Studying English: Business and Administration by Liberal Party

ASSOCI,ATION

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Studying English for Business and Adminis tration

by Damayanthi Ahangama BA (Peradeniya), Dip TESL (Colombo) Senior Instructor in English, University of Sri Jayawardenepura

published in the Student Readers Project of the English Associdtion of Sri Lanka on behalf of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura

@ 1993, University of Sri Jayawardenepura English Programmes Academic Coordinator : Rajiva Wijesinha, MAv D Phil (Oxon) Consultant :

Prof. (Miss) Chitra Wickramasuriya BA (Hons) (London), PGCE (Ceylon), MA (Education) (Iondon)

English Associationof Sri Lanka StudentReadersProject Nirmali HettiarachchiBA (Hons)Peradeniya

Chief Editor: Studying English Series Editor :

Rajiva Wijesinha

rsBN 955- 9069- 07- 1 Cover Design by Prasanna Liyanage

The StudyingEnglish seriesis publishedby the English Association of Sri Lanka with the assistanceof a grant from the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency.

INTRODUCTION

I t

This book is intended for students who have already mastered the skills and constructions introduced in the earlier books in the studying English series,namely'People','Objects','Events'and'Interactions'. Here the students are given practice in using the language actively and discriminatingly in a variety of situations within the fields with which the book is concerned. In addition to language development, both the texts and the exercises are designed to promote critical and creative thought in these areas. The textshavebeen speciallywrittenforthis bookbyleadingfiguresin thefield, who respondedreadily to the request that they record someoftheir experiencesfor the benefit of students. We are extremely grateful tothemfor sparingthe timetoproduce suchinterestingpieces,andforadiustinglanguagelevels soasto allow for gradations of difficulty as required. In using this book, special emphasis should be placed on the role-plays that are suggested. Students should have been accustomedto such activities through the exercisesin 'Interactions'; a thorough familiarity with that book is recommendedif the full benefit of this one is to be obtained. Note too that mastery through usage of the grammatical constructions explained in the accompanying Student Workbooks is a must, if students are to progress towards the levels of analysis and self expression this book is designed to promote. In particular students should be made familiar with the construction ofcomplex sentences,and should note how these are used to give reasons and consequencesin analytical writing. The use of noun clausesin reported spbech,for example in the examination of arguments, is another area that should be taught and practised carefully. Above all, it should be noted that the principal aim of these texts is communicative competence. We hope the texts and exercisesprovide satisfactory exposure to the language. Consistent practice however is equally essential, and for this purpose teachers must develop techniques to motivate students by extending the scopeof their classesto other areas, similar to those examined here, thbt are of particular interest.

Unit I The SAARC Surnrnit by Nihal Rodrigo,Ministry of ForeignAffairs Readthe following paragraphsand write downthe sentencewhich tells you what this text is about. Part 1 - Introduction The O:t'ord English Dictionary describes a Conferenoe as a meeting for discussion, an exchange of views. There are different types of Confenences. All conferenoes ane,however, an (1) opportunity for different views and opinions to be expressed on a given matten A successful conference is one at which these difrerentviews andopinions arenotonlybroughttogether,but also hamonized into an agleed idea or decision. Often the issues that are considened at a Conference are very eonplex and there rnaybe too rnsnY conflicting views. Reaching a clear decision is therefore very diffieult. In such situations (2) the participants at the Conference nay take a votc very much like at a political election. Everybody agFeesthat the position orview-point which has the largest numberof votes would be accepted. Vocabulary- Make sureyou canuse the followingwords correctlyin sentences Nouns

Verbs

Adjectives

issues views opinions idea viewpoint election

express harmonize agTee accept

complex conflicting clear

Find adjectives which would describe these nouns, and other nouns with which these a{iectives could be used. Jot down sentenceswhich relate to a) the participants b) procedure adopted at conferences. Have you participated in a conference? What was the subject ? Who were the participants ? What was its venue ? Did you frnd it useful ?

Read the first paragraph and write down the sentencewhich best states what a conferenceis. What sentence tells you what is considered a successfulconference? At a conferenceconflicting views are expressed. When a lot of conflicting views are expressedhow is a decision taken ? Underline the sentencewhich gives you the answer.

Part 2 -

Tlpes of Conferences

Confenences could range fron complex international conferences to simple meetings among 3 or 4 people in order to decide on a corn'non course of action. Smaller conferences take place daily in business houses, in government offices and other institutions, where different approaches to a question exist

(g)

At the other extneme there are confenences which involve different countries. firese ane (4) called intemational conferences and are much more conplex. T?re United Nations holds compli' from rang:e could The subjects intemational conferenoes on various conplex subjects. cated political issues to matters such ae health, transport and civil aviation. Confenences of the United Nations usualty involve all countries which are m9m!e1s of that organisation. Depending on the nature of the conference, it could be held in New York whene the rre-aaquarters of fhe orgalnisation is located" or at other cities in which the UN has an office. There Ux conferends which take place in various capitals of member countries. For exanple, ao" "t-so inportant intemational conferencel have been held in Paris, Tokyo, Jakarta and other capitals to decide on the future of Canbodia. Many diverse views are brought together and an attempt is nade to reach understandings acceptable to atlparties involved. Confenencesalso take place at different levels. Some confenences ane attended by Eeads the of State and Go?emment olther conferences are held a! th9 level of lVlinisters. However, theirgovem' authorized'by are who level of officials place the at mqiority of conferences take ments to nepresent their countries.

(5)

(6)

Vocabulary- Use the following wordsin sentences Nouns

Verbs

A{ectives

range action approaches headquarters

involve locate authorize

international complicated diverse

Paris Tokyo Jakarta Of what countriesare the last 3 propernounscapitals? g.

had to be held aboutit ? Whereis Cambodia? Do you know why somany'conferences

mentionedin the frrst paragraph(3) here. List the types of conferences

Writâ&#x201A;Ź down the phrasewhich links paragraph3 and 4'

U. N. Conferences

are usually held ? What accordingto the writer are the 3 levelsat which International Conferences

a) Who are the participants? held ? b) Whereare theseConferences

part 3 - Governmental and Non-Governmentalconferences Sri Lanka has hosted a nunber of confenences. If you examine somg of these conferenceg you will have an idea of the types of confenences that take place. Sri Lanka has hosted (?) firese ane called conferences in which lleads oi St"tc or Govemment have participated. This was the Fifth in 19?6. gi,m'nits. T1e largest such conference held in Colombo wis around 10O counts Moyeggnt Movement. The Non-aligned bonfenence of the lon-aligned number of A Movement. in the member countries at p"eseit. In 1976, tJrere were 85 members Kiogs' Presidents, by at this Sumnit Conference in Colombo *prâ&#x201A;Ź-*ot"d countries -."" Ministdrs and other leadcrs. Princes, kime firenembershipofSAARC ColombowasalsothevenueoftheFifthSAARCsummitinlggl. in Colornbo. meeting is ooly t:-Ali *rruo lleads of State or Govemnent attended the

(8)

(9) Thene have also been conferences of tVlinisters held in Sri Lanka. Ttrese include meetings of the Commonwealth of Nations. firere have been conferences of Cornt-onwealth Education Ministers, Justice Ministers, Health Ministers and so on. (10) Finally there have been a large number of confenences in which senior officials Sgvs r.epresented ttteir Govemments. These range fron political meetings to Orose dealing with specific rnatters such as aviation, cultural affairs, ani'nal husbandry and so on. (11) All the conferences described above ane governmental conferrences. This means ihgg ths delegates who participate nepresent their Govemnents. The representatives, in other words, speak on behalf of theirgovernments and are rresponsible to the govemments. (12) There are also conferences which ar,e called non-governnental conferences. tn thsgs conferences participants represent not governments but the institutions, associations, profes' sional and business gfoups of which they are members. For example, Colornbo held a conference recently of the CIIUA which was a conference of Chartered Accountants. Similarly, it has held conferences of travel agents, businessnen, architects and other gfoups. ( 13) All eonferences whether governmental or non-governmental bring together difrerent view points and an attempt is made to reach agfeement on various questions. 8.

? How wouldyou defrnea'Summit conference'

Write down words and phrases which link paragraph ? and 8, 8 and 9, 9 and 10, 10 and 11, 11 and 12.

10.

describedabove.' In paragraph11the writer says'all the conferences referredtohere. a) Listthe typesofconferences b) What othersare not listed here ?

11.

? What is the differencebetweena How would you definenon-governmentalconferences governmentalconferenceand a non-governmentalconference?

L2.

Readparagraph12 and write downthe linguistic markers which link new ideas.

13. Readpara 13. This is a summarystatement. Previouslythis sameidea was expressed.Find that sentenceand write it down.

I I

Why do you think the writer has re-stated the summary ? 14.

Imagine you are intenriewing the writer for information regarding conferenceshostedby Sri Lanka. C'etthe relevant information from the text and completethe blanks.

You - What is the largest international conferenceSri Lanka has hostedin recenttimes ? Answer

t I tI I

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You --Answer - ltrere were 85 membersin the non-alignedmovementin 1976. You.......... fuiswer - At presentthere are around 100members. You -- Why was the 19?6conferencecalleda Summit eonference? Answer You -- Did Sri Lanka host any other Summit conferencesafter that ?

Answer.... Yes, in 19gl

You Answer - The membership of SAARC is only Z.

You....'.. Answer -- Yes,alr the ? headsof state attended the meeting. You -- what other International conferences has sri Lanka hosted? Answer You - Are all the conferences you mentionedgovernmentalconferences ? Answer I"Ti;;;ff"t!'tlv

0II\'IA held a conferencein colombo. In

what waysis it different to a governmental

Answer You --- what other groupshave held non-governmental conferences here in the recentpast ? Answer You - Is there anything in common between governmental and non-governmental conferences?

Answer You -- Thanh you so much for patiently answering all our questions. you're Writer --welcome. Part 4 -

The SAARC'Summit

Theconveningofaconferenceinvolvesagreatdealofcarnefulpl,anningandorganisation. arrebroadlv two tvpes of activitv involveii;;;;;; There a coore""o.e] ihe frrst deals with the (r4)

::::T1ff.""1*i:?fftro"''ri'"'conddears*rdE:;";#;;;d'-.ot,rortheconrer-

rhe substanee of a conferenoe concerns its rnain purlrose. The reason for holding sAARc summit conference in coloibo, rot the to prcnote good rerations among trre seven co'ntries of south Asia and to "*-"iiffi", ;il;;g*ater cooperation among them could (18) !9ci{e benefit the people of the region. The agenda of the conferenee iJa document which liste agreed iterns or matters for discussion. Tilus, the th" r"" trre seanc sulr'it included an item on the reduction of customs and t""iT, ;;il$lliisi"" "g"iii *""t"i;;fo; various pnoducts in order to encourage more trade. The Agend" il;li; an item oo ilre arieviation of poverty iri south Asia' rt also included an item to trerp soutrr AJai countries to reach corrmon positions various important intemational issues. Tlris on was o"ors.""v to ensure that the repnesentatives of south Asian countries would be unitcd pnesenting their views at larger intemational conferenses' Also on the agenda "rd;;;;;when was adi"scossioi oo rro*, sianc could cooperate with other regional orlganisations such flt; E;;iJ"" co--unity and ASEAN, as well as how funds from outside south asia coua be"-robtained f;; th.economic development of the region. These were among the issues which constituted the substance of fire conference. The host co 'n hYr srir'anka, presented a number of documents dealing with these subjects. ths flogrrnents roresentg{ tfre oiti""r available. sJr4nka also conducted discussions in (16) advance of the s,,-t"tt'it with the s"otrr *i"o tt trr" issueswere better understood. "oooi"i"I.o "t

At tJre Conference in Colombo, the Ileads of State and Heads of Govemment ae well as other Theyconsidenedthe d.ifferentcourseg leadersformallyexpressedtheirviewsondifferentieeues. reachedon these matters. These decisione ryerre wene of action necessarlr. Eventually deciqions confenence. of the Declaration recorded in what is called the Final As the host of the Sumnit, the Sri Lanka Govemment had also to make a number of logistics arrangements to ensure the eafety and comfort of participante in the Conference in Colombo. These included arrangements for their eecurity, translnrt, hotcl accommodation, food, enter' tainm:nt and so on. Ttris involved activity not only by govemment institutiong such as the Comnenceandsoonrbut PnesidentialSecretariat,theMjnistryofForeignAfrairsrtheMinis@of Memorial Bandaranaike and the companiee hotels, transport also the private sector such as the Intemational Confenence I{alL

( 1n\ ""

ft was neoessar5ralso to mahe arrangements for meeting facilitiee. the Bll[ICH was made ready for this. The Opening Ceremony was attended by delegates as well as VIPs fmm Sri Lanka" r\'vl r q\ Ttre Opening Ceremony also gave the public of this sountr5r as well as other countries an opportunity to see some of the proceedings. In addition to the opening cenemony which was p11btic, arrangements were also nade for the Heade of delegations, Foreign Ministen and otber delegates to meet in smaller ConfenenceRooms to discuss in detail the issues involved. of ure the uonrerence' Conferenc well in advanoe advance or Preparations for all these an'angements wene begun run wetl smooth. were arrangements that ensured Ttris

(19)

fire Govemment of Sri Lanka and o0rer authoritieg organising the conferences were also /rn\ \-v' assisted by the Secretariat of SAARC which is located in Nepal. fire secnetariat is a pemanent Conferencesaswellasitsprtgranmes. bodyofpersonswhichfacilitatestheworkofSAARC-its The Secretariat also seeks to assist in the irmplementation of decisions taken at Conferenoes. Vocabulary- Put the words and phrasesbelowunder the correctheadingof the two given. Wordsand phrasesassociatedwith: (1) organisinea confetence (2) .Subjectmatter of conferences

II t

t tt I I

careful planning and organisation substance of the conference logistics arrangements main purpose promote goodwill greater.cooperation benefrt encourage trade to be united and strong when presentingviews how SAARC could cooperate with other regional organisations

agenda documents agreed items matters for discussion options available conduct discussions understand issues better formally express views different courses of action reduction of customs tariffs alleviation of poverty in South Asia

Arranging a Conference 15.

List the 2 types of activity involved in arranging a conference.

16.

What does a conferencedeal with ? Using words and phrases from the text ask this same question in a different way.

L7.

Why was the SAARC Summit conferenceheld ?

18.

Write down the sentence which defines what an agenda is. List the items included in the agenda of the SAARC Summit of 1991.

19.

What is the function of the last sentence in para lb ?

The Role of Sri Lanka as the Host Country 20.

At the sAARc summit of 19g1 what was sri Lanka's contribution ?

21.

How would you defrne what'the final declaration of the conference'is ?

22.

Who were those actively involved in the logistics arrangements for the SAARC Summit lggl ? What subject areas would they have been involved in ?

23.

Who attended the opening ceremony of the SAARC Summit 1gg1 ?

24-

The writer says that the opening ceremonyalso gave the public of the country as well as other countries 'an opportunity to see some of the proceedings'. How would this have been possible ?

25.

Explain in your own words what the writcr means by 'arrangements were made well in advance'.

26.

who else assisted sri Lanka in organising the SAARC summit 1gg1 ?

27.

Write down 3 activities of the SAARC Secretariat.

Group Work - Discuss / Write 28.

Get into groups of 4. Imagine you were given the full responsibility of organising a conferencein your university/college. How would you set about it ? Write down your answer and read it out to the class. Cues. (Try to frnd the answers to these) What type of conferencewould you like to have. Who will be the participants. What will be the theme of the conference. Who will deliver the key note address. Who will be invited. Who will present papers. Who will go through abstracts, and select the final presentations. What will be the venue. What about the logistics arrangements.

29.'

AforeigngovernmentofticialwhorepresentedhiscountryattheSAARCsummitlgglnowhastowrite a report on the follovring 3 items from the Agenda, to be forwarded to the Foreign Minister of his country. Write the report that he would have forwarded.

Consideration of matters relating to children : 1. (a) Review of the situation of children in the SAARC countries (b) The guidelines for Plan of Action for children in the South Asian context. (c) Action Plan for observing 1991-2000as the SAARC Decade for the Girl Child. 2. FF"* of progress in the ratification of the SAARC Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. 3. Review of progtess on establishing joint ventures in the field of cottage industries and handicrafts. Role - play 30.

In groups discuss and then act out the followinginteractions during the 1991 SAARC Summit. a. b.

A plenary sessionon tcrrorism. A private aft,er-dinner discussion by Heads of Government about terrorism.

c. d. e. -f. g. h. 31.

lhe PrimeMinisters ofSri Lanka,the Maldives,Nepaland Bhutan talking abouttheirposition in relation to the biger countries. A conversationaboutthe Summit betweenthe American,Chineseand Sovietambassadors. Afrank comparisonbetweenany two or three ForeignMinisters involvedaboutthe difficulties of their orimpositions. A meeting betweenjournalists from someof the countries involved. Ameeting betweenjuniorofficialsfromtheForeignMinistries of someofthe countriesinvolved. A meetingbetweensecurity personnelfrom bomeof the countriesinvolved.

Imagine that you were the Secrqtaryof someonewho played a prominent role in someof the interactions above. Write a report on what took place. Discussin groupsand makepresentationson tlre value to this country of the following- a) SAA8C b) The tIN c) The Commonwealth d) Our embassiesabroad

Unit 2 Privatization of the Plantations (Main Points of a talk given to the Bankers'Association) by RomeshDias Bandaranaike, Chief Executive, Plantations Restructuring Unit

Part 1

RstJrer than giving a longprepared speech,I feel it witl be much mone useful fnom the Banks' point of view if I broadly sketch out the essentiale of the restructuring of the eetate sector that has taken place up to now, and give my personal views on how I see the pnooess evolving in the future and what these changes mean ftrom the perspective of the banking eyetem. tr a'rr gur= at the end of this there will be rranv aneas r have not elaborated on which will be of particular interest to you" f prefer to addness these aneas as answerr to questions fielded by you. l.

Brief Ilistory Since Nationalisation -

Some estates taken overin 1972,most in 19{f6

Origrnallythenewaetalkof continuingtolet estatee. This didn't rnaterialise.

The stnrctune of the rranagement has kept changing. First nrn by one Minis@, then two, again under one Ministry. At the organisation level a eentral board and then 9-10 negionaloffices. Later5{negionalofficesundertwocorlrcrations. Abriefperiod under'blusters". Then back again. As some one saidr'Itwasliketryingtocure a headache by changing pillows."

the old Agency Eouses nanage the

Financiaftrtheperformancehasbeen disastnous. Exceptforabriefperiodin 198!f-84when there was a huge price boom, the.IEDB and the SLSPC have been eustaininglarge loeses.

fire Govemnent appointed a Task Force in July 1990to look into the prcblem and come up with a practically workable golution.

The Task Force's rnain findings in Januar5r 1991 were: -

the.IEDB and the SLSPC were facing a financial crisie in epite of huge government subsidiestothecorporationsrwhereby almost Bs. 4,fi)Onillion in debt had been converted to equity in latef99O. Inspiteofthis,today'edebtoftheJEDBand the SLSPC is about ns 8'.800million.

Lobourcostincreasesmandated by the governmentand export levies on tea were partly responsible for the operating lossee. Ilowever, a range of management and stmctural related deficiencies were the largest contributor to the poor perfomance. The key rnanagement defrciencies were: government departments were Policies and procedures suitable fornrnning being applied to the JEDB and the SLSPICwhere they should have been nrn a8 CptnrnerCial

VentUreg.

The systemdid notcontain thetwo mostimportant mechanisms formotivating employees: rewarding sussesr and punishing failure. Ttre very size of the two eoryoratione and the resultant conplerity had resulted in unworkable and unwieldy spans of control.

In spite of the shortcomings, the Task Force identified that the .IEDB and the SLSPC possessed a sound base for rapid r,ehabilitation of the plantations beeause:

The corporations were not saddled with large numbers of personnel without appropriate ski[s as in many Govemment organisations, particularly at estate level. In the post of estate superintendent, arEUably the most important position tJroseholding the post had the necessary inthe corporationsramqiorityof efriciently if allowed to do so and with Oreirjobs on carry to training aid stitl" guidance. proPer the Wit[ the large arnounts of funds spent over the past five years on asset maintenance and improvement, the agricultural condition of most of the estates was good.

This text is a speech.ReadPart 1 ofthe text and a) Pick out key phraseswhich refer to making a speech. b) Readthe words and phrasesgivenbelow. Learn to say.them correctly,and to usethem appropriately. words and phraseswhich refer to Estatc Managementand Finance. defrciencies structural related deficiencies management defrciencies key management defrciencies

ventures commercial ventures Regional Offrces Central Board management structure of the management organization at organization level performance a disastrous performance a poor performance

base soundbase rehabilitation rapid rehabilitation

losses large losses operating losses

subsidies huge government subsidies

crisis frnancial crisis

skills appropriate skills

increases cost increases labour cost increases

guidance proper guidance

spans ofcontrol unwieldly spans of control

boom price boom huge price boom

General Overview of the Text 1.

Skim through the text, find out the necessary information and fill this table. the speaker

topic

addressees

handling of topic

subjectmatter

2. Readthrough the text and frnd out why these dates are mentioned. Write lour answer against each date. a. b. c. d.

Lg72 L975 July 1990 January 1991

Now read the text again silently and answer the questions given below. g. Whose point of view will the speakerbe chiefly concerned with in his talk ? Writâ&#x201A;Ź down the sentence which gives you the answer. 4.

Into what 3 sub-sections will the speaker divide his talk ? How will he deal with these sub-topics ? Pick out the phrases which relate to various techniques used by speakers. fuiswerg to these questions will help you understand other talks as these phrases are bound to recur in texts.

5. The speaker says that at the end of his talk there will be many areas he has not spoken of which will interest bankers. How doeshe hope to tackle these areas ? Pick out the phrase which gives you the answer. Detailed Study Brief History Since Nationalization 6.

A Management of the estates. a. Who managed most of the estates before L}TZ? b. Tracing the history of estates sin-cenationalization, someonehas said that it was like "trying to cure a headache by changing pillows". What is this headache he is referring to ?

7. B. Finances The speaker speaks of a performance which was disastrous. a. 'rWhoseperformance ? b. What performance ? c. Was it a loss right through ? How do you know ? d. Why does the speaker mention the period f9$-84 ? 8. C. Appointment of the Task Force. Find the following information. a. What action did the government take ? b. The problem. c. Composition of the Task Force. d. The task entrusted to it. 9. D. Findings of the Task Force. a. How do you think they set about collecting the data ? Think of various methods used to gather information. b. What was the most important frnding of the Task Force ? c. Did the government come forward to help the JEDB and the SLSPC ? Which phrase tells you that ? d. Were the corBorations able to overcomethe crisis with government help ? Which sentence gives you the answer ? e' These 2 corporations had run into financial diffrculties. Read section 4 and find out the main causes for this. In column A write down how governmentaction contributed to the poor perforrnance of the JEDB and the SISPC. In column B write down the key managâ&#x201A;Źment and structural related weaknesseswhich eontributed to the poor performance.

f. What word is used in the text as a synonJrmfor weakness? g. Even'thoughthe JEDB and the SISPC wererunning at a lossthe Task Forcefoundthey still had somegoodpoints. Which sentencein section4 tells you this ? What were thesegoodpoints ? 10

Speech/ Writing Topics for gtoup discussion 10.

11.

What policies and procedures are followed in running government departments ? Consider the followlng points. Jot down your observations. Next get into groups and prepare a group report. Read it out to the class. How efficiently are government departments run ? What weakrr"is"s in administration would crop up when the primary motive is service to the people? What is meant by the phrase 'service to the people' ? What would you class as priorities if you wanted to serve the people ? incentives for public servants to encouragethem to give their best to the institution? Are there "noogh What incentives are there ? How far is there political interference in the running of these institutions ? on a profit motive how does this affect the performance of the workers ? As these are not "ott What differences would you find in the way commercial establishments and government departments are run ? Comment on the profit motive being the driving force of all commercial establishments. Talk of the incentives given to employees,the perks, high salaries, quick promotions given to deserving employees.

tZ.

The speaker says that the two most important mechanisms for motivating employees are rewarding successand punishing failure. Do you agree with this statement ? In your answer include these points. Write down the ways an employer can reward an employee. What punishments can an employer give an employee ? Do punishments always have the desired effects ? Give examples of the use of punishments and rewards in corporations, government institutions etc. Do rewards and punishments always go with successand failure respectively ? What is meant by the terms 'success'and'failure' ? Talk of punishment transfers of teachers and the poor students who are also punished. Why do you supposethe'failure' thathas taken place is not always specified when such punishments take place ? What other methods can an employer use to motivate employees? In your opinion are those more effective ?

1g.

Talk of instances where you have punished people. Were you satisfredthat the punishment was effective? In punishing that person did you too suffer in silence ? In the long run was that punishment worthwhile?

Part2 5.

theTaskForce the Cabinet decided in early 1991 t,o Basedontherecommendationsof of the state owned plantations sector. Ttre actual undertake a major restructuring was entmsted to a newly created. Plantations restmcturing of the implementation is now Ministry of Finance. The restmcturing the falling within Unit neitructuring conplete and I will briefly describe the key eomponents. substantially

500 estates managed today by the JEDB and the SLSPC were 452 of the approximately seguented off and formed into2?independentplantationconpaniesunderAct.No.2S of 1987.

with a total land area of 6r(XX)' 14,000 cultivated Bach company -The consists of 12-25 estates total cultivated extent is 190,000 ha. in the 22 conpanies together. Most hectares. companies consist of tea and mbber estates. T\ro companies are almost exclusively coconut.

assets that are vested with the 22 estatn companies are: Ttre principal -All of the conpanies. produce stocks in the pipeline up to the day of fomation 11

All movable assets on the estates allocated to each company. The assete of the regional office of the JEDB/SLSPC (or the share of it) allocated to each company.

The principal liabilities that go to each estate company are: The gratuity liability in respect of all ernployees allocated to the company. The liability of wages in respect 61' srnployees from June I through the day of ' fomation of the company. Minor liabilities ' such as electricity bills, transporters' bills, etc. appearing in the books ofthe estates.

10.

The assets/liabilities that do not vest with the new companies are: The huge overdrafts and debts of the JEDB and thi SLSPC, primarily with the Bank ' of Ceylon and'the People's Bank. The ownership of the estate lands, which by law include the assets fixed to the land ' such as tea bushes, rubber trees, building and machinery. These are, in fact, by far . the largest assets of the estates today.

t1 .

Ownershipofestatelandhasbeenretainedbythe Government. Within the next2 months, 99'yearleases will be signed between the companies and the owners of the estate land the JEDB' the SLSPC and the LRC. I will elabor:ate further on this later since it will be of particular interest to the Banks.

12.

Ownership of the 22 companies will beretained by the Government. Sri Lankan private sector companies with proven track records of sound management have been chosen - on the basis of competitive bids - to manage the 22 new estate companie$. To avoid confusion between the estate companies and the private companies managing them, I will refer to the private sector companies as lVlanaging Agents.

1S. The selected Managing Agents ane almost all prestigious blue-chip Sri Lankan companies such as Hayley's, Aitken Spence, Finl,ay's, Forbes, Bartleet's, Dipped Products, Lankem, etc. This is also a fact that is relevant from the point of view of the Banks. I will get to this laten

14.

The 50 or so estates not falling within any of the 22 companies will continue to be managed by the JEDB and the SLSPC and detailed plans for the appropriate treatment of these estadeswill be developed in the near future. These estates were segmented out because they wene unlikely to be financially viable in the near future.

15.

TheRegionalOfficesoftheJEDBandtheSLSPC supenrising the 452 estates formed into the 22 companies have also been dividedamong the 2?cornpaniesandwillactasthehead offrces of these eompanies.

16.

All employees - rnanagement, stafrand labour-of the JEDB and the SLSPC in the areas fomed into companies have becone employees of one of the 22new estate companies.

Note thesephraseswhich appearin the text. l,earn to say them correctly,and to usethem appropriately. restructuring a major restructuring a major restructuring of the plantation sector. implementationof the restructuring the actual implementationof the restructuring Plantations RestructuringUnit a newly createdPlantationsRestructuringUnit

management sound management viable financially viable assets movable assets

complete substantially complete

liability gratuity liability minor liability

bids competitive bids

overdrafts and debts huge overdrafts and debts

Sri Lankan Companies blue chip Sri Lankan Companies prestigious blue chip Sri Lankan Companies Restructuring of the Estates 14.a. Read through paragraphs 5 - 16 and write down the phrases which tell you that you are reading the text ofa speech. b. Were the recommendations of the Task Force acceptedby the cabinet? Which sentencetells you this? c. What did the cabinet undertake to do? When did they undertake to do this ? d. ,What was the work entrusted to the newly created Plantations Restructuring Unit ? e. Under which ministry were they to function ? f. Is the restructuring complete now? Which phrase gives you the answer ? The key components of the Restructured Plantation Sector 15.

Find out the following:a. The number of estates originally under the JEDB and SISPC. b. The number of estates given over to companies. c. The number of estates belonging to each company. d. the number of new plantation companies formed.

16.

What was / is

L7.

The speaker talks of "private sector companies with proven track recorde of sound management." Mention another phrase the speaker uses to describe these cornpanies.

18.

Were all the assets and liabilities vested with the new companies ? Which sentence gives you the answer ? Who owns the largest assets of the estates ?

19.

Is it wise on the part of the govemment to retain the ownership of the estates ? Comment. Will this be a disadvantage if a different government comes to power ?

20.

Read section 13 and write down why you think the information given here is relevant from the Bank's point of view ?

a) b) c) d) e)

the fate of the estates which were not handed over to the companies. the total cultivated area of the 22 companies put together. the number of companies which own only coconut estates. the issets of the estate companies. the liabilities of the estate companies ?

T\e22 new Estate Companies

2L.

Find out

a. who will manage the22 new Estate companies and how they are selected. b. who are Managing Agents. c. what will act as head offices of these companies. d. what happened to all employees,management and staffof the JEDB and SLSPC ?

Topicfor Discussion/ Writing 22.

The speakersaysthat 50 or soestatescontinueto be managedby the JEDB and SISPC, becausethey were unlikely to be financially viable in the future. What in your opinion shouldbe doneto theseestates? 13

Get into groups and write down your suggestions. Now exchange these suggestions. Assume, as a group, that you are the Plantations Restructuring Unit, and prepare a report to the Cabinet with regard to the suggestions made by one of the other gloups. Part 3 L7.

1.he key c'omponents of the Agreements signed between the estate companies and the ManagingAgents are: Ihe initial period of the contract is for approxirnately 5 1/2 years, f1p1a Jrrne 1992 through theend of 1997. Autornatic extensions oftheAgreernentforthreefurther periods of frveyears willbe grantcd if the ManagingAgent meets minimum specifred levels of perfomances. Ilt""agingAgentswillbepaidinthefomofashareofprofitsof the estatâ&#x201A;Ź companies tliey manqge. lhe actual shares paid to specific Managing Agents are what they bid in their proposals. The percentage shares var5r fron Managing Agent to 'Managing Agent and fro'n year to year. Basedonprofitabilityprojectionsforthe conpanies nade by Coopero andlybrandlntemational, the average profrt share pencentage of all 22 Managing Agents is approxi^ably 2Wo. The Managing Agents will be given full freedon in tJle day todaymanagement of tlre companies. The Board will only be involved at the broad policy level. The Managing Agents will have full fteedom in deciding on the marketing channels for all estate produce, within the legally perrmissible channels of sale. Ttre lllanaging Agents are required to anange for all necessanTr funds for working capital and investnent capital needs through the banking systen. Ttre actual bonowing will be done by the estate sorrnpahies and they will be willing to pledge all available assets for these purlroses. This would include produce stocks, input stocks such as packing 'naterials, and the leasehold rights on the land. Manaelng Agents are not confrned to sirnply rnanagfng plantations. They are encouraged to view thepropertiestheyarernqnagfngasanesounse usable for any purpose. For exqmple, diversification into other cnops-fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, etc.rexploitationofmineralnesources-gems in some areas, even using certain areas for resort hotels, are all possible avenues.

Vocabulary Study Read these aloud. Learn to say these words correctly, and to use them appropriately, ManagingAgents specifrc Man aging Agents projectioni profrtability proje cti ons period initial period shares actual shares percentage shares assets available assets all available assets specified levels of performance minimum specified levels of performance

channels permissible channels legally permissible channels legally permissible channels of sale freedom full freedom capital needs working capital needs investment capital needs borrowing actual borrowing avenues possible avenues all possible avenues

extensions automatic extensions automatic extensions of the agreement

usable usable for any purpose a resource-usablefor any Purpose

The Agreement Signed between the Estate Companies and the Managing Agents' 23. a. Defrne who the Managing Agents are and who the Estate companies are' b. Which word tells yoo ittut only two parties are signing the agreement ? going to speak on ? c. Which phrase giv-esyou the section of *t" agteement the speaker is ? end contract d. When does the frrst period of the What is the word used to refer to the 'first period'? e. Will the contract be Q(tended ? f. For how many years will it be exte-nded? g These e*tensions are tied to a condition. What is this condition ? reasonsfor your h. Is it right to say that the extensions are automatic if they are tied to a condition ? Give choiceof answer. level of performance i. Doyou think the Bankers will be interested to find what this minimum specified is? Give reasonsfor Your answer. j. How will the ManagingAgents bepaid ? they bid in their k. The speaker r"vr iii"tlrtelactual ,h"r., paid to the Managing Agents are what proposal. To whom does'they' refer here? f. Wifi the share percentage be the same from year to year ? phrase which gives you the m. Will all the MaiagingA;ents get the .u*" p"i."t tage of shares ? Find the answer to this. n. What is the share percentage of all22 Managing Agents ? o. How was this share percentage arrived at ? p. why does the speaker mention cooper and Lybrand Internatiohal ? q. Wtrat will happen if these companies do not run at a profit ? ? Will the comianies bear 20 peicent of the loss and the government 80 percent of the loss The Role of the ManagingAgents. 24.

25.

26.

will be involved Read the last 3 paragraphs of sec.tion1? and list the activities the ManagingAgents in. day to day The speaker mentions that tlle Managing Agents will be given full freedom in the you that tell phrases which management of the estates. How far is this statement true ? Are there there are limits to this full freedorn ? ? How will the n4anaging Agents find the funds for working capital and investment capital loans ? what will the estate companies keep as security for the bank gives you the answer ? Will the Managing Agents manage ihe plantations only ? Which sentence What are the possible avenues of diversification ? blue chip' Divide into groups. Assume that you have been asked to act as Consultants to one of the need to be will considerations othei What companies. Go ornerthe terms that are sketched out here. should they how to as recommendation a taken into account ? Prepare a report for the company with respond. Read the text below which appeared in the "Island" in 1993. of the Is it right to say that the Managing Agents will have full freedom in the day to day management companies? Jot down the reasons for your choice of answer' what changes might you need to make in the report requested above ? CWC d.emand' for 300 worhd'oYs met

thetn to The Ministry of Finance hr,s issued.a directive to all priuate estaternanagernentsinstructing "The Iearns' Isl'and" labour, year per estate for strictly obseruethi prouision of a minimwn of 300 workdays

Priuate natwgernent sources sai.dthe Ministry directive amounted to an 'enforcement' of a long-standing Ceylon Workers Congress demand. The Plantations Restructuring Unit of thp Finance Ministry has directed all managing agents to instruct tlwir estate superintend.entsto make tlw necessaryentry in their estate Minute Boohs, according to Ministry sou.rces. Managernent company officials explained that the Minute Book is the official record of agreements between the estatesuperintend.entond tlrc estatelabour uninn leadership. Such an entry would commit estate tnarurgementsto proui.d.inga minimum of 300 workdays in conditions where it uas not econonnicallyvioble to do so. "Since the priuote cornpani,esbegon monaging the plantations last June, the nxanagementshad. been allowed somefleribility with regard to the number of workdays. Becauseof union pressure we had agreed to ominirnurnof 250 daysperyear, which is aln diffrcultfor usto meet,"onecompanyofficialtold "TheIsland". "This was thc furthzst we could go to meet thp CWC demands," he sai.d. Other tnandgement sources said.the provision of o fired. number of worltdays d,uring the drought experiencedin recentmonths had seenseueralrnanagementsincur losses."Onecompany is said to hauea bank ouerdraft of ncarly Rs. 100 million," they disclosed. "The Island" on March 22 reported that the CWC was insisting that the gouernment meet seueral dernands concerning the estatelabour comrnunity. The demand for a fixed minimum of 300 worhdays a year was reported as one of the conditions laid down by the CWC for continued cooperation with the gouemment. Part 4 18.

To What does all this mean for the Banking system and individual banks in particular? answer this, I think I need to elaborate a little nore on the magnitude of the funds involved. -

133 million kg. In 1990, the estates forming the22 new companies togetherproduced of tea, 38 million kg of rubber and 36 million coconuts. At current prices this produce would be worth appnoxi'nately Rs. 10'000 million.

companies are around Rs. S0-S0millionper Estirnates of workingcapitalneedsforthe company after taking into account the produce stocks in the pipeline accruing to the companies on the date of formation. The total working eapital needs will therefore be around Rs. 1,000 million today.

fnvestment capital needs of the companies will depend on what types of investments are envisaged. However, the amount needed for replanting each year rray run into about a total of Rs. 500 million per year for all companies together in the etc. could increase investfirst yean Other investments for factory nodemisation nent needs tg Rs. 11000million. With regard to this investment capital, the govemment is discussing with tle Asian Development Bank for theprovisionofacredit facility of $ 30 million or so to be available by the start of 1993, to be lent through the cotttrnercial banks at market rates.

19.

Under the JEDB and the SLSPC, all of these funds moved through the Bank of Ceylon and the People's Bank and, because the two corporations were not operated on a commercial basis, the Banks are owed large amounts by the two corporations, of course under government guarantees.

20.

Inthenewworldof the restructured plantations thene will no longer be government guarantees. However, the managers who as I nentioned earlier are some of the most successful and reputable firms in Sri Lanka are almost certainly going to run the They have clearly demonstrated their confidence to do so by companies profrtably. agreeing that the only benefit they derive from the exercise is a share of profits

ZL. I see this as a huge opportunity for the banking system. This is your chance to have ae clients 22 companieJ witrr turnovers of Rs' 500 millionr malag€d by some of the most successful private frrms in Sri Lanka. 22.

Even this is only the beginning. The future potential for these companies is far morne niUion total turnover I spoke of earlien Expert assessment is that there than the Rs. f O,OOO in tumover of up to 30Voin the short tem sirnply by introducing increase is likely to be an managementsystems. Over frve years, the turnover may well improvedcultivationand respect of the plantations aspect of these companies. in doubte simply

23.

Ttre activities not directly related to glowing and prirnary processing of tea, rubber and coconut that are likely to arise are much larger, and I can't even begin to predict what these might be. In fact, after speaking to rnsny of the Managing Agents, I am convinced that the they have come into the exercise is because they are each on average getting' at no """.oo direct investment cost to themselves, control of approxirnateb 8,000 hectares of fertile These land and a work force of 15,000 skilled in agricultureandagficulturalpnocessing. price at any be bought minerals, eannot the land and particularly the resources, of types by the private sector todaY.

24.

In this respect, banks should not view funding th e 22 new companies as purely an exercise downstream activities enterprises. A range of agro-industrial in funding agficultural and other acii.riti.s exploiting the land and mineral resources are likely to be undertaken on the initiative of the Managing Agents.

25.

\ilhat about collateral for all these loans ? I know as bankers you are verly interested in this aspect. Today, the produce stocks of the companies alone should be worth at any*'here the companies, have ftom Rs. 1,000- 1,500 million. Movable assets, principally vehicles i _n however, the 99-yearis, largest asset a market value of over Rs. 500 million. Ttre single have estinated Lybrand and lands. Coopers these frxed to leases of the lands and assets per on average.-As company 1,000 million Rs. over worth are fixed assets land and the that far as land is concerned, the chief valuer values any land lease for over 50 ygqr-s at th-e full the land. So, there ane very large amounts of assets availabletopledge marketvalueof forbonowing.

26.

Also, as far as the leases themselves are concerned, we are making every attempt _toensure that the leases that are signed within the next two months will be fully acceptable to the banks as collateral. We have sent a copy of the draft lease to the Bankers' Association and asked you in which ways you would like the lease to be nodified. to expness mypersonal opinion on whatl see is a shortcomlngofboth banking sys-tem in Sri Lanka, which I think must privite and the-co-tt'eicial sector the of the p_lantations is to enjoyed by the if the full benefit of ttre restmcturing rft"ig" the business of the g_ov_emment coo;1[ry. As a result of the large inten'ention -in of incentives' provision the and thnough regulations botli sector 6f tfte country, through the banks and mucli of ttre p"inate sector are what I would term 'bent seekers" rather than money can-bemade throughsubsidie_s, Whytakeriskswhen entrepreneursorrisktakers. mrrch tax bftaks or relatively riskless avenoes such as foreign exchange transactions, whe-re new era' one in for a But we ane ? regulations by the simply of which are necessitaied is- go_ing_to reduce sharply along wi-th and governmenf interyention -th-e ""gUtrtioos op"p""t"oities for-profits to be made as a result. So if you don't want your bank to be left tr-eirina, get in thCre and seriously consider funding the _plal_tatio^n sector, not as a social seryice, but because it is the sector which, now that the shackles of state management have been cast away, has the largest potential for gfowth and profit in the economy over the next 5-10 years.

27. Inclosinglwouldlike

Vocabulary Study Group together words / phrases that are related. Words and Phrases which refer to a) Banking Activities leases pledge for borrowing collateral opportunity huge opportunity

guarantees government guarantees lend credit facility estimates

b) Words which refer to Industry and Management estimate demonstrate operate replant exploit ensure enterprises potential management systems commercialbasis movable assets produce stocks expert assessment working capital investment cost work force profrts value firms successfuland reputable firms

undertake are owed

modifr modernise predict envisage agricultural enterprises future potential basis assets stocks assessment capital cost direct investment cost turrover share ofprofits market value successfulfirms

Role of the Banks 27.

Read through sections 18 - 26 and write down the sentenceswhich directly tell you how confident the speaker is that the banks directly stand to gain by having these 22 Estate Companies as clients.

28.

What sentencesremind you that you are listening to a speech? How does the speaker make out a casefor the banks ?

29.

The speaker speaks of the magnitude of the funds involved. Write down

1. a) the value of the produce of all22 new companies. b) the total working capital needs today. c) the value of the investment needs today.

30.

What are the investment needs mentioned in the passage ? How does the government hope to provide this investment capital ? Who will make thig credit facility available to the ManagingAgents ? The money will be lent to the Managing Agents at market rates. What do you understand by the term 'market rates' ?

31.

Mention the names of some commercial banks established in Sri Lanka.

32.

Read section 19 and find out the sourceswhich lent money to the JEDB and SLSPC.

33.

Read this statement - 'The banks are owed large amounts by the 2 corporations'. Does this mean that a) the banks have lent a lot of money to the 2 corporations b) the banks have to pay the 2 corporations ?

Who has stood as guarantor for these loans ? Now that the estatesare privatised, is the government still willing to stand as guarantor for any bank loans the estates will take in the future ? Write down the phrase which gives you the answer.

34. The speaker is confident that the companieswill be run profitably. Which sentencetells you that ? 35.

In section23 the speaker says'I can't even begin to predict what these might be'. What does 'these' in this sentence refer to ?

36. The speakertalks of resourcesfor which the Managing Agents did not have direct investment costs. What are these resources? Out of these what resourcescannot be bought at any price by the private sector ?

3 7 . Will the banks be funding only agricultural activities ? Which sentencegives you the answer ?

38.

The speaker speaksofcollateral for these bank loans. Read through section25 and find another phrase which explains what coilateral is.

39.

What is the largest asset owned by these companies? Who has valued the land and the fixed assetswhich belong to the companies? For how much have they estimated the land and the fixed assetswhich belong to the companies? What other assets are mentioned in the text ?

40.

Why will a copy of the agreement signed by the companiesbe sent to the banks ?

4L.

Read through section27 and underline the phrase which gives you the main idea of this paragraph.

42.

What words in section27 tell you that the speakerhas cometo the end of his speech?

43.

The speaker talks of a shortcoming. Whose shortcoming is he talking about ? Which phrase in this section refers to this shortcoming ?

44.

What is the speaker asking the banks to be, 'rent seekers'or'entrepreneurs and risk takers'? Do you agree with him ?

45.

What accordingto the speakerhas in the five to ten years to comethe largest potential for growth and profit in the economy ?

46.

The speakeris talking of 'a new era, where regulations and governmentintervention is going to reduce sharply along with opportunities for profits to be made as a result'. Discuss this conceptin groups. Try to answer these questionswhen discussingthe topic. Rememberto confineyourself to the topic of Privatisation of Estates. In Sri Lanka can we confidently talk of such an era ? Is there any guarantee that the samepolicieswill be followed if a new government comesto power ? What will be the consequences if government intervention is increased?

47.

The speaker says that the banks have not taken many risks these past few years. Can you give reasons for this ? ltre phrase'these pastfewyears'refers to the period 1983-93.

43. Writing a feasibility report. Imagine thatyouare abank officerwhohasbeenaskedto write afeasibility report on whetherthebank stands to gain if they lend money to these Estate Companies. 19

you can read the two articles from the daily newspapers reproduced here which tell you of the problems already faced by these companies. Here is a guide to help you in your writing. A Feasibility Report on the Proposed Plan to frnance Estate Companies. A) Introduction comment on the need to finance 8. the amount of investment capital involved b. B) Feasibility of the Project comment on thl advantages- the credit facility offered by the World Bank to be lent at market a. rates. talk of the negative side - risks involved b. political interference/possible change of government and policy changes which would affect lease agreements etc. C) Conclusion a. frnal assessment b. should the banks invest or not c. reasons for the conclusion arrived at 44.

Read the following article, and write a reporton theincidentfromthepointofviewof thePlantations Restructuring Unit. cwc

etirs hornet'e ncst with EFc (suttdoy Timce -

1-8-1993)

andthe Employer'sFederationof Ceylon Abig row hasbrokenoutbetweentheCeylonWorkersCongress priuate companies' managernent run by ouer allegid escalation of uiolerrceon estates property' While the EFC hasaccusedCWC workers of threatening superintendents and damaging state uowed ond beings human inferior as workers of treatiig boises estate CWC chief S. Than;aman has accused. CWC' by the ended be the era of obiect seruility would of In a letter to the CWC Secretary,the EFC whith is consi.deredthe rnost infltrcntial organisation employers states: ,,At pastrneetingsof the PR(I, the Plantation Management Companieshauerefeted to various incidents with your Union.-We of uiolenceon estates6ut we as a Federation lwue not speiificalty brought this matter-up the safety of the are doing so tww or-ih, i,ncid.enceof uiolence is esiatating and. we are concerrud about Companies' superintindents on estatesand. also ihe safety of Stateproperty entrusted to tlw Management causedgreat There hauebeen two recent incid.entswhich haue beenbrought to our rnti.ce which haue concern to us os a Federation and also to our tnernbers ,,

Diuision of Moral Group, Maskeliya on J,uIy 5. The inforrnation we first incident wasat Ged.d.es on the estateand haue is that whenthe strike beganthe uninn repreientatiies did-nnt krnw of ony discontent but teffor tactics action this lead.sus to the conclusionThatwhat tookilace on the estatewasnot trade union to subutertdiscipline. ,'The

Therehad aln been vehicleof the superintend.entwas blocked.by bould.ersandthereafter dornaged. EFC states. It adds: the a mobwhbh collectedand. which broke into o bungaiow and. ransacked the house," rnanager was ,,The esta.te the incid.ent is reported frorn Glassough Estate,Nanrnya on July 27 w-he-n second. hostage held frorn about 5'00 issouttrd, and.'his uehicted.amaged. He had.beenkept confined and iniriia, of an informal assurance an p.rn. tiII mid.night. It is stated.that the Eitate Manager was releasedonly on 'discussion beiig hpld the next day but for which the workers did nnt turn up' ,The

,,Theseore two incidents which happened.in the current rnonth, but such incid'ents haue also been as ue are aware' as experienced.on eueensbury Estate, Great WesternEstate and Imbulpitiya Estate far 20

'We eonnat strictly tnld tlg lInion rcsponsiblefor.tlw* ind.ixiptine i|ttw workirs withoutany t'v'dc unbnba&ir1g.

a'a5s 4s thay moy well hove beencousedby

unio,n ,,Hou)ever, thot we point outto lou tlwt thzs workersaru membersof your Tvadc it is necesw.ry be canrwt to intimidote the mrrnagemenL cal-cul.ated ,iprrtotty iiiii{piine and irdisciptiru ortils-natii, with interfere thoi wiii si"n i*drnts takeptw the untgn doesnat condaned..It is the;i;-;;;;y is modcquite cleor that the union disasscintes disciplinary action beingtaken against,ntiiieonts and.that it itstf fromsuchoctior.Tii^ifttturyniiiiirryteotedistltntwhensuchintimid'otorytacticsareused ore the only permnscapablcof resoluingproblcms' tlw rnanagementis forcedn appeolto voio t"o*iwlw Depaftment Infact,thereisostr",i,rrsl;a*A onilw-poftof yourmembers.toundnrmincthercIeofthel'obour tte l-obour of or the unbn is twt afiixt tn the mntrol and its offtaersos they feer trwt t u lcai;iip Deportment,"tltz EFC hoatold tlu C\IC' ,,Itisimpewtiuetlwtwlwntlwrcisagrievottceolgd.isouleworkersmohcuseofthemachineryprcuided ;nd thot tlvX dcsistfrom tekw tlt. low into tlwir by thz State,na.melytheLobour Dep"rt*i"i, i iityt: vYossistante,therebycreating ownlwnd,s.Iftheydo,itisequatlyimperatiithotTrad.eunionsdonotgotgt prctected the Trad'e Union"' be stitt would W tluy d.o utirkers tltc thc impressinnthat iioirui, S. T|wndoman bs|wd out ond,tol.dthe EFC to Reptyiw to t|u EFC chatEes,an a,nglyCYtC.Pre.si,d,ent businessproperly. first oskthn estotefnawgementsto ondtrct tlwir ,,On et)ery whomthe superintendcntmust meetond discuss e#ote we lwve appointed,on estatelea.der lza'dcrsos beinginferior problemswith. TItz tioableis thai superinind.entsby and large think of theseestate chorged' 'piipi, oi ao,-t lnok upontltcm ai euenhuman tnings," Minister Thondaman ,Earlicr, union lcad,ersh,a.d, offtaethrough a wind'ow' The $ilC lws to peepinto the superintend,-ent's Titgy mu-stbeealled into thc offtce,giuen a choir to sit artd forbiddnn this. Theyiu,st betreated.-win rcipectt._ them to n'egotif,te' tlrcn asked,for thcir uicws.If tlwy are rwt triated, witi such courtesbswe houeforbi.dden Theero of abject seraitityi3 ouer,"he vowed' General 45. Readover the wholetalk. What was the speake/smain aim ? How doeshe set about achievingthis ? 46. List the factorshe coversunder the followingheadings. incentivei c) Argumentr nrovidinS incentives a) General Information b) Information providing past 0 Hopes g) criticisms e) d) contrasts betweenpresent and ^lsymptions heading. one more than wrder Note that somefactors may appear responsewas likâ&#x201A;Ź 47. project for group work - Contact the Bankers' Associationand 6nd orlt what the madehere' to the suggestions , , - r^,-^- place -t^^^:in rthis Try to obtain ir,for*a6o1from oneparticularbanh as to whatdevelopmentshave taken regard. 4g.

he have What questionsdo you supposewere askedfrorn the speakerat thig nreeting ? [Iow would replied. you make Act out the scenewith different personstaking the role ofthe speaker.Whatchangeswould if journalists were supposedto have beenpresent? in

49.

referredto Repeatthe abovesceneat a meetingthattook plaeesometime later, after the episodes the two newspaperarticlesyou haveread'

b0.

yearsfrom the Write reportsin groupson whathas occurredin the plantation sectoroverthe last few point ofview ofa) the PlantationsRestructuringUnit b) the CeylonWorkersCongress 2L

c) the Employers'Federationof Ceylon d) the Bankers'Association e) the Ministry of Finance f) the Ministry of Labbur g) an estatesuPerintendent h) an estateleader 51. Writâ&#x201A;Ź the sort of report that a PlantationsRestructuringUnit preparedfor the governmentin 1972if onehad existedand a report beenrequiredbeforethe taking over ofestatesbegan. 52.

If a speakerin a similar positionto this onehad beenrequiredto speakt9 th9 Bank of Ceylonand the peopie'sBank, what wouldhe have said ? Analysethe difrerencesyou think there might havebeen in the two speeches.

Unit I A SMALL MATIEB OF CONSCIENCE by M. Chandrasoma'ex - CCS Part 1 In the first half of the fifties, the usual yuletide festivities had a dark cloud hanging over thern This was the threat of a general strike. of tbe The trade unions, the most militant and powedul of which were those under the aegis rigbt to for the per.era werefighting rniuip Gunawardena, led by Ilr. N. Iu" S"*r"-qiists "oa governmenlb w-o$d and the private labour a Christmas bonus. i1ri., both the nain employers of not concede and the threat of a general striie at each year end became menacing. When SirJoha demandl Kotelawala became premier tli" go.n""oment wae stubbomly unreceptive to worker shootingofatr:adeunionist andcreatedthefrrstoftheworkers'mart5rrswiththekillingbypolice leading a mone or less peaoeful denonstration' of pont General strikes that did take place at tJris time were always spear-head3d by a strike striker port worklng, kept rf the unions. leftist labour which had the best orianised of the port general For the strike. to a amount never would elsewhenehad little chance of successand food. basic got of our bulk the was the mouth from which we then

(1)

(2)

(3)

\ilhen I was put in charge of the Port Comrnission in addition to the Customs, the appnoach of Christmas gave me atorfrdtime.If Imanagedto stave offthethreatenedstrike in theport,there (4) would be no general strike. If I failed we should have a less than meffIr Christmas, the worst years the themselves.In workers the regime, this during out sufferers being, as it always tumed lrru"p"* a""iol trt" prerniership oi sir John thene wene no strikes and consequentl5r i;;;d]; no general striles.It was-for this,I thinlq that SirJohn persuaded rmeto accept an OBE. There was no rnagic in this. It nequired only a little understanding, goodwill and a sympathetic as altogether unneasonable.It was about this attitude to worker demands which did not "hike -e were the most intractable in all the wide employers our me that told time that an ILO expert world.

(5)

I had an informal chat with the three rnain enployers of port labour in the private secto& the British boss of Ceylon\ilharfage, whose name f cannot nowrecallrAlfr.ed Ttrambiaiyah of Cargo Boat and R- ^d de Mel of New Gnding and Shipping. I persuaded them to go as far as they could (6) to neet the workers' denands on a pnomise that I would increase their rates for the various senrices they nendered, which I had control over, so that they could not only meet the _extra expenditgre-, but possibly incnease their proftts by a buck or two. \lrhat they were persuaded to coicede wa6 a bit mone ittao tt e ninimum the workers wene prepared to acc'ept, which I had alreadyascertainedfinomDr.N. MandPhillip G. firereafterlcalled ameetingof portenplolgrs and tr"ade union leaders. At this the two parties indulged in a free for all slanging match which eased mostof the tensionbetween them. When this had gonefarenough I putfoiward the tems already agfeed on and the neeting terminated with a modicum of the goodwill curent at this tine of yean Vocabulary Learn to use the following wordsand.phrasesappropriately. Nouns and Noun Phrases unions leftist unions trade unions militant trade unions demands worker demands

Adjectives unreceptive unreasonable altogether unreasonable intractable most intractable

strike threatened strike

Verbs would not concede

general gtrike

take place fail

threat menacing threat

persuade accept

cloud a dark cloud

require

tension

recall

demonstration peaceful demonstration

promise

sufferers worst sufferers

ascertain indulge

attitude a sympathetic attitude

ease lead

understanding a little understanding

fight create

goodwill modicum of goodwill festivities

organize stave off terminate

Yuletide festivities Note this phrase-" gave me a torrid time. Look at the words 'small', 'matter'and'conscience'in the title. Which do you think is the most significant? After you have read the whole article through, discussthe suitability of this title. Make up other titles for the piece. Reading for a general understanding ofthe text. 1.

The writer is referring to a certain period in our history. What is this period? Which phrase gives you the answer.

He is about to writc about a troubled period in our history. Read paragraph L and write down the words and phrases which tell you this.

What information do you get about the writer? Find out what his designation was. What were his 'qualifications' for the job to which he was appointed?

Read through the text quickly and write a list of the names of the people mentioned in the text. Against their names jot down whatever inforrnation you can gather about them.

Reading in detail. 5.

The writer refers to the threat of a general strike during a specifrc period of the year. What is this period? Which sentence gives you the answer? What were the workers demanding?

government willing to give in to the demands of the Were the employers of the private sector and the workers? Which phrase gives you the answer? 6.

place during the period of worker agitation' Read paragraph two and mention an incident that took

important place? why was a strike by the port labour unions given such an

Read para 4 and write down

1. the writer's designation during this period' 2. his feelings when Christmas approached" 3.whetherhewassuccessfulinstavingoffthethreatened strike.Givethesentencewhichgivesyoutheanswer. 4. why Sir John conferred an OBE on him' What does OBE stand for?

Read para 5 and write down the writels attitude to

1. the port workers 2. the emPloYers

Group WorkAVriting 10.

strike by port workers demanding a The writer in para 6 relates how he was able to settle the of this interview. Imagine you are Christmas bonus. Read this para carefully and fill in the blanks interviewing the writer

are they? you.... I understand that you had an informal chat with the 3 main employersof port labour. Who Writer.... You. What did you tell them? Writer........ You.... Did you have to promise them something in return? Writer........ You...What did the employersfinally have to offer the workers? Writer........ you.... How did you know the minimum the workers were willing to accept? Writer........ You... What did You do next? Writer........ You... What exactly happened at this meeting? Writer."...... You... Thank you very much for granting us this interview' Writer".......

Pafi,2 (?) Lct us now take a cursory look at the various sorts of people who worked in tJre port at this time. Firstthe Gustornc.T]1ebackboneofthecustomswae the Customs Clerical Senrice, towhich men senrice rnanned the varioug branches of wene recruitod by open conpetitive examination.lbis (8) knoiledge of the specialised work of each bmnch with no mone tJran on the custons, ""qo#ig ift i"ttr.ining.-ttresebnnchesweretheappraising,thepreventive,thebaggageoffice,thelong r(x)m and the warehouses in addition to the nomal clerical work of a government departm_enL Caneer custons officers could rise to staff rank as Assistant Collectore, above whom wene thrree or fo'r transient Civil Sen'ice officere, of whom the chief was the Principal Collecton ?.tgguarde, the tho clerical offieers were the quaintly styled tide waiters and below tJrem the custons lowest rank in the customs sen'ico. Next the port comnission. firis had been constituted a sepafatâ&#x201A;Ź governmeni depgrtment after the war,Below theport Commissionerwere twomainbranches: the MastcrAttendant's andthe (9) Chief Engineet's. The llflaster Attendant had charge of the Pilots' Sen'ice, the tugs, drredgers, launches and their cnews and the dry dock with the personnel working there. The Chief Engineer hadchargeof a nunberof specialisiengineers, avariet5r of workshops withskilte4 seni'skilled and laboir gfades. T1.e Chilf fngiireerwas responsible for the constnrction, rnaintenance and repairofall*buildingsrequipment, docksrmooringbuoysrroadsrrailwaysandopen spaceswithjn owned some real estate in Colombo on which quarters for the poit prernises. The"Pori "iro gndes of officers hadbeen constr"ucted and msintainediro11"iogof various Apart from these two rnain branches, the Port Comnission boasted of a fully operational fire Ttris Fsiwas constituted a shore establishment of the volunteer brigade and a ,."otitv.uryice. Johds preniership' period Sir under for a short ""w In short, t;.e Port Conmission owned the port and the Customs bestnode it.

(10) (11)

Ttrree wharfrngers, private companies engaging private labour, did the work of landing' warehousiog a11d.detiivering imported cargo to consignees, and accepting, warehous,ing and ( 12) loading all export cargo on behalf of trre srriiping tines that used Colombo as a port of call. These had their own agents iepr.esenting them locatty. lt was the shiy's responsibility to deliver import ..*o o.r"" the si-deof thl vessel and accept export cargo alongside the vessel. This work waepaid forly the ship. Wanelousing and delivery-after customjng of inport caryo and accepting warelousiog .id teodering alongside of export cargo was paid for by the inporter and exporter respectivetv. Tlris is how the wharfingefs made their money. The ships' agents and the thnee wharfingen companies, while having their own executive, (13) aoihe workolstev^edoring, warehousing supenrisory ald cterical staffs, used"oot".itlruouito worked a sixteen hour daily shift. This meant that all gang ,o-d d.li".r1y. Contracton'labour etrnengthewenemarginallyabovenomalandspellingrwhichisthewordusedforpartofthegang *riifr-r.ilethereJtdidillthework,wascondoned.lherestingpartofeachgangalsorrecouped of warehouses andffre holds of ship* gamblingorgoingonraidilgforavs theireiergyeitherby and-the wharfingers found more economical than working rrris practTce both thelontractors port twoeigrrt hour shifts with nomal gang strength. firis was the main trouble epot in the just as Originally most port labour was South Indian and was under the control of Nattamies ourownlabourand influxof estate laboqrwae originatly controlledbyKanganies.Butwiththe trade unions started recmiting nembers ( 14) our efforts to better the conditions of woik of the -eo,time as many as fourteen trade rrnions of fto- a-ong the labour ranks. There werre at this differentid[obgiesrthemostpopularandthemostpowerfulbeingthesa'nasamqiisttradeunion led by Ilr. N. M. and PhiltiP. In the public sector of the port also there wene trade.unions but-as conditions of tJreir (15) emplo,rmentwerestablertheiinilitancxrcanetotheloreonlyattimeswhennationalissueswene at e'taie, as at the tine of the hartal duringDudley Senanayake's pnemiership.

Tallying

contractors of cargo was also done by m-en supplied b-y

and the port hit a record low in

doo" b;;i; b*est and most despised grade of the coal gloooa, *irur" uoor.erioi or"oriiJr-" *r. wene fastgoingout of existence and one could expeet labo'rin tfre port.n.,tfo"toout"fy*Ui"it tpu"av endio this hardly hunan use of nan lxtwen " a relic of the war, under the control of Finally the British Admiralty had the use of a warehouse, ti" n""ia"nt British Naval officer of Colombo' Vocabulary 1,""- to use the following words appropriately Nouns

Verbs recruit man maintain

real estate quarters contract ideologies colliers

boast bestride condone recoup bunker despise

Adjectives cursory transient stable operational The port of Colombo as it was in the early 1950's

ll.Belowistheadministrativehierarchyof-thePortgivenintabulatedform.Read through Section 2 and complete this table' The Administrative set up of the Port

I. The Customs The Principal Collectorof Customs I I Three or four Civil ServiceOffrcers I I I I Customs Clerical Senrice

Marginal Comrnents Jot iown how theseofftcerswere recruited and how they acquiredthe specialised knowledgeof eachbranch.

I Branches of the Customs Clerical Service

c. The Baggage offrce d.

b. I Tide Waiters

(16)

(17)

II. The Port Commission. The Port Commissioner I I a. fire Chief Engineer

b. The MasterAttendant

c. The Fire Brigade

d. SecurityService.

Margiwl Comments The Chief Engineer I List thoseworking under him. His responsibilities. The assetsownedand what uses thesehad beenput to. m.

Private Cornpanies in the Port. a. Local Agents of Shipping Lines b. l{harfrngers.

Administrative

Marginal Comments a. Define what these are. b. List their work. c. Their sources of income.

gtructure of these private companies

1. Executive 2. ..................... 3. Clerical Staff 4. Contract l,abour

a. b. c. d.

Margiwl Comments List the work doneby these,end their hqurs of work. Erplain what'spellingf means,and what wagcondoned. List the methodsusedby the resting part of the gang to recouptheir energr. What was the trouble spot of the Port ?

Port l,abour 12. Sead through paragraphs 64 and cornpletethe blanks. and wascontrolledby...................{nihom)' a. Most Port labourwasfrom...............(where) started recrrritingmernbersto the Port from the labour ranks. b. ...................(rvho) many)T. Us'atthis time and the most popularwasthe .....................T.U. c. lhere were.....................(how d. Its leaderswers...................and

.(who)

were the lowestand the most despisedgradeof labour in the Port. e. .................(who) 13. Ifyouwereatradetrnionisf whatargumentswouldyouhaveused,given the employmerrtstructure described,to persuadeport employeesto join your union? Would the arguments have differed for the varioug gradesthat are mentioned,and if so,how?

Project in groups. 14. Find the required information and draw up tables to make clear the administrative structure of the following institutions a) a university or university college b) the Department of Education in your Province c).the BMICH or the CISIR or SLIDA d) a hospital in the area in which you live or worh or study e) one of the blue chip'companies referred to in Unit 1 0 the Central BanV the Bank of Ceylon or the People's Bank / a Commercial Bank. B) an Embassy or High Commission or UN Agency in Colombo h) a political party lb. Describe the structure of trro or more of the abovein the way the writerhas done.Which of the following qualities of his writing do you think it important to try to imitate - clarity, conciseness,organization, socio-historical information ? 16. Discuss the comparative effrciency of the various administrative structures you have explored. Distinguish between e*rciency as an aim of the institution, and effrciencythrough administrative organization iith t"g"td to achieving institutional 'aims whatever those might be. With regard to which institutions might such a distinction be more important? Part 3 lVith the change of govemment after the fifty six elections, I had hopes of being better able to a"'eliorate sonewhat the working conditions of private labour in the port. My aim was to eliminate contractors who had shown thenselves to be capable of resorting to every trick in the book to deprive labour of its just dues, and to get the stevedores on the palroll of the wharfage (18) companies-. But n5r efforts were frustrated by a factor I had not reckoned with. With Phillip Gunawardena joining the government, the twin leaders of the most influential trade union in the port fell foul of each other, ana the union split ilto two, a Samasamqiist faction under N. M- and an Eksath Perarnuna faction under Phillip, who was now a cabinet minister. And as always happens when brothers fall out, the two factions becane the bitterest of enenies. f have written elsewhere of what happened when the N. IVI faction struck work for no other andofhow thePrime Ministerwas obliged totake of the Phillipfaction reason thantheirdislike deliberately built ttris up into a situation Minister Prime how the and the side of his minister rnyself. compromise having to brink of the me to which brcught

(19)

and sun'ive. SWRDB'like SirJohn before him, hadformedthe Imanagedtogetoverthathurdle port affairs without benefit of Minister or Permanent 129; me to discuse habit o1 eommoning Onone suchoccasion,Imade a strongappeal whomIhappenedtohavetwoofeach. Secretary,of with financial autonomy but subject to Authority, Port lndependent an of fomation for the poliqy control by the minister in charge. This was for two good, among other, reasons. Firstr it was not possible to mn the port as a government department,on a yearby year basis. This put an effective stop to planning the development of the port on a long term basis to senre *" fZU '--' Lurgeoning needs of the country. f now had to pay all the money the port earned into tJ:e vote'rich every other welfane and education, health, with and compete conJolidatea runa and activity of government for my spending money. Running a port w-as a competitivelusiness unlessi kept abreast of the latest improvements in the sphere of port operation, f ran the risk of losing out to other ports in the anea. Due to obsolescence of operating equipment_and low pnoduciivity of our labour, I had already lost a considerable part of the lucrative transhipment trade we had won in better times. Secend, as the Prime Minister himself knew at first hand, as things now stood, a threat to the well' Q2) t"iog of the port was a direct threat to the government. It was only politic to put-pofi had, a government. after fact, Dutch experts In a team of from the away a step administration

detailed study of conditions another cogent reason.

in the port, rnafls this very recornrnendation

for these and many

\ilhether as a result of this o-r no, the Prime Minister had Noel Gratiaen appointed a one rran Comnissioner to inquine aqd rePort on the nost suitaUte way i"" tft. p""t tJ[6 aa-i"i.t"r"a. ntv ninister then assured me that the Gratiaen necornrnendati6ns wouti Ue i-pf"-u"1-"a i" t ii"" he and the Premier had the utmost confidence in the co'n'nissioner.

ff"$:1iT:#fl?i":::

ready in teETand he had recornrnended preciselywhat the Dutch

Vocabulary Learn to usethe following wordsappropriately. Verbs

Adjectives

ameliorate eliminate resort deprive frustrate summon implement

bitterest burgeoning lucrative politic cogent

Nouns

Adverbs deliberately precisely

obsolescence What do the following phrases meanevery trick in the book the twin leaders having to compromisemyself without benefit of Minister or Permanent Secretary the consolidatedfund vote-rich activity of government the utmost confidence. What does the writer's use of some of the above phrases suggest about his attitudes? Read through section 3 and complete this interview. L7.

Imagine you are interviewing the writer of this article. You....In 1956with the changeofgovernment were youhopeful thatthings would changeforthe better in the Port ? Writer.....Well......Yes'ThereweretwothingswhichIwantedtodo.onewai.. You.........Wereyou able to achievethese objectives? Writer........ Yo"'......U&en Mr. P-hillipGunawardenejoined the U.N.P. governmentwhathappened to the powerful SamasamajistTrade Union? Writer...........................

You......WithMr. Phillip Gunawardenebecomingaministerand the Prime Minister always takingthe side of his minister, how did you manage to run the port?

You....(Finda suitable ending).......

eg)

e4)

Group Work 18.

Dialogue / SPeech Minister of that time and the Port write the dialogue that would have taken place between the Prime Port Authority. Commissionerin the advisability of having an Independent make it a monologue' Once Before you write the dialogue read paragraphs 20 tn 23. Remember not to you write the dialogue, practise it'

19.

port since the period to which the writer What changeshave taken place inthe administration of the refers? How have each of these affected' a) b) c) d) e)

efticienry costs revenue workers'conditions employment figures ?

To what extent do you think the changes were motivated by social considerations a) economicconsiderations b) political considerations c) trade union Pressures d) customer Pressures? e) 2A.

2I.

Do you agree with him? Which type of administration do you supposethe writer would have liked best? with him. matter the in which you discuss/debate write "-d-iuloguu point of view of write a brief account of the way the port operates today, from the anindePendentjournalist a) the writer b) the person now in charge of the port' c)

Part 4 I was mone than overjoyed and lost no time in informing somewhere for the permanent benefit of orir country'

the Minister that at last we were getting

returning fron a So it took me by complete surprise when ny Deputy in the Port Conmission day taken a decision to conference in the miiistry infotmed me ttrat the Cabinet had that very not tJ'.e scantiest of nationalise the private sector in the port. This- decision depended o_n I would have preliminary investigation or the most crirsory study of any sort as far as I knew,'and place. I was also been the first persJn to know if any such investigation or study had taken persooany cha-grined that the decision had been taken behind my back' decision appeaned The most imrnediate reason forthis ill-considened and thoroughlyill'advised of course it lYhich sphere. union a point over N. M. in the trade to me to be to fet pfriffip than M. rather N. rround """t" rallied natumlly labour ,ig,'"uv failed to ao, tecause the-nationalised Phillip who was of the establishment. distracted Prine Ttre long term effect of this decision r came to know in Febnrar5r 1963 when a tT* wit! me to come back to the port Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike,-pleaded ffiirtei, ""U I some bv reduced had been ;. out the conplete mess to *fri6tt the por! of Colombo ;;L[t in people living the and countr5r this this cost vla"Jof ioept and amat-eurish nanagenrent.\ilhat it o"er these five years no one dare estirnate' poten-t trade union lyhen I got back to the port, there had been a CMU strike - the CMU became a just hallf an hour to settle me rt took weeks. six for over factor in the port aftefnationalisatioo

Q5)

Q6)

Q7)

(28)

(29)

the strike' There was-a 5a-%fueight suncharge on all cargoes in and out of colonbo. firis wag prcgressively reduced and eliminated within si* mootrtr.lh":" r"og line of some as ships y"r stmng outside the harbour as far as eye could see.rve broke the back" of irri, q"u"" *i1lrlo i*o months' The labour force of four th-ousand before nationalisation had shot up to fourteen thousand with productivity declining dramatically. -what happened then is another sony sq"y of brokcn ggyerTTdentpromises and every possible obstacle being cast in mv ya{ by ud*e"s. Ad;i had i-prcved the port as far as the (30) constraints imposed including-v among others the non-fuIfrlnent oia pledge to install 9l an autonomous Port Authority, --e, would allow, the only than\s r proressionally neat ---brush'offfrom the government that succeeded rrrs. Band"oir"it-"t. """i;;a-s-a I{hen f accepted llfirs. Bandaranaike's_plea to take charge 9f tfre port again, the only pertinent (31) @rnrnent r now realise was that rnade by my wife. srte saia ttral";it; d;?;"es back to its vomit. But to go back to the day of '!e Cabinet decision. rt took me less than half an hour to write my resignation and givc it to mv boss at Trgasury..l,iot orpe"pi;;;;;k"d me why r did this. {32) !h_e No sane person resigns from the civil S:nri"", tti.y oy, especially after neqrly twenty years of seryice. One only has to ask for a transfer.

P.:.tllt:^,":"9

little bit furtherinto yh{ washappening not only to the civil senrice P,lTk a

**:*=gltj:.enrice.T:f

*lunmistakabi;;ts''i;"l.iffi ;:A;;";#i;;;;'#'"";

1""::T::_1f*:A1{:l1l11Tg:_nlt.fone,sperso"'ri"i"sitv"oa;;;;;ii,#-#;ff;r; b1,1l interests ofone'icountry,*rr"t ii notiust, :.?-':,*.yl:l'jrl':_ll"

Xi:::.^t"*it:^u,Pf *1":tl'::T:*lv*"'o.'yoJ;;;;;;;;il;#ililff

*iiir"""Trii.i#itJ

yn""_tTg"rqalgidiheshame 3:.."i1"::n,^19-:l:: "r i"ioe*i";;;";;;fi1il#fi;;

you to do, covetous of the bone he throws at you.

Vocabulary Learn to usethe following words appropriately. Nouns

Verbs

Adjectives

investigation mess obstacle constraints nonfulfilment pledge integrity partisanship honesty

rally distract plead reduce eliminate estimate install dawn

chagrined autonomous pertinent sane unmistakable scantiest potent amateurish valid

Adverbs dramatically progressively What a) b) c) d) e) f) gl h) i)

do the following phrases mean? not the scantiest of preliminary investigation scorea point of the establishment ineptand.amateurishmanagement a potent trade union factor broke the back of this queue productivitydecliningdramatically by my betters constraints imposed on me

#t=,H.Il:; I,il;:

j) k) l) m) n) o)

non-fulfilment of a pledge a professionallyneatbrush off only a dog goes back to its own vomit the kind of masters we then had dictated by partisanship covetousof the bone he throws at you

Does the writer's use of some of the above phrases serve the argument of his title? Nationalisation of the Port. Reading Comprehension 22. Jot down the writer's views on the nationalisation of the Port under these sub headings. Was an investigation or study done before nationalisation? Why was the writer personally disappointed? The immediate reason for the decision to nationalise. 23.

What other reasonsdo you supposeprompted the decisionto nationalise? What a{ectives would you use to describe such a decision? Do you think your attitude is affected by the time that has elapsed since that decision was taken?

The re-appointment of the writer to the Port of Colombo in 1963. 24.

Which phrase tells you the exact state of the Port in 1963 the state of mind of the then P.M. Mrs. Bandaranaike how Mrs. Bandaranaike approached the writer the writer's view of the management of the Port during the past five years ?

25.

List the steps taken by the writer to improve the Port.

26.

Was the writer's work appreciated by the government that came into power next?

Back to 1957 27.

What did the writer decideto do at the end of his port career on the frrst occasion?Did he take long to take this decision? What sentence gives you the answer?

28.

The writer resigned for many reasons. a) b)

29.

Why did he find it difficult to serve his masters? Was he willing to do exactly ashis masters askedhim to do?What sentencegives you the answer?

The writer says no sane person resignsfromtheCivilServiceespecially afl,er2|yearsofservice. Would you agree with the statement? Remember that the writer is referring to the equivalent of what is now called the Administrative Service during the fifties and sixties. You will need to find out a lot ofbackground information. It may help if you could draw up, in groups, a list of persons to interview. Yqu may also like to read a book the writer published calledVig:rettes of the Ceylon Civil Seryice 1938 - 1957. Comment on the status / role of Civil Servants in the administrative set up of the country. Perquisites offered Salary What differences do you frnd in the former Civil Service and the Administrative Service of today? Which Service do you supposewould be more efficient a) b) more respgnsive to political requirements

I='

, c) d)

more sJrmpatheticto public needs more attractive as career?

Group Work 30

Write.the sort of report that might, after due investigation and study, have led to the decisions to a) nationalize the Port b) replace the Civil Service with an Administrative Service c) take over most assisted Private Schools d) turn all universities into separate campusesofjust one university e) re-establishseparateuniversities set up the present administrative system in the Port 0

31.

How would the different periods at which these various decisions were taken have contributed to them?

General 32.

Read over the whole article again. What is the writer's general attitude to a) politicians b) employers in the port c) workers in the port d) trade unions ? To what extent doeshe succeedin getting you to sympathize with or share in his attitudes?

33.

In many jobs, employeesare assessedannually by those for whom they work. Write out the sort oJ assessment the writer would have received from Mr. Bandaranaike.

34.

In many modern firms, employers are also assessedby those who work for them. Write out the sort o assessmentthe writer would have given Mr. Bandaranaike.

35.

Do you think the title of this article is justifred? What do you understand by the word 'conscience'?

36.

ResigningfromjobsisnotverycommoninSriLanka. In many countries that have a tradition o parliamentary democracy and accountable government, the head of an institution where somethinl goes wrong, or where policies he has identified with have to be changed, resigns as a matter o principle. In India for instance, after a terrible railway accident, the Minister responsible resigned Why do you supposethis sort of behaviour is comparatively rare in Sri Lanka? Try to find an exampl of such behaviour in Sri Lanka, and write an analysis of it in terms of what you understand by thr word 'responsibility'.

Unit 4 Employees'Tbust

Fund Board; Concept, Operations, and Perfomance. by Sunil Wijesinha, Chairman ETF

Part 1 1.

Introduction

The Employees' Tlrrst Fund Board commensed opemtions in March 1981. It was estab' entrusted with the responsibility lished by an ActofParliarnent:ActNo.46ofl980.TheBoardis gmployees'Thust g16 (ETF) which was established under the provisions Fund of administering of the sane Act. ltre Fund was established for the following

objects: welfare,

econonic

democracy

through

(a)

employee to promote employee ownership, investment; and participation in financing

ft)

to promote employee participation interest in enteryrises;

(c)

to provide for non-contributory

(d)

to do all such other acts or things as nay be necessary for, or conducive to, the attainment of the objects specifred in paragnphs (a),(}) and (c) of this section.

in rranagement

through

the acquisition

benefit to employees on retiremen$

of equity

and

to the Fund on behalf of their Ttre Fund is cneated by employers maLing contributions employees. Ttre amount so contributed is credited to the individual account of the employee' naintained by the Fund. All employers in the private sector as well as state sector enterprises government are covenedbythis Fund.The governmentis notcoveredby the Fundandtherefore employees - !. e. employees in government departments and ministries - ale not beneficiaries of this Fund. Ii the private sector however there are certain employers who are exempt, i. e. charitable and social seryice organizations having less than ten employees. Every nonth of the employees. contribution frrm on behalf of about 2.

the employer has to remit to the Fund an amount equal to l%oof the earnings Employers should not deduct this amount fr.onn the employee but make this is estimated that today about 25rO{X)employers contribute theirownfunds.It 1.5 nillion ernployees.

Comparison with the Employees Provident

Fund

Fund (EPF) T?re Employees' Ttsust Fund is supplementary to the Employees'Provident schene: the employer established in 1958. fire EPF is a retirement benefrt and is a contributory as well as the employee contribute to this scheme. At present the rates of contribution ane 8Voof earnings by the employee and an amount equivalent to llVo of earnings of the employee by the employer. These funds are credited to the individual aceount of the employee. The accounts are rnaintained by the Central Bank on behalf of the Departnent of Labour which administers the Fund. Tl:e Enployees' Provident Fund can be withdmwn by an employee after his retirement on lying to t}re credit of the reaching 55 years. I{owever in the case of the ETF, contributions grnployee can be withdrawn of whether he has of employment inespective on temination reached 55 years or not. This means that ETF can be withdrawn even when an employee leaves one job and goes to another. Ttrerefore if he changes jobs several times during his working life a restrictive condition has been imposed that he can withdraw at each temination.I{owever there has to be a tirne gap of at least five years in between each withdrawal.

Vocabulary-

Make sureyou are ableto usethe follow words correctly in sentences. A{ectives

Verbs

Nouns democracy welfare participation ownership enterprises investment acquisition benefrciary equity operation provision termination

promote finance provide specify credit cover exempt remit deduct withdraw retire impose

create commence establish entrust administer maintain benefit

economic non-contributory supplementary restrictive irrespective

What does the word'TYustj mean here? What are its other meanings? Do they contribute to the meaning here? 1.

General Overview of Text a. What is the subject of this text? b. The E.T.F. is compared in Section II to another Fund. What is this Fund? c. Why is 1981 mentioned in the text?

A Detailed Study of the Text. a. List the employees coveredby this fund. b. List the employees not coveredby this fund. c. Is it fair that they be exempt from this fund ? Give reasons for your choice of answer. d. How doesthe E.T.F. differ from the E.P.F ? Do this in groups. Write down you.r answers. Try e. to frnd out the provisions of the Act that established the E.P.F. Compare the content and the language to the E.T.F. Act.

Part 2 - Management of Funds When the funds ane neceived by the ETF and credited to individual accounts' these funds are not allowed to renain idle, but are invested. Investments are in tneasur5r bills, bank deposits, shanes of companies, debentures of companies and suchfoms of investment.These investments have to be prudently managed to ensure that a fairly good retum is received and at the same time that the nrnas are not put too nuch at risk. While government guamnteed investments such as tneasurSr bills and defence bonds are IOOVosâ&#x201A;Źcure, they do not yield a very attractive retum. Investments in the stock market can give very much higher yields but the risk is also high. While there have been occasions where within one year of investnent in shares the value of the investmenthas increasedby l0}Torgivinga l(X)Toannualretum, therealsohavebeencases where the value of the investnent has declined to only 1/3rd of the value of the original investment. Therefor.e the Employees' Ttrrst Fund Board has a policy that not mone than about 16?o of very well we can investments are in the stock market.lVhen the economy of the countryperfoms expect very high retums fron these investments, but if the economy does badly the retums cln be very poon It is due to this reason that in the years 1988 and 1989, due to the disruptions in the country, returns were very low, but in 1991 and 1992 the returns have been very good and more l.Smillion profrtswereeamedbytheFund.Improvementoftheeconomythereforebenefrtedthe members of the Fund tremendously.

I L

a dividend to members' A small Itre profits eaned frorn these funds are used to declare i. e. the salaries of the 400 ernployees of portion of the profits is used as costs ot"a-ioirtration, ane used oflrercosts of maintainingaccounts, etc.I1neremainingprofrts theBoardas well;th; a is eonsidered which i" rg92 the dividend was 1s7o to declar.,ean annual dividend to -"-G"". verygoodrate. welfane schenes for members' At A certain portion of the profits are also used for certain receive upto six months present there is a life insumn& se,he-'where members automatically salaqy,limitedtoanaximumofBsso,oool'ronthe deatJrofamembenThebenefitsgototheh:.*t disability scheme which pays c-omp-eS.sation of the nenbers. ttrene is also a totar ana-pe"maneut disabled due to an accident or occupational disease' to those who are totally and peman."tiv a naximun of Bs 100'000/' . rn 1991 a new Ttre amount of compen'satiofis two years salary upto surgery requiryd by a member' for certain scheme waa commenced.to pay fon e*pensive-f'"qf Upto ooty S"i Jalewarde-ne General Hospital on a cornrnercial basis' types of surge"V surgery' heart of type "t this "rrrit"Ut" ;; behali of the mimber who hag to undergo is paid ns. ZOS,OOOIreimbursement scheme' Sone Ttre latest benefit intnoduced is the intmocular lens implant intraocular lens which is not an of the older members who undergo cata"act operations "eqoire Rs' 3,000/'nenbers can around given free even UjCove"-n-eot nospitalt, *od as a lens costs ctaim a reimbursement of this expense' an annual dividend Therefone members enjoy not only a financial saving to which is added as aFundthat th"ttheETt'isregarded butalso a numberof medicaitlnefits. ri is forthis rea"oo after the looks EPF, the Fund, sister tJre ee during nx wiining life, while looks after employee in"ohis"-pioy final retirementin his old age' following words.write at least Make sentencesof your own that eachinclude at least two of the 12 sentences. VocabularyNouns

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

shares debenture risk bonds yields dividend maximum heirs

idle ensure undergo decline manage declare implant

attractive original occupational expensive occasions disruptions disability

PrudentlY badlY tremendouslY automaticallY surgery cataract intraocular lens

compensation reimbursement Managementof Funds B.

4. s.

are in the stock a. The E.T.F.Boardhas a policy that not morethan about 15%of investments market. WhYis this? b. Whereis it i007osecureto invest the money? Why are the years1988/ 89 and 1991/92 mentioned? E.P.F.looks It is said that the E.T.F.looksafter an employeeduringhis working life while the Givereasonsfor after the employeein his finairetirement in his old age.It this statementtrue? your choiceof answer.

Part 3 - Problemsfacedby the ETF Board AlthoughtheBoardhasnowcompletedadecadeofexistence,anumberofnanagementand credibility pioblens have surfaced. Due to inadequate planning and-systematic organization, the Board has faced difficulty in managing the growing nunber of activities as well as the increaseinnumberof membersandsenicesrequiredbymembers.Atthe sametime certainpoor investnents made in the past had enoded the credibility of the Fund' Thenefone in 1g89, with the assunption of office by the new Board of Directors' a considerable amount of discussion and ttrinking took place in order that nanagement as well as given to credibility could be enhanced. The Board decided that the highest priority should be into. looked were matters investment reason restoring-the creaititity of the Fund, and for this va"ioosiewpolicyguidelineswerelaidwithregardtoinvestments.TheBoardalsodeclaredthat the investmeot poticy should ie,foir return at o minimal risfr'and decided that all investments studied before investments are made and that the primary conside-ra' should be very ""oiJfy tion shouldbe thebei#eortrt" menberemployee.TtreBoardwasalso conscious of thefactthat as investment should not only be shor* term-ojented but the benefits to employees as well were investments certain reason that is for this rt prospective employees have to be considered. made with a long tlrm perspective because they may generate incneased enployment resulting t""g". Afber four years of this policy it can be said that the investment in benefits for the couni"y "i ho*e.'er a iew bad investments because it is not possible to be portfolio is fairly g;d. fit"t" "n" iOOqoaccurate*fr1n iudging the future pnospects of an investment. when the Ttre olganizational stmcture was also very weak. Ttre structure was designed time to fron introduced hoc changes ad some had been Board was established in 1gg1and thene complete a firerefore clear. not very were frrnctions time. Delegation of responsibilities and the Board would be review of the organizational stnrcture had to be undertaken in order that would be a able to cater'to contemporary demands. It was noted that the best anangement Accordingly the divisional stmcture where the nain functional areas could be separated. undenmentioned functional areas were identifi e& (1) Administration & Human Resources (2) Finance & Investments (3) EmploYer Seruices (4) Member Senrices (5) ComPuter Sen'ices (6) InternalAudit so|ne of In establishing these functional areas thought was even given to renaming -the orientation' rnodern thinking as well as functions in accordance with modern -"rr"g"-ent fi"itit"ting tcrminology. Accordingly the Legal and noving away fron legal terminologJyto mot" giving the impressionjlat Enforcement Division was re-named the Employer Sen'ices Division, them doing something the focus of this Division will be to assist e-pioyets rather than catch be headed by a division wrong. Along with the divisional structure it was decided that each there would Manager Deputy General Manager and in each division below the Deputy General established were sections be Managers heading each functional section. Therefore tlre iollowing under each division as grven below. (1)

Administration & Human ResourcesDivision (a) Administration Section ft) I{urnan Resources Section

Finance & Investment Division (a) General Accounts Seetion (b) Investment Section

(3)

Employer Sen'ices Division (a) Legal Section (b) Enforcement Section 38

(4)

Member Senrices Division (a) Claims Section (b) IYlember Accounts Section (c) Contribution / Collection Section (d) Clains Pa5rment Section

(5)

ConPuter Division (no sub divisions or sections)

(6)

Intemal Audit Divison (no sub divisions or sections)

Under each Manager there would be Offrcers who deal with specifrc subject areas and gmdes. Below the below the officer grade*would be the Assistants who ane inthe supen'i-sory grad.es. Therefone the supenrisory grade's would come the Senior Clerical and other ninor staff All Deputy officersExlcutive c"aa.s would be - Deputy General Managers, lvranagers and the lvlanager General Deputy lVfanager, except General Managers would repoit tb the General Employ' provisions of the to the According (internalAuditl) who would riport to the Chairnan. have been functions many although Executive, is Chief the ees'Tbust Fund Act, the Chaiiman Manager. delegated to the General The role of each Divison has been clearly defr ned and annual as well as monthly target! lle of the determined, so that the Deputy Geneml Managers would ensure the implementation necessar1r activities to achieve the monthly as well as annual targets. In order to ensure that decision making is canied out in a co-ordinated nanner with the participation of the top management, most organizational decisions are taken at a Management of the Chairman, General Manager eve* week with the participation foe"ttttittee Meetingtr6n as well as organizational decisions are operational Mqior M"rrag."s. Deputybeneral and all the addiiion to tJris there is a monthly meeting of all Managers atwhich taken by this 0orintittee.In matters as well as operational matters ane discussed and progress reviewed. administrative Oo"" a quarter there is a meeting with all Executives, i. e. Deputy General Managers, Managers is passed down regarding the activities of the board and and Officers at which infonnation matters ara discussed. Occasionally this forum used to operational and certain administrative of members of the staff. num-ber alarge affect which decisions take In addition to these meetings there are two otherpapers that are passed on' on an ad hoc Notes'. These are photo copies of useful basis, to all the Executives. One is call'Management opinion of the Chairman or General Manager rnanagement articles and literature which in the isagain the'TalkPape/,which secondis mayb"e usefulforthe inforrnation of allExecutives.The or mist'nderstanding regarding any facts explain_the to office the Chairoran's o|t issued by-ad.re"se "rumour or an newspaper article which requines a prompt comection, so that the Executives will know the factS and would be able to eiplain them to their subordinates as well as to the members of the Public. Vocabulary - Make sure you can use the following words correctly. Nouns

Verbs

Adjectives

existence portfolio terminolory misunderstanding subordinatp credibility assumption priority guidelines targets

surface erode enhance generate cater restore rename delegate

inadequate systematic prospective contemporary operational ad hoc specific

Problems Faced by the E.T.F. Board 6.

List the problems faced by the E.T.F. Board alter 10 years of existence.

What steps were taken to enhance the management and credibility of the Fund? Comment on the results of these policy changes after four years of implementation.

By 1989 what weaknesseswere evident in the organizational structure of the E.T.F. Board? List the changes that took place when modern management thinking was applied.

Read partS silently once again and close your text. Now using thefollowingnotes write a memorandum on the reorganised organizational structure ofthe E.T.F. Your paragraph will refer in detail to 1 Division only.

The Administrative Chairman{hief

set up of the Administration

and Hurnan Resources Division.

Executive Offi cer.

General'Manger Deputy General Manager........Reports to General Manager Heads this division This Division is divided into 2 functional sections.i.e.a. Administrative Section. Headed by Manager b. Human ResourcesSection.Headed by Manager Under 2 Managers Offrcers in charge of specific Subject Areas. Assistants -in supervisory grades. Senior Clerical and minor staffgrades. Additional notes. Notes on each Division Role clearly defrned Monthly targets determined Meetings a. Most organizational decisions taken at a Management committee meeting. These meetings held every week. Chaired by Chairman Includes General Manager and all Deputy General Managers Mqior operational and organizational decisions are taken by this committee. b. Managers hold monthly meetings. Here progress is reviewed. Administrative and operational matters are discussed. Occasionally decisions which affect staffalso talen. c. Executive Meetings i.e.Deputy General Managers, Managers and Officers These are held once in 3 months. Matters usually discussed--------------Information regarding activities of the Board. Administrative and operational matters discussed. Occasionally matters which affect staffalso taken up. Pipers passed on to Executives. a. Management notes i. e. photocopies of useful management articles. b. Talk Paper, issued by Chairman. This explains facts rpgarding adverse newspaper articles etc. which require prompt attention. Executives will explain matters to their subordinates and the public. 10.

What a{ectives would you use to describe the management structure that has now been set up by the E.T.F?Whatadvantages and disadvantages canyou seein this sort of structure? Discuss in groups and report your views.

Part 4-

StaffMotivation

poon one reason for tJris wae identified Staffmotivation was also noticed to be extremely seniormanasemelt-a-ndtheiunibrnanagenenL as the difference in qualificationsbetweeo trr. ssc quarided with long years of experience in *""" Many members or tlie senior nenbers of the junior staff who had while thJne--*"* a number of establishnents, -"org.-uot ".".""f Degrees,nipromasandmanyotJrerqualifications.Manyoftlrequalifiedjuniormembersoftlre meanin-gffrty to inprove the perforn' stafffelt frustrated that they were unable to contribute skills and knowledge to do so. At the same ance of the Boar4 while they belie""a fitlv rtad the prcinotionalprospects was causingmuch as time thelackof aproperpnomotion schemi as well fomulate a promotional scheme where p takgn st ooe thi", w:^s-to frustration. rn order to comect to higher grades Qrya-o1 their qualifrcations, * was possible for junior 4qqei t" b;;;;;d to inlroduce "tvork rmprovernent Teams' e:rperience and their capabilities. Anither step was level through which problems â&#x201A;Źncoun' which were voluntary groups tomed at non-eiecutive grgup themselves anj' throu9h the use of tened in their routine work were selected by the formulated' firis proved to be a was 39ti"o systenatic proUfei-sot riog ptoceaote, *-"ai* their pent up energies and their to utilize trenendou, .,".."", u"""o""e irr" jo"i"r lt"rwere able rrowever in some areas problems. solve their workrelated qualifrcations to iaeniify, some mernbers of the beâ&#x201A;Źause "o"ly"e-and staff senior this caused ftiction between the junior staffand the To remedy this a the-bottom' from coming senior staff felt threatened when good ideas wene resistance would ttreir that in order well, mechanisn was evolved to iuvolve the senior staffas be eliminated. suspended for some time At present however the nVork Improvement Teans'have been this tlpe of systern is that believe p,ersons who because of threats by certain other aisi"nued -the stafr for the benefft of nanagement only' of tr.. junior a mechanism to il thgse "rpi"it p"Ji"ipated "tVork Improvenent Teams' feel that Ilowever the mqiority of those *ft" -ulru"r activities which nake then realize in these they derive immense-iatisfaction u"-pJi&ating *r"i, f"ff potcntial rather than being a merrecog'in-the'whee1. providing unifoms to the staff' This Another step.taken towards worker motivation was economically help the staff rnembers who would was done for tworeasons . one is trtaiiiwiu for clothing, while the other otherqrise rrave to-speid a considerable portion of their eamings backglounds which created reason was that the Board had staffme-bers fron vastly different areas at one extreme, while there wene There were groupr !pp"_,*4 ;"d;iJp*ure-s. \f,hile the nrral area gnoups from more sophisticated areai in tie Colombo District at the othen the more sophisticated female fenale staffmembers would wuar t"aditional dress,like the saree, there was competition gtoups would wear dressesand ev"o .,." make up. dome tines it appeared levels were highlighted' All in the mode of dnessand differences of their social and economical The female nembers wene giv91 sareeswhile the males were staffmemb""" *"n" gi""" ooifot -r. of dress enabled the difference to be elininated to a fire uniformity given shirts and t-no"users. close scrutiny ' to identify the large extent, and it was now impossible ' except through very staffmemblr. Mostitaff members were of the opinion that background and;"1;t""aiogor" obvious social differences and had therebv improved this had helped tremendously to *;;;; the motivation oithe st8ff, aid created nore cohesion. Improvenent In addition to non-frnancial higher order needs satisfred thnough "lvork incentive scheme also would be Teamsr,ooifo"-q p-"o-otioor, etc. it ias found that a financial prov!{e a nonthly frnancial incentive useful.In pursuance of this a ect.-e *as formulated to orderthat the amount of the neward will be comrnensurate with expecta' to the entire "t"*:h higher gnde officers to receive higher incentives' Ttrree output tions, the scheme ""*f"Aas follows r factors were identified (a) Number of Annual Member slips despatched to members (b) Number of clains Processed (c) Total contributions and ,ot"h""g"s collected through enfoncement inspections and legal action

Depending on tJre total output of the Board on these thnee factors the incentive quantum would.be detemined.In addition to this an individual a{iustment is made based on individual perfomance and individual attendance.Also a departmentalperfomance index is also used to a{iustthe incentivebasedonthe completion of the monthlyworkprogpamme of the department. The frnal incentive also may be affected by penalties imposed for certain disciplinary matters and other lapses. Very often minor lapses and offences receive incentive penalties rather than receiving forrnal letters of warning which go into the personal files. The financial incentive scheme has resulted in improved attendance and improved motivation towards achieving higher levels of departmental as well as organizational ou@uts. Concluding

Remarks

Tl:e Employees' Trust Fund is managed as a young and dynamic organization which takes into account the needs and aspirations of a younger and educated work force. Its vision is 'lBy the year 2002 the ETF Board will be recogrized as a prestigious frnancial institution providing total social security to the entire employed population". All systens and procedunes are geared to achieving higher levels of performance while at the same time creating an image of being an efficient organization which works in the best interest of its members while looking after the social and economic needs of its employees. In keeping with the changes in management thinking, various management experiments are also tried out. The Board hopes that it will emerge in the years to come as a nodel organization. Vocabulary - Write short paragraphs, each using at least 6 of the words below. Write at least 4 separate paragraphs. Nouns

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

prospects potential incentive output penalty warning aspirations procedures cogs-in-the-wheel

frustrate contribute formulate utilize analyse solve evolve involve eliminate highlight identify geared

tremendous promotional remedial pent up commensurafe disgruntled sophisticated disciplinary organizational dynamic efficient

meaningfully extremely

StaffMotivation List the measurestaken towards staffmotivation. Which measure introduced would in your opinion be the most effective? Give reasons for your choice of answer.

11.

a. b.

t2.

The writer talks of Work Improvement Teams. a. Why was this started? b. Who are those in these teams? c. Was it a wise move initially to keep the senior staffout of these teams? Give reasons for choice of answer. d. Are these teams still functioning? Which sentencegives you the answer?

13. RegardingtheseWork ImprovementTeams,the writer saysthat'disgruntledpersonsbelieve that this type of system is a mechanism to exploit junior members of the stafffor the benefit of management only'. Discuss this statement. You can do this as group work. Once you have discussed,jot down your views on this subject. Read them out to the class.

Cues to help you in your discussion' forward to passhis ownjudgement on people'sactions? Do you feel the write",l views are biased?Has he come management lo solve problems and is not in any way If the Non-Executive staff is only helping the of laborir exploitation by the management? remunerated for it, does that amount to a iorm making and problem solvi-ng?Give examples' If the How would you defrne the difference between decision are htter, wfty sfroUa their members not feel that they Work Improvement Tearr,s o.rly participate i" tft" merely cogsin the wheel ? many organizations in sri Lanka' namely conflict between L4. The writer touches on an area that affects *rt" flel themselves more Snable' This is not however senior staffwith experience u"air-ioittrr discussei onlnly. What are the reasons for this? a problem th";i;-;?;n Would public debate on this subject be usetull and act out examples' Discuss sitoatiorrs in which such conflicts could occur' such problems? with cope best what so"t, ormaragerial techniques could lay gleater stress on experience than that sche*es Discuss the merits and demeritr oipi"-otional should promotion as wil as pay be performance-related? To ,urrul qualifrcatio", ,"J"i." "*t""t "ersa. iniividuals who would represent different interests Discuss the." qo"rtior* in groups. tu-t" o" "or.s of in a debate on the subject' the group presents a consensual view on the Act out such a debate. Then present a report in which subject. the section that discussesthe issue of uniforms? Discuss 1b. How important are the factors dealt with in to build up a team in an organization' in groups the Lffect of social differences on efforts differences?why do you supposewomen were Are clothes the most obvious manifestation of social issued with sarees, and men with shirts and trousers? students at university, and if so why? Discuss whether there is a dress .oJ. i-po..d on you identify? Do such manifestations create What other manifestations of social differences can problems, and if so how would you characterize these? 16.

jncentives for productivity? What measures have Do you agree with a system of providing financial a.scheme? been introduced to counter arguments against such generallvacceptable?

whar i.

L7.

o""v"" tttink thesewouldbefound

-""r,iiiiilffi#;;bt"ri the various points the writer makes under the Read through the article again. Record individually in particular points which appear under following headings. Discuss i' groops your frndings, and different headings. l.Motivation2.Psychologly3.Productivity4.Responsibility 8' Caution ?' Benefits O.farticipation 5. Reform

1g.

19.

20.

abouthalf a dozensentencesinto the Examine the use of the passiveVoice in this article. Try turning creates? article any difference in the impression the Active Voice. ir1t "r. sketch ofhim from what the article what sort of a person do you think the writer is? Draw a character experienceetc' qualifications, sugges6, *uf.i"g.utculated guessesabout his age, light of this, comment on the concluding Find out what the E.T.F. has donein the last five years. In the paragraPh of the article.