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A BUSINESS SIMULATION
Integrated Pet Foods, Ltd. 1120 Chateau Dr. Chester , FD19382 800-542-4677

Table of Contents Introduction Objectives Tasks Timing Company profile and Commercial Documents Grids: problems and possible solutions Word-chart Evaluation Letter writing Model letter Telephoning ~Useful phrases Telephoning ~Memo 2 2 2 3 4 5 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Introduction Ms Susan Goldstein (aged 45), managing director of a small company Lick Your Chops Ltd, manufacturers of pet foods. Her staff includes:

John Divine (aged 55), personnel manager and production supervisor for 15 years and your deputy when you are out of the office.
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Barbara Wagoner (aged 30), your general office assistant for two years. She does the orders and the accountancy. Fred Stokes (aged 64), warehouse manager for sixteen years. Retires in a couple of months.

The company employs a total of twenty-five staff, most of whom work in the animal food factory. The others work in the office, or as outside sales staff.

Objectives Take decisions together, communicate with staff members efficiently, solve problems, look up information, write business letters, write memos, talk on a business meeting, present, have a telephone conversation, answer a complaint, skim and scan, write promotional material Its all about writing, reading, listening, speaking, talking with each other.

Task Ms Goldstein has been on holiday in England for the past fortnight and has promised to hold a meeting with her office employees today, Friday February 13th, before leaving on her business trip to France . Look through the documents in her intray and decide what, if any, action to take on each item. Listen to the staffs suggestions and discuss with the staff what you want to do. Prepare details of exactly what you will do with any problems that cannot wait until Ms Goldstein gets back from France . Make a list of four very urgent problems and deal with them straight away.

Timing You get 4 hours of 50 to do your tasks. Hour 1: introduction of the topic (by teacher) explanation of the objectives (by teacher) formation of the groups (by teacher) Look up information on the Internet about types of cats and dogs and cat/dog food and make a word list. Write down the words you dont understand on your Word Chart and look them up. Look up possible information about some disconcerting view on animal food processing practices. Then read the company profile and the advertisement. (p 4) While you work, note all new and interesting words in your Word Chart on page 15. Complete the Word Chart grid by consulting a dictionary.

Hour 2:

Decide who takes which role: 1 managing director (Susan Goldstein), 2 deputy-manager (John Divine), 3 office assistant (Barbara Wagoner), 4 warehouse manager (Fred Stokes). read through all the documents (p 5-13) sit together in your teams and take decisions Fill in the grid on page 14 for each document Make a list of the four most urgent problems on page 14. Do it first for yourself, then discuss your own list with your team members and draw up a list for your team. Next discuss how your company is going to react and fill in the grid on page 14. Decide on what action should be taken and who will take it: e.g. write a letter, simulate a telephone call, simulate a talk between Ms Goldstein and an employee (Sylvia Walker, Ishoa Pinto), write (a) memo(s), make a booking, look up information in the Internet, write an ad for the new promotion folder, start preparing your letters and role plays (simulated conversations) While you work, note all new and interesting words in your Word Chart on page 15. Complete the Word Chart grid by consulting a dictionary.

Hour 3: Continue preparing your tasks Evaluate the way you worked together. Use the evaluation grid on page 16. hand in o your letter (student 1 and 2) o the transcript of your phone conversation (student 1 and 2) o the promotional text of the advertisement campaign for your team (student 3 and 4) o your individual Word Chart (for all)

Hour 4: Student 1 and 2 act out the telephone conversations by heart Student 3 and 4 present the advertisement campaign Not every team will have to do all these tasks. That depends on which four most important problems that you have chosen.

Company Profile
Lick Your Chops is a company deeply committed to the advancement of the nutritional health and wellbeing of dogs and cats. That is why Lick Your Chops pet foods meet the highest standards of quality, nutrition and digestibility. The company was founded on the principles of natural nutrition and grew from an overwhelming love and deep concern for the health and well-being of a Golden Retriever. In 1979, Dr. Robert Goldstein and his wife Susan discovered that their seven-year-old Golden Retriever, Leigh, was suffering from canine hip arthritis. Faced with the painful choice of major invasive surgery or euthanasia, they chose a different path. They stopped feeding Leigh commercial dog foods and placed him on a home-cooked diet of fresh meats, whole grains, vegetables, vitamins and minerals, herbs and pure distilled water. Within six months Leigh's painful symptoms disappeared and Leigh began once again a normal life. Dr. Goldstein began recommending a nutritional approach to many clients of his veterinary hospital and suggested replacing commercial diets with "home cooked" diets. The corresponding improvements in health and vitality were so impressive that they formed a company that could provide more practical versions of these home-cooked diets. That food is LICK YOUR CHOPS.

Commercial
You Eat HealthySo Should Your Pet! Does it really matter what food you feed your pet? How much healthful nutrition is really available in pet food? Is the quality of ingredients important?
Lick Your Chops cat & dog foods contain natural ingredients, plus all the essential vitamins and minerals necessary to provide 100% complete and balanced nutrition. Their products meet or exceed the requirements established by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). All LICK YOUR CHOPS foods are free of wheat, corn, soy, artificial flavours and colours and chemical preservatives. USDA inspected poultry, lamb and beef, brown rice, oils rich with essential fatty acids and minerals. Vitamins (C and E) and spices insure stability. All LICK YOUR CHOPS foods are formulated to provide optimum nutrition for each life stage.

Answer the following questions


o o o o o o o o

Who is in charge of the company? Who founded the company? What was Dr Goldsteins profession? Why did he start the company? What is special about Dr. Goldsteins animal food? What does a healthy diet for a dog look like? What should a healthy diet NOT contain according to Dr Goldstein? Does that diet compare to what you feed your own dog?

Documents from the in-tray Document 1

MEMORANDUM To: From:

Ms Goldstein Barbara

Date: 5 February

The order from Tree of Life is one week behind schedule. They are threatening to cancel the order. At first there was a delay because we were waiting for calcium. But the calcium was delivered already five already days ago and the order still hasnt been run off yet. Ive mentioned the Tree of Life delay to John, but ...
Document 2

Dear Susan, have a look at this note I found pushed under my door last Wednesday morning. Fortunately I found it before anyone else came in. I havent said anything to Ms Walker, I think she would be too upset, but should I call the police? John

Look out, Mrs Goldstein: that Mrs Sylvia Walker is stealing cat food! And did you know she has left her husband and is living with another man? You need to do something about this or things get out of hand!

Document 3
88 Huntoon Memorial Highway Leicester, 67501524 (508) 892-8171 (508) 892-4827 - Fax (800) 643-8130

To Ms S Goldstein Lick Your Chops Ltd 1120 Chateau Dr Chester FD19382 11 February 2005

Dear Ms Goldstein You supplied us with 8,000 Canine puppy packs at 6,06 in 4 lb sulphite paper bags on January 8. We had to put up with complaints from various customers about the quality of the bags. They seem to fall apart after a short while. I tried the bags myself and they seem very badly glued together indeed. I tried to phone you this morning but your secretary said that you were away for some time. I also talked to Mr Divine, but he told me I had to wait until you were back from a journey. I can assure you that we shall never do business with you any more if we do not get an apology and a refund within five days. I also intend to talk about the poor quality of your products to my retailers, unless we get full satisfaction. Yours sincerely MILLBROOK J.M.L.Millbrook jr Managing director

Document 4

Have a look at this order, I cant find an address nor an order form. Do you know who took the order? John
Name: Neshaminy Machine: 9 Quantity: 15,000 Completed: Signed: 10 Samples required Order n: 45a Product: Chicken cuts
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Due before: February 7

Document 5

MEMORANDUM

To:

Ms Goldstein

Date: 26 January

From: Barbara I cant get a straight answer from John on this: are we going to give the kids their trip to the beach again this summer? If so, are we going to use our own cars or can we hire a coach as we discussed last year? I know you will have but little time when you come back, but could you just say yes or no on both things? I must book a coach next week or well be too late!

Document 6

MEMORANDUM To:

Susan John

Date:

From:

Remember the unwanted Canine puppy bags that we advertised last month? A chap called Millbrook bought the whole batch of 8,000. He rang up this morning and was very rude to Barbara and to me. Hes complaining about the bags: apparently they fall apart. But we had told him that they were second choice and that he would have to repack them if he wanted to sell them at retail outlets. I dont reckon we owe him a thing, even when its only a small order. He saw the bags before he bought them. I told him this but he wouldnt accept it. Do you want to do anything about it?
Document 7 Monday Ms Goldstein, could you give your approval to these holiday dates: Frida Arlette: June 19 July 20 Hilary Finch: idem Silla Hunter: idem Ali Said: August 1 August 14 Loreen Jackson: August 5 August 23 Tom Flemming: idem

Ive checked these dates with the ones you approved before and see no problems, except in the packing department which is going to be understaffed next summer. Maybe we should move in Ishoa Pinto from the mills to packing. She said she was sick of her work at the mills. Barbara

Document 8

L. Heath 26 Cumbers Lane Wolston Cheshire UK To Ms S Goldstein 1120 Chateau Dr Chester FD19382 UK

14 January 2005

Dear Ms Goldstein I am a student at Offa Engineering School , studying horticultural and agricultural management. I wonder whether you have any vacancies over the summer. I am looking for a job over the holidays between 15 July and 15 August. I am willing to do anything, especially if its connected to food processing. My father, Kevin Heath, knows you from the St. Davids golf club and told me to get in touch with you. Yours sincerely HEATH Leon Heath

Document 9

Ms Goldstein, Im sorry to inform you that Mrs Walker was late in the cafeteria once more. Which means the cook couldnt start lunch early enough and some of our people had to wait for their lunches. Its not the first time. Everyone blames me for this, but I cant tell her to come in time, she simply doesnt listen to me. Barbara

Document 10

The Manager 1120 Chateau Dr Chester UK 5 February 2005

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Dear Ms Goldstein The classes that came to visit your factory last week were very enthusiastic about their visit. There is even a boy from the 6th form who wishes to write his project work about animal food. Such visits to local companies help young people to prepare for a future career and we are happy to get so much co-operation from industries in our local communities. It was very kind of you to let us see the plant and we were glad that some of your staff showed us how things worked. In particular I would want to express my thanks, and also on behalf of 6F, to Mr John Divine, who gave us so much of his valuable time that afternoon. He even stopped two machines to let our pupils have a go at operating them. I am aware that such things cost a company time and money and wish to say therefore how much we appreciated the warm welcome we were given at Lick Your Chops.

Yours sincerely Neal Geryl headmaster

Document 11

MEMORANDUM To: Ms Goldstein Date: 23 January


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From: John We are in a bit of a crisis here: Kenny misread an order of 3,000 as 30,000. I should have checked that but was too busy with an urgent delivery for Tree of Life. Anyway, we have prepared 27,000 too many DLight low calorie tins for cats for United Natural foods. I havent told anything to them yet as I thought Id better wait for your decision.

Document 12 Susan Can you tell Mr John Divine to hurry up with dispatching the order of United Natural Foods. I havent got enough room for it in our stores, as he is well aware of. Fred Document 13

MEMORANDUM To

: Susan John

Date:

January 30

From:

Our special order for Woburn Abbey is not working out. We tried hard on that order but simply cant get the right flavour nor colour, using natural products only. The orders are due by February 10. What shall we do? Tell them we cant fulfil it?

Document 14

MEMORANDUM To:

Ms Goldstein Barbara

Date:

26 January
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From:

An order for tinned cat food has been over-run. It will mean a big loss if we have to throw the tins away. This is what we could do: a) offer the 27,000 at a large discount to the same customer b) Advertise the lot at a discount c) Store the extra and hope the customer will re-order d) Ask each employee/worker to sell as many tins as they can e) Send the tins as samples to potential customers. Can you O.K. any of these solutions? It seems to upset Fred in the stores!

Document 15

MEMORANDUM To:

Susan John

Date:

20 January

From:

Ishoa Pinto refuses to take her headscarf off at the mill. I think it is against our rules (plastic cap for hygiene) and may be a real safety risk. Any ideas? I would not like to get rid of her as shes a nice girl.

Document 16

MEMORANDUM To: From: Ms Goldstein Date: 2/5


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Barbara

A couple of people have called to ask for dog and cat food for their pets. I thought we didnt do small quantities and said no. But John said we should never turn away customers and wants me to get back to them. Quite honestly, I want to get your agreement first.

Document 17

MEMORANDUM To:

Susan John

Date:

February 5

From:

All through January I had complaints from our distributors that our promotion texts are so boring! We urgently need fresh and appealing copy. In fact they are starting a multi-media promotion campaign next month and need copy before February 15! Whos going to write it?

FILL IN THE GRID problem Doc 1 Doc 2 Doc 3 Doc 4


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kind of problem*

possible solution

Doc 5 Doc 6 Doc 7 Doc 8 Doc 9 Doc 10 Doc 11 Doc 12 Doc 13 Doc 14 Doc 15 Doc 16 Doc 17
* kind of problem: production, personnel, sales, administration, marketing, safety, security

NOW DECIDE ABOUT URGENCY AND WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO.
The four most urgent problems What are you going to do? Who of you is going to do it? Time needed for this task

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Possible actions: write a letter (e.g. answer to a complaint) - simulate a telephone call - simulate a talk between Ms Goldstein and an employee like Sylvia Walker, John Divine, Ishoa Pinto - write a number of memos, using the stationery on page 16 - make a booking - look up information in the Internet - write an ad for the new promotion folder -

NAME:.............................................................................................CLASS:...............................

MAKE A LIST OF WORDS EACH IN CONNECTION WITH FOOD AND ANIMALS. COMPARE YOUR LISTS.

WORD CHART
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word

sentence/chunk

translation

related words

preservative This margarine is full of artificial preservatives.

bewaarmiddel additive , flavouring

EVALUATION PEER WORK

HOW DID I WORK IN THIS GROUP?


Instructions: Work individually and complete the form below. The task: Read each statement below and tick the right score.
5. yes a lot 4. yes, quite a lot, but I could have done more 3. a reasonable amount 2. a bit
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1. not much really 0. not at all

Statements 0 1

SCORES 2 3 4 5

I contributed a lot in this activity. I listened to everyone in my group. I encouraged other group members to participate (by asking questions, etc.) I encouraged people to use English. I felt comfortable and accepted in my group. I asked for explanations when I didnt understand. I explained things to someone else who didnt understand. I contributed to finding a solution for the companys problems. I learned new things by participating in this group activity. I enjoy working in small groups on activities like this. A. Now look back at the statements where you scored yourself with a 3 or less. How could you improve your group skills the next time you work in a group? Write 3 ideas here (e.g. I could encourage other people to participate more, I could have thought of more realistic solutions). (a)

(b)

(c)

Letter writing
Here are some guidelines and a model letter:
Letterhead: it gives all relevant information about your company: its name, its line of business, its address, telephone/mail numbers and addresses, registration number, URL, etc. Reference: in many business letters the following indications are preprinted: Our ref:. and Your ref:. These are followed by a code or combination of digits and letters which makes filing of the letter easy. Date: the date is written on the left side of your stationery like this: 8th July 2006 or 8 July 2006 . Do not write 8/7/06 ! Abbreviate like this: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 15th 21st. Write the months with a capital! The address of the addressee: it has the name and address of the person you are writing to: Mr P Barcley, Ms L Landrieu + name of the company + number and street + name of town + name of county/state and postal code or zipcode + name of the country ( UK ). Salutation: Dear Madam, dear Sir or, if possible, use a name: Dear Ms Goldstein. Use no punctuation except a comma after Dear Madam, Subject line: is optional. It allows the reader or letter sorter to know what the letter is about, which can save time. Subject: your order for 35 bikes. Body: the letter body is a short as possible. Use a blank line between paragraphs. Start writing from the left margin (block style). Complimentary close: a short line which sounds like: Yours faithfully when you started with Dear Madam, dear Sir and Yours sincerely when you started with Dear Mr Divine. Americans often end with Yours truly. Signature. Your letter has no legal value without a signature or when the date is missing. When you sign for someone else, write p.p. in front of your signature (pro persona). Name and function in the company. Add CC (carbon copy) + the name of some other addressee who received a copy of your letter. Add encl. + a document which you enclosed. For instance: CC.: the personnel manager Encl.: invoice

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MODEL

Banks Cargill Agriculture Ltd. Witham St. Hughs, Lincoln , LN6 9TN Tel: 01522 556100 Fax: 01522 868244

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Our ref: CV456 3rd May 2005 Boston Morgan Building New Jersey Boulevard Boston 4567AZ U.S.A.

Dear Madam, dear Sir We are a company producing and selling pet foods and are interested in your 2006 range of products. Could you send us your catalogue and price list for 2006?

Please let us know your terms of payment and what quantity discounts you can offer.

Yours faithfully WHITE T. White Personal Manager Cargill

Telephoning ~Useful phrases


Some basic functions:
The caller says: Hello, this is .. Fred here. I'm Susan Goldstein. My name is John Divine. Inquiries Can I speak to Ms Goldstein, please ? Hello, is Lynn there, by any chance ? Could you put me through to the Marketing Department ? When could I reach him ? Taking leave Thank you. Goodbye. The person called says: 4565476 An Hyp. Good Morning. Barbara Wagoner, can I help you ? Answers Hang on a moment. I'll try to reach him. Hold on a minute. I'll put you through. Hold the line please. I'm afraid I can't reach him now. Appointments I'll just check my appointment book. When would be convenient for you? Sorry, I've got something scheduled then. Could we arrange something else? Could you send me confirmation of the appointment? Shall we say Wednesday at 3 o'clock ? Would it be possible to postpone our meeting? Things are going smoothly, so we can meet as arranged. Answering complaints Apologies We are sorry that you have entered a complaint against us but we would like point out that ... I regret to hear that you were dissatisfied with ... I must admit that your order has not been carried out according to the contract. I want to apologize concerning... Please be sure that we do our best. Explaining The deficiency was caused by ... This problem was partly due to ... Refusing I can't see how I could allow a refund. You should understand that ... Please understand that... I'm sorry, but we can't take account of your demand for a refund, because.. I'm sorry, but we haven't been able to find another hotel for you.
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Complaints Polite I'm afraid I have a complaint to make. Excuse me, but didn't we order chicken? Sorry to bother you, but there doesn't seem... Look, I'm sorry to trouble you again, but... I hope I'm not disturbing you, but... We're sorry to have to say this, but ... Blunt Why didn't you tell us? Dont you realize that you're asking too much? What do you think you are doing? You've no right to do that!

Telephoning ~ Memo
The following memo could be used by the student who acts out the receptionist during the telephone simulation.

. MEMORANDUM
Date Time

Natural Animal Foods

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To

Caller details

Action necessary

Name

- send brochure

Company - send quotation Address - call back

Caller's number Fax number

Reason of the call

Message

From

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