Synthesizing Exercise

1. Synthesizing Exercise You Must Write A Paragraph To Answer The Question: Is Downsizing Really Necessary? Use information from the 3 texts and your own ideas.

2. What Does ‘Downsizing’ Mean? Transitive Verb: To reduce in size; especially: to design or produce in smaller size To fire (employees) for the purpose of downsizing a business Intransitive Verb: To undergo a reduction in size

3. Study The Following 3 Texts

4. Text #1 Those of us who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930's will, I suspect, never have any respect for the concept of downsizing. It is easy to see the advantages for the employer and share-holder, in terms of increased efficiency and profit, but not for the worker. His or her hours of work, pay and security are all reduced, or the job may be lost completely. The 1930's may be a long way behind us now, but the lessons they taught us are still true: no amount of profit in the hands of a few people can compensate for the misery of unemployment for millions. Alec Stanford, Moral Economics, Solis Press, Bristol, 1999, p. 102

5. Text #2 One extremely worrying pattern in modern business and economic life is the spread of reengineering, or downsizing, as it is known. Today's managers seem to think that the idea of a company with as few workers as possible is the only thing to aim for. They use words such as 'efficiency', 'flexibility' and, of course, 'profit'. It seems to me that the only concept in which they are truly interested is the latter: profit. As long as their bank balance is large enough, they do not need to worry about what happens to the workers who are left unemployed by this downsizing.Steven Davis, Trends in Business, Stalwart Press, Manchester, 2000, p. 56

6. Text #3 We all know the word 'dinosaur' as it relates to those huge prehistoric animals from Jurassic Park, but in recent years, the term has also been applied to a certain type of economist and business analyst. The type of person I am referring to has his head back in the mid-twentieth century, and talks of outdated concepts, such as full employment and jobs for life. Modern economic conditions and the effects of globalization mean that the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize, because this provides a company with the flexibility to become efficient and to make enough profit to give its workers employment, if not jobs for life. Rudolph Gibson, Downsizing, Caber Publications, Glasgow, 2002, p. 31

7. Text #1 Summarize The Following

8. Text #1 Those of us who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930's will, I suspect, never have any respect for the concept of downsizing. It is easy to see the advantages for the employer and share-holder, in terms of increased efficiency and profit, but not for the worker. His or her hours of work, pay and security are all reduced, or the job may be lost completely. The 1930's may be a long way behind us now, but the lessons they taught us are still true: no amount of profit in the hands of a few people can compensate for the misery of unemployment for millions. Alec Stanford, Moral Economics, Solis Press, Bristol, 1999, p. 102

9. Text #2 Choose A Paraphrase From The Following

10. Text #2 One extremely worrying pattern in modern business and economic life is the spread of reengineering, or downsizing, as it is known. Today's managers seem to think that the idea of a company with as few workers as possible is the only thing to aim for. They use words such as 'efficiency', 'flexibility' and, of course, 'profit'. It seems to me that the only concept in which they are truly interested is the latter: profit. As long as their bank balance is large enough, they do not need to worry about what happens to the workers who are left unemployed by this downsizing.Steven Davis, Trends in Business, Stalwart Press, Manchester, 2000, p. 56

11. Text #3 Choose A Suitable Quotation

12. Text #3 We all know the word 'dinosaur' as it relates to those huge prehistoric animals from Jurassic Park, but in recent years, the term has also been applied to a certain type of economist and business analyst. The type of person I am referring to has his head back in the mid-twentieth century, and talks of outdated concepts, such as full employment and jobs for life. Modern economic conditions and the effects of globalization mean that the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize, because this provides a company with the flexibility to become efficient and to make enough profit to give its workers employment, if not jobs for life. Rudolph Gibson, Downsizing, Caber Publications, Glasgow, 2002, p. 31

13. Now Write Your Answer To The Question Is Downsizing Really Necessary?

14. My Answer to The Question Is Downsizing Really Necessary?

15. Text #1 Summarize The Following

16. Text #1 Those of us who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930's will, I suspect, never have any respect for the concept of downsizing. It is easy to see the advantages for the employer and share-holder, in terms of increased efficiency and profit, but not for the worker. His or her hours of work, pay and security are all reduced, or the job may be lost completely. The 1930's may be a long way behind us now, but the lessons they taught us are still true: no amount of profit in the hands of a few people can compensate for the misery of unemployment for millions. Alec Stanford, Moral Economics, Solis Press, Bristol, 1999, p. 102

17. Text #1 Those of us who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930'swill, I suspect, never have any respect for the concept of downsizing. It is easy to see the advantages for the employer and share-holder, in terms of increased efficiency and profit, but not for the worker. His or her hours of work, pay and security are all reduced, or the job may be lost completely. The 1930's may be a long way behind us now, but the lessons they taught us are still true: no amount of profit in the hands of a few people can compensate for the misery of unemployment for millions. Alec Stanford, Moral Economics, Solis Press, Bristol, 1999, p. 102

18. Text #1 Stanford (1999) taking the Great Depression as a reference, states that no sum of excess money earned by a minority can make up for the hardship suffered by the majority due to the lack of a job (p. 102).

19. Text #2 Choose A Paraphrase From The Following

20. Text #2 One extremely worrying pattern in modern business and economic life is the spread of reengineering, or downsizing, as it is known. Today's managers seem to think that the idea of a company with as few workers as possible is the only thing to aim for. They use words such as 'efficiency', 'flexibility' and, of course, 'profit'. It seems to me that the only concept in which they are truly interested is the latter: profit. As long as their bank balance is large enough, they do not need to worry about what happens to the workers who are left unemployed by this downsizing.Steven Davis, Trends in Business, Stalwart Press, Manchester, 2000, p. 56

21. Text #2 One extremely worrying pattern in modern business and economic life is the spread of reengineering, or downsizing, as it is known. Today's managers seem to think that the idea of a company with as few workers as possible is the only thing to aim for. They use words such as 'efficiency', 'flexibility' and, of course, 'profit'. It seems to me that the only concept in which they are truly interested is the latter: profit. As long as their bank balance is large enough, they do not need to worry about what happens to the workers who are left unemployed by this downsizing.Steven Davis, Trends in Business, Stalwart Press, Manchester, 2000, p. 56

22. Text #2 Davis (2000) points out that many managers today view staff reduction and profit as their only goals and do not seem to contemplate the human effects of donwsizing (p. 56)

23. Text #3 Choose A Suitable Quotation

24. Text #3 We all know the word 'dinosaur' as it relates to those huge prehistoric animals from Jurassic Park, but in recent years, the term has also been applied to a certain type of economist and business analyst. The type of person I am referring to has his head back in the mid-twentieth century, and talks of outdated concepts, such as full employment and jobs for life. Modern economic conditions and the effects of globalization mean that the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize. because this provides a company with the flexibility to become efficient and to make enough profit to give its workers employment, if not jobs for life. Rudolph Gibson, Downsizing, Caber Publications, Glasgow, 2002, p. 31

25. Text #3 We all know the word 'dinosaur' as it relates to those huge prehistoric animals from Jurassic Park, but in recent years, the term has also been applied to a certain type of economist and business analyst. The type of person I am referring to has his head back in the mid-twentieth century, and talks of outdated concepts, such as full employment and jobs for life. Modern economic conditions and the effects of globalization mean that the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize, because this provides a company with the flexibility to become efficient and to make enough profit to give its workers employment, if not jobs for life. Rudolph Gibson, Downsizing, Caber Publications, Glasgow, 2002, p. 31

26. Text #3 Gibson (2002) claims that “the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize” (p. 31).

27. Is Downsizing Really Necessary? In today’s world downsizing is a necessity in order to maintain a successful business. Gibson (2002) agrees with this when he states, “the only way to run a successful business nowadays is to downsize” (p. 31). If downsizing is undertaken, I feel that this has to be done in a considerate way. Davis (2000) points out that many managers of today view staff reduction and profit as their goals and do not seem to contemplate the human effects of downsizing (p. 56). However, Stanford (1999) taking the Great Depression as a reference, states that no amount of profit in the hands of a few people can compensate for the misery of unemployment for millions (p. 102)