1. Lesson 1 Intermediate Mario Santiago Business English IV Present Simple and Continuous

3. Company Structure As you know each company has its own way to organize its staff structure. For some of them the secret of their success relies in a steep hierarchy where managers and employees work together under a series of well-known standardised processes. In the one hand, they provide a feeling of continuity and stability for both customers and shareholders. On the other hand, however, there are companies where flexibility is the rule. There are no strict dressing codes, working schedules can shift from one month to the other, and even the presence of steep hierarchical structures is not so evident. Which one is the best? What advantages can they provide not only to their employees but to the customers? Let’s read a brief article that deals with hierarchies in Japan: Lesson 1

4. Grammar section As you know the English language has two types of present: Present simple and continuous. Each one of them is going to be used in very specific situations. Look at the following sentences and try to infer their rules: Present simple. a) Corporate culture brings new developments every year . b) Corruption and bureaucracy affect 95 per cent of the economy. c) Tangible assets are an important part in your business. Present continuous. a) At the moment the HR department is recruiting people with MBA’s b) They are setting up a new office in Boston c) Both entities are merging into a new company that will star operations next month. Company Structure Lesson 1

5. Present simple and Continuous. If you noticed, the present simple has the following rules: a) It is used to express regular and general processes. The CEO of the company gives a presentation every month. b) It is used to express facts that will not change. By far, the USA is the richest country in North America. c) It is used with some of these key words: A week, a month, always, never, sometimes, usually, rarely, ever. The present continuous has the following rules: a) It is used to talk about things that are happening at the moment. We are selling an average of 50,000 units. b) It is used to talk about temporary situations. This week they are changing their operating system. c) It can be used to talk about future situations. Next month my boss is taking all of us for a training session. Lesson 1