NAME

CAREER
USAL - FACULTAD DE CS ECONÓMICAS
INGLÉS IV – PARCIAL

The ethics of monitoring employee Internet use in

the workplace
The Internet has changed the way that business is done in virtually every industry around
the world. Some of these changes are positive, while other evolutions have put both the
employee and the organization into difficult situations. While the Internet can be used as a
powerful tool of communication and commerce, it can also be used as a means of distraction
and wasting time on a daily basis. Employees use the Internet to reach out to customers
around the world, and they also use it to chat with their friends, visit various shopping sites,
and simply surf aimlessly. Therefore, some organizations have felt compelled to keep an eye
on their workers so that they have some assurance that everyone is theoretically being
productive. Here are a few thoughts on the specific ethics of monitoring employee Internet
use in the workplace.

Big brother
When companies monitor their employees, it can feel like the organization is invading the
privacy of the worker, even if it is technically legal. The atmosphere can very quickly shift to
an environment of distrust, particularly if the employees are aware of the monitoring
practices. Granted, some companies like their employees to be a bit on edge, as they view it
as a way to keep them accountable to their work on a daily basis. Of course, this can make
the employees feel like "Big Brother" is watching over them, as depicted in George Orwell's
book, "1984."

You are not at home

From an organizational standpoint, there is the issue of environment. When an employee
comes to work, they are on organizational turf. In other words, the office space, phones,
computers, and other equipment does not belong to the worker. All of these elements can
feel like they belong to the individual employee, but technically speaking the person is on
"company time." Therefore, the company can take certain steps to make sure that their
people are working throughout the day. Internet monitoring may not be the best strategy for
employee morale, but from an ethical standpoint the company is not necessarily required to
make employees feel safe in their jobs.

Different mediums and big picture analysis

Overall, people have to keep in mind that the Internet is simply another medium of
communication. Workers are not supposed to spend excess time on the Internet in the same
way that they are not supposed to make a high number of personal phone calls or take
extended breaks throughout the day. In most organizations, people are allowed to use the
Internet for a bit of personal business during the day. As long as people are getting their
work done, companies are not terribly concerned if workers take a break every once in a
while. The ethics of monitoring employees is actually an element of a bigger issue. A policy
of monitoring may make people uncomfortable, but people have to keep in mind that an
employer can certainly expect their employees to work throughout the day. How the
company accomplishes this has a great deal of variance. Organizations can used monitoring
to get this done. Whether they "should" or not is sometimes a completely different issue

A. Read the article and answer the following questions

1. What role does Internet play in the modern business?
2. How can a working environment change when employers monitor Internet usage?
3. What company elements can employees use and tend to consider their own?
4. What is really important to companies and what can they overlook?
5. What do you think about it?
B. Vocabulary. Fill in the blanks with words from the box
targets – strategy - niche - develop - e-marketing, - market segment(s) –
innovation – marketing research - marketing - product

In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product _______________ then tries to
_______________ a market for the _______________ Product innovation drives the process and
_______________ is conducted primarily to ensure that profitable _______________ exist for the
innovation. Marketers sometimes aggressively over-pursue product innovation and try to overcapitalize on
a _______________. .It is claimed that if Thomas Edison depended on marketing research he would have
produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs.

A relatively new form of _______________ uses the Internet and is called Internet marketing or more
generally _______________ affiliate marketing, desktop advertising or online marketing. It tries to perfect
the segmentation_______________ used in traditional marketing. It _______________ its audience more
precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing.

C. Conditionals: Complete with the correct form or the verbs.

1. If you (go) _________________ out with your friends tonight, I (watch) _________________
the football match on TV.
2. I (buy) _________________ these shoes if they (fit) _________________.
3. If he (try) _________________ harder, he (reach) _________________ his goals.
4. She (come) _________________ to our party if she (not / be) _________________on holiday.
5. I (earn) _________________ a lot of money if I (get) _________________ that job
6. If we (listen) _________________ to the radio, we (hear) _________________ the news.
7. It (not / surprise) _________________ me if he (not / know) _________________ the answer.
8. If you (switch) _________________ on the lights, you (not /fall) _________________ over the
chair.
9. If she (not /hurry) _________________ , we (miss) _________________ the bus.

D. Relative Clauses: Make single sentences from these pairs by using a relative pronoun

1. The Internet can also be used as a means of distraction and wasting time on a daily basis. It is a
powerful tool of communication and commerce.
2. Employees use the Internet to reach out to customers around the world. Tthey also use it to chat
with their friends, visit various shopping sites, and simply surf aimlessly.

E. Reported Speech

In its infancy, PlayStation Network began as a free service to gamers offering an online commerce option
for games and game content. Today, it offers an unrivaled social networking experience in PlayStation
Home, a robust video delivery service for purchasing and renting SD and HD content from every major
studio, social networking applications like Facebook, instant streaming content from Netflix, and a rich
selection of more than 450 games for PS3 and PSP…oh, and yes, it’s still free.

F.Describe this graph

G.Writing: You produced 2,000 promotional T-shirts at very short notice for a small company, Greyston
Ltd. The terms of credit in the contract of sale were for payment within thirty days of receipt of invoice.
You sent the first reminder with a copy of the invoice when the payment was four weeks overdue. Then a
second request for payment four weeks after that. The account is now a further six weeks overdue.
NAME
CAREER
USAL - FACULTAD DE CS ECONÓMICAS
INGLÉS IV – PARCIAL

The art of high street haggling

High Street stores are doing sizeable discounts for customers plucky enough to
ask, according to recent reports. Is it time to put aside those British inhibitions in
the face of the credit crunch and have a go at haggling? Margaret Ryan puts on her
best smile and hits the shops.

Many would not think twice about trying to So armed with these shopping mantras I
knock down the price of a rug from a head for the electrical retailers.
Moroccan market stall on holiday, but would I am unable to shake the feeling that asking
the same resolve hold true in a UK for money off is still a little cheeky.
department store on a rainy August morning?
In a Sony Centre I make my move with the
I decide to put my bargaining skills to the make, model and price of a DVD recorder I
test to seek a deal on a DVD recorder and a have seen on a competitor's website. I am
smart new pair of shoes for work. not even off the starting blocks before I'm
With warnings of a recession looming and of told that it has been discontinued.
consumers tightening their belts it seems like But all is not lost as instead the sales
now might be as good a time as any for it be assistant offers me the latest version, already
a buyers' market. marked down £40 from the original ticket
So putting aside my natural disinclination to price of £279.99.
haggle I bundle my two children in the car Without too much further persuasion on my
and, with rain threatening and my heart part - a simple request of "can you do any
slightly racing, we are off to a shopping better than that?" - he offers me another £20
centre on the outskirts of London. off.
Pay the price
But before starting I need some tips on the Now I switch tack and see if the same applies
best way to strike a deal. to shoe shopping. In an Office shoe store the
There are bargains to be had if only the sales assistant moves from saying they do
customer has the confidence to get them, not offer discounts unless there is a mark on
according to one financial expert. the item to my being given 10% off a £55
"Most high street retailers would much rather non-sale pair of shoes. …
make 20% of something than 50% of Here it is a bit harder work to convince the
nothing," says David Kuo, head of personal friendly sales assistant that I like the shoes
finance for the independent financial website but they are a bit too expensive. Maybe she
Fool.co.uk. takes pity on me having two children in tow
But tactics are key to succeeding in the or maybe she just wants me to go away.
haggling stakes, like finding a quiet time of Either way she eventually drops the price.
day, preferably first thing in the morning,
when the shop assistant will not be distracted There are some stores where responding to
by other customers. haggling is still "not done", agrees Neil
Sales staff have more autonomy to negotiate Saunders, consulting director for Verdict
on prices than customers might think, he Research, which publishes retail analysis.
says. However your approach counts. But he believes there are deals to be done in
"You have to ensure that you and the this buyers' market, especially on more
salesperson win. You want to make the expensive items like furniture and electrical
salesman your friend. goods, where the profit margin is better and
"The best bargain is where you pay less for where sales have been hit hard.
something someone else has paid the full "It is not going to happen in all stores and for
price for." all products but it is going to happen more.
Do your homework first to find the right Haggling is about being determined, “he
product and know how much it costs says, "It is a game of brinkmanship and
elsewhere in other stores, online and the rest sometimes you have to be prepared to walk
of the world. away."

Luck tried
A.Read the article and answer these questions
1. What attitudes do people show in different markets?
2. Where does this story take place?
3. What discounts could Margaret Ryan get?

B.Make a simple list of haggling tips.

C.Vocabulary. Fill in the blanks with words from the box

targets – strategy - niche develop - e-marketing, - market segment(s) –
innovation – marketing research - marketing - product

In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product _______________ then tries to
_______________ a market for the _______________ Product innovation drives the process and
_______________ is conducted primarily to ensure that profitable _______________ exist for the
innovation. Marketers sometimes aggressively over-pursue product innovation and try to overcapitalize on
a _______________. .It is claimed that if Thomas Edison depended on marketing research he would have
produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs.

A relatively new form of _______________ uses the Internet and is called Internet marketing or more
generally _______________ affiliate marketing, desktop advertising or online marketing. It tries to perfect
the segmentation_______________ used in traditional marketing. It _______________ its audience more
precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing.

D.Conditionals: Complete with the correct form or the verbs.

1.If you (go) _________________ out with your friends tonight, I (watch) _________________ the
football match on TV.
2.I (buy) _________________ these shoes if they (fit) _________________.
3.If he (try) _________________ harder, he (reach) _________________ his goals.
4.She (come) _________________ to our party if she (not / be) _________________on holiday.
5.I (earn) _________________ a lot of money if I (get) _________________ that job
6.If we (listen) _________________ to the radio, we (hear) _________________ the news.
7.It (not / surprise) _________________ me if he (not / know) _________________ the answer.
8.If you (switch) _________________ on the lights, you (not /fall) _________________ over the chair.
9.If she (not /hurry) _________________ , we (miss) _________________ the bus.

E.Relative Clauses: Make single sentences from these pairs by using a relative pronoun

2. High Street Stores are doing sizable discounts. Brave customers can get excellent deals there.
3. Margaret Ryan decides to put her bargaining skills to the test. She usually doesn’t like haggling
much
4. Sales staff are generally reluctant to offer discounts. Their autonomy to negotiate on prices is
quite important.
5. To haggle you should find a quiet time of the day to approach a sales assistant. It is preferably
first thing in the morning, when they are not too busy.

F.Reported Speech

Today marks the third anniversary of PS3 and PlayStation Network. It’s amazing to think how far
we’ve come in three short years. At launch three years ago, PS3 was a cutting edge gaming
console, ushering in the idea of a forward thinking format like Blu-ray that few people had heard
of. We were committed to that concept and how it would impact the gaming landscape for the
next generation. Today, Blu-ray Disc is the next gen standard media format giving PS3 game
developers a larger canvas to create games that continually push the envelope on rich,
immersive gaming experiences.
G. Describe the following graph

H.Writing Use the information in the chart to produce a short report on Smartphone Sales

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users in 3Q09 (Thousands of Units)

3Q093Q09 Market 3Q083Q08 Market

Company Sales Share (%) Sales Share (%)
Nokia 16,156.4 39.3 15,472.3 42.3
Research in Motion 8,522.7 20.8 5,800.4 15.9
Apple 7,040.4 17.1 4720.3 12.9
HTC 2,659.5 6.5 1,656.3 4.5
Samsung 1,320.6 3.2 1,114.8 3.0
Others 5,368.0 13.1 7,793.3 21.3
Total 41,067.6 100.036,557.4 100.0