

These are the things that organizations – particularly senior leaders and top managers within the organization – need to be sensitive to. They need to look at their corporate environment again and answer the following questions: How are we positioning all of our employees in their day-to-day work? Are we setting them up for failure in terms of these ethical traps? What safety nets are we placing underneath them as they walk a tightrope, navigating through what a peer may ask, what a customer may say or demand, and so on and so forth. These are key considerations for any business. Additionally, it is in an organization’s best interest to provide ethical training to its employees, to help them identify unethical behavior and give them tools with which to comply. Every company should have an ethical policy that states its penalties for breaches of the regulations. Moreover, management must lead by example, showing that the company takes ethics seriously and that violators will be punished according to the organization’s policies, including possible suspension or termination of contract.

GLOSSARY:

temptation – pokusa

walk the talk – postępować zgodnie z tym, co się głosi

speak one’s mind – wyrażać swoją opinię

prevail – dominować

cut corners – iść na skróty

turn a blind eye – przymknąć oko

insatiable – nienasycony

the ends justify the means – cel uświęca środki

stick one’s neck out – nadstawiać głowę

walk a tightrope – balansować na linie

EXERCISE

IN THE TEXT, FIND IDIOMS FOR THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. to give an opinion which other people may not like or which other people are frightened to give _____________________________________

2. to back up one’s words and opinions they express with meaningful actions _______________________________________________________

3. to do something in the fastest or cheapest way ______________________

4. to be in a situation where one must be very cautious _________________

5. express one’s opinion ____________________________________________

1. stick one’s neck; 2. walk the talk; 3. cut corners; 4. walk a tightrope; 5. speak one’s mind

LEKCJA 3

IT IS A DIFFICULT DECISION
TO TRUDNA DECYZJA

Konieczność rozwiązania dylematu etycznego to jedno z najbardziej ludzkich przeżyć, jakie można sobie wyobrazić. Żadna inna żyjąca istota nie jest do tego zdolna, bo nie posiada umiejętności refleksji nad własnymi decyzjami. Jeśli jako ludzie chcemy zrozumieć samych siebie, musimy wiedzieć, dlaczego dylematy moralne są dla nas tak trudne i co decyduje o działaniach, które ostatecznie podejmujemy.

Frequently, business ethics is portrayed as a matter of resolving conflicts in which one option appears to be the clear choice. For example, case studies often present an employee who is faced with a dilemma whether or not to lie, steal, cheat, abuse others, break terms of a contract, etc. However, ethical problems faced by managers are often more complex and with no clear guidelines on how to proceed. The fact is that everyone has found themselves confronted with a moral dilemma at some point in their lives and what is more, for sure they have experienced the state when it seemed impossible to know how to act, as any course of action would result in a degree of harm to someone involved. The ability to make decisions in such situations and to be ready to deal with the consequences may be the toughest test of character that a person can face.

MAKING SACRIFICES FOR THE GREATER GOOD

The obligation to make sacrifices for the greater good creates a type of moral dilemma often dealt with in philosophy classes. Basically, the question boils down to deciding if and under what circumstances, an otherwise innocent person should be allowed to suffer for the good of others. One example might be the question of when, if ever, it is permissible to harm civilians during wartime. Imagine that bombing a weapon factory will kill the workers inside or the civilians living nearby. Whereas by halting the production of weapon, the lives of civilians elsewhere will be saved. Does this make it morally permissible or even obligatory to bomb the weapon factory? Does the number of lives saved by halting weapon production morally outweigh the number of civilian lives lost in the bombing raid? This kind of dilemma might occur in the business world as well. Imagine that you are the CEO of a failing business. Of the seven facilities that your company owns, you can save five. The data is undeniably clear on this point. If you do not do it, the entire company will go under and all of the people in all 7 facilities will lose their jobs. Closing the two will be extremely miserable for the people involved. What would you do?

VALUES AND CONSEQUENCES

Another type of dilemma, one which has many similarities and connections to the previous category, is the tension between moral values or guidelines and the consequences of not obeying them. An example involves whether the suggestion to always tell the truth still holds up when somebody bearing a grudge against our friend is trying to find out about their whereabouts. Of course, for most of us this does not present any kind of dilemma at all, but we can modify the example slightly and ask whether it would be ethical to tell the truth about some political issue if we knew it would cause a violent backlash, or perhaps, in a more domestic setting, whether we have a moral obligation to tell someone about the unfaithfulness on the part of their partner. The business world is not void of such dilemmas either. Imagine that you are the boss of a department and you discover that one of your employees is an alcoholic. What is more you are almost certain that the person does drink alcohol at work. On the other hand however, the employee in question is an expert in their area and you know that if you fired them it would take months to find someone with similar qualifications. Additionally, as for now the quality of this employee’s work has not been affected by their drinking. What would you do?

OFFENCE WITHOUT HARM

One of the most important types of moral dilemmas in terms of politics, law and business involves the tensions between paternalism and liberty; that is, to what extent, if ever, people should be prevented from doing what they want if they are the only direct victims, or if their actions could only cause offence to others without any actual harm. Examples include whether public nudity should be allowed, if people should be permitted to take part in very dangerous extreme sports or if they should be able to sell parts of their body for medical uses. In each case, the question is to what extent people in authority should interfere with other people’s personal choices to prevent them from harming themselves or offending others. What would you do if an employee who is a highly qualified expert in some area and generated a lot of profit for the company, had a disturbing habit of treating other people in an arrogant way, and if all your attempts of changing and penalizing this sort of behaviour had failed?

MORAL RELATIVISM

A special type of moral dilemma arises when the question of cultural relativism is confronted. Practices that appear barbaric or immoral to one culture may seem perfectly ordinary to another, and attempts to change them from outside of the culture will be resisted. A good example would be the habit of eating meat or meat of certain animals. Many Europeans would be repulsed at the thought of eating kittens but are quite happy to eat beef, which is equally repellent to many Hindus. What would you do if the site of a housing development that you are trying to sell was located on a former landfill that the government reports show has low-levels of contaminants? They are not life-threatening and your boss has decided not to inform the public about it. Or similarly, what would you do if you had to do business in a country where corruption is common and where, without offering bribes to government officials, you have no chance of operating on the local market?

HOW TO FIND A SOLUTION?

Ethical dilemmas can keep you up at night, worrying about what the right thing to do is. The problem with ethical dilemmas is that there is never an easy answer to this question. You have to weigh your moral code of conduct with the consequences for the people involved. The first step to finding a  solution to your problem is identifying if what you are dealing with is indeed an ethical dilemma.

In order to do this ask yourself the following questions:

Is the issue easily resolved with logic?

For example, running out of petrol on a long trip is not a dilemma, it is a problem easily solved by buying some more petrol.

Is the issue easily resolved emotionally?

For example, feeling sad and not knowing what to do about it is not a dilemma, it is a condition that can often be cured with positive emotional responses from a loved one or a friend.

Is the issue an ethical one?

For example, deciding what to do if you discover a friend has stolen something and wants you to lie about it, is an ethical dilemma. You must decide what is right and what is wrong, choose between loyalty or legality, or what is preferable over what is possible.

Once you have established that you have an ethical dilemma on your hands try the following approach.

Consider your own motives and try to detach them from your decision. If your ethical dilemma is whether to tell your friend’s husband that she’s cheating, your instinct might be to keep quiet rather than potentially lose your friendship. Take your own feelings out of the equation and focus on consequences to the involved parties.

Consider your moral code of conduct. If you are pondering over an ethical issue, you must have a strong sense of right and wrong. Ask your conscience what the right thing to do is. See if that makes the dilemma easier to solve.

Think about the consequences. What will happen if you come down on one side of the moral dilemma versus the other. Consider whether anyone will be hurt or will suffer unjustly. Also consider any secondary parties involved, like children. Telling the boss that a cleaning lady has done a bad job in the conference room might force an incompetent employee to take responsibility for their actions but if a family living in poverty loses a paycheck because of one sloppy job, you might decide that you are able to suffer through a little more dust than you prefer.

Listen to your gut feeling. If your instincts are telling you the right thing to do, by all means follow them. That is what instincts are for.

There are also some techniques which we could employ to our advantage in order to solve our ethical problems. Here is a short description of some of them.

Utilitarianism – This theory has it that the right thing is the one that provides the most good, or ,utility’. In this way, ethics becomes a sort of equation, where different factors are given utility ,values’. For example, in a situation where you are forced to make a decision between one person dying and many people dying, if every life was worth one unit of utility then the ,right’ thing to do would be to let the one person die and the many live.

Deontology – This theory, as opposed to utilitarianism, explains that doing that right and wrong are right or wrong in themselves. This idea is opposed to the notion that a thing is good or bad because of its consequences. For example, murdering is bad in and of itself. So, if you are in a dilemma where you had to choose between killing someone or dying (not directly at their hands), the right thing to do would be not to murder.

Evaluating different outcomes – While pure utilitarianism and pure deontology are two sides of a spectrum, most theories of right and wrong are some mix between the two ideas. In tackling an ethical dilemma, you should try working backwards by evaluating how different ideas on morality would view the different possible outcomes. This requires serious contemplation of the outcomes in theories you may normally spurn. The point is not to find the right theory for the situation, but to see what each theory can tell you about the dilemma.

Promoting the greater good – When evaluating a dilemma, you should also think past the immediate situation to the consequences of that choice for the greater topic of morality. Could a decision be the right choice in the dilemma, but lead to immoral actions being accepted as moral? Could a choice be the wrong choice in a specific dilemma, but have the greatest effect on advancing ethical conduct and morality in the greater world? These questions can help you put ethical dilemmas in greater ethical perspectives.

As you can see the more we think about finding a way of dealing with ethical dilemmas the more complicated it gets. Thera are different theories and approaches which can guide us through the meanders of moral questions, but unfortunately none of these can guarantee that what we are going to get at will be the best solution. That is why, most probably, our best allies in dealing with these kinds of issues, is our knowledge of the world and its mechanisms accompanied by our gut feeling and last but not least, legal regulations.

GLOSSARY:

greater good – dobro większości

boil down to – sprowadzać się do

bear a grudge – żywić urazę

whereabouts – miejsce pobytu

void – pozbawiony czegoś

penalizing – karanie

repulse – odpychać

contaminant – zanieczyszczenie

sloppy – niechlujny

gut feeling – wewnętrzne przeczucie

EXERCISE

FIND WORDS FOR THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. Characterized by a lack of neatness, order and tidiness – __________

2. To continue to feel angry towards someone who has done something to upset you in the past – ___________________________________

3. The place where a person or thing is – _____________________________

4. A personal, intuitive feeling – _____________________________________

5. The benefit of the public, of more people than oneself – ____________

1. Sloppy; 2. Bear a grudge; 3. Whereabouts; 4. Gut feeling; 5. Greater good

LEKCJA 4

COMPLIANCE POLICY
POLITYKA COMPLIANCE

Zaufanie do przedsiębiorstwa to wartość, której znaczenie trudno przecenić. Nie zawsze zdajemy sobie sprawę z tego, że jest to kwestia fundamentalna, bezpośrednio przekładająca się na funkcjonowanie firmy i jej pozycję na rynku. Z tego powodu regulacje i systemy kontrolne, czyli compliance, postrzegane są jako kolejne ograniczenia utrudniające prowadzenie biznesu i generowanie zysków. Tymczasem są one drogowskazem pozwalającym ominąć trudne sytuacje, które mogłyby podważyć zaufanie do przedsiębiorstwa.

As bribery and fraud cases still occupy the front pages of many newspapers and stories of prosecutions and fines continue to hit the headlines, the term compliance seems to have entered business language for good and, with time, it is very likely to get more and more prominence. Even if we have doubts about whether corruption is really as rampant as the media would have us believe, there are many sources which keep warning us that fraud is out there and no country or business should be caught off guard when the time comes to confront it.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

In 1993, a few individuals decided to take a stance against corruption and created Transparency International. Now, present in more than 100 countries, the movement works relentlessly to raise awareness and bring about change. Much still needs to be done to stop corruption, but much has already been achieved.

In 1995 Transparency International launched the Corruption Perception Index which, since then, has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda. Based on expert opinion, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. They present the results on a scale where dark red indicates a highly corrupt public sector. Lighter red and orange countries are a bit better, but corruption among public institutions and employees is still common. Yellow countries are perceived as cleaner, but not perfect.

The scale of the issue is huge. According to the Corruption Perception Index, sixty-eight per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem. Half of the G20 countries are among them. Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free.

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE POLICY

If the public sector of so many countries has problems with transparency, it would be unwise to think that the private sector is void of issues which may question their reputation. There are many complicated theories on why businesses slide into ethical grey areas, but very simple theories on how to avoid them. Experts agree that the simplest and the most basic tool businesses can use to combat corruption is a strong ethics and compliance policy that is embedded in a company’s culture. That is why companies appoint a compliance officer whose responsibility is to ensure that the compliance policy is well constructed, implemented and observed. Even if a company employs good people, and has a lot of faith in the people it employs, without a compliance function, how can this organisation know that the employees really are behaving ethically? Looking at things from this perspective the compliance function can be seen as a means of ensuring that a company’s good faith that the right thing is being done can always be proven.

To understand the elements of a strong ethics and compliance policy, it is important to realize that every company’s ethics and compliance programs will be different. Policies are built around a company’s processes and influenced by the industry in which it operates. However, there are some common elements that every company should carefully consider while designing their own policy. If they get these things right, they will have a strong base for efficient guidelines which, if implemented correctly, will change the company culture forever and will serve the business well in good and worse times.

The best way to decide what should be included in a company’s compliance policy is to identify the ethical risks that the company has encountered most often and think about the guidelines for employees to follow when they are faced with those particular situations. It is very helpful to provide examples of situations employees might come across and give clear directions on how to respond and proceed. A deep understanding of the business as the compliance officer, requires to know how to balance company specific compliance risks with strategic goals. There is no profit without risks, so the challenge is to mitigate them.

Once the areas of exposure and high-risk have been identified the focus should fall on the most important elements of a strong ethics and compliance policy which include:

1. Compliance with the law – ensuring the observance of relevant laws and regulations is the most basic function of compliance but complying with the minimum standards is not good enough. Companies should challenge themselves and set high standards for their business operations.

2. Definition of unethical behaviour – ,unethical behaviour’ needs to be clearly defined and all employees must be made aware of the definition. Terms, such as harassment, discrimination, nepotism, bribery, theft, fraud and retaliation should be described and defined in detail. Examples must be provided along with the consequences for violating the policy.

3. Integrity statement – in this section of the ethics and compliance policy companies include their code of conduct and emphasise how much it overlaps with their mission, vision and goals. The employees must be aware that the code of conduct is an integral part of the corporate culture and it is there to enhance the business and not to obstruct it.

4. Bribery vs gifts and entertainment – as it is a very controversial and delicate issue the employees must be aware of where the company stands on the issue of gifts and entertainment. Some companies allow gifts to be sent or received if the gift is below a given value. Only by creating a clear rule, grey areas can be eliminated.

5. Reporting mechanism – employees are likely to uncover unethical practices in the workplace before senior executives do. That is why certain procedures need to be in place on how to report misconduct. The company’s open-door policy should be stressed and employees must be encouraged to use it. Companies may want to include hotline phone numbers, an ombudsman and website addresses for anonymous reporting.

6. Confidentiality – it needs to be maintained at all cost not to lose the trust of employees but in some cases, ultimate confidentiality cannot be guaranteed due to the discovery of a criminal act or a court case. A clear statement needs to be made that confidentiality will be upheld to the highest possible degree for those making complaints or involved in internal investigations.

7. Accurate accounting – corporate accounting is highly regulated, but violations happen. Creative accounting is a term which according to experts means something which does not really exist. They say that in accounting things are either legal or illegal and that it has nothing to do with creativity. The term however can be found in all business dictionaries so it is advisable to include a statement stipulating the fact that all transactions must be accurately reflected in company books and records.

The general rule about creating such guidelines is to be extremely specific, clear and direct about where the company draws the line between what is and what is not acceptable in each situation. No room should be left for interpretation. Then, once the policy is created, it must be reinforced through training, repetition and enforcement of consequences for violating it. Even the strongest ethics and compliance policy will not be worth the paper it is printed on if it is not enforced. Most importantly, company executives need to set the tone from the top, demonstrating ethical business practices and attitudes and a zero-tolerance policy for violations.

RETURN ON COMPLIANCE

One great tool for showing the possible return on ethics is Ethisphere’s list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. The companies listed there perform above the level set by Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and being one of them is the best evidence that it pays off to be ethical. A strong ethical foundation turns out to be a competitive advantage, which allows companies with high ethical standards to win more market share and generate more profit.

Boards are interested in return on investment and that is why sometimes board members see compliance as an excessive expense without much hope of return. They may see it as an exercise in ticking boxes that comes with a big bill. Pointing out the obvious return on ethics may be the best way to convince the board of directors to invest in an ethics and compliance program. Everyone would like to operate in a trust-based world and business people are no different. If they notice that their potential partners have no values they would promote or believe in, no business is going to be done. If companies have loyal customers who have ordered from them for 20 or 30 years, it is because they have a system of values which are not mere words but values practiced on daily basis. Having a strong ethics and compliance program and the ability to back it up with actions, is one way to start building the kind of trust that fosters long term relationships. It is a fact that board members might find very compelling.

Another straightforward argument is that board members probably would not want to sit on the board of a company that is not highly ethical because they could jeopardize their personal reputation. The ethics and compliance program is the vehicle through which the company can maintain its respect and reputation and as a board member everyone wants to be with a company that is highly respected. Respect, trust and reputation are the building blocks of a successful company, and a strong ethics and compliance program, backed by the Board of Directors, is a solid foundation.

Many organisations are experiencing a time of considerable change in managing an effective compliance function. The reputational and financial costs of non-compliance are great, with some businesses never fully recovering if successfully prosecuted for breaking the law. While the stakes for breaching the rules may be high, the benefits of conformity and acting with integrity in terms of employee retention, increased productivity and an enhanced reputation are undisputable. A more proactive approach to ethical compliance, therefore, has a very significant role in the wider debate of restoring trust in business.

GLOSSARY:

prominence – rozgłos

rampant – szerzący się

embedded – wbudowany

mitigate – osłabić, złagodzić

retaliation – odwet

violate – naruszać

ombudsman – rzecznik praw

jeopardize – narazić

EXERCISE

MATCH THE WORDS FROM THE GLOSSARY WITH THEIR SYNONYMS BELOW.

1. Reduce, soothe – __________________________________________________

2. Expose, endanger – ________________________________________________

3. Breach, disobey – _________________________________________________

4. Publicity, fame – __________________________________________________

5. Revenge, retribution – _____________________________________________

6. Settled, built in – __________________________________________________

1. mitigate; 2. jeopardize; 3. violate; 4. prominence; 5. retaliation; 6. embedded

LEKCJA 5

IT IS ALL ABOUT MAKING A RATIONAL CHOICE
CHODZI O RACJONALNY WYBÓR

Teoria racjonalnego wyboru jest jednym z narzędzi wspomagających rozwiązywanie dylematów etycznych. Odpowiedź na pytanie o to, czym jest racjonalność, nie jest jednakże ani oczywista, ani jednoznaczna. Pojęcie to bowiem jest różnie postrzegane, tak jak różnie można określać, czym jest racjonalny wybór. Najprościej odwołać się jednak można do opinii głoszącej, że chodzi tu o wybór najbardziej skutecznego środka do realizacji wcześniej określonych celów.

In business ethics there is a framework for analyzing an ethical issue that is based on the idea that ethical choice is a rational choice and a logical choice. Rational does not necessarily mean rational self-interest. Rational choice is a broader idea than that. The job of ethics is to reach a rational consensus on how we should live together in a harmonious way. We have to agree on the ground rules to have anything done. We need some sort of prior agreement. One might wonder why we do not just take a vote on how to do things. It is an option, but still, first we need to agree that if we take a vote, we are going to abide by its result. Then we need to decide what counts as majority vote. Is it 51% or is it 60%. We always need some prior understanding on how we are going to live together. This is what ethics is for. Its role is to generate this rational consensus.

CONSENSUS IS WHAT WE NEED TO REACH

We often think that it is the law enforcement system that makes make society work. It is nice to be ethical but the real job is done by the police and other authorities to keep us under control. Actually, it is just the opposite. Supposing, tomorrow morning everyone in town started disobeying red lights. What can the police do about this? Are they going to put a police officer at every crossroads? Definitely not, because they do not have enough people. They could install cameras that would take photographs of everyone crossing the street at a red light, but then what could they do with those pictures? Would they be able to send thousands of fines to every single citizen of the city every day? Probably not. The law is there to take care of the few people who are not able or cannot adjust to common standards. The truth is that the law would not work unless most of us voluntarily comply, and we cannot voluntarily comply if we do not agree on what we should be doing. Fortunately, we have ethics to bring about the agreement and that is why ethics is not about personal values but about interpersonal ones. This is the way in which the western civilization has approached ethics for about 2300 years. We have built rational consensus by convincing each other that we should not drive at a red light, that we should not break into other people’s houses, that we should not go about hitting each other, every time we are angry about something. On the other hand, however, we did not manage to establish a consensus about breaking the speed limit. We all break the speed limit because we do not agree with it, we do not think it is necessary to drive 50 km per hour on a two or three lane road at 3 o’clock at night. Simple and straight forward as the concept of rational consensus may seem, reality shows that nowadays, it does not function properly. Over the centuries we have forgotten how to reach this rational consensus, we have forgotten how to persuade each other rationally, we tend to mix ethics with emotions and ideology. While what we should do is to try and approach ethics in an objective way. To restore the ability to act rationally when it comes to taking ethical decisions, firstly, it is necessary to know and obey these four rules:

1. Ethics does not judge people. It judges actions. The purpose of ethics is not to decide whether somebody is a good person or a bad person. Nobody has the authority to do that. Ethics decides whether you are about to do a good thing or a bad thing. It gives you advice on what is the rational choice and how to act in the future in a similar situation.

2. When it comes to ethics, do not have opinions. We live in the age of opinion polls, we are expected to give opinions on everything even if we do not know anything about it. Once we express our opinion we tend to stick to it and are not very likely to change it. Difficult as it may seem, avoiding formulating an opinion for the sake of presenting objective arguments will help to reach rational consensus. For it does not matter if you agree or disagree with the conclusion.

3. Maintain professional distance. Look at the evidence and arguments objectively. It is not easy of course. It takes some discipline and even training but it is definitely worth it. Things are not going to work unless we are able to distance ourselves from the issue, see a bigger picture and listen to everyone’s point of view.

4. Learn how to analyse an ethical issue. Find a framework for analysing a problem based on conditions for rational choice and practice, practice and practice.

THREE CONDITIONS FOR MAKING RATIONAL CHOICES

There is no quick answer in ethics. You cannot push a button and get the right ethical answer, nor can you do this in any field. We have this strange approach to ethics: either we say there is no right or wrong, that ethics is a matter of opinion or personal values, or we say the opposite and want an instant answer. We cannot have it either way. There is right and wrong, and it is possible to approach issues objectively. On the other hand, we have to work on it. It takes time, it takes experience, it takes practice, and it takes training, as in every other field.

1. HAVE A CONSISTENT RATIONALE.

When we act, we do it for a reason. There is always a reason behind our actions. It may not be a good reason, but there must be one. That is what makes it an action. There is also a corollary: if certain reasons justify an action for me, they justify the same action for anyone to whom the reasons apply. For example, you walk into a department store and see a display of watches. you look at your old watch, which often breaks down and does not look nice. The watches on display are not under glass, they are not protected and there is no security guard standing around. You decide that you would like to have one of those watches. You just walk by the display and put one in your pocket. Why do you do that? Because you would like to have a new watch. If it is a good reason for you to take a watch, then it is a good reason for anyone who wants a new watch to take one. Now, suppose that everyone who wants a new watch, and can get away with taking one, does so. What is going to happen? The store is going to put the watches under glass, install an alarm, have a security camera, and it will no longer be possible to get away with stealing them. In other words, you do not decide that other people should take a watch when they can get away with it, because if they do what you recommend, you will not be able to do it yourself. The reasons for your action are inconsistent. This is called the generalization test. It says that the reasons for an action have to be consistent with the assumption that others who have the same reasons act the same way.

2. BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR GOALS.

When you do something, there is something you have in mind as a goal. At some point you have to decide what it is all for. That is the end for which the rest is the means. You may have several ends, but you must have at least one. The utilitarian principle says that you have to make up your mind what the end is and stick to it. Let’s say happiness is your ultimate goal. It means that you think happiness is intrinsically valuable, not valuable as a means to something else, but valuable in itself. If that is true, then happiness is good, and if happiness is good, then anyone should have it, you or someone else. In fact, if you have a chance to make someone else happy, you should do it because you believe happiness is good. That leads to the utilitarian test. It says you should choose an action that maximizes total net utility for everyone concerned and everyone it affects. Otherwise, you are inconsistent. Some people worry about whether you can measure utility. Actually, it is not as hard as one might think. How to measure happiness? In most cases, common sense will suffice, but for those who need more solid calculation, there is a theory called utility theory. For example, if you want to measure utility against income or wealth, you can do that with a utility curve. Some people ask, what if one cannot tell how to maximize utility because one cannot predict the consequences of their actions? That is true, but you do not have to be omniscient. All you have to do is to be rational. You have to rationally believe that no other action would create greater utility. On the other hand, you cannot be lazy about it. You have to do some research on the issue to find out the consequences of your actions. Does this mean that businesses should give away everything to charitable causes? Of course not, because if they did that generally, they would not be able to attract investors and eventually, there would not be any business to give things away. A business’s primary contribution is doing its job: making products and services in a responsible way. Business creates an enormous amount of positive utility by doing what it does best. People get jobs, they work together, they learn to do it well, they become successful. This is what a business should primarily do to create positive utility. Later as a business becomes a well-established corporation, it can start thinking about charitable projects like building infrastructure and schools in developing countries.

3. BE CONSISTENT WITH WHO YOU ARE.

The idea is that you cannot decide how to live your life unless there is some basis for this decision. It has to come from some idea of why we are here and who we are. The key word here is integrity. It comes from the same word as ,integer’, or a whole number. If we have integrity, then we act in accordance with who we are. For example, if you betray a friend, you do not want to think about it. It keeps you up at night, and you can hardly look at yourself in the mirror. In a way it alienates you from yourself and splits your personality. You lose integrity by acting against who you are as a human being, because part of being human is taking care of your friends. If I have no friends, no concept of friendship, then I am not fully human. So integrity is not honesty but it means being a whole person.

Rationality, like reason, involves evaluation, and just as one can assess the rationality of individual choices, so one can assess the rationality of social choices and examine how they are and ought to be related to the preferences and judgments of individuals. In addition, there are intricate questions concerning rationality in strategic situations in which outcomes depend on the choices of multiple individuals. Since rationality is a central concept in branches of philosophy studies of rationality in business frequently cross the boundaries between economics and philosophy.

GLOSSARY:

prior – wcześniejszy

abide by – przestrzegać

voluntarily – na ochotnika

corollary – następstwo

suffice – wystarczać

omniscient – wszechwiedzący

integrity – uczciwość, spójność

intricate – zawiły

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS FROM GLOSSARY.

1. He ________________ agreed to prepare the report instead of me.

2. He is a man of great ___________. We all trust his judgement.

3. This document presents an ___________ legal analysis of the situation. I do not understand it.

4. You do not need a degree to be a waiter. A short course will __________.

5. You have to ___________ the terms of the contract.

6. Illegally parked cars may be removed at any time without __________ notice.

1. voluntarily; 2. integrity; 3. intricate; 4. suffice; 5. abide by; 6. prior

LEKCJA 6

RATIONAL CHOICE IN PRACTICE
RACJONALNY WYBÓR W PRAKTYCE

W poprzedniej lekcji przedstawiona została teoria racjonalnego wyboru, jako jednego z narzędzi umożliwiających podjęcie właściwych rozstrzygnięć w kwestiach etycznych. Zaprezentowane zostały trzy warunki racjonalnego wyboru, których spełnienie, w przypadku wątpliwości natury moralnej, pozwala na uzyskanie potwierdzenia co do słuszności podejmowanych decyzji i działań. Pora zobaczyć teraz, jak teoria sprawdza się w praktyce w odniesieniu do konkretnych, z życia wziętych, dylematów.

At first glance, the Theory of Rational Choice can seem to be a bit confusing. That is why applying the theory to a real case study is necessary in order to understand how it works in practice and why it might become a useful tool for taking rational decisions.

CARMEN’S JOB

Carmen has just graduated from university and is looking for a job. She has been sending her cv and going to interviews for a few weeks and suddenly, she learns about an attractive vacancy in New York City, at Best Finance Bank. She believes it is exactly the right job for her. During the interview she is able to prove that she has all the right skills, and the company wants to hire her. Unfortunately, shortly after the interview, there is a global credit freeze, and the firm, expecting redundancies, stops hiring. They contact Carmen and say that they are very sorry but they just cannot offer her the job right now. Meanwhile, she receives another offer but is not sure if she wants it. Her friends are bragging about their good jobs and keep asking if she has been offered a position somewhere. Her parents are calling her to say that she needs to find a job soon because it is high time she became financially independent. As a result the pressure is building up, and finally Carmen gives in and takes a job at a consulting firm in Cleveland. It is not what she has been dreaming of but at last, she would be able to pay the bills with her own money. A few weeks later, she gets a phone call from the bank in New York saying that the situation has changed and they are hiring now. They ask Carmen to come to New York as soon as possible to sign the contract and start her dream job.

Now, Carmen cannot sleep at night because she has a serious dilemma to deal with. She has already accepted a job offer from the contract company in Cleveland. As she has signed a contract, they expect her to show up for the first day of work very soon. On the other hand, she really wants this job in New York and cannot stop thinking that by rejecting it she will lose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At the same time her friends are trying to convince her that she should not worry about the whole situation and pursue her dreams by doing what her heart tells her to do. They think she should let the Cleveland company down and choose the job in New York.

Let’s have a closer look at the situation now and see if that would be an ethical thing to do. First, let’s apply the generalization test and see how it comes out. Just to remind you, the generalization test says that the reasons for an action have to be consistent with the assumption that others who have the same reasons act the same way.

GENERALIZATION TEST

Let’s look then at Carmen’s reasons. Why does she want to break her current contract and go to New York? The answer is pretty simple. She wants the job in New York because in her opinion, it is better. Now, suppose everyone who can get a better job by breaking their current contract does so and it becomes common practice. Whenever people find it convenient to break their agreements, they just blow it off. What would the consequences be? The contracts would not mean anything if people broke them whenever they wanted to for the pettiest of reasons. Why should a company promise you a job, when they know that as soon as you get an attractive offer from someone else, you are going to forget about this company? Why should they bother with you, if you are not going to bother with them? Eventually, there would not be any employment contracts anymore because if we broke them whenever we wanted to, we would lose the whole point of having contracts. Carmen is desperate to get the job in New York City. She does not, however, want to show up on her first day at work and find out that the job is not there because, in the meantime, they found a better candidate. She wants them to promise her a job, and she wants that job to be there when she arrives. Similarly, when the company in Cleveland is ready to start her employment, they want her to be there as well. If everyone is going to blow contracts off, no one would bother to sign agreements and contracts because they would be meaningless. This shows that Carmen’s reason fails the generalization test. Carmen would not be able to fulfil her purposes if everyone did the same thing. If you think about it, the reason why we have agreements and contracts is that we feel the obligation to keep them even when we do not want to do that. If we only keep agreements when it is convenient for us, we do not need them. We just do what we want, and feel fine about it.

Many people who have experienced a similar dilemma might argue that if you read the contract carefully, there is usually an escape clause in there. It says, for example, that an employee can give notice that they are going to leave or sometimes there are options to turn down the job for a penalty. Carmen may think it is alright to turn down the job at Cleveland because she can slip out of this legally. Is it the right thing to do? The problem is that there is more than a legal contract involved. There is a job market with its rules and practices that Carmen needs to take into consideration. Especially, the practice in which people say, ,I’m going to offer you a job’, and they mean it, and other people say, ,I’m going to take that job rather than this one’, and they mean it. Suppose people could change their mind anytime. Then there would not be a job market anymore because it would break down. Would it be alright if Carmen turned up for the first day at work in New York, and heard, ,Carmen, I hope you read your contract. It says that in some circumstances we could resign form hiring you. The situation here has changed and we do not have a job for you.’ There is definitely something wrong here because if everyone does this, the whole practice breaks down. It no longer means anything to have a job market.

Now, suppose Carmen goes to Cleveland and talks to them about her dilemma. Let’s assume that they understand she desperately wants this job in New York, and as it happens, they found another candidate for her position who would actually work out better for them. They decide to call off the whole thing with hiring Carmen. Is that OK? Does this decision pass the generalization test? Sure it does. If you have a contract and you decide, by mutual agreement, to nullify the contract it does not undermine the practice of agreements and contracts. We do that already, and it works fine.

UTILITARIAN TEST

Just to remind you, the utilitarian test says that, when taking an important decision, you should choose an action that maximizes total net utility for everyone concerned and everyone it affects. Otherwise, you are inconsistent.

Suppose Carmen reasons: ,If I work in Cleveland and do the job which is not right for me, I am not going to be motivated and the customers are not going to be satisfied. On the other hand, in New York City I will do the job which is perfect for me. I will be highly motivated, I will make the company successful and please the customers. So all parties are going to be a lot better off, including me, if I take the job I want.’

Does this way of reasoning give her the right or even an obligation to break her contract in Cleveland and go to New York? Let’s take it for granted that she would create more utility in New York. That means that the decision of breaking her contract and going to New York satisfies the utilitarian test. It definitely does. The only problem is, that at the same time, it violates the generalization test. You have to pass all the tests in order to make sure you took the right decision.

Do not these two tests come into conflict, then? The utilitarian test gives her an obligation to work in New York, whereas the generalization test gives her an obligation to work with the company she signed with. Actually, there is no conflict as neither principal overrides the other. The utilitarian test says that you have to choose the action that maximizes utility, but what you choose has to be an action. To be an action, it has to satisfy the other conditions for rational choice. So if going to New York violates the generalization test, then it is not really a human action with coherent rationale. It is just a kind of behaviour, something like a twitch, or primitive instinct. The test for utility only requires us to maximize utility subject under the condition that the action obeys all the other rules. Carmen is not required to go to New York to satisfy that condition.

INTEGRITY TEST

Aristotle observed that we, as human beings, are uniquely qualified to bring to this world, something no other creature can bring. He thought it was the ,virtues’, such as courage, intelligence, honour or friendship. Lions and tigers do not have courage. They are only brave because they do not overcome their fears. Squirrels do not enjoy sunsets but we have aesthetic sensibility. It is one of our virtues. These virtues are what we humans uniquely have. That is who we are, and according to Aristotle we should act consistently with those virtues. Sometimes a choice of career, particularly in our culture, defines who we are, and we should behave consistently with the mission of our career. Otherwise, we are alienated from ourselves. Virtue ethics is vague, but it tells us that if there is no conflict of virtues, we should not act contrary to a virtue, because that would be an action contrary to who we are as human beings. Another word for this is ,integrity’. Integrity means wholeness and if we have integrity, then we act in accordance with who we are.

Carmen is tempted to break her word to the company in Cleveland. That is a violation of honour. According to Aristotle, honour is part of who we are as human beings. If we have no sense of honour, we are not fully human and fail the integrity test. On the other hand, one of our virtues is intellectual capacity. Carmen thinks that by going to New York, she can develop her talents, be more competent, and take advantage of her abilities. Thus she has a conflict of virtues. In a case like this, there is no clear verdict from the virtue test.

Now let’s try and put up a scorecard for Carmen’s decision. If she went to New York without the consent of her employers in Cleveland, she would pass two of the tests, the utilitarian test and the integrity test, but she would fail the generalization test. The theory of rational choice requires the decision to pass all three tests in order to be considered a rational one. Carmen should try and find some other solution to her dilemma if she wants to make sure she chose well.

GLOSSARY:

brag – chwalić się

give in – poddać się

show up – pojawić się

let down – sprawić zawód

come out – wychodzić

blow off – zignorować

find out – dowiedzieć się

slip out – wymknąć się

break down – załamać się

work out – sprawdzić się

call off – odwołać

mutual – wzajemny

nullify – anulować

violate – naruszać

override – prześcigać

overcome – pokonać

put up – przygotować

EXERCISE

MATCH THE PHRASAL VERBS FROM THE TEXT WITH THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. ...... – to ignore something or consider something to be unimportant.

2. ...... – to cancel an event or an appointment.

3. ...... – to make a display of something.

4. ...... – to surrender or acknowledge defeat.

5. ...... – to exit quietly without bothering anyone.

6. ...... – to stop working properly.

7. ...... – to disappoint someone.

1. Blow off; 2. Call off; 3. Put up; 4. Give in; 5. Slip out; 6. Break down; 7. Let down

LEKCJA 7

RATIONAL CHOICE – CASE STUDY 1
RACJONALNY WYBÓR – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU 1

Wszyscy pamiętamy kryzys finansowy, który w 2008 roku dotknął Amerykę i którego skutki odczuło wiele krajów europejskich. Ekonomiści i politycy wciąż rozwodzą się na temat jego przyczyn, jednocześnie zastanawiając się, czy istniały przesłanki, których dostrzeżenie mogło zapobiec załamaniu się rynków finansowych. Przy tej okazji warto spojrzeć na całą sytuację z punktu widzenia etyki biznesu i prześledzić, czy przedstawiona w poprzednich lekcjach teoria racjonalnego wyboru ma tu swoje zastosowanie.

The financial crisis of 2007–2009 is considered by many economists the worst crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s. It threatened the collapse of a number of financial institutions and played a significant role in the failure of key businesses. It caused a substantial decline in consumer wealth and a downturn in economic activity. One of the U.S. Senate’s representatives stated that the crisis was the result of trading high risk, complex financial products as well as of widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision. This is the official and a very general summary of what triggered the crisis in America. However, this issue should also be analysed from an ethical point of view, as something went definitely wrong at this level. Let us have a look if, by applying the theory of rational choice, it is possible to determine which parties and at which point failed to take ethical decisions that could have prevented the crisis from happening. This is not intended to be the final word or the final analysis. This is an attempt to present some arguments and show how they work out and what ethical reasoning looks like.

SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LOANS

Countrywide Financial was the largest mortgage lender in the U.S. They issued about 9% of their portfolio in subprime mortgage loans. A subprime loan is one in which the borrower is perceived as risky and does not meet the usual standards for a mortgage loan. As a result he is able to get the loan but at a higher rate than the regular one. In late 2008, there was a global credit freeze and subprime loans played a role in it. Banks would make the loans and sell them to some other institutions, which would repackage these loans into mortgage-backed securities. They somehow received AAA ratings from the rating agencies, and as a result banks all over the world were buying the securities. But when the crisis started, everyone was trying to get rid of them. Is there anything wrong with subprime loans, then? They do have a legitimate purpose. If there is a customer who wants to buy a house but had some bad luck in the past, this is a way to give him a chance to prove that he can build a reliable credit record. However, in the 2000s, the situation got out of control. A lot of borrowers were lured into risky propositions. One of the favourite loans was the so-called 2/28 loan. It meant that for two years, the interest rates were low, and the customer could easily afford the house payments, but in the third year the interest rates went up. What should the borrower do then? Maybe he would be better off. Maybe his house value would have increased. However, there was something else going on due to the fact that these mortgages were sold off to banks to be packaged into securities. There was no longer an incentive to perform due diligence on these mortgage loans. In the absence of this incentive, some of these loans were simply too risky. This phenomenon contributed to a bubble in house prices which finally burst, as bubbles always do. House values went down, interest rates went up, and many homeowners were in huge trouble because the value of their mortgage was greater than the value of their house, especially that banks began to push their customers to pay their debts.

DUE DILIGENCE

The issue to consider here is this: when is making a subprime loan an ethical thing to do? Bearing in mind the Rational Choice Theory, let us look at the utilitarian test first. When you make a loan of this kind, you should verify if it is a reasonable risk for the borrower as well as for the lender. Let us assume that, at that time, people could believe this was a good risk. Everyone seemed to be certain that house prices would not crash. If that was so, then perhaps, on the average, the net utility of making a loan like this was positive. It means the decision to sell subprime mortgage loans passed the utilitarian test. Now, let us try the generalization test, because even if the expected return both for the borrower and the lender is positive, there is a lot of downside risk. To make this a little easier, let us suppose that the lender provided full information about the terms of the loan. Everyone understood that the interest rate on the loan was going to go up, and so forth. However, despite this, the lender knew that the borrower was underestimating the risk. They really wanted that house and were overoptimistic about their future ability to pay their debt. They were also not aware of all the factors, and in particular, they were not aware that the lender no longer had an incentive to do due diligence on the loan. They were thinking that the bank was going to check this thing out carefully, because banks had always done that. The borrower did not know that, and the lender knew that the borrower was not aware of that. Can we simply say that the borrowers are adults and if they want to buy a house they should check out the risk and be responsible for themselves? Business, as we know it, requires some degree of trust between the buyer and the seller. If you go to a grocery shop, you cannot research every item you put in your shopping basket. Of course, regulation can help here but it cannot succeed if the business world in general is not ethical enough to go along with this. We have to trust people to give us what we expect because otherwise commerce is simply not possible. How much trust do we need? The generalization principle says that you are not ethical if you presuppose a level of trust in the system that would not exist if everyone were like you. Countrywide Financial, for example, was probably presupposing that borrowers would not question the due diligence of the banks. They were probably presupposing that people trusted the banks to check out a loan carefully before they made it. That is why Countrywide Financial’s behaviour does not generalize. If it became a standard practice for banks not to check out loans carefully enough, because they wanted sell them off to investors, then the borrowers would know about that. They would be alerted to it, and they would be more cautious. This behaviour does not generalize, and the system falls apart. What is the conclusion then? At a minimum, to pass the generalization test, the lender has to make sure that the borrower is fully aware of the risk and in particular, that he knows that the system has changed. He must know that, from now on, the lender is going to sell off this loan and does not necessarily have to check it out carefully, because someone else is going to assume the risk. Irrespectively of the fact whether the banks tell the borrowers about the lack of due diligence on their side or not, the failure of banks to perform due diligence on loans poses an ethical problem, too. It is an issue of deceiving the people who buy the loans. Basically, banks were selling a product that was not what it appeared to be.

FORECLOSING

How about foreclosing on borrowers after the loan is made? Interest rates go up, house values go down, and the borrowers are unable to make the payments. Let us assume again that there was no actual fraud or misrepresentation in making the loan. If someone makes a loan or a contract with you in this way then legally, you can void that contract. It is not that easy here, because everything the lender said was true. The terms of the contract were understood. The borrower just did not fully understand the risk, and the lender did not make him aware of that risk. Is it OK then, to foreclose when the borrower can no longer make the payments? Let us look at the utilitarian test first. Renegotiating this loan would probably benefit both the borrower and the lender because foreclosure is expensive. It seems better for both parties and therefore maximizes total utility. However, you may say that if the lender renegotiates every time the borrower gets into trouble, then borrowers will have no incentive to be careful about which loans they take. Nevertheless, renegotiation is still generalizable because both parties can still benefit form renegotiating the contract. Suppose people who have a contract and would benefit from renegotiating the contract, did so on a regular basis. Very often, that is the case and the system works fine. The conclusion is that if the lender benefits from renegotiation, as well as the borrower, then there is a utilitarian obligation to do so.

If the lender does not benefit from renegotiation, the situation gets a little bit tougher. Now it is necessary to think why the lender would need to renegotiate. The reason could be to avoid the disutility of foreclosure. If lenders were always willing to adjust the terms of the loan when people get in trouble, the system would adjust to that. If it was a common practice to ease up on the terms when the borrower gets into trouble, then lenders would tighten up the conditions when giving the loan, because they would know they may have to Qease up later. Would it mean however that there would be fewer foreclosures? If all lenders were to ease up when people are in trouble, and tighten up initially to account for that, that would not necessarily avoid foreclosures. Basically, the same number of people would be getting in trouble, because in the end, the terms of the loan are the same. So if the purpose of renegotiation is to avoid the disutility of foreclosure, then renegotiation is not generalizable.

According to the Ethical Choice Theory, the conclusion of this case study is the following: if renegotiation benefits the lender, the lender has an obligation to do it; if it does not benefit the lender, the lender should not do it. Public policy issues are something to consider here. Maybe the government should step in and incentivize lenders to renegotiate and improve the situation. But that is a different scenario to analyse.

GLOSSARY:

trigger – uruchomić

downturn – spowolnienie

repackage – przepakować; tu: sprzedać jako coś innego

legitimate – usankcjonowany

lure – wabić

due diligence – należyta staranność

foreclosing – zajęcie obciążonej nieruchomości

downside risk – zagrożenie spadku cen

fraud – oszustwo

misrepresentation – celowe wprowadzenie w błąd

void – unieważnić

ease up – złagodzić

EXERCISE

FIND WORDS FOR THESE LEGAL AND FINANCIAL DEFINITIONS.

1. An assertion or manifestation by words or conduct that is not in accord with the facts. ______________

2. The research and analysis of a company or organization done in preparation for a business transaction. ______________

3. That which is null and completely without legal force or binding effect. ______________

4. Information or conduct that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to his or her legal injury. ______________

5. To take back property because the money owed for the property has not been paid. ______________

6. An estimation of a security’s potential to suffer a decline in value if the market conditions change. ______________

1. Misrepresentation; 2. Due diligence; 3. Void; 4. Fraud; 5. Foreclosing; 6. Downside risk

LEKCJA 8

RATIONAL CHOICE – CASE STUDY 2
RACJONALNY WYBÓR – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU 2

Dokonywania etycznych wyborów można się nauczyć. Co więcej, można nauczyć się racjonalnego argumentowania swoich wyborów. Nie jest to jednak proste, ponieważ wymaga nabycia umiejętności zdystansowania się od zaistniałej sytuacji i spojrzenia na nią pod różnym kątem. Jako że praktyka czyni mistrza, prezentujemy kolejne studia przypadku, których analizę i rozstrzygnięcie może ułatwić teoria racjonalnego wyboru.

The case studies presented in this article may seem very familiar. They were selected carefully to make you think about situations which we frequently encounter. Sometimes, when confronted with dilemmas similar to those presented below, we do not know what to do. Eventually, we let it go without doing anything or we take a spontaneous decision and then struggle to deal with its consequences. The rational choice theory may come in handy if we want to determine what is the right thing to do.

THE CASHIER’S ERROR

Imagine that you visit an electronics shop because you need to buy a few rather expensive items. One of them is a camera that costs £300. When you return home and look at the receipt you realize that the cashier, by mistake, did not charge you for the camera. What do you do about it? Is it acceptable to let it go and feel happy about saving some money? Hopefully, most people would be inclined to say that it is an absolute must to pay for the product. The reason for this seems to be pretty simple. You have a sales contract. When you picked the camera from the shelf and went through the till with it, you made an agreement to pay the shop £300 in exchange for the camera. Those who would not be so eager to return and pay for it, might argue that there is no camera listed on the receipt. They might say that the camera is a gift. The receipt, however is not a contract and a gift has to be intentional. Not charging you for the camera is just a mistake on their part. In order to honour the terms of the contract you need to go back and pay.

Now, suppose it is not a £300 camera but a 50p. packet of chewing gum. What to do now? When you arrive home and find out that you did not pay for it, are you morally obliged to get into your car and drive across the town to pay, knowing that the petrol you are going to use costs much more than the gum? Here, most people would say that probably not. But why? A contract is a contract and it should not matter what the amount is. Nevertheless, it still does not seem feasible to jump in a car and drive a few kilometers to pay 50p. The way to approach this problem is to remember that you can nullify or change a contract by mutual consent. Suppose, you were to ring up the manager of the shop and tell him that by mistake they did not charge you for a packet of chewing gum. Suppose, you asked the manager if you could just keep it. It is almost certain that the manager would agree and tell you not to worry about it. In the worst case scenario, he could say that you can pay for it next time you visit the shop. It still means, however, that he does take into consideration the possibility that you never will. If you are absolutely certain that the manager would consent and that he would behave the same way, each time a customer was not charged for a similar amount, it means that your failure to pay is generalizable and that is why it is not necessary to return to the shop and pay for a packet of chewing gum. In case of a £300 item, you cannot be so certain and you have to check it out.

THE BOSS’S EXPENSE ACCOUNT

Imagine you are working for a company, and your boss asks you to accompany him on a trip to San Francisco. When you book your flight through the corporate travel agent, by chance, you find out that your boss’s wife is going with you. You realize that your boss is taking his wife along for a little holiday, at the company’s expense. What should you do about this? Let it go? Report it to the company? Actually, how to deal with a boss who is doing something questionable is a common dilemma in a workplace. There are two issues here which need anlysing. Firstly, is the boss doing something unethical? Secondly, should you report it? If the boss is deceiving the company then definitely he is not being ethical. Deception is not generalizable. If everyone deceived people just for their personal convenience, you would not be able to deceive people anymore, because they would not believe you and they would check up on everything you say. The only reason the boss can deceive the company is that not everyone does it all the time. Furthermore, if you take a job with a company, you implicitly agree to abide by the company rules. The boss is violating his employment agreement with the company by doing something which is not in accordance with corporate regulations. Once this issue is clear, another one arises. Is it OK for you to keep quiet about this? First, let us try the utilitarian test. What would happen if you were to report your boss to the company? It is hard to tell. You might get in real trouble with your boss. He might use his position and get you fired. Or you could become a hero for tracking down fraud and you might get promoted. Unfortunately, that is the way it is with whistle-blowing cases. You have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. That is why the utilitarian test will not come in handy here because no matter how much you research it is completely unpredictable what would happen.

Let us try the generalization test, then. Is keeping quiet about the boss generalizable? If it is part of your job to monitor company accounts, then of course it is not generalizable, because you have an agreement with the company to keep track of any cases of fraud or corruption. However, this is not part of your job. Suppose that employees never report on their boss about a misuse of the expense account because they want to stay out of trouble and avoid being fired. Would they still be able to achieve the purpose of not reporting? Certainly. Within the organization there are other mechanisms to catch cheating. The company would not go bankrupt because of you keeping quiet. Viewed from this perspective, your failure to report is generalizable. You can go to San Francisco, have a good time, and forget about your boss’s ethical problem.

Some may argue that additionally, there could be a virtue ethics question here. But actually, you might have an obligation to be loyal to your boss, perhaps. This loyalty would encourage you not to speak up. Others might argue that you have a loyalty obligation to the company and that is why you should whistle-blow on your boss. They are not right. Loyalty only applies to human beings. You can be loyal to people, not to organizations. Loyalty to organizations is not part of virtue ethics, because you can be human without being loyal to any organization. But you cannot be truly human without loyalty to other humans, at least your family or spouse. Loyalty to organizations is not necessary to our humanity, while loyalty to other human beings definitely is.

CHEAP STUFFING

Imagine you are a furniture manufacturer and you have a reputation for high-quality upholstered furniture. Your company has a widely recognized brand name. Unfortunately, there was an economic downturn and a recession hit the market. Your company has to cut costs, so it decides to put in its sofas a kind of stuffing which is much cheaper than the one they have been using. Customers expect high quality from your furniture and they know it will last because the stuffing is high quality. Without saying anything, however, you are going to use cheaper material and sell it under the same brand name and for the same price. To make this a bit easier, let us assume that you have never claimed in your adverts, your promotional material, or in your conversation with customers that the stuffing is high quality. It is just the customers who have learned, over the years, that the quality is high. The issue here is whether it is ethical for you to betray your brand name, in some sense, by using low quality material. You are not saying anything which is not true, and you are not going against your advertising. You are simply changing the quality a bit. Is that ethical? An underlying issue, obviously, is whether it is deceptive because, as it was said before, deception is not generalizable. To deceive someone, you do not actually have to tell a lie. Deception is causing someone to believe something that you know is false. Are you deceiving customers without actually lying to them? Actually, you would be deceiving your customers if they expected you to update them on the quality of the stuffing. Let me explain what mean by using an easier example. Suppose, that you ask to come and see your boss in his office. Your boss says that tomorrow he will be in the office all day. However, tonight the boss changes his mind. He is not going to be there, and he knows you are coming but does not bother to tell you about it. When you show up, he is not there. That is deception, because you would expect the boss to update you as to whether he is going to be there, if he knows that he will not. The question in the case of the furniture is whether the customer would expect to be updated about the quality of the material. Of course, if there is a label on the furniture that lists the specifications about the stuffing, then yes, they would expect to be updated. But for the sake of this case study, we assume that no such specifications appear. We assume that the company has never claimed anything about the quality of the stuffing. If you walked into the furniture store, would you expect the salesperson to say, ,Let me tell you, before you come in, that we have changed the quality of the stuffing’? You most probably would not. The company caused its customers to believe that the quality is high, by manufacturing high quality sofas in the past. At the time when it was manufacturing high-quality sofas, they were, in fact, high-quality sofas. The manufacturers did not trick anyone to believe something they knew was false when they actually created the high-quality sofas. So there is no clear case for deception.

Now, suppose we apply the generalization test directly to the decision about the quality of the merchandise. Let us assume that companies always reduce the quality of their products in a recession, without telling the customer. What would happen? Customers would learn that. If they walked into a furniture store during a recession, they would know that the company is using cheaper materials, because companies always do this. The customers would be less likely to pay the same price for the furniture. As a result, sales would drop because people would know the quality is lower. Is the company’s decision generalizable, then? It depends on the reason. If the company’s reason is simply to cut production costs, they would still be able to cut production costs if everyone else did the same. They would not sell as many sofas, but they would nonetheless reduce their expenses on production. However, that is not the whole reason. Part of the reason is that they want to cut production costs but at the same time they probably want to maintain sales. That is why they are not saying anything about it. In that case, the decision is not generalizable, because if everyone did the same, they would not be able to maintain sales. To sum up, the company can ethically reduce quality, without alerting customers, if they were willing to do that at the cost of sales drop to the level that would take place if all sellers did the same.

GLOSSARY:

feasible – wykonalny

nullify – unieważnić

mutual consent – wzajemna zgoda

deceive – oszukać

deception – oszustwo

whistle-blow – informować, donosić

spouse – małżonka, małżonek

obligation – obowiązek

upholstered – tapicerowany

downturn – spowolnienie

stuffing – wypełnienie

EXERCISE

MATCH THE WORDS FROM COLUMN A WITH THE WORDS FROM COLUMN B TO CREATE COLLOCATIONS.

Column A

upholstered

nullify

feasible

economic

deceive

mutual

Column B

solution

people

furniture

consent

a contract

downturn

upholstered furniture; nullify a contract; feasible solution; economic downturn; deceive people; mutual consent

LEKCJA 9

RATIONAL CHOICE – CASE STUDY 3
RACJONALNY WYBÓR – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU 3

Kilka lat temu prozdrowotna organizacja konsumencka z USA pozwała firmę McDonald’s w związku z dołączaniem zabawek do linii dań dla dzieci, nazywanych Happy Meal. Jak podkreśla organizacja, zabawki zachęcają dzieci do jedzenia niezrównoważonych odżywczo dań, które przyczyniają się do otyłości i nadwagi. Z tego powodu uznano, że reklama Happy Meal jest nie w porządku wobec dzieci i rodziców. Rolą wymiaru sprawiedliwości jest ustalenie, czy firma złamała prawo. My spróbujemy przeanalizować tę kwestię od strony etycznej.

You might have seen the film ,Super-size Me’, which was on at the cinemas across the globe in 2004. It looked at the effects of the food served at McDonald’s restaurants on our health. It put some spotlight on the obesity problem in the U.S. and its unbelievable scale. The title of the film originated from the fact that at that time, McDonald’s employees were instructed to ask the customers, ,Can I super-size you?’, which in other words meant, ,Can I give you a large size of chips or drink?’ At about the time when the film came out, McDonald’s workers stopped asking their clients to super-size their meals but the management claimed their decision had nothing to do with the movie. The coincidence is really hard to believe because the film got lots of publicity and the quality of McDonald’s food was a hot topic for weeks.

In the film, the director, Morgan Spurlock, spent one month eating nothing but McDonald’s meals. He ate his breakfast, lunch and dinner at McDonald’s restaurants. What he did was an experiment which he decided to run to see what this kind of diet would do to his body. Before he started this one-month venture, he had his medical condition checked. After the experiment he visited the doctor. When he compered the results, he realized that he had gained about 11 kilograms during one month and additionally, acquired a number of other problems, such as high sugar level, high blood pressure, bad liver tests etc. It was easy to conclude that the food he had been eating for a month had nothing to do with a healthy diet. In fact, Morgan Spurlock had to go on a detox diet afterwards to lose weight and to make his medical tests go back to normal. The film points out that McDonald’s diet influences the way we eat, affects our health, and contributes to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. If this kind of food is so harmful and devastating to people’s health, then is McDonald’s doing something unethical by advertising and selling it?

MCDONALD’S MENU

There are really two issues that need consideration here. Issue number one is whether the McDonald’s menu is ethical. Issue number two is about the ethics of their marketing practices, particularly towards children. For the sake of this analysis, let us assume that there is full disclosure on the side of the fast food chain. The customer knows what is inside the Big Mac. He is fully aware of all the ingredients, as well as of the amounts of fat, sugar, and calories. This information is easily available so customers can always check what they eat. Nevertheless, the usual arguments you might hear put the blame on McDonald’s for harming the customers by feeding them food that is unhealthy, gives them diabetes, and makes them obese. On the other hand, people defend McDonald’s by saying that people, who chose to buy there, are consenting adults. A Big Mac is what the customer wants, and McDonald’s is not responsible for what their customers decide to eat. They run a business which satisfies demand. Besides, some might argue, apart from burgers and chips, they also offer salads – although it has been made clear by now that the dressing on the salad can actually have more calories than a Big Mac. Finally, as for the kids, parents are responsible for their children. It is their responsibility to teach their sons and daughters about health diet and provide them with good eating habits. We could continue generating more and more arguments condemning or defending McDonald’s and we would probably get nowhere. Let us see then if by applying the rational choice theory we can get a clearer picture of how ethical the chain is.

Issue number one is the menu. Is there anything wrong with it? The utilitarian test is the key one here. What is the effect of offering this menu to the world? We cannot resolve the health hazards of McDonald’s menu by sitting and talking about it. It is necessary to go out there, research it and find solid facts to support our claim. That is why we need to distinguish the issues of fact from the issues of ethics. The ethical decision depends on the outcome of the research. We cannot just sit back and say, ,Well, I think this is OK’, because there is high probability that the McDonald’s menu has a negative effect on people’s health and makes them fat. The least we have to do, in order to remain ethical ourselves, is to research this issue. For the sake of the argument let us assume that McDonald’s could tweak their menu to increase the utility at least a little bit. For example, they could remove high-fructose corn syrup from the hamburger buns. They will taste the same, but customers will not consume so many calories and they will not get as fat. If we assume that there is something they could do to make their food even a tiny bit healthier, then they are failing the utilitarian test, because they should immediately do it. The response to this argument could be the one mentioned before. Even if this is true, McDonald’s customers are consenting adults. People come in and ask to be served this stuff. It is not the role or responsibility of McDonald’s to say what people should or should not eat. They have no authority to make decisions for other people.

The utilitarian test takes into account all of the consequences, including those that are mediated by the choices of others. For example, suppose you are a pharmaceutical company, and you have two possible projects in front of you. One project is a miracle cure for cancer that can relieve millions of people from a horrible death. The other project is producing a really super-duper nail polish, which is equally profitable. You can only develop one of the products and you need to choose which one. To make a rational decision you can measure the utility of each project. The utility of the cancer drug goes through the roof. It is absolutely wonderful to be able to help so many people. In this case people also freely choose to take the cancer drug, and doctors freely choose to prescribe it. There is the same amount of free choice as with hamburgers and chips. Should you ignore all the good the drug can bring, all the relief of suffering and death, just because people freely choose to use the drug? Of course not, the natural thing to do here is to choose the project which will make the world a better place. The bottom line here is that you have to take into account all the consequences, even if free choices are involved. That is the way the test works. Coming back to McDonald’s, let us suppose that a customer comes in, gorges himself with Chicken Nuggets, and ruins his health. McDonald’s is off the hook as long as total utility is maximized. McDonald’s is not responsible for customer decisions. It is only responsible for the total utilitarian consequences of the company’s decisions, consequences that may be mediated by the choices of others.

Some might argue here that life is about some degree of indulgence. Of course it is. If a sweets shop you pass by on your way to work every morning sells luscious fudge brownies, and from time to time you give in to the temptation and eat one, that probably increases utility. You do not eat them often enough to cause problems, maybe once a week or once a month, and you just love them. The difficulty with McDonald’s is that they are ubiquitous. They are so convenient and the food is so quick and easy to get. And that makes the utilitarian outcome much different for them. The price of success is greater responsibility. Being popular and omnipresent causes greater consequences, and you have to consider those consequences. People can indulge in the pleasures that life can offer to a certain degree, just not all the time.

MARKETING TO CHILDREN

First, here are some bloodcurdling facts and statistics. Mc Donald’s has an extensive marketing strategy aimed specifically at children. 90% of children living in the UK, visit McDonald’s at least once a month. Only one Happy Meal option meets calorie guidelines for children.

If that is not terrifying enough, it seems the marketing to children is more aggressive than one might think. In McDonald’s restaurants, there are, of course, coupon books, play areas, Happy Meals with free toys, complimentary balloons and tables with in-built iPads to attract kids, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. The rumour has it that the marketing people actually stroll around McDonald’s restaurants to watch the kids pester their parents to pop in and have a meal there. They observe which nagging techniques work most efficiently and then demonstrate those techniques in their adverts. By doing so, they hope that when the time comes, the kids will know how to convince their parents that McDonald’s restaurant is the place to eat in. It is difficult to verify if this rumour is really true, but let us suppose it is true and think about whether this kind of practice and marketing strategy is ethical. We still have a problem with the utilitarian test. If this practice is damaging to the kids’ health, even though it is mediated by the free choices of the kids and their parents, it fails the utilitarian test. Because McDonalds has been so successful in attracting the young ones to their restaurants, they have to take into consideration the impact the popularity might have on their health. Many years ago, Antoine Sainte de Exupery in his famous book ,The Little Prince’ wrote, ,you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed’ and this is the issue for McDonalds to consider.

Some might argue that there is also the autonomy issue which needs to be discussed here. Is the fast food chain violating the autonomy of these kids by inducing them to want McDonald’s food? Everyone knows that kids cannot resist temptation raised by a skillfully made advert, the way adults can. They are an easy prey for marketing specialists who know the tricks of the trade. Are they exploiting these kids by circumventing their autonomy? Yes, they are, no doubt about that. But we violate the autonomy of our kids as well, when we raise them at home. There is no other way. While they are kids, we often say, ,You’re going to do this!’ or ,You must behave in this way!’ Whether we like it or not, this is a part of child raising, and parents already manipulate kids to a great extent. What matters here, and differentiates these two situations, is the idea behind this ,manipulation’. Parents do their best to bring up their kids in a way which will prepare them to become autonomous adults and be able to function in the society. Their obligation is to do so for the benefit of the child. On the other hand, the motives behind McDonald’s strategy are purely economic and as such they fail the ethics test thoroughly.

GLOSSARY:

obesity – otyłość

liver – wątroba

obese – otyły

hazard – zagrożenie

tweak – dostosować

super-duper – świetny, wystrzałowy

go through the roof – osiągnąć niebotyczny poziom

gorge – obżerać się

off the hook – wolny od podejrzeń

indulgence – zaspokajanie słabości

luscious – smakowity

ubiquitous – wszechobecny

nag – dręczyć

tame – oswoić

induce – skłaniać, kusić

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE PHRASES WITH THE CORRECT VERB.

1. Specially designed adverts ______ children to want McDonald’s food.

2. Children __________ their parents to take them to McDonald’s.

3. The fudge cake looked so _______ that I had to buy it.

4. ____ is a huge problem in the USA.

5. The restaurant decided to _______ their menu to attract more customers.

6. McDonald’s restaurants are so _________ that you can find them in almost every city in Poland.

7. Frequent dining at McDonald’s poses health ___________ to unaware customers.

1. induce; 2. nag; 3. luscious; 4. obesity; 5. tweak; 6. ubiquitous; 7. hazards

LEKCJA 10

RATIONAL CHOICE – CASE STUDY 4
RACJONALNY WYBÓR – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU 4

Prowadzenie biznesu z uwzględnieniem wartości etycznych, prawa, szacunku do pracowników, klientów, dostawców i całego społeczeństwa oraz środowiska naturalnego ma dzisiaj szczególne znaczenie. Bardzo często etyka decyduje o powodzeniu bądź klęsce danej organizacji w perspektywie długofalowej.

We will have a look at two well-known case studies which are often discussed in business courses concerning ethics. The first case is about the Bullard Houses and it focuses on negotiation and loyalty towards the client while the other concerns Conco Oil Company and the issues related to the environment and local culture.

THE BULLARD HOUSES

Here is the background of the story. The Bullard family owns some decaying townhouses and they would like to have them refurbished and sold to a developer, but they do not want the development to be gaudy and commercialized. They just want a nice and pleasant townhouse estate. A hotel chain, the Conrad Milton Hotel, is interested to buy these buildings. They want to put a high-rise hotel on the property, and use the houses as a kind of lobby for the hotel. Obviously, there is a conflict of interests because what the hotel chain intends to do is just the sort of thing the family does not want to happen. The hotel chain is negotiating through an agent, called Absentia, who is not revealing the identity of their client. When the Bullards negotiate, they do not know that a hotel chain is actually behind the bids. Absentia has strict instructions not to inform the Bullards about the true purpose of buying this property, because Conrad Milton knows the Bullards would not go for it. What should the negotiators at Absentia do about this?

There are a couple of scenarios. In one scenario, the Bullards specifically ask, ,Does the buyer have any commercial plans for this area, other than just developing townhouses?’ What should you say, if you are negotiating for Absentia? Should you say the truth or should you lie? In another scenario, the Bullards do not ask that question and they do not bring the issue up at all. They sort of assume that the development will be in line with what they want. What should Absentia’s representative do now? Should they say anything about it? Should they tip the Bullards off?

Some people might argue that, if the Bullards are so concerned about the future of their property, they should just put a clause in the contract to require that the buildings are developed in the right way. If they have not thought about it, it is their fault and there is no ethical issue involved. The problem, however, is there, because even if the family is not asking for a clause in the contract they have made it clear that they are looking for a special kind of buyer. People who negotiate on Absentia’s behalf have no other choice but to deal with the fact that there is a conflict of interests here.

In order to address the issue form the point of view of the rational choice theory, first, it is necessary to have a look at the negotiation principles. To make good-faith negotiation work, you have to tell the other party what you are delivering or what you are selling. You have to allow the party access to the product so that they can find out whether that is exactly what they want. Finally, you have to avoid deceiving the other party. Negotiation simply cannot work if those three conditions are not satisfied. On the other hand, in the course of negotiation you are not obliged to reveal how much you want the product or what it is worth to you. Similarly, if you are selling a car, you have to tell the potential buyer about the car. You need to let them have a close look, and inform them about all the important details. You cannot lie about it. Nevertheless, you do not have to tell the buyer that you have just inherited the vehicle but you cannot drive and the car is actually worth nothing to you. You just want to get rid of the car as soon as possible because keeping it is a problem for you. You do not have any obligation to mention all these details. What is more, you should not mention them, because it would cause the negotiation to break down. If you are selling a car, there is the lowest price which you will accept, and if somebody is buying the car, there is the highest price they are ready to pay. Suppose, you say your lowest price straightaway, then the buyers will only offer you that price. In the same way, if a customer tells you their highest price, then you will insist on selling the thing for the highest price. As a result, it would be hardly possible to sell or buy anything. The only way the seller and the buyer can come together is if they do not know each other’s highest and lowest price, and somehow try to meet in the middle. When we make an offer, it gives some information about where our limits are, but not complete information. This is what happens in negotiation all over the world. You have to conceal how much you want the product, or you will never come to an agreement.

With that as the background, let us suppose that the Bullards ask if the client is going to build a high-rise hotel there? One thing the agent might say is ,no’ or alternatively ,I don’t know’. Either option is a lie because the agent knows what the plans are. According to the rational choice theory, lying is not generalizable and it is unethical. What if the agent said that they are not authorized to tell the client what the plans are? It is true, it is not misleading, and it allows the seller to take further steps. But is it enough to say only this? If Absentia knows what the Bullards want, are they obliged to say something more? First of all, they are not obliged to reveal to the Bullards how much their client wants this property. So, at least at first glance, there is no obligation to tell them how the new owner is going to use the property. In fact, perhaps they should not tell them, because they would learn what it is worth to Conrad Milton.

Perhaps, however, the Bullards assume that if the property was going to be developed contrary to their wishes, the agency would say something about it. If that was true, and if they expected Absentia to say something about it, then not rising to this expectation means deceiving them. That is definitely not ethical. On the other hand, maybe the Bullards do not expect this. They just want the agent to be a tough negotiator and get the best deal for them. In that case, there is no deception. It is very difficult to say what the right thing to do is, because it depends on the precise situation. Additionally there are psychological issues involved which make the case even more complicated. You have to be on the scene to address the issue.

CONOCO’S ,GREEN’ ENERGY STRATEGY

This case study is about Conoco Oil Company. Back in the 1980s, Conoco began drilling in the Ecuadorian rain forest. They comprised about a third of the consortium that was looking for oil. The national oil company was going to receive 80% of profits after covering investment costs, because Conoco was operating on government land. The company was searching for oil in a largely undeveloped area, which was a part of a national park.

There had been some environmental problems with past oil drilling. Gallons of oil had been spilled, waste dumped into the rivers, and toxic drilling mud buried all over the place. Conoco wanted to address some of these problems. There was also a problem involving the indigenous people of the area. New access roads encouraged outsiders to move in and occupy this land. They were clearing large areas of the forest and threatening biodiversity. The indigenous population, called the Huaorani people, had had very limited contact with the outside world, but now the presence of this oil company was posing a threat to their traditional lifestyle, which some call ethnocide.

Conoco came up with a plan. At a cost of about 5% or 10% increase in investment, they were going to mitigate these environmental damages. They were going to collect the hazardous wastes, take care of the drilling mud, and limit outside access by not building bridges into the area. They presented this environmental plan to local groups interested in preserving the area in 1990. Nevertheless, due to local opposition and indigenous rights protests, they put the drilling on hold.

The question that could be addressed here is what the company’s obligations to protect the environment are, beyond those required by law of course. What are their obligations to the people? Some might assume that this is the government’s problem and he government should step in and regulate these issues. But if the government does not intervene, does it mean that the company has no responsibility?

The utilitarian test is simple, in principle. By searching for oil and discovering new sources, the company is benefiting the world. They are providing cheap energy. On the other hand, they are causing damage to the environment. Again, it is more a question of fact than ethics. You need to be there, analyse the situation, add everything up, and see what the consequences are.

There is also another argument. If Conoco Company does not drill for oil, someone else will. The environmental damage will occur just the same. It means that pollution to the extent necessary to stay in business passes the utilitarian test. The basic problem is that regulation in this part of the world is weak. Certain practices which are allowed in Ecuador, would be illegal in much of Europe or North America. Some people might say that it only proves that the company is hypocritical, because they are willing to violate their own country’s regulations when they operate somewhere else. On the other hand, we may be able to construct a generalization argument. We might argue that these companies depend on a prosperous and well-developed economy in North America and Europe for their profitability, and these parts of the world are economically successful partially because they are not destroying their environment. They have environmental regulations, and if they did not, perhaps it would in fact destroy the first-world economy, and this company which now operates in Ecuador would not be able to exist at all. So perhaps, this degree of pollution, solely for reasons of profitability, does not generalize. If companies always violated ethical rules concerning environmentalism, they would not be able to achieve their purposes.

As for ethnocide, destroying a culture is not the same as killing a person. Ethnocide destroys only their way of life, but they just live in a different way and may be fine individually. The traditional Western point of view was that indigenous people ought to be assimilated into the larger culture. Today we have a different approach, we believe that indigenous cultures should be respected for their own sake and their culture should be preserved. Traditionally, in Western cultures people are focused on individualistic ethics rather than group ethics. They see themselves as autonomous individuals. In other parts of the world, however, people see themselves primarily as members of their family or the village, rather than as individuals. The unit of existence is a collective, not an individual. Maybe it is possible then to have ethnocide, at least if you have a different concept of who you are as a human being. From this broader point of view, perhaps there is a problem that Western ethics will have to look at in the future.

There is also a virtue ethics issue here. Even if we argue that the company can ethically go ahead and carry out its operations in Ecuador, the people who are managing it may find this contrary to who they are. They may say that they just do not want to be involved in this. They accept that someone else would do it if they were not there, but personally, this is not the contribution they want to make to the world. These managers may have to move out for that reason. This is a case in which an individual manager may have a different set of obligations than the owners of the company.

GLOSSARY:

decaying – rozpadający się

refurbish – wyremontować

gaudy – tandetny

tip off – uprzedzić

deceive – oszukać

comprise – zawierać

indigenous – rodzimy

come up with – myśleć

mitigate – złagodzić

hazardous – niebezpieczne

violate – naruszać

EXERCISE

MATCH THE PHRASES.

1. come up with

2. refurbish

3. hazardous

4. gaudy

5. violate

6. mitigate

7. indigenous

a. the regulations

b. people of Ecuador

c. an office

d. environmental damage

e. some new ideas

f. hotel room

g. industrial waste

1e, 2c, 3g, 4f, 5a, 6d, 7b

LEKCJA 11

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS ETHICS
TERAŹNIEJSZOŚĆ I PRZYSZŁOŚĆ ETYKI BIZNESU

Wyciek Panama Papers z kancelarii podatkowej spowodował, że ujawniono aktywa elit politycznych i wielu prominentnych osób, które korzystały z rajów podatkowych w celu uniknięcia płacenia podatków. W efekcie dyskusji, która rozgorzała, okazało się, że wiele jest jeszcze do zrobienia w zakresie etyki biznesu i transparentności podejmowanych działań. Szczególny nacisk zaczęto kłaść na coś, co określa się mianem należytej staranności, ponieważ dotychczasowe narzędzia nie są wystarczająco skuteczne. W fachowej literaturze zaczęło pojawiać się pojęcie Compliance 2.0, a także pojawiły się sugestie wprowadzenia nowych, jeszcze bardziej zaostrzonych regulacji i systemów kontroli. W jakim kierunku pójdą te zmiany i jakie będą ich konsekwencje?

People have always cared about the behaviour of businesses and progressive businesses have always cared about their social impact. In the eighteenth-century England, customers boycotted sugar produced by slaves in favour of more ethically produced Indian sugar. It did not stop there. In the nineteenth-century, a businessman Joseph Rowntree ensured his employees had access to education, healthcare and pension.

The difference within today’s society is two-fold. Firstly, technology has made it easier for people to expose companies that behave unethically. This has been supported by the emergence of social media in the past decade, which has allowed the masses to demonstrate support behind a movement or action within a matter of hours. As a result, society is more ethically-aware and able to voice its opinion using more channels than ever before. This has led to an expectation of high business ethics standards across every sector. Secondly, society has grown tired of companies marketing a set of values that are inconsistent with the way they actually behave. Particularly when it is something different than the values it promotes. This type of action can destroy the reputation of a worldwide brand within days. That is why now, we can say that the power lies with the consumer.

CHANGING WORLD

In the world where Facebook has over 1 billion users, approximately two-thirds of the world’s population have mobile phones, and one-third have access to the internet, companies will learn to behave as if everything they say and do may become public, but they will expect the same of employees. Employee surveillance and monitoring will become standard practice as companies seek to detect risk before a violation can occur.

Governments, too, are increasingly under pressure to commit to global transparency initiatives. Improved living standards and education levels will create an unprecedented level of individual empowerment, along with rising expectations from business and government. We can already see this happening in soaring popular anger about corruption in countries such as Brazil, India, China, Russia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Corruption provides a powerful explanation for the misuse of public funds and the failures of government to meet the public expectation of more just and prosperous societies. This is becoming an issue in the Western world, too.

The ethical challenges facing companies today go far beyond the traditional control by compliance teams. Companies need to consider organizational context, as well as corporate responsibility issues such as human rights, climate change, and economic growth. It all speaks to a future in which those charged with compliance and ethics functions do not simply execute the enforcement of existing rules but are independent, empowered, and ready to meet the most urging challenges now facing enterprises. Companies that do this will be rewarded with more engaged, purposeful teams, enhancing their ability to retain and motivate younger employees. Compliance officers will increasingly become agents of change, taking responsibility for company values and culture.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

The fact that, with the support of social media, the customers can penalise every instance of unethical practices they observe, can have a lasting impact on the way businesses act. The companies that have not yet understood the significance of a genuine business ethics program risk a backlash from their customers, shareholders and business partners. Most companies are likely to stand up to the challenge and implement systems that will minimize the potential danger of losing their reputation. That is why here are some business ethics trends that are believed to gain further attention in the coming year.

1. BUSINESS ETHICS WILL BE OF KEY IMPORTANCE WHEN TAKING ANY KIND OF BUSINESS DECISION.

Business ethics covers a huge area – from the way companies treat their employees and suppliers, to the role the firm plays within society. Very soon ethics is likely to become a fundamental pillar that they will build their business around – not simply another arm of their marketing and PR strategy. It will become an ever-more important consideration in every part of the organisation. The automotive scandal of recent years is not the only one that showed how placing profit ahead of integrity can damage a brand. Others will be keen to avoid this kind of consequences.

2. EVEN LEGAL BEHAVIOUR WILL COME UNDER SCRUTINY.

Despite marketing specialists’ best efforts, the general public do not see businesses as a ,human entity’. This may seem obvious at first glance, but it is important because it demonstrates why business must strive to be more ethical than any citizen.

One of the most typical examples of this argument is tax avoidance. If a corporate organisation uses a legal loophole to avoid paying excessive taxes, and this becomes public knowledge, there will be a public outcry. However, an average person is unlikely to feel ashamed of paying a reduced level of tax by using legal means, neither will they criticize their friend for doing so. Similarly, consumers that expect lower-priced goods from a company or retailer will respond unfavourably if it becomes clear that its workers are subject to unethical (but still legal) working practices. Rightly or wrongly, these double-standards within society will remain among consumers. Businesses should be on the lookout for practices within their organisations that, while legal, might be considered unethical.

3. THE ROLE OF THE COMPANY IN THE WORLD AROUND IT WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT.

Companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) will also come under closer review. The public and customers will expect businesses to be as ,green’ as possible with the way they use and consume resources. Particularly in the wake of environmental scandals that gained media coverage. They will also expect some form of charitable activity or donation. This trend has become a standard part of many business’ marketing communications over the years. Now, consumers will expect companies to take this to the next level. Alongside all the charitable work, customers will want to know how the business ethics program of the company impacts the local community. Do they offer apprenticeships to young adults coming out of school or college? Do they help with community events and is their local community a better place with them in it? McDonalds has their own (creatively titled) Hamburger University, offering their staff to be trained at a dedicated facility, specialising in hospitality and cookery. They also offer young adults an opportunity to improve their education with an apprenticeship scheme, enabling young people to learn skills whilst they work. This type of committed business ethics strategy is likely to become more prevalent in the coming years.

4. IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS ETHICS PROGRAM DUE TO ,PEER PRESSURE’ WILL BE MORE COMMON.

The business ethics and social responsibility movement has become so pervasive that ethical policies are now expected even from companies’ suppliers. For example, many firms insist on their suppliers to meet internationally-recognised, independently-assessed quality standards. More and more often without meeting these conditions suppliers are not even allowed to participate in a tender for supplying their goods or services. Whether they like it or not, those who want to stay in the game need to implement those standards. They know pretty well that failing to do so means being out of business or losing lucrative contracts. These kind of practices are designed to improve business systems, policies and of course sense of business ethics in general.

5. COMPANIES WILL BE EXPECTED TO EVIDENCE THEIR ETHICAL PROGRAM.

Shareholders will increasingly expect businesses to evidence their ethical practices, even though, this is likely to be less important to society in general. According to a research, only 18% of FTSE 100 companies could provide a metric demonstrating that their ethical practices are being upheld and adhered to. This comes as a great surprise, especially that 90% of those firms make reference to their high ethical standards in their annual reports.

In the future these figures will be concerning to investors even more, particularly given the strict and tough, new anti-bribery laws. These laws demand businesses to have ,adequate procedures’ in place, such as whistleblowing mechanisms, to prevent misconduct. At some point it may not be enough just to state that such systems exist in the company. An urgent need may occur to present data and figures which will confirm the facts.

With the legal, commercial and reputational stakes so high, all forward-thinking businesses will be putting business ethics nearer the top of their agendas for the next year and beyond. As information-sharing and technological changes continue to put customers in the driving seat, those companies that fail to keep pace with growing ethical demands can expect to be left behind. It came clear that standard tools and approaches are not fit for purpose. Leading specialists in compliance call for Compliance 2.0 and giving more power and authority to compliance functions, to match its rising importance. Corporate responsibility and ethics teams are working more closely together as they know that issues of strategy, incentives, and culture require not only organizational change, but also thinking and approach that concerns everyone in the organization.

GLOSSARY:

two-fold – dwojakie

inconsistent – niespójny

surveillance – inwigilacja

soaring – tu: gwałtownie rosnący

penalize – karać

backlash – odwet

scrutiny – badanie, lustracja

prevalent – dominujący

peer pressure – tu: presja otoczenia

strive – starać się, walczyć

legal loophole – luka prawna

apprenticeship – staż

pervasive – rozpowszechniony

adhere to – trzymać się czegoś

EXERCISE

IN THE TEXT FIND WORDS FOR THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. An antagonistic reaction to a trend, development, or event ________

2. Made of two parts; dual ____________

3. Widely or commonly occurring, existing, accepted, or practiced _____________

4. A kind of job training that involves following and studying a master of the trade on the job instead of in school ________________________

5. Impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on _______________________

6. Close careful examination or observation _________________________

7. To stick fast to something; stay attached __________________________

1. Backlash; 2. Two-fold; 3. Prevalent; 4. Apprenticeship; 5. Penalise; 6. Scrutiny; 7. Adhere to

LEKCJA 12

CODE OF CONDUCT
KODEKS POSTĘPOWANIA I ETYKI BIZNESU

Co raz więcej firm i instytucji opracowuje kodeks postępowania i etyki biznesu dla swojej organizacji. Świadczy to o tym, że działanie zgodnie z przyjętymi zasadami stanowi ogromne wyzwanie w dzisiejszym, skomplikowanym świecie biznesu. Operując w wielu różnych krajach, o różnych wzorcach prowadzenia działalności biznesowej, konieczne staje się wprowadzenie i przestrzeganie norm postępowania.

Society ultimately benefits from efficient businesses and markets where capital can freely flow to the most productive or innovative destination. In order for capital markets to be efficient, investors must be able to trust that the markets and the businesses operating there are fair, transparent and offer them the opportunity to be rewarded for the risk they choose to take. Governments and regulators have historically tried to combat misconduct in the industry through regulatory changes, with various levels of success. Global markets are highly regulated to protect investors and other market participants. However, compliance with regulation alone is insufficient to fully earn investors’ trust. Laws, regulations, and enforcement play a vital role but cannot guarantee fair and transparent activity. The markets depend on an ethical foundation to guide participants’ judgment and behavior. That is why more and more companies create and publish their code of ethics and standards of professional conduct. A strong ethical culture that helps honest, ethical people engage in ethical behavior will foster the trust of investors, lead to robust global markets, and ultimately benefit the society.

WHY DO COMPANIES NEED A CODE OF CONDUCT?

Some equate ethical behavior with legal behavior. They believe that if a company is following the law, it must be acting appropriately. Ethical principles, like laws and regulations, prescribe appropriate constraints on our natural tendency to pursue self-interest that could harm the interests of others. Laws and regulations often attempt to guide people toward ethical behavior, but they do not cover all unethical behavior. Ethical aspects are often distinguished from legal aspects by describing legal behavior as what is required and ethical behavior as conduct that is morally correct. Ethical principles go beyond that which is legally sufficient and encompass what is the right thing to do.

The past has shown us that some individuals will succeed at circumventing the regulatory rules for their personal gain. Only the application of strong ethical principles, at both the individual level and the company level, will limit abuses. Knowing the rules or regulations that apply in a particular situation, although important, may not be sufficient to ensure ethical conduct. Individuals must be able both to recognize areas that are prone to ethical pitfalls and to identify and cope with those circumstances and influences that can impair ethical judgment. When faced with an ethical dilemma, individuals must have a well-developed set of principles. Otherwise, their thought processes can lead to, at best, indecision and, at worst, unethical conduct and destruction of the public trust. Establishing an ethical framework for an internal thought process prior to deciding to act is a crucial step in engaging in ethical conduct.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A CODE OF CONDUCT?

An ethical decision-making framework can come in many forms but should provide business professionals with a tool for following the principles of the firm’s code of ethics. Through analyzing the specific circumstances of each decision, business professionals are able to determine the best course of action to fulfill their responsibilities in an ethical manner.

Ethics for a global market should be universal and support trust and integrity above acceptable local or regional customs and culture. Universal ethics for global industry strongly supports the efficiency, values, and mission of the industry as a whole. Different countries may be at different stages of development in establishing standards of practice, but the end goal must be to achieve rules, regulations, and standards that support and promote fundamental ethical principles on a global basis.

Here are a few guidelines that are commonly included in corporate codes of conduct and might serve as a starting point to drawing up standards of conduct for any company. The statements which you will find below are general enough to be included in a code of conduct of a company operating anywhere in the world. It is good to start with some general rules. Such as:

All employees must:

– act with integrity, competence, diligence, and respect and cooperate in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues and other participants in the market.

– place the integrity of their profession and the interests of clients above their own personal interests.

– use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment when conducting analysis, making recommendations, taking actions, and engaging in any professional activities.

– practice and encourage others to behave in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on themselves and the profession.

– promote the integrity and viability for the ultimate benefit of society.

– maintain and improve their professional competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other professionals.

After some preliminary and general guidelines it is necessary to describe, in more detail, what is meant by ethical behaviour in different areas of conducting business. It can be done by looking closer at standards of professional conduct.

I. PROFESSIONALISM

A. Employees must understand and comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations of any government, regulatory organization, licensing agency, or professional association governing their professional activities. In the event of conflict, employees must comply with the more strict law, rule, or regulation. Employees must not knowingly participate or assist in any violation of such laws, rules, or regulations.

B. Employees must use reasonable care and judgment to achieve and maintain independence and objectivity in their professional activities. Employees must not offer, solicit, or accept any gift, benefit, compensation, or consideration that could reasonably be expected to compromise their own independence and objectivity.

C. Employees must not engage in any professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, or deceit or commit any act that reflects adversely on their professional reputation, integrity, or competence.

II. INTEGRITY

A. Employees who possess material, non-public information that could affect the business must not act or cause others to act on the information.

B. Employees must not engage in practices that distort prices or artificially inflate trading volume with the intent to mislead market participants.

III. DUTIES TO CLIENTS

A. Employees have a duty of loyalty to their clients and must act with reasonable care and exercise prudent judgment. Employees must act for the benefit of their clients.

B. Employees must deal fairly and objectively with all clients when providing analysis, making recommendations, taking action, or engaging in other professional activities.

C. When communicating any information to customers, employees must make reasonable efforts to ensure that it is fair, accurate, and complete.

D. Employees must keep information about current, former, and prospective clients confidential unless:

1. The information concerns illegal activities on the part of the client or prospective client,

2. Disclosure is required by law, or

3. The client or prospective client permits disclosure of the information.

IV. DUTIES TO EMPLOYERS

A. Employees must act for the benefit of their employer and not deprive their employer of the advantage of their skills and abilities, divulge confidential information, or otherwise cause harm to their employer.

B. Employees must not accept gifts, benefits, compensation, or consideration that might reasonably be expected to create a conflict of interest with their employer’s interest unless they obtain written consent from all parties involved.

C. Employees must make reasonable efforts to ensure that anyone subject to their supervision or authority complies with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and the Code and Standards.

V. ANALYSIS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND ACTIONS

A. Employees must exercise diligence, independence, and thoroughness in analysing, making recommendations, and taking actions. They must have a reasonable and adequate basis, supported by appropriate research and investigation, for any recommendation, or action.

B. Employees must disclose to clients and prospective clients significant limitations and risks associated with their recommendation and action.

C. Employees must use reasonable judgment in identifying which factors are important to their analyses, recommendations, or actions and include those factors in communications with clients and prospective clients.

VI. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A. Employees must make full and fair disclosure of all matters that could reasonably be expected to impair their independence and objectivity or interfere with respective duties to their clients, prospective clients, and employer. Employees must ensure that such disclosures are prominent, are delivered in plain language, and communicate the relevant information effectively.

B. Actions for the benefit of clients and employers must have priority over the actions in which an employee is the beneficial owner.

C. Employees must disclose to their employer, clients, and prospective clients, as appropriate, any compensation, consideration, or benefit received from or paid to others for the recommendation of products or services.

A firm’s code of ethics risks becoming a largely ignored, dusty compilation if it is not truly integrated into the core of the business. The ability to relate an ethical decision-making framework to a firm’s code of ethics allows investment professionals to bring the principles of the code of ethics to life transforming it from a compliance exercise to something that is at the heart of a firm’s culture. A business professional’s natural desire to ,do the right thing’ must be reinforced by building a culture of integrity in the workplace. Development, maintenance, and demonstration of a strong culture of integrity within the firm by senior management may be the most important factor in promoting ethical behavior among the firm’s employees. Adopting a code that clearly lays out the ethical principles that guide the thought processes and conduct the firm expects from its employees is a critical first step. But a code of ethics, while necessary, is insufficient. Additionally, we need to exercise ethical decision making skills to develop the ,muscle memory’ necessary for ethical people to make good decisions despite the reality and potential conflicts. Just as practice transforms our natural ability to run across a field into the technique and endurance required to run a race, teaching, reinforcing, and practicing ethical decision-making skills prepare us to confront the hard issues effectively.

GLOSSARY:

insufficient – niewystarczający

foster – sprzyjać

robust – silny

constraints – ograniczenia

encompass – obejmować

circumvent – przechytrzyć

diligence – pracowitość

viability – rentowność

adversly – niekorzystnie

distort – zniekształcić

divulge – rozgłaszać

impair – osłabić

EXERCISE

CONNECT THE WORDS AND PHRASES ACCORDING TO THE COLLOCATIONS YOU CAN FIND IN THE ARTICLE.

1. divulge

2. impair

3. circumvent

4. robust

5. promote

6. act with

7. distort

8. foster

a. regulatory rules

b. viability

c. diligence

d. trust

e. confidential information

f. prices

g. global markets

h. independance

1. e; 2. h; 3. a; 4. g; 5. b; 6. c; 7. f; 8. d

CZĘŚĆ

3

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
POTĘGA JĘZYKA

W trzeciej części zatytułowanej „The power of language” dowiemy się o pochodzeniu języka oraz jego przyswajania, co może okazać się niezwykle pomocne podczas nauki języków obcych.

Jednym z elementów kształtowania tożsamości narodu jest język, jednak globalizacja powoduje, że niektóre języki zanikają. Międzynarodowe firmy od swoich pracowników wymagają znajomości języka angielskiego. Warto jednak zwrócić uwagę na różne dialekty, by nie popełnić gafy w komunikacji.

W tej części zwrócimy również uwagę na język niecenzuralny, slang i żargon, którym posługują się różne grupy społeczne.

LEKCJA 1

THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGES
O POCHODZENIU JĘZYKA

Trzecia część książki będzie dotyczyła języka jako narzędzia komunikacji. Pokażemy, w jaki ustalony dawno temu system dźwięków i znaków pozwala na przekazywanie myśli, idei oraz uczuć. Opowiemy o tym, skąd wziął się język, jak go przyswajamy i modyfikujemy, żeby podkreślał naszą przynależność do określonej grupy społecznej i zawodowej.

There are lots of mysteries concerning us as human beings, which scientists all over the world try to explain using lots of sophisticated words. But the existence of language itself seems to constantly puzzle many eggheads. Language has been analysed in many possible ways, numerous books have been written about its structure and semantics but they did not bring us any closer to discovering how language started. When and how the need for verbal communication sprouted? When and how the grunts and squeaks of primates evolved to become the most powerful tool of communication? These are still daunting questions for which there is no satisfactory answer. The power of language is beyond comprehension. Even now when I write these words and you read them a miracle is happening. We do not know anything about each other and we will probably never meet but language has become a bridge, which stretches from my brain to yours and connects us in a way. Over this bridge some thoughts and ideas born in my head, can ,walk’ briskly and enter yours. What I write and you read are just graphic symbols but they can work miracles which no biologist, linguist, neurologist, psychologist or even philosopher can properly explain.

The only certain thing is that language is quintessentially a human trait. These unique abilities of communicating through a native language clearly separate humans from all other animals. Knowing how beneficial this ability is to us, one would wonder why this skill has not evolved in other species. Why can we not trace an animal which has possessed some ability to communicate which could be studied as a transitional form of communication? All animals use sounds to communicate but there is a huge gulf to bridge between the grunts of a pig or the chattering of an ape and that of humans making fiery political speeches or reciting Shakespeare’s sonnets. So far all attempts to shed light on these issues and the evolution of human language as such, have failed. Linguistic research, combined with neurological studies, has determined that human speech is highly dependent on a neuronal network located in specific sites within the brain. Many theories hang on this assumption, stating that in the course of evolution humans grew bigger brains, which then made it physiologically possible for people to develop speech and language. The truth however, is that evolutionists can only speculate about the origin of language while the solid evidence to support their claims remains unavailable.

THE BRAIN

With the advancement in medical technologies however we were able to discover were language resides and we know for sure that it is lodged somewhere between our ears, in the left hemisphere of our brains. There are two separate areas in this left hemisphere, one of which is responsible for being able to produce speech and the other one for understanding it and making it coherent. Additionally, in order to speak and communicate efficiently other parts of the brain must function well. We need to get the breathing right, we need to shape our tongue and lips properly and we need to control our facial muscles and vocal chords. Thus the processes that take place in our brains on uttering a simple sentence are extremely complicated. Scientists do admit that in this area they have only scratched the surface of knowledge as to how language functions.

THE LANGUAGE GENE

Some scientists believe they have found the answer to many questions with the discovery of what they call a language gene. As is often the case on discovering how things work, some mechanisms become more evident when they stop working. Researchers at Oxford University became interested in a family whose members had speech problems. There were thirty-seven family members, extending over three generations and over half of them were born with severe language difficulty concerning both grammatical structure of their sentences, as well as ,proper’ movement of their tongues and lips. When the researcher compared the affected members of the family with the ones whose speech was perfect, they identified a single gene that was responsible for the problems. Later on the researchers examined a boy who had similar speech problems but was not related to this family and discovered that he also had the faulty gene. This discovery seemed to be revolutionary until the gene was identified in all mammals and it was proven that the only difference between the human gene and that of other mammals is just a few amino acids. What researchers call the language gene did not necessarily give us language but it certainly influenced our ability to speak. Prof. Wolfgang Enard suspects that there could be tens or hundreds of language genes and the one discovered is just the tip of the iceberg.

When science fails to explain some phenomena, legends, myths or folk stories come in handy. We can always count on them to provide us with information on how and why things started. For thousands of years people have wondered how the system of sounds that we call our language came into being and how it happened that there are so many languages in the world. Our ancestors had their theories which told and retold, became universal truths passed on from generation to the next generation. These stories should not be forgotten, because primarily they are part of our culture and identity. Moreover, they may turn out to be invaluable when our children start asking difficult questions and we do not have a graph or enough figures to deliver a scientific lecture. Here are just a few of many myths and legends, which make an attempt at explaining how language came about and why we speak different languages.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

The Book of Genesis probably gives us the most famous story of how we began to speak different languages. According to the Bible, originally all people spoke one language and lived happily together. Then they built a city and decided to erect a tower, which was meant to reach heaven. God was displeased with the ambition and arrogance, which drove the people so ,he confounded their language that they may not understand one another’s speech and so the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth’.

BRAHMA’S ANGER

A Hindu myth referring to the same issue also talks about the profusion of languages being the result of Brahma’s, the creator-god; anger. The myth has it that a long, long time ago, in the centre of the earth there grew a knowledge tree. The tree grew to be so great that its roots reached the most distant places on the earth and its branches almost reached the heaven. The tree, having a will of its own wanted to spread its branches and gather all men under its shadow to protect them and prevent them from separating. These intentions sparked Brahma’s anger, which perceived them as an act of pride and an attempt to deprive him of his divine rights. As a punishment he cut off the tree’s branches and cast them down on earth where they sprang up as weaker trees that made people disperse and adopt different languages, customs and beliefs.

THE GIFT OF SPEECH

The Aztec’s story is about a Great Flood, which came over the Earth. There were only two survivors, a man and a woman who floated on a piece of wood until the waters subsided. When they found themselves on land they started a life together and had many children. All of them were unable to speak until a dove arrived and endowed them with the gift of speech. Now they could speak but they could not communicate because each of them was given a different language. So they separated and went to live far away from one another.

WARUTI’S FLESH

One of the most terrifying and shocking stories about how diversity in languages came about originates in Australia and claims that we speak different languages because of cannibalism. There lived an old woman called Waruti who walked around with a large stick in her hand. The stick was believed to have magic powers and the woman had a reputation for being cruel and merciless. Waruti was feared and hated because she walked around scattering fire with her stick when people were sleeping. The fires brought lots of suffering to the people so when Waruti finally died the message spread quickly. Men, women and children started coming to see her body not to lament though, but to celebrate and manifest their happiness. In order to make sure that Waruti never returned to torment the people again, they decided to eat her flesh and intestines bit by bit, so they fell upon the corpse and began to devour her body. Later it turned out that whoever had eaten Waruti’s flesh became intelligible to others and spoke a language, which others could not understand.

The language we speak is our birthright. We take it for granted the same as the ability to walk, eat or sleep. We cannot imagine our life without it. Language is at the very core of our existence. However, we must admit we do not know why we speak, we do not know how humans started to speak and we still do not have a clear picture of how the processes involved in speech production work. Strange as it may seem, there are people who keep wondering if we think in words and if without our language we would be able to think at all. Without the ability to speak, would we still be the most intelligent of the animal species? There are still lots of questions to be answered and lots of studies to be carried out but until we know the answers we should treat our language as a great gift which needs to be cherished and celebrated.

GLOSSARY:

sophisticated – wyszukany

egghead – mądra głowa

grunt – chrząkać

primates – naczelne (ssaki)

daunting – trudny

briskly – żwawo

shed – rzucić

lodge – ulokować

coherent – spójny

vocal chords – struny głosowe

amino acids – aminokwasy

tip of the iceberg – wierzchołek góry lodowej

come in handy – przydać się

invaluable – bezcenny

come about – powstać

profusion – obfitość

subside – cofnąć się

endow – wyposażyć

merciless – bezlitosny

torment – dręczyć

intestines – wnętrzności

intelligible – niezrozumiały

EXERCISE

FIND THE WORDS IN BOLD IN THE TEXT AND COMPLETE THE COLLOCATIONS.

If you want to lose weight you should ________ briskly for at least 30 minutes a day.

After the flood, when the _________ subsided we could see the real size of the damage.

Do not throw it away, you never know when it may _________ in handy.

The latest discovery may shed some ___________ on how we acquire language.

I could not understand his presentation because he used lots of sophisticated _________ which I did not understand.

Whether we can think without knowing a language is still a daunting ___________.

Being able to speak is a ___________ trait.

1. walk; 2. water; 3. come; 4. light; 5. words; 6. question; 7. human

LEKCJA 2

ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
O PRZYSWAJANIU JĘZYKA

Szybkość i sposób, w jaki dzieci przyswajają sobie język swoich rodziców, jest obiektem wielu badań. Chęć poznania tych mechanizmów spędza sen z powiek naukowcom i językoznawcom, dla których ta wiedza stanowi nieocenione źródło poznania, jak funkcjonuje mózg i jaka jest nasza ludzka natura. Zbadanie szczegółów tych procesów jest też niezbędne w opracowaniu szybkich i skutecznych metod uczenia się języków obcych.

If some crazy linguist, driven by some sick desire to discover the mechanisms of language acquisition, took a healthy newborn baby, physiologically able to hear and speak and isolated it from all human contact, what language would the baby speak? Would it be the original language spoken by Adam and Eve before the Tower of Babel messed it all up? Would it be gibberish, incomprehensible to anyone? Or maybe the child would not be able to speak at all. Fortunately, experiments like that are not conducted and even thinking of them seems horrific, as nobody would sacrifice the wellbeing of a baby on the altar of neurolinguistics. Nevertheless, without enough evidence we are not able to answer these questions. What we know is that babies are ,citizens of the world’ in terms of language acquisition because they are able to learn perfectly any language they are exposed to no matter where or of what parents they were born. We find it hard however, to determine what exactly happens when a child is not exposed to any language at all. At various times in history, when the term ,human rights’ had not yet been coined, experiments were carried out where children were isolated from society in order to find out the root language of man.

EXPERIMENTS

Herodotus wrote about a ruler of Egypt in the seventh century BC, who wanted to settle the question of who were the oldest people of mankind. He decided to give two newborn babies to a shepherd and forbade him to speak to them. The expectation was that the first word either of the children uttered would be in the root language of all people. According to the historian, one day the children raised their hands to the shepherd and cried ,bekos’, a word, which in Phrygia (modern day Turkey) was used to mean ,bread’. In this way the pharaoh decided that Phrygians were the oldest people in the world.

King James IV ordered a similar linguistic experiment in 1493. He was a scientifically curious monarch and was also searching for the original language of man. King James sent two infants to be raised by a deaf and dumb woman in a cabin on Inchkeith Island. There is not much information however on the result of the experiment. Some say ,they spoke good Hebrew’ and some more skeptical, claim that ,they would scream like their dumb nurse or bleat like the goats or sheep on the island.

In the seventeenth century, the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great wanted to find out if people were innately Hindu, Muslim or Christian. To check this he ordered twelve infants to be raised by mute nurses in a house where nobody was allowed to speak. Several years later when he decided to visit the children he discovered that, without hearing speech, none of them could speak but they communicated in signs instead. Clearly there was no original language which infants deprived of speech would speak. They simply did not speak at all.

FERAL CHILDREN

A feral child is defined as a child who has lived away from human contact from a very young age and has had little or no experience of human love, care, social behaviour and of course language. There are a few documented cases of feral children who were deprived of human contact by chance. These cases provide an interesting insight into the process of how language is acquired and help to find the answer to the question: how much of our language is genetic and how much is learned?

In 1797, a boy aged about eleven was found in the forests of France’s Massif Central. A hunter who came upon the lad reported that he was alone, without clothes or tools, behaving like an animal and unable to speak. The boy was captured and brought to Paris where he became an overnight success. He was named Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron and crowds thronged to see him. People expected to meet a person who, without the influence of society, grew up as Mother Nature intended. What they actually saw was a miserable creature – dirty, grunting like an animal and rocking backwards and forwards. Victor ended up under the care of a young doctor who was fascinated by him and decided that he would need to educate the lad from the very beginning. Over the next five years the doctor devoted himself completely to the boy trying to teach him French and social behaviour using a system of reward and punishment. After some time Victor began to articulate sounds in the manner of a baby and learned a few basic signs, but he never learned to speak. Eventually, due to a lack of spectacular success, the doctor gave up on him and Victor spent the rest of his life living in anonymity with the doctor’s housekeeper.

A more recent account of a feral child comes from America. In 1970, authorities in Los Angeles found a thirteen year old girl who had spent her life since a baby naked and locked in her bedroom. Her father had forbidden his wife and son to speak to her and had barked and growled at her like a dog to keep her quiet. She was fed baby food, wore a nappy and was entirely mute. The girl was given the pseudonym Ginie and she instantly became the subject of intense interest among linguists and behaviourists. Over the next few years Ginie had intensive language training and testing. She learned some words and was good at nonverbal communication but she never learned to put words into logical order and construct meaningful sentences. Eventually, scientists lost interest in her, as she remained unable to master the basics of language. Today Ginie is believed to be living in a care home in California. She is still unable to communicate in a language, as we know it. Ginie’s lack of progress seems to prove the theory that the innate left brain capacity to learn language must be developed before the onset of puberty or it becomes unable to function for language acquisition.

MODERN STUDIES ABOUT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Now we know for sure that language has a critical period for learning. Babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven and then there is a systematic decline. After puberty the ability to learn a language seems to stop functioning. It is an intriguing issue, so scientists all over the world are trying to figure out why it functions this way. Patricia Kuhl, in her work in a lab, focuses on the first critical period of development and that is the period when babies master which sounds are used in their language. What she found, was that babies can discriminate between all the sounds of all languages, no matter in which country the tests were carried out or what language was used. It was a remarkable discovery because adult people do not have this ability; they can only discriminate between the sounds of their own language.

Patricia Kuhl is a Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences and a co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. She specializes in language acquisition and neural bases for language. In one of her researches Patricia Kuhl tested a group of babies in Seattle and Tokyo. The children lived normally in their families and their parents talked to them in their native language, English and Japanese respectively. Apart from this natural exposure to the language of their mum and dad, the babies were to listen to the sounds of ,ra’ and ,la’ (these sounds are important in English, but not in Japanese) and their head-turn performance was observed. At six to eight months the babies’ performance was totally comparable, but two months later something incredible occurred. The babies in the US started performing much better whereas their Japanese counterpart’s performance got a lot worse. For the scientist it was obvious that both groups of babies started preparing for their native language they were going to learn. The sounds, being of importance in English were easily identified by the American children and at the same time, were being neglected by the Japanese babies who would not need them in the future. The conclusion which followed was that the babies are listening intently and they are taking mental statistics, then they absorb the statistics and start producing their language. Patricia Kuhl also proved that it takes another human being for the child to take these statistics and no audio or video input can replace it.

How can this knowledge be used when learning a foreign language? The study mentioned only proves and supports what we already know about second language acquisition. We learn better when straight from the very beginning we are exposed to lots of audio material in the target language. That is why at this early stage of learning a new language, lots of listening comprehension is essential. Additionally it should be accompanied by read-alouds and music. The mechanism working here is simple, if we listen to a lot of audio material in a foreign language even if we do not understand most of it, for out brain it is a signal that this is somehow important and we start differentiating sounds and noticing patterns. We also learn better when there is natural interaction in a foreign language and we feel the urge to communicate, or in other words we have someone we need or want to communicate with. And finally, the process of absorbing a new language is fostered with the use of visual aids, gestures and body language. Pointing to pictures, acting out vocabulary or modeling ,survival’ English by saying and showing the meaning will definitely turn out to be very effective in supporting or language development.

GLOSSARY:

mess up – pomieszać

gibberish – bełkot

incomprehensible – niezrozumiały

shepherd – pasterz

dumb – niemy

bleat – beczeć

deprive – pozbawić

lad – chłopak

capture – schwytać

throng – tłoczyć się

grunt – chrząkać

bark – szczekać

growl – warczeć

nappy – pieluszka

innate – wrodzony

puberty – okres dojrzewania

neglect – zaniedbać

foster – sprzyjać

EXERCISE

MATCH THE WORDS WITH THEIR DEFINITIONS.

bark   puberty   bleat   capture   shepherd   deprive   nappy

1. A piece of soft material, especialy towelling or a disposable material, wrapped around a baby in order to absorb its urine. _______________

2. To take something away from someone. ___________________

3. A person who herds, guards, and tends sheep. ____________________

4. The characteristic cry of a goat or sheep. ______________________

5. To catch take or win by force or skill. _______________________

6. A loud, harsh sound made by a dog. _______________________

7. The stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction ____________________

1. nappy; 2. deprive; 3. shepherd; 4. bleat; 5. capture; 6. bark; 7. puberty

LEKCJA 3

OUR LANGUAGE, OUR IDENTITY
NASZ JĘZYK, NASZA TOŻSAMOŚĆ

Jednym z najważniejszych elementów kształtowania tożsamości narodowej było, jest i prawdopodobnie zawsze będzie, przywiązanie do języka. Język, którym się posługujemy, definiuje naszą kulturę, tradycje i wartości, jakimi się kierujemy. A jednak globalizacja i dążenia wspólnotowe powodują, że niektóre języki zanikają i mogą zostać bezpowrotnie zapomniane. Warto więc zastanowić się, co tak naprawdę tracimy, rezygnując z posługiwania się językiem ojczystym i czy jesteśmy świadomi tego, że większa dbałość o język naszych przodków jest gwarantem zachowania tożsamości narodowej i odrębności kulturowej.

There are around 195 countries in the world and for many the name of the country refers to the language, which is spoken there, Polish for Poland, English for England, German for Germany. Some languages are spoken by just a handful of people, others, like Chinese by over a billion. Language has always been a powerful weapon used to dominate and subjugate. A conquest was never complete until the children of the conquered had forgotten their native language and started to speak the language of the conqueror. Very often this meant the eventual demise of minor languages. There are no more conquests but there are other mechanisms, which are making the world lose languages at an unprecedented rate. Globalization has brought with it fantastic improvements to our daily lives but often at the cost of cultural and linguistic diversity. A new term had to be coined, it is linguicide, the death of languages. If we go anywhere in the world, we can still find examples of how the disappearance of a native language is having a devastating effect on identity. But fortunately, there are also a few places where minority languages persist and are fighting back.

THE TURKANA

The Turkana tribe, which numbers about half a million people, lives in a very inhospitable semi-desert area that stretches across northern Kenya and southern Sudan, where the ground is littered with black volcanic rocks and daytime temperatures regularly soar to 45 degrees Celsius. The Turkana have succeeded in maintaining their way of life for centuries. Against all the odds, they manage to raise livestock in the desert. Their knowledge allows them to live where most humans could not and this is why they have been left alone for centuries and the changes to their lifestyle have been minimal. Sadly however, the Turkana, who have lived in their remote home for millennia, could now be under threat as oil was discovered beneath their land. Many in Kenya are worried that the Turkana will lose their traditions. The tribe love fighting so probably that is also why they managed to defy colonization by both whites and blacks but now through education they are becoming integrated with modern Kenya where Swahili is the official language and thus the tribe risk losing not only their language but also their very own identity. The array of unique traditions which might be lost includes women adorning their necks with 3 kilograms of beaded necklaces, riding the livestock of neighbouring tribes, using animal fat for cleaning when water is scarce, using cow dung for fire or the tattooing of shoulders each time a man kills an enemy. Luckily, some attempts are being made in order to prevent the Turkana from losing their heritage. One of the key factors in helping to preserve their language has been the creation of a script. Thanks to the work of Father Tom, an Irish priest who has been working among the Turkana as a Catholic missionary for forty years now, a standard Turkana orthography has been adopted. It is based on the Roman alphabet and is taught at the mission primary schools. However, some still fear that unless their language is recognized by the state system it does not stand a chance of becoming a realistic alternative to the omnipresent Swahili. The Turkana are very likely to speak their language in ninety years’ time but what will happen then is difficult to determine because if they do not embrace the possibilities of education and the chance to become involved in the wider Kenyan society they may keep their language and traditions but at the cost of remaining on the periphery and thereby rejecting progress.

THE CORNISH LANGUAGE

You may know that Cornish is the language of Cornwall, the county in the extreme South West of England. What you may not know though is that Cornish is a language that is listed as ‚extinct’ in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages but which has experienced a remarkable revival in recent years. Cornish which belongs to the Celtic family of languages, developed in Cornwall after the Anglo-Saxon invasion in the fifth century, which pushed the native Celts into one of the remotest parts of the island. Eventually, the English language reached this part of the country and soon became the official language making Cornish pale into insignificance. The story has it that the last person who spoke Cornish (with no English) was a woman called Dolly Pentreath. She died in 1777 and some people say that the language died with her. But of course, there were still people who spoke Cornish as a native language, even if they also knew English. And their children learned some Cornish from them even if they spoke English most of the time. The number of speakers got smaller and smaller and they knew less and less of the language, but Cornish did not disappear. Some people argue that the language never died out completely, but survived until the revival of Cornish, which started at the beginning of the twentieth century. This is when academics became interested in Cornish and started to study some of the ancient texts that had survived. From these old documents they worked out the rules for spelling and grammar and people became interested in learning to speak the language again and teaching it to their children. Some people still say that Cornish died with Dolly Pentreath and this ‚new’ Cornish is an artificial language, but the revival has continued to this day. Different sources quote different numbers of people who can speak Cornish nowadays but the certain thing is that no more than a few hundred people use it as their everyday language. Admittedly, that is not a lot but there are several thousands who can have a conversation in Cornish even if they aren’t fluent. And if you include all the people who know some words and basic phrases then it could be as many as ten thousand. Is this still not many? Well, it is much better than a hundred years ago and the numbers are constantly increasing. Some children now grow up bilingual and the language is offered as an option in some schools. You can even study the language to degree level at university. Much is being done to revive the language, so when you visit Cornwall you can be certain to see road signs in Cornish for a start. Then, you will probably notice that newspapers and radio stations have regular articles and programmes in Cornish and that there are some magazines written entirely in the language. There are bookshops, which only sell books in Cornish and many businesses have Cornish names.

It is comforting to observe that some languages persist despite difficult circumstances but studies show that at the same time, nowadays, languages are disappearing at an unprecedented pace of one every fortnight. Over 40 percent of the world’s approximate 7,000 languages are at risk of disappearing and with every language that dies we lose an enormous cultural heritage. More and more people realise that this should not be ignored and some action needs to be taken quickly in order to stop this trend. Those people know perfectly well that more than an ID document or a passport, what defines us is our language.

As a result the language preservation and revitalization movement is growing around the world. People are becoming more and more aware of this problem. They understand what is at stake when a language is lost and consequently, come up with numerous ideas as to what can be done to face the challenge of saving as many languages as possible. Here are just two examples of actions in order to prevent minor, languages from extinction. These projects were initiated by people who really care and are ready to devote their time, energy and money to things, which otherwise, would be destined to be lost and forgotten forever.

ENDANGERED LANGUAGES PROJECT

The Endangered Languages Project is an online resource used to record, access, and share samples of and research on endangered languages. Advice and best practices are shared amongst those working on documenting or strengthening languages, which are under threat. The website was created in order to confront language endangerment by documenting, preserving and teaching. By using this website, users can access the most up to date and comprehensive information on endangered languages (samples are provided by partners), they can also play an active role in putting their languages online by submitting information or samples in the form of text, audio or video files.

WIKITONGUES

Wikitongues is a community effort to give everybody access to every language in the world. An international team of volunteers is dedicated to recording videos of every ,tongue’, spoken or signed, as well as collecting dictionaries, phrasebooks, and other relevant materials. New language videos are uploaded to their YouTube channel every week, and they use their social media presence to share educational and cultural content daily. In addition, they frequently test new and different methods of bringing the content back to the communities where it originally came from. At Wikitongues they firmly believe that all languages deserve equal footing and visibility, regardless of how many speakers they have.

GLOSSARY:

subjugate – ujarzmić

conquest – podbój

demise – śmierć, zgon

unprecedented – bezprecedensowy

inhospitable – niegościnny

soar – szybować

livestock – żywy inwentarz

defy – sprzeciwiać się

dung – odchody

omnipresent – wszechobecny

pace – tempo

endangered – zagrożony

comprehensive – wszechstronny

EXERCISE

CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

1. What does the term ,linguicide’ mean?

a. It is a chemical used as a fertilizer.

b. It means becoming linguistically involved in some action.

c. It means that a language disappears and is not spoken anywhere in the world.

2. Why do the Turkana use animal fat for cleaning?

a. Because it removes dirt better than water.

b. Because there is not enough water.

c. Because the water is dirty itself.

3. Why has nobody disturbed the Turkana in their land for centuries?

a. Because everyone was afraid of them.

b. Because nobody knew they existed.

c. Because nobody was interested in living in a desert.

4. Which languages did Dolly Pentreath speak?

a. She only spoke Cornish.

b. She spoke Cornish and English.

c. She was deaf and mute.

5. How many people can speak fluent Cornish nowadays?

a. 30

b. 300

c. 3000

6. How many languages will the world probably lose in a month?

a. None at all.

b. One language.

c. Two languages.

7. What do Wikitongues and the Endangered Languages Project have in common?

a. They both record and document languages.

b. They were both set up by language freaks.

c. They both want to stop English from becoming a global language.

1. c, 2. b, 3. c, 4. a, 5. b, 6. c, 7. a

LEKCJA 4

DO YOU SPEAK GLOBISH?
CZY MÓWISZ W JĘZYKU GLOBISZ?

Angielski to oficjalny język w wielu międzynarodowych korporacjach. Od pracowników takich firm wymagana jest więc znajomość angielskiego na poziomie określanym jako komunikatywny. „Komunikatywny” dla jednych może oznaczać trochę więcej, a dla innych trochę mniej, ale wszyscy zgodzą się, że chodzi o umiejętność załatwiania spraw biznesowych w języku angielskim. Wymowa, zasób słownictwa i gama stosowanych konstrukcji gramatycznych nie mają znaczenia tak długo, jak komunikacja jest skuteczna i pozwala realizować cele biznesowe.

Globish is the name given to one of several simplified forms of English. Unlike Esperanto, it is not an artificial or constructed language but a fit-for-purpose, deprived of complex grammar structures and sophisticated vocabulary version of English, put together for the business world. As the name itself suggests it is a form of global English. Please compare these examples. An Acacia Avenue dweller might say the following to their neighbour: ‚This erstwhile buddy of yours is an odd duck who will probably put the kibosh on all our good deeds’. Nice sentence as it is, it would never work in Buenos Aires or Seoul. In Globish you would express the same as:  ‚Your ex-friend is too strange. He will ruin all our good work’. Undoubtedly, for a non-native speaker of English the second version is much easier to understand.

JEAN-PAUL NERRIÈRE, THE FATHER OF GLOBISH

The man, who codified Globish and now markets it, is a Frenchman, Jean-Paul Nerrière. He is a retired businessman, a former naval commander and a holder of the Legion d’Honneur. In the late 1980’s he was a vice president of IBM in America, in charge of international marketing. As he travelled around the world on business he had to deal with many different nationalities and he needed to communicate in one language, which was common to all i.e. English. Not perfect, literary English but the ,get-you-by’ English necessary for all non-native speakers wanting to do business in the global market. The first thing which drew his attention and inspired him to identify and analyse this new form of English was the observation that the non-native speakers communicated with each other much more efficiently than with the native English speakers. Whether it was a Japanese talking to a German or a Hungarian talking to a Spaniard, the simple, basic form of English they used was mutually comprehensible and got the job done. Nerrière also noticed that the English used by native speakers was too complicated and idiomatic for others to fully understand. American or British businessmen did not make an effort to simplify or adapt in conversation. As a result of these observations Nerrière came to the conclusion that non-native speakers instinctively find a simple, common linguistic ground in order to do business in English. Additionally, he became aware of the fact that over 70% of communication in international business was happening between non-native speakers and only about 22% between native speakers of English and non-native speakers. What he did next was to codify a Globish vocabulary of 1500 words and publish it, along with a sort of mission statement. He argued that non-native speakers had been finding their way round the subtleties and difficulties of English for years, by using simple words, skipping idioms and describing things the best they could if they did not know the proper word. It is nothing new actually, it is a normal communication strategy which we use even when we have a conversation in our native language and which we always resort to whenever we are lost for the right word, name etc. Nerrière however, took this a stage further by saying that there is no need to learn all these intricacies of English. Only the basic stuff is required to be understood and to do business. Consequently he identified the basics of English grammar, provided a list of cut-down vocabulary (1500 words compared to the approximate 7500 words most average native speakers have in their vocabulary) and developed rules and training to help non-native speakers use Globish as lingua franca. As befits a successful businessman he also identified his market took out trade protection on the name ,Globish’ and began to sell his books about turning complicated English into useful English along with various kinds of manuals and training aids in shops, by mail order and on the internet.

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

Globish is destined to grow. It is seen by some, as a natural consequence of the third millennium revolution when cultural barriers melt away and the world becomes one big market place in which people need to find some common tool for communication. Some 70 to 80 percent of the world’s Internet home pages are in English. According to the British Council, by 2030 nearly one third of the world’s population will be trying to learn English simultaneously. This means there will be ever more voices for adapting the English language to suit people’s needs and a high probability that Globish will become a common linguistic denominator. The fact is that English no longer depends on the U.S. or U.K. It is now being shaped by a world whose second language is English, and whose cultural reference points are expressed in English but without reference to its British or American origins.

Nerrière demonstrates and proves in his own example that only a limited command of English is ,enough’. But the question will always be asked: What does ,enough’ mean? The Council of Europe prepared a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (C.E.F.R.) that offers a situational test for users of all second languages and describes in detail skills and abilities expected at different levels of language proficiency. However, Nerrière claims that by these standards, the best user of Globish would be an Independent User (C.E.F.R. level’B1’). Here is the C.E.F.R. description of B1 level. This is also what ,enough’ means for Jean-Paul Nerrière.

Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.

Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.

Can produce simple connected text on topics, which are familiar, or of personal interest.

Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

Can you speak Globish already?

Jean-Paul Nerrière also emphasizes that Globish is a commercially viable solution. If we could all speak the same kind of simple Globish, then the world could do much more business. Additionally, Globish will give us a high return on investment. The basic training in Globish takes much less time and costs much less money than a course in ,proper English’, which is endless. As a result, much sooner, more employees can use more of their skills to help their organizations compete in a global marketplace. And which employer would not like this?

SPEAK GLOBISH, SAVE YOUR LANGUAGE

Nerrière’s mission to provide a global communication tool for the business world is undoubtedly very genuine. It is not easy to neglect the fact however, that being a Frenchman Nerrière must have been deeply unhappy about having to speak English in all his years at IBM. It is no secret that the mutual feelings between these two nations are far from amicable. It is no secret either, that the French do not like to speak English in their own country whether it is to tourists from Poland or the English themselves. Now as Globish is gaining in momentum, Jean Paul Nerrière must be delighted to envisage that it could perhaps obstruct the dominance of proper full-strength English. He strongly believes that an additional part of his mission is to rescue French and all the other languages whose existence is threatened by English today, but will never be endangered by Globish. He promotes his books by saying that it is in the best interest of non-Anglophone countries to support Globish, especially if you cherish your culture and language. And who doesn’t? What he offers is correct English without English culture. It is English that is just a tool and not a whole way of life.

He is also trying to convince native speakers of English that it is time they started adapting and embraced the fact that over 70% of communication in international business takes place between non-native speakers and over 90% of the international English communication involves at least one non-native speaker. According to Jean-Paul Nerrière many native English speakers still believe they can do all things better than non-native speakers just because they speak better English whilst they have a problem on their hands that they are not able to comprehend. They do not see that many non-native speakers simply cannot understand them. This does not mean native speaker’s English is bad. It just means that their communication is inefficient. Nowadays, it is necessary to attempt to make communication useful to everyone. If you don’t know how, Globish can provide the answer. In one of his books Nerrière even threatens native speakers of English that if they do not conform to this new reality they will be left out of communication. Worldwide, they will be left out of activities with others if they do not learn to ,limit’ the way they use their language. He claims that English speakers need to limit both spoken and written English for the sake of communication with non-native English speakers. In short, they too need to ,learn’ Globish. A typical conversation in Globish would be painful to a native speaker but might bridge the communication gap between, say, a Korean and a Greek trying to hammer out a business deal. At the same time, Nerriere insists however that, for all its simplifications, Globish is not a ‚me Tarzan, you Jane’ version of English.

The viral nature of Globish stems from the fact that it is a bottom-up, not top-down solution. People needed simple communication; here is a ready answer. The poet Walt Whitman once wrote that English was not ,an abstract construction of dictionary makers’ but a language that ,has its basis broad and low, close to the ground’. Ever since the Norman Conquest in 1066, English has been the language of Everyman and the common people. That’s truer than ever today but the world, smaller than ever before, is still a patchwork of some 5,000 languages. Native speakers still cling fiercely to their mother tongues, as they should, but when an Indian and a Cuban want to commission medical research from a lab in Brazil, with additional input from Israeli technicians the language they will turn to will most probably be Globish.

GLOSSARY:

deprive – pozbawić

dweller – mieszkaniec

erstwhile – dawny, niegdysiejszy

odd duck – (idiom) dziwna osoba

kibosh – zniweczyć

deed – uczynek

resort to – uciekać się do

lingua franca – uniwersalny język

denominator – mianownik

amicable – serdeczne

obstruct – zablokować

viral – wirusowy

stem from – wynikać z

cling – przylgnąć

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE CORRECT WORD. THE NUMBER OF GAPS CORRESPONDS TO THE NUMBER OF LETTERS.

1. Globish will become a common linguistic d_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

2. Globish is a version of English d_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of complex grammar structures and sophisticated vocabulary.

3. Globish could perhaps o_ _ _ _ _ _ _ the dominance of ,proper’ English.

4. Globish is a commercially v_ _ _ _ _ solution.

5. The v_ _ _ _ nature of Globish stems from the fact that it’s a bottom-up, not top-down solution.

1. denominator; 2. deprived; 3. obstruct; 4. viable; 5. viral

LEKCJA 5

TROUBLESOME DIALECTS
KŁOPOTLIWE DIALEKTY

Biegamy na kursy angielskiego, uczymy się form czasowników, słówek, idiomów po to, aby móc swobodnie porozumiewać się w języku obcym. Pokonujemy więc kolejne poziomy zaawansowania, zdajemy egzaminy i bardzo często naszym marzeniem jest osiągnięcie umiejętności jak najbardziej zbliżonych do tych, jakie posiadają rodzimi użytkownicy języka. Jednak, gdy tylko dotrzemy na Wyspy Brytyjskie, zdajemy sobie sprawę, jak bardzo nierealne jest to marzenie, bo oto nagle, zupełnie niespodziewanie, pojawia się pytanie: których rodzimych użytkowników języka angielskiego powinniśmy starać się naśladować?

The British are well known for being extremely sensitive about how they and others speak the English language. Accent differences seem to receive more attention here, than in general anywhere else in the world, including other English-speaking countries. It may be for this reason that native and non-native teachers of English view the matter with considerable interest. Additionally, their own pronunciation is important because it is the model for their students to imitate.

There are few nations with as many radically different varieties of language in such a small space as the English. Here is an important question: „When is a language not a language but a dialect?”. There is no universally accepted answer because it is possible to find linguists who claim there is no difference at all. Most encyclopedias however would probably say that a dialect is usually a regional variant of a language. In Britain there is a varied abundance of dialects: Brummie, Geordie, Cockney, just to name a few. They are brimming over with words and expressions, which are a link between the modern language and its linguistic roots – Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Norse, Celtic or Norman. Most dialects can be understood by non-dialect native English-speakers but for foreigners they are extremely puzzling. A non-native speaker of English can in a way sense that the language they are confronted with has something to do with English but they are unable to overcome the fact that they can only understand every tenth word.

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

A teacher of British English as a foreign language typically chooses Received Pronunciation as the model RP (for short). This is the most widely understood pronunciation of those in the world who use British English as their reference accent. It is also the type of British English pronunciation that Americans find easiest to understand. It seems, however, that the pronunciation of British English is changing quite rapidly. One role of the language teacher must surely be to educate their students so as to make them aware of how and why English varies; functionally, regionally and socially. Different ways of speaking are also different ways of meaning and the myth that there is a single model, often referred to as Received Pronunciation, which is appropriate in all situations and for all purposes, must be laid to rest. If we are to learn English successfully, then we must learn it comprehensively, sympathetically and critically. No particular variety should be stigmatised since every variety has a function within society.

A generation or so ago, speaking anything but Received Pronunciation – the Queen’s English – was regarded as a social disadvantage. The ideal was to speak in a way that revealed nothing about your background, your class or education. Received Pronunciation developed from what was essentially a regional accent, in the south east of England. Historically, this was a dialect whose spelling and pronunciation was recognized as Standard English because it functioned in the most populous region of England, which was also the home to the royal court in London. The development of public boarding schools such as Eaton in the nineteenth century helped to establish the RP accent as the ,model’ voice of an English gentleman, educated and prepared to build empires and occupy the highest positions in Victorian society. Later on, the creation of the British Broadcasting Corporation confirmed the status of Received Pronunciation as the accent of educated middle-class England. The BBC was proud to announce that they employed only those who could ,use the correct pronunciation of the English tongue.’ Eventually, RP became so synonymous with the radio announcers that it came to be known as ,BBC English’. This is what we, today, would call ultra-posh or even pretentious, the sort of English spoken only by members of the royal family and the upper classes. During the Second World War the BBC broke with the tradition, of employing only those who could speak ,correct English’, and hired as a news announcer a Yorkshire man who spoke with a very strong regional accent. The story has it that there was ,a method in this madness’ as the people at the BBC thought that if the Nazis invaded Britain and infiltrated BBC broadcasts, they would find it more difficult to adopt and impersonate a dialect. Radio announcers had already begun introducing themselves by name at the beginning of wartime news bulletins. This was to ensure that listeners would be able to associate the voice with the name and would not be deceived if someone wanted to pretend to be an authentic voice of BBC broadcasting.

After the Second World War, the English were still obsessed with the social classes and their accents. Linguist Professor Alan Ross coined the expression ,U and non-U’ to differentiate between the English upper class (U) and the aspiring middle classes (non-U). He argued that the members of the upper classes were not necessarily better educated, cleaner or richer but definitely used their language differently.

Here is a short test. Which expression in each pair ,sounds better’ to you?

have a bath or take a bath

table napkin or serviette

midday meal is lunch or midday meal is dinner

lavatory paper or toilet paper

greens or vegetables

spectacles or glasses

If you chose the first option in each pair, your English is very posh and sophisticated. If you are not there yet, you are definitely ready to join the ranks of the members of the upper class, at least linguistically, so to say.

If the second option in each pair appeals to you more, you probably read this with rolled-up-shirt-sleeves and a cloth cap on your head. You work hard to earn your living and you do not think highly of English aristocrats. But do not worry, at least you do not sound pretentious.

Professor Ross’s concept provoked a debate about English class-consciousness and snobbery. Especially when he asked the burning question as to whether a non-U speaker can become a U speaker. He did not wait for the results of the debate but provided his own answer and said: no. He claimed that one single pronunciation of a  word or phrase would be enough to brand an apparent U speaker as originally as a non-U speaker. So no matter how hard you tried to climb to the top of the social ladder, you would never be able to sleep peacefully without worrying as to when you might get caught off guard with a vowel sound or a tiny word, which could pull you down to where you came from.

Shortly after the debate however England’s tight class system was already beginning to loosen. As the distinction between different classes started to blur so did the boundaries between accents. What is interesting about the list of U words, is that today, most of them have been adopted by everyone else.

The most famous purveyor of U-speak today is the Queen, but even her Majesty’s accent is showing signs of change. There are studies, which analyse her Christmas broadcasts and claim that linguistically, the Queen is becoming less ,posh’. Her vowels, apparently, have flattened slightly over the years, moving towards the modern standard accent of southern England.

ESTUARY ENGLISH

Until relatively recently, people thought having a posh accent was the key to success in life. They were convinced that you would be trusted and believed if you spoke in ,such’ a way. It is just not the case anymore. In the twenty first century, things have changed a lot in terms of how people understand, appreciate and fit in with their accents. Accents are something personable; they are an expression of character and cultural belonging. And there is nothing wrong with this. This is probably why the accent for the non-U, of the south east of England, is developing into so called Estuary English. This can be located somewhere between RP and Cockney. It is less posh than Received Pronunciation but not as working class as Cockney. The heartland of this variety lies by the banks of the Thames and its estuary, but it seems to be the most influential accent in the south east of England. It is to be heard on the front and back benches of the House of Commons and is used by some members of the Lords, whether life or hereditary peers. It is well established in the City, business circles, the Civil Service, local government, the media, advertising as well as the medical and teaching professions in the south-east. Iinfluential people such as David Beckham and Sir Michael Caine can have a great effect on people’s lives, including their speech patterns. Tony Blair is supposed to have adopted a mild form of Estuary English as prime minister when he wanted to appeal to the general public. This leads to a change in the idea of ,correctness’, and in consequence, non-standard pronunciation will not seem as wrong as it used to. Estuary English has a strong position and can exert an influence on the pronunciation of English of the future.

To trace the evolution of the dialect, the British Library is putting together archives of recordings of the various British accents and their development in the last century, with the acknowledgment that this rich variety is something that should be celebrated. It says that the speech of a particular region should be a ,source of great pride and an important expression of cultural identity’. With improvements in education and social mobility, with more accents blending and morphing together and a disassociation from privileged RP, some people worry that there is a chance that we will see regional accents disappear altogether as we reach a bland middle-ground dialect. That would definitely make things easier for learners of English as a foreign language but is not very likely to happen. Many linguists find it hard to believe that we will ever get to a homogenous stage and cite the modern London accent as a prime example of constant change.

GLOSSARY:

abundance – obfitość

brimming – pełny po brzegi

lay to rest – tu: zapomnieć, odłożyć na bok

posh – szykowny, ekskluzywny

pretentious – pretensjonalny

impersonate – wcielać się w kogoś

deceive – oszukać

coin – tu: wymyśleć

napkin – serwetka

consciousness – świadomość

snobbery – snobizm

ladder – drabina

loosen – rozluźnić

blur – zamazać

purveyor – dostarczyciel

estuary – ujście

exert – wywierać

EXERCISE

MATCH THE CORRECT WORD IN BOLD WITH THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. A great or plentiful amount. ____________

2. Marked by an extravagant or presumptuous outward show; ostentatious. ______________

3. An instance of snobbish behaviour. _____________

4. A piece of cloth or absorbent paper used at table to protect the clothes or wipe the lips and fingers. ______________

5. To make dim, unclear, or cloudy. ______________

6. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides. __________________

7. An often-portable structure consisting of two long sides crossed by parallel rungs, used to climb up and down. ___________________

1. abundance; 2. pretentious; 3. snobbery; 4. napkin; 5. blur; 6. estuary; 7. ladder

LEKCJA 6

LANGUAGE – USES AND ABUSES
UŻYCIA I NADUŻYCIA JĘZYKOWE

Język, którym się posługujemy, podlega ciągłym przemianom. Podczas gdy jedne słowa popadają w zapomnienie, w ich miejsce powstaje kilka nowych wyrażeń, niesłyszanych nigdy wcześniej. Słowa tracą niektóre znaczenia, lecz jednocześnie zyskują nowe. Czasami trudno za tymi zmianami nadążyć, zwłaszcza gdy dotyczą języka obcego. Nie da się ich jednak powstrzymać ani ograniczyć, ponieważ są one wynikiem przeobrażeń, jakie zachodzą w społeczeństwie, w którym funkcjonujemy. Pozostaje nam natomiast ogromne pole do dyskusji na temat, które z tych zmian są naturalną częścią procesu ewolucji, jakim podlega język, a które są tylko niegroźnymi nadużyciami.

Language is the most versatile of tools, far exceeding the uses for which it was first designed. The first humans probably talked about best places to hunt, what to eat, how to survive but since then the language has evolved significantly into something more complex. Nowadays, our language does not only convey messages which allow us to survive in this wild world but it also has the power of being dangerous, shocking, playful, witty. In the old days if you did not like someone you just hit them on the head with your mace, nowadays we have to restrain ourselves because for physical abuse you could land in prison. Fortunately, however, we have our language which allows us to express our anger verbally rather than physically. We can hide behind the language of doublespeak to conceal truths, we use euphemisms when we want to be diplomatic, we create secret codes for protection or uniqueness. Like all complex tools, language can go wrong, and when it does go wrong we can have a closer look and observe how it actually works.

TABOO

The word taboo derived from the Tongan word ,tabu’, meaning forbidden and it was first used in English in 1777 by the explorer Capitan James Cook. The word entered the language and has been used ever since to refer to things which make us frightened or uneasy. Taboo subjects in almost all societies tend to involve religion, sex, death and bodily functions. In order to deal with these taboo topics societies have developed special words and expressions. If we take the subject of death as an example, we will notice that the English are rather coy about using the D-word. Rather than saying ,he is dead’ they choose to notice that ,he has passed away’, ,he has passed on’ or on a more lofty note ,he has given up the ghost’, ,gone to meet his maker’, ,shuffled off his mortal coil’, ,joined the choir invisible’. There are also plenty of euphemisms which the English use when they want to laugh at death. The most creative ones include: ,he is pushing up the daisies’, ,he has bitten the dust’, ,popped his clogs’, ,cashed in his chips’, ,kicked the bucket’. The same happens when it comes to bodily functions. If you dare to google the term you will come across a plethora of replacement expressions which help us get round the problem of using an outright description of some physiological acts. Social norms which we humans created and accepted impose certain constraints on our behaviour as well as our language. Technically, there is no difference between the word ,fart’ and ,trumpet’. They both consist of a certain number of vowels and consonants, they both refer to the same bodily function, but it is the social and semantic context which makes the difference. A long time ago Shakespeare made a famous claim:’What we call a rose by another name would smell as sweet’. Technically, definitely yes. The rose would not start smelling any different if we decided that from now on we will call it a poo. But would we still feel the same about the rose? Probably not. Semantic associations would change and so would our attitude to the rose. Language evolution gave us the ability to use euphemisms, synonyms or comparisons to overcome and deal with certain limitations imposed on us by society or our own prejudices. Being clever as we are, we have simply learned how to use them to our advantage in social interactions.

CENSORSHIP?

In the classic British comedy series ,Fawlty Towers’ there is a an episode titled ,The Germans’ best remembered for the line ,Don’t mention the war’ and John Cleese’s silly walk when impersonating Hitler. The references made in this episode had proved controversial before but finally it wasn’t our German neighbours who the BBC was worried about offending. Instead the episode was edited to omit racist language. In one scene one of the hotel’s permanent residents, Major Gowen, uses a derogatory term to describe black people. The major tells Basil Fawlty about the time he took a woman to see India play cricket at the Oval. He then says: ,The strange thing was, throughout the morning she kept referring to the Indians as niggers’. The N-word used by the major is a ,no word’ in Britain nowadays. It is probably one of the greatest language taboos ever. You are not allowed to use it, what is more you can be prosecuted for using it. To emphasize how terrible this word seems to be, it is enough to mention that in a TV debate which followed the editing of the episode, the participants were advised not say the word, even for the sake of the discussion or presenting examples and arguments. The lawyers working for the TV station decided to play safe and not to risk being prosecuted by some sensitive viewers who might feel offended.

The series has continued to entertain families since being made in 1970s and in 2000 it was voted to be the best British series of all time. No wonder there were lots of viewers who said that the editing was unnecessary and complained that the BBC was ,airbrushing history’. One irritated viewer in a letter to the BBC wrote: ,It is about time you grew up BBC, and trusted your audience. We know what is acceptable and what is not and what is funny and why, and the fact that it is of a time which is now long past. We understand context, the major is a figure of fun, he does not whip hatred’. There were many more comments like that but the BBC was firm about its decision and through the mouth of its spokesman said: ,We are very proud of Fawlty Towers and its contribution to British television comedy but public attitudes have changed significantly since it was made and it was decided to make some minor changes with the consent of John Cleese’s management, to allow the episode to transmit to a family audience at 7.30 pm’.

Lots of people perceived this situation as an unnecessary censorship and treated it as an opportunity to spark a discussion about freedom of speech and the right of mass media to edit the reality. Whether you support the position of the BBC on this issue or not, this is definitely an example of how language continues to evolve. It also proves that social changes have a great impact on this process. Hadn’t it been for the political correctness policy which is omnipresent now, there would not have been any pressure on the BBC to edit the episode and remove the scene where the N-word is uttered.

SLANG

Thousands of new words are added to the English language every day. No one knows just how many but according to the word tracking Global Language Monitor, a new word is created every ninety-eight minutes. It is an extraordinary pace, especially since minority languages are disappearing at a similar breathtaking speed. What is undoubtedly true is that the influence of televisions and films, computers and social networking has meant a great explosion of new vocabulary. Texting, tweeting, blog, memory stick, upload, ground zero, bling, credit crunch… this is just a fraction of words which we use on a daily basis today which simply did not exist a decade or so ago. Our language is evolving and expanding on an unprecedented scale.

Relatively new entries to the Oxford English Dictionary include: ,lashed’ meaning drunk, ,dot-bomb’ meaning a failed internet company, ,couch surfing’ meaning the practice of spending the night on other people’s couches rather than finding a permanent housing. On the other hand tragic which had been in the dictionary for ages got a new twenty-first century meaning: a boring or socially inept person. Although many of the words are computer and social networking jargon, television has influenced our everyday language as well. One hugely popular TV programme in particular, ,The Simpsons’, has created a raft of popular words and phrases. The animated series about a dysfunctional American family has apparently become a great source of idioms, catchphrases and textual allusions. ,D’oh’, the grunt uttered by Homer Simpson, is the cartoon’s most popular neologism. ,Doh’ without the apostrophe, entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001 as ,expressing frustrations at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned or that one has just said or done something foolish’. Meh, meaning ,whatever’ or ,boring’, is another example of Simpsons expression that has become particularly popular in the lexicon of web conversations. Other expressions which originated in the series but caught on and entered popular language are ,lupper’ (a clorie-laden meal in between lunch and supper), the insult ,eat my shorts’ or two nonsense words ,embiggen’ (to enlarge) and ,cromulent’(fine, normal). For some these words qualify as neologisms which will soon fall out of use but for others using these words carries the prestige of pop-culture literacy among those who can catch the references.

These are just a few examples of what is happening to the English language every day. Following these numerous changes might be a daunting challenge but an exciting one as well. Behind every new word which finds its way to the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary there is a story and exploring it can be fun. Each of these words is a testimony of our times, each of these changes is a manifestation of some important phase our society is going through, each new expression is our mark on the language of the future and our contribution to its evolution.

GLOSSARY:

versatile – wszechstronny

witty – dowcipny

mace – maczuga

restrain – powstrzymywać

coy – nieskory

lofty – wzniosły

daisies – stokrotki

choir – chór

plethora – bogactwo, nadmiar

constraints – ograniczenia

poo – kupa

prejudices – uprzedzenia

censorship – cenzura

derogatory – poniżający

hatred – nienawiść

omnipresent – wszechobecny

unprecedented – niespotykana

inept – nieprzystosowany

raft – mnóstwo

EXERCISE

MATCH THE CORRECT WORD IN BOLD WITH THESE DEFINITIONS. CHOOSE THE BEST WORD TO COMPLETE THE SENTENCES.

1. He is very popular among his friends because being very intelligent he always makes some ____________ remarks and makes others laugh.

a. versatile   b. inept   c. witty

2. He tried very hard to control his temper but eventually was not able to ___________ his emotions.

a. restrain   b. constrain   c. train

3. The politician was severely criticized for his ____________ comments about immigrants.

a. lofty   b. derogatory   c. versatile

4. The Prime Minister took a/an __________ decision of consulting the public about who should become a minister in his government.

a. unprecedented   b. omnipresent   c. raft

5. The government announced today that any kind of press ____________ was against the constitution.

a. prejudices   b. hatred   c. censorship

1. c; 2. a; 3. b; 4. a; 5. c

LEKCJA 7

THE ANATOMY OF SWEARING
ANATOMIA PRZEKLINANIA

Językowe wyrażenie negatywnych emocji przybiera rozmaite formy. Klątwy, groźby, złorzeczenia. Przekleństwa mogą być wyrazem frustracji, gniewu lub złości. Bywają także swego rodzaju znakiem przestankowym. Z wulgaryzmami, chcąc nie chcąc, mamy do czynienia na co dzień, czasem tylko jako bierni odbiorcy, innym razem jako ich użytkownicy. Przeklinanie budzi powszechny sprzeciw nie od dziś, jednak są lingwiści, którzy twierdzą, że nie należy go jednoznacznie potępiać.

Swearing is more common than you might think. After a historic health-care vote, Joe Biden whispered to Barack Obama, „This is a big fucking deal”, as the men shook hands in front of a cheering crowd and an open microphone. Biden’s remark was intended for Obama’s ears only, but that nearby microphone broadcast his profanity to the world and what followed was a buzz about whether the comment was inappropriate or uncivil. However, some specialists have said that the slip was simply another example of how normal it was to swear in everyday speech. „Big fucking deal, is a perfectly reasonable thing to say when you are talking to a friend about something that was a big fucking deal,” said Geoff Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California, ”It’s emphatic and has an intensity of emotion. To say ‚This was certainly a big deal,’ or, ‚This was an awfully big deal,’ does not convey that emotion.” It is their taboo status that gives swear words their power. In saying something that we are not really supposed to say, we point out that this topic is so important to us that we are willing to cross boundaries to make that clear. In this context, to condemn politicians for swearing in private contexts, as Biden did, is rather hypocritical. Especially, if we look at some statistics which say a lot about British swearing habits.

Only 1 in 10 adults say they never use bad language.

Only 5% of Britons get through a whole day without hearing a swear word.

77% of people think swearing is routine in Britain today.

65% of people hear swearing in TV programmes broadcast after 9pm.

78% of people swear regularly.

Source: http://metro.co.uk

TIMOTHY JAY

Timothy Jay is a psychologist at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts but first of all he is a world-renowned expert in cursing. For the past thirty years he has been studying the role of dirty words in linguistics, so he is most probably the best person to consult about the question ,why do we swear?’ He admits that he himself has been exposed to swearing from an early age. His father was a carpenter and the language he used while working with his mates was nowhere near the Queen’s English.

Professor Jay calls swear words emotional intensifiers. He claims, ,it is like using the horn on your car, which can be used to signify a number of emotions like anger, frustration, joy or surprise.’ He has also observed that children learn swear words at a very early stage, as soon as they can speak and because they are learned so early, they are deeply rooted and retained longer than other language forms. The same mechanism applies to nursery rhymes. At an early age children learn that swear words are powerful because they often hear them during arguments when people’s emotions are running high. Additionally, when the child repeats the words, they usually get an emotional response and anything that is forbidden is powerful. According to professor Jay it is that emotional link of swear words that gives them their psychological potency. The fact that swearing is so closely related to emotions suggests that it is evolutionary and developmentally primitive. It can be perceived as an equivalent of the scowling or yelping of a dog when someone suddenly steps on its tail.

THE F-WORD

Throughout history, swear words have reflected the taboos of time and place. A century or two ago, religious words dominated the forbidden lexicon. Hell and damn were unspeakable in ,proper company’. Nowadays, the number-one swear-word used in a variety of contexts is undoubtedly the word ,fuck’. According to a lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower it has 15th-century Germanic origins. Originally, the word’s root meant ,to move back and forth’. Over the centuries, the word has appeared repeatedly in obscene contexts in letters and poems, sometimes written in a code. At some point in the 20th century, Sheidlower says, it began to reach beyond its sexual connotations. As the word became more figurative, it took on an unmatched level of versatility. Today, variations of the word can function as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb and an expletive. It can be used to describe everything from cheating spouses to political documents or neighbors who mow their lawn at dawn. Actually, the word can be anything we want it to be. Even other cultures incorporate it into their languages as a kind of, universal powerful swear-word.

COPROLALIA

There are some people who have no choice and just have to swear. Uncontrollable, often foul words erupt from them. They have a condition called coprolalia. The name comes from the Greek kopros – faeces and lalia – talk. This is a disorder causing people to involuntarily utter obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. These phrases or words can also be said inside the persons’ head or kept to themselves, which causes intense internal distress for the individual. However, they are not meant to be a personal attack. They are usually expressed out of social or emotional context and as such do not make sense for the listener. While listening to those people you get the impression that the core of their sentences comes from one part of the brain and the swear words form another. It is as if there is someone else in the room butting in on the conversation. Unfortunately, coprolalia can be a lifelong struggle and the individual deserves understanding and acceptance. Primarily, the disorder must be accepted by the family in order to provide the individual with a support system. People with coprolalia feel embarrassed and ashamed of their symptoms. Often, the response to coprolalia and the lack of understanding and acceptance from other people amplifies the individual’s shame and embarrassment, leading to isolation.

MECHANICS OF SWEARING

Charles Baudelaire, a notable French poet was visiting a church in Belgium when he suddenly felt dizzy, staggered and fell. By the time he got to his carriage, the forty-five-year-old poet’s language had become confused and within a month he could not speak at all. Later on, to the horror of the nuns who were looking after him, he turned out to be able to utter just one blasphemous expression – cré nom – meaning damn. The nuns thought that Baudelaire had been possessed by the devil. One hundred and fifty years later we know that the poet had suffered a stroke. The blood flow to his brain had been cut off causing damage to the language centres in the left hemisphere.

Technically or scientifically speaking, there is a designated area in our brains in which swear words are stored. Around the edge of our brain’s cortex is our limbic system, a complex network of deep brain structures, which are thought to control our motivation and emotions. On the outer layer of the brain is the neocortex, made up of folds of grey matter, which is responsible for higher functions like knowledge, conscious thought and reasoning. We process most of our language in the neocortex, but there are some words – curses and taboo words – which have strong emotional connotations, and these are processed in a part of the limbic system called the amygdale. The amygdale is an almond-shaped mass of neurons at the front of the temporal lobe of the brain that appear to give our memories emotions. Studies have shown that in animals, if the amygdale is stimulated electrically, they respond with aggression. If it is removed, the animals become tamer and do not react to things that would normally have angered or frightened them. In humans, brain scans show that the amygdale lights up when the person is shown a card with an unpleasant word written on it. That is why, if something goes wrong in the left hemisphere of the brain, where we process language, it is those emotional words lodged in the deeper limbic system which we are still able to access. This proves that when a word is seen or heard we are incapable of treating it as a doodle or a noise. We reflexively look it up in our memory and respond to its meaning including associated emotions.

CATHARSIS

Why does using a swear word make us feel better? Timothy Jay made an attempt to answer this question.

Taboo words can be used for a variety of reasons, including the achievement of a specific reaction from others. Swearing injects a direct, emotional component into the discussion, usually in order to express frustration, anger or surprise (up to two-thirds of our swearing is for such expressions). These insulting swear words can be used to call or wish someone harm, so it is no wonder they are often a defining feature of hate speech, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and/or obscene phone calls.

Swearing is beneficial in ways that people may underestimate or take for granted. Professor Jay has found out that swearing can provide both an emotional release as well as a relief from pain. Research carried out by Dr. Richard Stephens has shown, for example, that people can keep their hands in ice-cold water for longer if they utter swear words. That is why swearing is often considered cathartic – it frees us of the feelings of anger or frustration we hold and allows expression of them. Swearing can even be a useful substitute to physical violence.

Swear words can also be used in a more positive manner, in the form of a joke and humor, sex talk, storytelling, self-deprecation or even social commentary. When uttered at the right moment, the rude word can suddenly bring an otherwise dull sentence to life. It is often particularly funny when coming from an unlikely source, such as the mouth of a sweet old lady or an innocent child.

Swearing is very common indeed and as the experts say may have some beneficial effects as well. We cannot forget however that using foul language has its dark side. Swearing can be used to bully, intimidate or upset people and as such should not be promoted and legitimized. A point worth remembering is that if these taboo words are overused, they lose their force and no longer impress or affect anyone.

GLOSSARY:

condemn – potępiać

carpenter – stolarz

scoul – zjeżyć się

yelp – skamleć

foul – obraźliwy

faeces – kał

involuntarily – mimo woli

butt in – wtrącać się

amplify – wzmocnić

stagger – zachwiać się

blasphemous – bluźnierczy

stroke – udar

tame – potulny

doodle – bazgroły

self-deprecation – pomniejszenie własnych zasług

versatility – wszechstronność

lawn – trawnik

legitimize – usprawiedliwiać

EXERCISE

FIND THE CORRECT COLLOCATIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING WORDS FROM THE TEXT:

1. Public opinion is very eager to condemn _______________ whenever they do something wrong.

2. People who suffer from coprolalia involuntarily ________________ swear words.

3. It is irritating when people butt in on a ________________ I am having with someone else.

4. As he was walking through the forest he ______________ and fell.

5. At the age of fourty-five Charles Baudelaire _____________ a stroke.

6. I really hate it when my neighbours _____________ the lawn on a Sunday at dawn.

7. After his stroke, Baudelaire was able to utter just one blasphemous ______________ – cré nom.

1. politicians; 2. utter; 3. conversation; 4. staggered; 5. suffered; 6. mow; 7. expression

LEKCJA 8

JARGON AND SLANG
ŻARGON I SLANG

Wydawać by się mogło, że będąc obywatelami jednego kraju, posługujemy się tym samym językiem. Jednak czasami, gdy przypadkiem trafimy do sali, w której trwa konferencja dla farmaceutów, informatyków lub marketingowców, albo gdy zupełnie niechcący podsłuchamy rozmowę naszego nastoletniego syna z jego rówieśnikami, możemy mieć poważne wątpliwości, czy rzeczywiście jest to ten sam język. Dzieje się tak, ponieważ nasz język ma wiele środowiskowych odmian nazywanych ogólnie żargonem lub slangiem.

We do not speak the same way all the time and without realising it, we all have at our command different verbal repertoires. For example, we do not speak to our partners at home in the same way in which we speak to our boss at work. Subconsciously, we change our speech according to who we are speaking to, where, under what circumstances, and so on. Jargon and slang are two linguistic phenomena, which represent this aspect of human language. They are both similar and that is why, it is not so easy to pinpoint the difference between them, but in fact they are significantly different and should not be confused. Let us start with the similarities. Both jargon and slang identify us as members of a particular group. By choosing to use a specific range of vocabulary we demonstrate our affiliation to other people who share our profession, interests, beliefs or philosophy of life. And this is where the difference between jargon and slang starts. Jargon is the variety of language that belongs to a specific profession or activity. Anyone who has worked on a film set will be familiar with the technical language of filming which to an outsider may sound like coded nonsense. For someone who works in the film industry words like: sparks, best boys, gaffers or grips seem normal technical language while to someone who knows nothing about the business this is jargon which cannot be easily understood.

Slang on the other hand is a very colloquial variety of language. We use it in highly informal situations, in speech, and with people very much from a similar social background to us. Some experts talk about it as being ,below the level of a neutral style’. The early editions of the Oxford English Dictionary describe it as the ,language of a low and vulgar type consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense’. That is why it is not advisable for a non-native speaker to use slang unless they are absolutely sure that it is appropriate for them to use it.

SAILING JARGON

Nearly all professional groups involved in specialized activities have their own jargon or terminology which to an ignorant in the area may sound very sophisticated. Sailing jargon is very interesting for closer analysis because not only is the range of vocabulary impressive but it also has a very long history and moreover, the terminology has also found its way into everyday language. Knowing the right sailing terms to use on board a boat is a way of sounding super cool and impressing one’s friends but actually it is very useful, and sometimes crucial in communicating while people are sailing. Some of the vocabulary can sound archaic because we are still using terms that have been used by sailors for hundreds of years. So those who know the terminology, can feel like they are participating in the grand sailing tradition, and it helps to save face if you do not have to say, ,Can you hand me that… eh… thing?’

First things first, a rope on board a yacht is never called simply a rope. Once it has got a designated purpose it is a line or if it is very thick a cable. Lines which are attached to sails to control their shapes are called sheets. Stationary lines which support masts are called standing rigging and movable lines that control the sails are called running rigging. Lines that raise the sails are called halyards, and those that bring them down are called downhauls. Clearly, shouting to someone to ,Grab that rope’ could have disastrous effects. It is not possible to operate on a boat or a yacht without this sort of terminology. In the heat of the moment the crew need to know exactly what to do and which piece of rope to pull or to let off. An ignorant trying to simplify sailing terminology talking about the left side or the right side of a boat (rather than the port and starboard) would soon discover that it does not work. What we mean by left or right is a position in relation to our bodies while port and starboard are in relation to the boat itself, so the port is on the left side of the boat facing forwards and starboard the right side. There is no space left for any misunderstandings.

It is interesting to notice that plenty of nautical terms have been incorporated into our everyday language. Some of the expressions have to do with the technical side of sailing. Here are a few examples:

Shipshape in everyday language means to be orderly and nice. You can say for instance that a good housewife makes sure the house is shipshape before the guests arrive.

Knowing the ropes means to know how to do something properly. Novice crew-members have to learn what all the ropes are for and how to handle them. In the same way you need to know the ropes before you can train other staff members.

Taking the wind out of someone’s sail refers to making someone feel less confident or determined to achieve their goal usually by doing something they did not expect. If you have worked very hard to get promoted and you find out that the boss has already promised the job to somebody else, that would definitely take the wind out of your sails.

Trying a different tack means starting to use a different method for dealing with a situation, especially in the way that you communicate. You might have been very pleasant with noisy neighbours but if they do not cooperate you may need to try a different tack. Originally, the tack is the lower leading corner of the sail, which points the direction in which the ship is heading. So when a boat changes course, it is changing from one tack to another.

CORPORATE-SPEAK

Corporate speak is the jargon used in large corporations, government departments and offices. It is characterized by common English phrases used in a baffling context and a selection of power words, which often change, but when in fashion the words are used in every second sentence by every trustworthy manager. Corporate speak makes simple things sound complicated and as some say it is adopted in order to make things seem more impressive than they actually are. A survey was conducted which revealed that first of all people use office jargon because others do. In addition, the same survey proved that some staff members, who work for big corporate organisations, find themselves using corporate speak as a way of disguising the fact that they have not done their job properly. Some people think that it is easy to bluff their way through by using long, impressive-sounding words and phrases, even if they do not know what they mean. In the office jargon, problems are not problems anymore; they are challenges. Your boss always expects 110% commitment from you. Anything done in the future is on a go-forward basis. You are not allowed to say that you do not have time to do some task, but you are more likely to get away with saying that you do not have the bandwidth to deal with the situation. You always need to adopt an end user perspective rather than think what the customer needs. And if you want to send a memo you simply cascade down information. It is even worse if this way of communication is used to camouflage and hide reality. Workers are not sacked anymore they are downsized. Does it make any difference to the worker that the fact that they are going to be penniless pretty soon is described by a sophisticated piece of gobbledygook? Probably not, but not putting things so bluntly might help the manager feel better. In the same way companies do not suffer losses they have negative cash flows or negative growths. Pure nonsense.

Since 1979 The Plain English Campaign has been fighting against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information. The campaign officially began after its co-founder, Chrissie Maher, publicly shredded hundreds of official documents in Parliament Square, in London. Since then the organization has helped many government departments and other official organisations with their documents, reports and publications. They have established the Crystal Mark, which is their seal of approval for the clarity of a document. It now appears on over 21,000 different documents in the UK and in other countries including the USA, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand and South Africa.

SLANG

Language is in a constant state of change and reinvention and slang plays a vital role in this evolution. Street slang, rhyming slang, black slang, teenage slang, text slang – there is an abundance of slang in the English language. Whichever type it is, one thing is sure, most people perceive it as a low and vulgar variation of language and as such it always generates strong feelings. The first dictionary of slang was published by Francis Grose in 1785 under the title of: A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Grose was a former soldier, innkeeper and champion drinker. For some obscure reason he decided to collect slang from all walks of life – sailors, tradesmen, prostitutes, pickpockets and crafts men. He and his assistant are said to have walked the slums of London at night and noting down the vulgar words spoken in the drinking dens and brothels. His dictionary included over 3000 entries some of which are still in use, while others have become obsolete.

One of the most popular and at the same time most difficult types of slang to learn is Cockney rhyming slang. No one knows when and where rhyming slang originated but it was certainly flourishing in early Victorian England. It was called Cockney slang but actually it was a working class, Londoners’ slang. It is really complicated because the construction involves replacing a word (for example feet) with a rhyming phrase (plates of meat) and then dropping the rhyming part of the phrase (meat disappears and plates stays). Practically, this means that feet become plates and if you are not familiar with the rhyme you have no chance of grasping the meaning of the original word.

Have a go at understanding this:

I had a Jane down the frog with a septic, his trouble and their dustbin. Would you Adam and Eve it?

For those who have failed to figure out what this sentence is about here is a translation:

I had a wander (Jane Fonda) down the road (frog and toad) with an American (septic tank – Yank), his wife (trouble and strife) and their kid (dustbin lid). Would you believe (Adam and Eve) it?*

For a non-native speaker it might be fascinating to study the rhymes and discover the meaning of some phrases as you feel as if you are breaking a secret code. However, being able to easily understand or speak Cockney is rather a lost cause for a non-local inhabitant. A common rule applies to all types of slang: it may come in handy to be able to understand it, but for a foreigner trying to use it is much too risky.

GLOSSARY:

subconsciously – podświadomie

affiliation – przynależność

sophisticated – wyrafinowany

baffling – zaskakujący

penniless – bez grosza

gobbledygook – bełkot

obscure – niejasny

pickpocket – kieszonkowiec

brothel – burdel

EXERCISE

FIND WORDS IN THE GLOSSARY WHICH MATCH THE FOLLOWING DEFINITIONS.

1, Language characterized by circumlocution and jargon, usually hard to understand.

2. The act of becoming formally connected or joined.

3. A house or other place where men pay to have sexual intercourse with prostitutes.

4. Not clearly understood or expressed; ambiguous or vague.

5. Puzzling, strange or confusing.

6. One who steals from someone else’s pocket.

1. Gobbledygook; 2. Affiliated; 3. Brothel; 4. Obscure; 5. Baf

LEKCJA 9

WRITE ABOUT IT!
NAPISZ O TYM

3000 lat p.n.e. cywilizacja Sumerów zapoczątkowała jedną z najważniejszych zdobyczy ludzkości, czyli pismo. Od tego czasu to właśnie pismo rozwijało myśl ludzi, jak również było nośnikiem wiedzy oraz tradycji. Warto przyjrzeć się bliżej najstarszym zachowanym tekstom, ponieważ z pewnością pośród tych dziwnych i niezrozumiałych dla współczesnych znaków znajduje się jakiś fragment prawdy o naszych przodkach, a co za tym idzie, o nas samych.

Nothing can add to our intellect more than reading a book. We can experience new things in books, that normally we would not be able to experience. The combination of a book and an active imagination, results in us being able to go out to other, different worlds. Books can even have the power to change our lives. Reading can inspire us to develop and achieve great things. We as individuals are capable of inventing and putting new ideas onto paper, we can create manuals to teach others how to save lives, write books to educate our children about history, or other cultures, the world around us and maybe even set up new laws that will forever change our lives and the lives of others. There is no doubt, that without reading we would not know as much as we know today. We have educated ourselves beyond our ancestors by reading and studying books, and even today we still depend a lot on the written word. We constantly read about healthcare, cooking, fixing things etc. With the help of instruction manuals, we learn how to use new inventions.

Books are filled with knowledge, parables, insights into a happy life, interesting issues concerning life, love, fear, child care, prayer, worship, politics. One can read about romance, the creation of the world, future events, and big battles that men have fought. Without books we would not know anything about other cultures, extinct animals, important historical events, scientific studies, and fascinating research. Books help us to develop critical thinking skills, they teach us how to perform tasks, and moreover, they help us plan for our future, perform jobs better, and solve problems.

We do not realize however, that we would be deprived of all these great things that books have given us if one of our ancestors had not come up with the idea of working out a code or system of signs, which we now call writing. Writing is, quite simply, the greatest invention in human history – in fact, it made history possible. ,Without words, without writing and without books, there would be no history, there would be no concept of humanity’, said the German author Hermann Hesse. We humans have been around for nearly 200,000 years, but we have only been writing for a little over five millennia. It took us a lot of time to develop from pictures and scratches on cave walls, clay or parchment to emailing on a laptop computer. Different writing systems evolved gradually over long periods of time, and there is still a debate which was the very first.

CUNEIFORM

Some historians say the hieroglyphs of Egypt came first, others, who study the ancient Mesopotamian culture, claim that its writing form, called cuneiform, is the oldest.

Mesopotamia was a region, which forms modern-day Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran. Around the third millennium B.C., in the southern part of Mesopotamia there lived Sumerians who invented something which looks like a series of bird footprints. However, it turned out to be cuneiform, a fascinating writing system.

These first texts were drawn on damp clay tablets using a pointed tool. It seems the scribes realized it was quicker and easier to produce representations of such things as animals, rather than naturalistic impressions of them. They began to draw marks in the clay to make up signs, which were standardized so they could be recognized by many people.

Why did the people want to have a written form of communication in the first place? On the simplest level it was for making lists, for counting, for keeping a record in areas like trading, tax and money. The earliest tablets with written inscriptions represent the work of administrators, perhaps of large temple institutions. Temple officials needed to keep records of the grain, sheep and cattle entering or leaving their stores and farms. It became impossible to rely on memory, so an alternative method was required. The cuneiform writing system was used for more than 3 000 years. It developed from pictographs, which were realistic drawings used to communicate an idea where signs stood for sounds as well as words. Later on came a gigantic leap in the journey of language development. The picture sign came to stand not for what it looked like but for the sound that sign represented. What had begun as symbolic drawing evolved into a system which could be used to express a language phonetically. Learning to write cuneiform was not an easy task. The ancient Mesopotamians had to master the art of scribbling hundreds of signs and learn the various meanings that they might have, depending on the context. It was an art confined to a small number of scribes, who became an elite group in society, more powerful than the illiterate courtiers or the even the king himself. Knowing how to write was a source of power and a privilege. It took years to learn and was never a system designed for the masses.

The fact that cuneiform documents were written in clay has meant that lots of tablets survived for our examination. When ancient libraries or other buildings housing the tablets were burned, the clay was fired in the heat and hence preserved. The British Museum’s collection of cuneiform tablets is among the most important. It has about 130 000 items but there are probably many more still buried under the sands of Iraq and Syria.

The decipherment of cuneiform began in the eighteenth century as European scholars searched for proof of the places and events recorded in the Bible. Travellers and some of the earliest archaeologists visited the Near East and brought back a range of artefacts, including thousands of clay tablets covered in cuneiform. In 1857, four scholars worked independently on copies of a newly found clay tablet. They returned with translations that broadly agreed with each other. This was accepted as a proof that cuneiform had been successfully deciphered, but there are still elements that we do not completely understand and the study continues.

THE ROSETTA STONE

The Egyptian Hieroglyphs are among the oldest writing systems in the world. Unlike cuneiform its origin is much more obscure and there is no identifiable precursor. Hieroglyphs are pictures that were used to write the ancient Egyptian language. In the beginning hieroglyphic signs were used to keep records of the king’s possessions. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a goat followed by a number. But as the language became more complex more pictures were needed. Eventually, the language consisted of more than 750 individual signs. Hieroglyphic writing died out in Egypt in the fourth century C.E. Over the time the knowledge of how to read hieroglyphs was lost, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and its subsequent decipherment. The stone was discovered during Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt and seized by the British when they defeated the French in Alexandria in 1801. Shortly afterwards, the stone was placed in the British Museum and it has been there ever since with only one break. Towards the end of the First World War, in 1917, when the Museum was concerned about heavy bombing in London, they moved it to safety along with other, portable, ‚important’ objects. The Rosetta Stone spent the next two years in a station, on the Postal Tube Railway, 50 feet below the ground, at Holborn.

The Rosetta Stone is a big chunk of dark granite, which is part of a larger inscribed stone, that would have stood some 2 metres high. The top part of the stone has broken off at an angle – in line with a band of pink granite whose crystalline structure glints a little in the light, giving the stone its name. The Rosetta Stone, dates back to the second century, when the priests who had gathered at Memphis to celebrate the arrival of the young Ptolemy V composed a decree in his honour which was copied onto stone with two translations. The upper text is in hieroglyphs, the middle part is demotic script and the lowest part is in classical Greek. Because essentially it presents the same text in all three scripts, scholars could compare the Greek words, which they knew, with the hieroglyphs and their knowledge of demotic script, and so learn to read the signs.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

In Jerusalem there is a white domed structure called the Shrine of the Book. It is a special air-conditioned building where some of the world’s most precious religious documents are housed. The most famous documents here are the Dead Sea Scrolls which consist of 30 000 separate fragments making up 900 manuscripts of biblical texts and religious writing from the time of Jesus. They were discovered in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between the years 1947 and 1956. The area is 13 miles east of Jerusalem and is 1300 feet below sea level. The story has it that in 1947, a Bedouin shepherd looking for a lost goat came across the caves. He threw a stone into one to see if the goat was there, and he heard a strange noise. The noise turned out to be his stone hitting a clay jar containing some scrolls. The shepherd took the scrolls to an antique dealer in Bethlehem. When the antique dealer realized what he had in his hands he told the shepherd to go and bring some more. So he went and brought more, and these are the first seven scrolls, which are now exhibited at the Shrine of the Book.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered one of the most important archeological finds of the modern era. The texts were written over a period of around 200 years up to about AD 70. They are of great religious and historical significance, as they include the oldest known surviving copies of biblical documents. They are written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. They are very fragile and they have only survived thanks to the dry climate of the area where they were found in. For the past eighteen years, the Israel Antiquities Authority has been working on how to preserve these flimsy, but priceless, fragments of the past. They are so delicate that only four highly trained conservators in the whole world are allowed to touch them with tweezers and special gloves.

It must have been, and undoubtedly still is, an exciting job to decipher these old records and learn from them of humanity’s past. Especially, that there seems to be something fundamental about our species which can be learned from the study of these ancient peoples and their writings. It appears that the people who scratched on clay with a reed and told of their economy and culture are basically like us. They were afraid of disease, afraid of not having children, afraid of having no money and very much afraid of warfare. They told the truth or they lied, they were just people like us.

GLOSSARY:

ancestors – przodkowie

deprive – pozbawić

scratch – drapać, skrobać

clay – glina

parchment – pergamin

cuniform – pismo klinowe

scribes – uczony w piśmie

scribble – gryzmolić

illiterate – niepiśmienny

obscure – niejasny

glint – iskrzyć, migotać

shepherd – pasterz

flimsy – wątły, kruchy

tweezers – pęseta

EXERCISE

FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS FOR THESE DEFINITIONS.

1. Not able to read or write.

2. Easily damaged, very delicate and fragile.

3. Material which is widely used in making bricks, tiles and pottery.

4. A small tool, usually made of metal, used for plucking or handling small objects.

5. Our predecessors.

6. Not clearly understood or expressed, vague.

1. Illiterate; 2. Flimsy; 3. Clay; 4. Tweezers; 5. Ancestors; 6. Obscure

LEKCJA 10

THE PRINTED WORD
SŁOWO DRUKOWANE

Gdyby Gutenberg nie wynalazł druku, na naszych półkach nie byłoby książek, a rano nie czytalibyśmy gazet, zapewne nie byłoby również e-maili i SMS-ów. Bylibyśmy na zupełnie innym etapie rozwoju technologicznego. To dzięki wynalezieniu druku wiedza stała się dla wszystkich ogólnie dostępna, a szybki rozwój i postęp stały się możliwe. Z przekonaniem można więc twierdzić, że druk zapoczątkował nową erę w dziejach ludzkości.

The invention of writing utterly changed the human world. Writing has allowed us to preserve, record and shape our stories, communicate our ideas and even extend the significance of our lives beyond their end. Writing has given us our history. For the vast majority of time, everything was written by hand. However, nearly 600 years ago there was a revolution in writing technology, which changed not just the face of writing, but also the whole world. In the mid fifteenth century a man called Johannes Gutenberg invented a mechanical way of making books. His development of movable type printing started the printing revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern era.

EARLY PRINT

We do not know very much about Gutenberg himself. He was born in Mainz, in Germany in 1400 and died as a poor man sixty-eight years later. Those who have tried to find out more about his life have had to give up at some point because in the old records he disappears for periods only to re-emerge somewhere else. What we know for sure is that he was always working on something, he was always short of money and he was frequently involved in some dispute or quarrel. The name of Gutenberg first appears, in connection with printing, in a legal case in Strasbourg in 1439. He was sued for a debt by two of his business partners who had sponsored his printing press. Witnesses, asked about Gutenberg’s stock, described a press and a supply of metal type. Gutenberg ended up losing the press in lieu of payment. It sounds as though he was already capable of printing small items of text from movable type, and it seems likely that he must have done so in Strasbourg. Unfortunately, nothing has survived from this period of time.

By the time he was next heard of in connection with printing, he was in Mainz. He had borrowed 800 guilders in 1450 from Johann Fust with his printing equipment as security. In 1452 Gutenberg received another 800 guilder from Fust, thence accepting him as a partner in the business. On the technical side the business was going well when for no apparent reason Fust demanded his money back, suing Gutenberg in 1455 for 2026 guilders – representing the loan plus accrued interest. The court ruled in favour of Fust and as a result Gutenberg lost all rights to his presses, his type, his premises and the sheets of his Bible, which he had already printed. We do not know if Gutenberg was married, or whether he had any children but we do know that his achievements were recognized at the end of his life when he was given an annual stipend of 2180 litres of grain and 2000 litres of wine tax-free. He was buried in the Franciscan church in Mainz, but the church and the cemetery were later destroyed and Gutenberg’s grave was lost forever.

Gutenberg was not the single genius who invented printing in one inspired moment. Forms of printing had been used in different parts of the world long before Gutenberg came along. The Chinese had been working with type carved into wood and bronze for centuries. They had also invented paper made from a pulp of water and discarded rags, which was then pressed into sheets for writing or printing on.

In the British Museum, visitors can see the oldest printed book in the world. Hidden for centuries in a sealed-up cave in north-west China, a copy of the ‚Diamond Sutra’ is the world’s earliest complete survival of a dated printed book. It was made in 868. Seven strips of yellow-stained paper were printed from carved wooden blocks and pasted together to form a scroll over 5 m long. Though written in Chinese, the text is one of the most important sacred works of the Buddhist faith, which was founded in India.

Later on, the Chinese developed a movable type system using porcelain characters, and in the thirteenth century the Koreans were already experimenting with metal movable type made out of copper. The screw press, which Gutenberg refined and developed, had also been around for quite a while but was used to press grapes and impress patterns on textiles. What Gutenberg did was to combine different crucial elements and adapt them.

He invented a process for mass-producing movable type – the individual pieces of type in metal, one for each character of the alphabet which could be set up to be printed on a printing press and then reused over and over again. He used new oil-based ink instead of water-based ink. He also got the idea of using the traditional agricultural screw press for printing. He brought these techniques together into a practical system that became increasingly efficient, economically viable and fast. In doing so he laid the foundation for mass production of books in Europe. Before the invention of printing, the number of manuscript books in Europe could be counted in thousands. By 1500, after only 50 years of printing, there were more than 9 million books.

THE FIRST BOOKS

The first real book to be printed using the new techniques Gutenberg developed in the 1450s was the Gutenberg Bible. No one knows how many copies he printed, but the best guess seems to be around 180. Only forty-eight copies have survived and scholars consider them to be among the most valuable books in the world. The Bible was printed in Vulgate Latin on hand-made, fine-quality paper from Italy, on a page design that was deliberately created to look like an illustrated manuscript. Each copy was sold in folded sheets and was later bound and decorated according to the wishes of its owner. They cost much less than a handwritten Bible but the price was still much beyond most students, priests or an ordinary person’s income. Most of them were probably sold to monasteries, universities and particularly wealthy individuals.

The technology of printing continued to improve, the number of printing presses all over Europe increased and in turn the price of books also began to fall. As the printed word spread, it created a wider literate reading public and it caused the range of books and subject matters to increase vastly. Now more secular books began to be printed, and religious books could be printed in great numbers. People could now read and decide for themselves.

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first English writer to be set in print, though, as he died around the time that Gutenberg was born, he missed the printing revolution. Chaucer’s ,Canterbury Tales’ was the first book by an English author that the printer William Caxton published in England. Caxton printed all kinds of texts: mythic tales, popular stories, poems, phrasebooks and devotional pieces. Thanks to the invention of printing, books became quicker to produce and cheaper to purchase. An ever-increasing number of writers were able to publish their works, literacy rates rose, language gradually became more uniform, and an early form of modern English began to emerge. When Caxton published ,The Canterbury Tales’ the English language was incredibly diverse. Dialects of different regions had different words for the same thing and as for spelling there could be over twenty different ways of writing the same word. In order to sell as many books as possible, Caxton needed a ‘linguistic norm’, he needed a standardized, consistent spelling that could be understood by everyone.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA AND THE DICTIONARY

Printing did not just give rise to greater literacy, it was one of those inventions, like gunpowder and the compass, which changed the state and the appearance of the world. Because people could read more, it changed attitudes towards learning and knowledge. The printed word became the lifeblood of the age of reason that we call the Enlightenment. Denis Diderot, one of the philosophers of the Enlightenment era, pioneered revolutionary thoughts, which gained him a place among the great thinkers who formed part of the Enlightenment movement. Through his works, especially ,The Encyclopedia’, Diderot undusted extensive information and recent scientific discoveries such aslike the size of the universe. His humanitarian and radical ideals helped transform society’s view of the human being. By expressing his modern and liberal ideas Diderot incited people to think and join him in the struggle for social and political change. Denis Diderot’s lifework, the Encyclopedia, was a powerful weapon against ecclesiastical and governmental institutions. It covered all areas, science and technology, politics, religion, art, social and humanitarian issues. Diderot invited people to think and become knowledgeable. The Encyclopedia was not only intended to inform people about things that no one knew existed, but to provide the knowledge necessary to change those things.

While Denis Diderot was assembling his vast Encyclopedia just across the Channel, an Englishman was single-handedly writing another reference book, ,The Dictionary of the English Language’. It is so famous that it is simply referred to as ,Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary’. Samuel Johnson was one of the towering figures of the Enlightenment, a man of enormous wit, learning and literary brilliance. The idea to write a dictionary came from a group of book-sellers who saw it as a tremendous commercial opportunity in a society where books and reading were becoming increasingly popular. Samuel Johnson, who was a prolific writer at that time, was picked as the ideal man to take on this job. Johnson was offered a generous fee that allowed him to dedicate himself entirely – for the next nine years – to his monumental work. The dictionary was duly published in 1755, in two volumes, with almost 43,000 entries on 2,300 pages. It was not the first English dictionary, nor the one with the most words. The clarity of Johnson’s definitions, his concentration on ordinary, everyday words and his principle that a word means what it is used to mean by the best writers in the language is what made it work and as a result made it so popular. It has been estimated that Johnson defined some 80 per cent of the English vocabulary of his time.

Printing is another invention in the development of language, which has had a great impact on humankind. It has empowered people to gain and also spread knowledge. Before printing was invented, only very few were able to read and write. All the books of knowledge were confined to church officials and scholars. Printed books seem to have sparked a desire for learning in people. In order to grasp more knowledge, people started to learn to read. Then they started to learn writing in order to communicate with others who were not within ,talking distance’. Thus, printing became important as it allowed knowledge to be spread among many instead of keeping it restricted to the few.

GLOSSARY:

type – czcionka

re-emerge – ponownie się pojawić

sue – pozwać

in lieu of – w miejsce czegoś

accrued – naliczone

stipend – zasiłek

copper – miedź

viable – tu: opłacalne

lifeblood – siła napędowa

The Enlightenment – Oświecenie

wit – dowcip

incite – pobudzać

prolific – płodny

EXERCISE

COMPLETE THE PHRASES WITH THE CORRECT WORD.

___________ interest

___________ writer

economically _____________ idea

made out of _____________

annual ______________

____________ of payment

1. accrued; 2. prolific; 3. viable; 4. copper; 5. stipend; 6. in lieu

LEKCJA 11

HOW TO TELL A STORY?
JAK OPOWIEDZIEĆ HISTORIĘ?

W toku ewolucji język, którym się posługujemy, przeszedł ogromną transformację. Narzędzie komunikacji ograniczające się początkowo do kilku prostych dźwięków dziś stało się złożonym systemem będącym obiektem badań naukowych i mającym niewiarygodną siłę wpływania na uczucia, opinie i zachowanie ludzi. Najdoskonalszym zaś wyrazem wykorzystania potencjału, jaki kryje w sobie język, jest umiejętność opowiadania za jego pomocą wspaniałych i poruszających historii.

Language is our supreme evolutionary achievement. In the course of its development we learned how to use it to sublime effect. We save our best words for our most complex thoughts, our attempts to find a partner, deal with the inevitability of our own death or to persuade someone to do something they do not want to do. However, it does not mean that language needs to be sophisticated or florid. It can have the simplicity of haiku because it is the skill of using the right words in the right moment, which gives language its power. The acme of language is literature. It defines our species, gives us voice, personality and history. Quite simply, it tells our story.

THE ORIGINS OF STORYTELLING

Essentially, what we like as a species across all cultures and throughout our history is a good story, well told or as James Joyce would have it, the right words in the right order. Storytelling is as old as language and is rooted in our life as a social animal.

The Turkana tribe numbers about half a million people and lives in a semi-desert area that stretches across northern Kenya and southern Sudan. This tribe has succeeded in maintaining their way of life for centuries. They can also provide an insight into the beginnings of storytelling. The young men of the Turkana tribe spend their days riding the livestock of neighbouring tribes and protecting their cattle against the rides of enemies. At the end of the day the warriors like to drink their millet beer and what the alcohol does is lower the inhibitions of the young men and as a result they start to tell stories of their fights or escapades against their enemies. Soon a crowd gathers and encouraged by their audience the warriors present a full re-enactment of their latest raid. The story becomes an improvised bit of drama which the crowd loves. There is a plot, action, humour and a resolution. It is similar to an action movie. A platoon of warriors goes on a dangerous mission, they meet with adversity, they overcome it, some are wounded but the end is a happy one because the warriors return home victorious. These elements plus the act of miming out the story, with a few embellishments, goes to the heart of storytelling.

The Turkana have other stories too, many of them are traditional myths, which attempt to answer the major themes of their lives. They do have a creator figure and there are many stories in which he is the protagonist. Most involve rain, which is the life-or-death commodity for the Turkana. These stories try to reconcile the big issues that trouble the people.

When the Turkana tell a story they not only entertain the community, they also bind it together in a kind of ritual. This ritual (which is not so different from reading a Harry Potter book or going to the cinema to see Avatar) illustrates two of our most important traits: our ability to create imaginary worlds and empathise. Empathy allows us to understand each other’s emotions while fantasy allows us to imagine new ways of seeing reality. Scientists postulate that as our ancestors evolved to live in groups, they had to make sense of increasingly complex social relationships. Living communally requires knowing who your group members are and what they are doing and if possible what they are feeling and thinking. Storytelling is the perfect way to transfer such information.

SEVEN BASIC PLOTS

What makes a good story? For sure, fascinating characters, inspiring dialogues and wonderful writing. However, for most of us, the plotline is the key ingredient in a story, the roadmap for characters.

Most writers would say that there is a limited number of storylines to be told. Some have even tried to put a number on it. Rudyard Kipling is thought to have had a list of sixty-nine basic plots. Others have argued for thirty-six, twenty and in case of Professor William Foster-Harris – three. He suggested a happy ending, an unhappy ending and the ,literary’ plot in which the whole plot is done backwards and the story ends up in futility and unhappiness.

According to Christopher Booker, a journalist, all narratives in the world are variations of seven basic plots. Here they are:

Overcoming the monster: the hero confronts and defeats a life-threatening monster or evil force. The hero returns home victorious. Films that would fit into this category include James Bond films, Jaws or Alien.

Rags to riches: an ordinary character, often in wretched circumstances, achieves wealth, social status, beauty and happiness. Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling or Bridget Jones are perfect examples of this storyline.

The quest: the hero sets out on a hazardous journey to reach his goal, confronting dangers and temptations on the way. All of these happen in The Odyssey, Don Quixote, Lord of the Rings or Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Voyage and return: the hero leaves home to explore another, often magical, world and, after a dramatic escape, returns to their familiar world. This type of plot is present in The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland or Gulliver’s Travels.

Rebirth: the hero is overcome by dark forces and then redeemed, often by the power of love. According to Christopher Booker we can trace this plot in Snow White, A Christmas Carol or Star Wars.

Comedy: chaos of misunderstanding which eventually resolves into a happy ending. There is a wide range of stories that could serve as examples here anything from Oscar Wilde and most of Shakespeare’s comedies to name just a few.

Tragedy: a flawed character spirals down into evil and inevitable death or disaster. Examples for this category would include Macbeth, King Lear or Madame Bovary.

There are other genres, of course, such as mystery, romance, science-fiction but as Christopher Booker would claim most of the stories will fit into the framework of one of the seven basic plots.

THE BEST STORY-TELLER EVER

Imagine you could go back 400 years or so to wander the streets of Elizabethan London. You might pop into a tavern, bump into Shakespeare and watch as he drank and talked and scribbled. Then you could go to the newly built Globe Theatre in Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames, pay your penny to stand in the pit in front of the stage. For a few hours you could experience the most extraordinary language and theatre that the world has never seen since. You might even see Shakespeare acting there in one of his own plays. If you could do that, you would have the great honour of admiring the greatest storyteller the world has ever had.

Shakespeare was a man of many talents but first of all he was a storyteller. Homer told of adventure and men at war, Sophocles and Tolstoy told of tragedies and of people in trouble. Mark Twain told comical stories, Dickens told melodramatic stories, Herodotus told histories and Hans Christian Andersen told fairy tales. But Shakespeare told every kind of story comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love story and fairy tale and each of them so well that they have become immortal.

Most of his stories had already existed before he retold them, whether as folklore, history, or current events, but he put them into a context his audience could understand. We cannot be sure that Shakespeare’s Richard II or Richard III are ,true’, but while the real Richards are now no more than a small pile of ashes somewhere, Shakespeare’s are living characters in our minds, shedding light on the times when they lived.

Shakespeare’s ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. He invented, or was the first to put in print around 3000 new words. You may think you do not know any Shakespeare but of course you do. Expressions like break the ice, catch a cold, forever and a day, heart of gold, love is blind, naked truth, flesh and blood, what’s done is done and many, many more are all creations of Shakespeare. They have been used so extensively that they have become clichés today but there is still genius in them.

Another factor, which makes Shakespeare’s stories so compelling, are his characters. He invented his share of stock characters, but his truly great tragic heroes are unequalled in literature. They have remained popular because of their complexity. The best example is probably gentle Hamlet, forced against his better nature to seek murderous revenge. For this reason Shakespeare is deeply admired by actors, and many consider playing a Shakespearean character to be the most difficult and most rewarding role possible. Hamlet is seen as the ultimate test for an actor and a theatrical Everest. The character is so full of complexities and the play itself is so well known that probably sleepless nights are spent worrying about how to bring something new to some of the most quoted lines in literature.

Additionally, Shakespeare’s work deviated from that of his contemporaries because he wrote for every type of person who came to the theatre or read poems, not just for the upper class as was common then. His plays not only featured a king or a prince, but also one of his most famous comedic characters. Falstaff brought a comedic and common touch to the play. They also appealed to the members of the lower class who attended the performances whilst, often sitting or standing in the same theatre as the nobility of the day and during the same performance.

Shakespeare was the man who has so far made the best use of our greatest evolutionary achievement – our language. While reading his verse we can easily observe the enormous leap in language development from the first grunts and squeaks of our predecessors to becoming the most powerful tool of communication in its finest form. Shakespeare was a real master in exploiting the potential of his native language. He knew perfectly well how to do this; buy using ,the right words in the right order’ to push the buttons of his audience’s emotions. He was very skilled at evoking different sorts of feelings from compassion to anger, from joy to anger using words as his only instruments.

GLOSSARY:

sublime – wzniosły

inevitability – nieuchronność

florid – kwiecisty

acme – ukoronowanie

livestock – żywy inwentarz

millet – proso

inhibitions – zahamowania

commodity – towar

empathise – wyrażać empatię

futility – daremność

wretched – nędzny

cinderella – Kopciuszek

shed the light – rzucić światło

enduring – tu: trwający

cliché – frazes

compelling – tu: przemawiająca

EXERCISE

MATCH THE PHRASES COINED BY SHAKESPEARE.

1. Love

2. Catch

3. Heart

4. Forever

5. Naked

6. What’s done

7. Flesh

a. and a day

b. and blood

c. is blind

d. is done

e. a cold

f. of gold

g. truth

1. c; 2. e; 3. f; 4. a; 5. g; 6. d; 7. b

LEKCJA 12

THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
SZTUKA PRZEMAWIANIA

O tym, że opanowanie sztuki przemawiania jest istotne, wiedzieli już nasi starożytni przodkowie. Dzieła dotyczące retoryki powstały jeszcze przed naszą erą. Umiejętność przemawiania do publiczności jest talentem, ale również umiejętnością, której można się nauczyć i którą należy ćwiczyć.

The power of the spoken word is undeniable. Oratory is a powerful ally of the written word because a great public speech is a potent means of communication. It can persuade, move, convince, agitate, enlighten and last but not least manipulate. History is full of examples of great orators whose fantastic speeches appealed to the masses. Bill Clinton is one of the best contemporary public speakers, who can remind us of the challenge in delivering a truly great speech. ,You measure the impact of your words,’ he says, ,not on the beauty or the emotion of the moment but on whether you change not only the way people think, but the way they feel’.

The art of oratory goes back to ancient Greece, where public speaking was considered an essential part of good education. Socrates, Aristotle and Plato discussed it at length in their works and it has remained an important element of humanistic education even today. Lawyers, politicians and entertainers need to be good orators. It requires knowledge of literature, the ability to construct prose, and an ear for rhythm, harmony and musicality. Oratory is not mere speaking, but speech that appeals to our sentiments, animates our souls, stirs passions and emotions, and inspires action.

MODERN ORATORS

Thera are all kinds of different styles of oratory, and obviously they change over time as tastes and traditions change. The demagogic style of someone such as Hitler certainly worked during his heyday, but it no longer appeals in the same way anymore.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is one of the most powerful speakers to have come from a preacher background, a tradition that creates a kind of poetry of words and rhythm. ,Words, he said ,paint pictures; words draw our imagination and help us to believe we can achieve great things’.

Martin Luther King’s famous ,I have a dream’ speech in 1963 drew heavily on this tradition of church preaching. The pastor is the composer and the conductor, delivering the words and orchestrating the response from the audience, pacing the delivery, the rhythm of the words and the pauses.

One of the greatest modern orators was Winston Churchill. His use of language, rhythm, repetition and the honesty he implied. Moreover, it is in the simplicity of the words that he used in his famous ,fight them on the beach’ speech, which still stirs emotions.

,We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender’.

Churchill’s speech worked because it was addressed to everyone and, as the American journalist Edward R. Murrow commented, ,he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle’.

The ,Quit India’ speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942 called for a determined but passive resistance against England’s occupation of the country. The speech is considered a masterful work for both its ability to motivate and its effective message of nonviolence.

Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1944. He was arrested in 1962 and charged with crimes of sabotage and crimes that were equivalent to treason in the Apartheid era of South Africa. He delivered a defiant speech during his trial that is still a powerful reminder of equality and justice that everyone has the right to.

,During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die’. He spent the next 27 years in prison.

The latest to join the list of great orators is President Obama. His oratory skills can be extremely powerful when he chooses to display his full capabilities. His victory address to crowds in Chicago after his historic election was widely regarded as one of the finest speeches in modern politics.

,If there is anyone out there who still doubts America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy – tonight is your answer’.

TIPS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING

While most of us will never have the opportunity to summon troops into battle or debate a Parliamentary bill, it may not be such a bad idea to try and learn the skill of public speaking. Whether it is giving the best man speech, arguing against a policy at a city council, making a proposal at work, or giving a presentation, we are asked to speak publicly at least a few times in our lives. Confronted with this challenge we often shudder at the thought of it rather than enjoy the opportunity to move and inspire people with the power of our words. Here are some tips that may come in handy if you aim to become one of the greatest living orators.

Practice, practice, practice – it is a myth that public speaking is a talent that is inherent and inborn and cannot be learned. The fact is that great orators of the world from Cicero to Churchill practiced the art of oratory.

Believe in what you are saying – no grammatical excellence or oratorical skill can add as much to a speech as its credibility. Every hint of hypocrisy will doom even the most eloquent speech. Conversely, when you are honest and earnestly committed to what you speak of, the audience will feel the depth of your commitment and will listen far more intently.

Keep your eyes open to everything that is going on around you – in order to appeal to your audience, your speeches must be filled with allusions to interesting characters, events, and places. You must keep abreast of current events and study human nature, religion, science, literature, and politics. Read newspapers, watch interesting films, and read great literature. A great orator must be aware of the counterarguments your critics will raise and be able to defuse them before anyone else has the chance to do so.

Follow the best examples – treat all the great orators of the past as your coaches and mentors. Read their speeches and study the way in which they constructed their sentences and how the choice of words and stories created vivid imagery. Try to listen to great speeches because by doing so you can learn where the orators pause for effect, where their voice rises and falls. Try to figure out what makes certain sections captivating.

However, if you are aiming a bit lower than that, and do not intend to become a great orator but would simply like to improve your presentation skills there are much easier ways to do so. It might be worthwhile to follow the advice of TED Talks speakers who definitely know the ropes of public speaking.

1. Always give the audience something to take home – always provide something specific the audience can do almost immediately. Even if the message is very inspiring, every audience appreciates learning something they could apply to their own lives.

2. Share a genuinely emotional story – at the beginning of your presentation you can tell a story and let your emotions show. When you share genuine feelings you create an immediate and lasting connection with the audience.

3. Pause for 10 seconds – only confident speakers are secure with silence. Experts say that if you pause for two or three seconds the audience will assume you forgot what to say next, after five seconds they will think the pause is intentional. When you pause for 10 seconds even the people who are texting will look up and when you start speaking again the audience will be convinced that you are a confident and accomplished speaker.

4. Share a thing no one knows – find a surprising fact or an unusual reference that relates to your topic. People love to think, ,Really? Wow...’

5. Do not overload your slides – there is a simple rule of thumb that some presenters apply. They make their font size double the average age of their audience. That means their font is between 60 and 80 points. Try this and if you need to fit more words on a slide, it means you have not tightened your message enough.

6. Do not ever read your slides – your audience should be able to instantly scan your slides. If they have to actually read them, you might lose them, as they will need to share their attention between your words and the written message. Moreover, you will definitely lose them if you read to them. Your slides should emphasise your points but they should never be the core of your presentation.

7. Focus on winning people’s attention – make your presentation so interesting, so entertaining, and so inspiring that people cannot help but pay attention. It is not the audience’s job to listen to whatever you want to tell them. It is your job to make them want to listen.

8. Always repeat audience questions – unless microphones are available, people will rarely hear questions other audience members ask. Always repeat the question and then answer it. It is not only courteous, but it also provides you with a little more time to think of a way to give a brilliant answer to each question.

9. Always repeat yourself – your audience normally hears about half of what you say, so create a structure that will allow you to repeat and reinforce key points. First explain a point, then give examples of how that point can be applied, and at the end provide the audience with action steps they can take based on that point. Since no one can remember everything you say, what you repeat has a much greater chance of being remembered.

10. Finish early – if you have 30 minutes, take 25. If you have an hour, take 50. Always respect your audience’s time and end early. That will give you time to ask if anyone has questions or to invite them to see you after the presentation. Never run over because you may lose what you managed to build up.

It may be a daunting challenge to deliver a potent speech or presentation but there is no doubt that there are plenty of situations where good public speaking skills can help you advance your career and create opportunities. While good skills can open doors, poor ones can close them. Make sure that you learn how to speak well!

GLOSSARY:

undeniable – niezaprzeczalny

potent – skuteczny, silny

flag – tu: osłabnąć

treason – zdrada

defiant – prowokujący

shudder – wzdrygać się

credibility – wiarygodność

keep abreast – być na bieżąco

captivating – zniewalający

know the ropes – znać tajniki

rule of thumb – praktyczna zasada

courteous – uprzejmy

EXERCISE

MATCH THE WORDS WITH THEIR DEFINITION.

Courteous   Potent   Shudder   Captivating   Undeniable   Defiant

1. Attractive, interesting _______________

2. Nice and polite _______________

3. Strong and powerful _______________

4. Brave and able to resist authority _______________

5. Unquestionable or obviously true _______________

6. Shake or tremble ______________

1. Captivating; 2. Courteous; 3. Potent; 4. Defiant; 5. Undeniable; 6. Shudder