Team members from Mexico, India, China, Germany
and the USA were having a series of business
meetings in Mexico when some problems arose with
regard to punctuality and deadlines. Team members
from Mexico, India and China were sometimes late for
meetings, giving the reason that they had been getting to
know their colleagues from other countries over coffee
in the staff canteen. However, the team members from
Germany and the USA disliked waiting for team members
who turned up late and had become frustrated. For the
Germans and Americans if someone said ‘the deadline
is tomorrow’, then that meant tomorrow. However, the
Mexicans, Indians and Chinese argued that getting to
know each other was more important to the success of
the project than a deadline, because only by building trust
together could they work as a team. They also found
that the Americans and Germans didn’t seem to value
tact and diplomacy enough. For example, sometimes the
Americans said things without considering the feelings of
the people they were talking to.
79
GLOBAL SKILLS
8.2
6
Read the texts again. Which texts, if any, refer to the
following topics?
1
building relationships
2
dressing conservatively
3
indirect and direct communication styles
4
avoiding stereotypes
5
showing respect for authority
6
understanding handshakes
7
using titles and correct forms of address
8
exchanging business cards
9
punctuality and deadlines
10
space issues between people
7
Work with a partner. Describe the problems in each
text. What advice would you give the people in the
three situations?
8
Drawing conclusions
With your partner, look again
at the listening and reading sections. What are the
three most important skills you need when working in
a global team?
GRAMMAR
VERB PATTERNS
9
Look at the highlighted sentences in the texts and
match verbs 1–5 with patterns a–e.
1
appear
2
ask
3
dislike
4
forget
5
start
a
followed by the infinitive with
to
b
followed by either the infinitive with
to
or the -
ing
form with a different meaning
c
followed by an object and the infinitive with
to
d
followed by the -
ing
form
e
followed by either the infinitive with
to
or the -
ing
form with no change in meaning
10
Work with a partner. Look at the pairs of
sentences 1–5 and discuss the differences between
the verb patterns.
1
a
I
remember watching
the first TV reports of
the tsunami.
b
Remember to lock
the door when you go out.
2
a
I’ll never
forget meeting
Brad Pitt when I went
to Hollywood.
b
I won’t
forget to switch off
the lights when I go.
3
a
I
stopped driving
after three hours at the wheel.
b
I
stopped to have
a break for a few minutes.
4
a
I
tried sending
her flowers, but it had no effect.
b
I
tried to persuade
her to listen to me, but
she wouldn’t.
5
a
I
regret to inform
you that you did not get the job.
b
I don’t
regret changing
jobs.
GRAMMAR TIP
After
remember
,
forget
,
stop
,
regret
and
go on
, we
choose infinitives to look forward and -
ing
forms to
look at the present or past.
I must remember to download a map of the city.
(I’m
going there next week.)
I remember meeting him at a conference in Seoul.
(The conference was two years ago.)
Ê
Language reference and extra practice, pages 126–149
11
Complete the sentences with the infinitive or
-ing
form of the verbs in brackets. In some sentences both
may be possible.
1
I’m sorry I forgot
(respond) to your email.
2
I tried
(talk) to the team leader, but he didn’t
really listen.
3
I’ll never forget
(attend) the Forbes Global
CEO conference in September.
4
Don’t forget
(go) to the meeting.
5
I remember
(hear) something about how
popular the book was in China.
6
I stopped
(buy) global brands like Adidas
and Nike.
7
She remembered
(bring) her video camera to
the conference, so we’ve got a great film of it.
12
Work with a partner and discuss topics from this list.
•
someone you’ll never forget meeting
•
something you stopped doing recently
•
something different you should try doing next year
•
something you’ll never forget seeing
•
something you shouldn’t forget to do before going to
an interview
•
something you remember doing on one of your
birthdays
C
