Chapter 2

Project planning

Meet the deadline 締切に間に合う

Can you give me an update on Friday?

What’s the deadline for our project?

We have to complete it by June 15.
That’s a little tight. Can we meet that deadline?
Well, we can’t afford to miss it, that’s for sure!

Giving feedback

You did a wonderful job!

Manager: Ms Willis, I’d like to compliment you on your presentation. It was excellent.
褒める
Employee: Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Manager: Jeff, I was impressed with the way you handled the project. You did a wonderful job under
the difficult circumstances. Nice work!
Employee: Thank you, Steve. That’s nice of you to say so.

Manager: I know you’ve spent a lot of time on the plans, Beth, and they look terrific.
素晴らしい
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.献身
Employee: Thanks, Kevin. I enjoyed the challenge.

Manager: I’ve got to hand it to you, Jim. That was a great speech.
---を正当に評価する、---の優秀さを認める
Employee: Thanks for the kind words, George.

Time for some constructive criticism

Manager: You know, I expected a lot more from you on this project.
Employee: I’m sorry. I had some personal problems that affected my work.
Manager: I’m sure you can do a much better job—and that’s what I’d like to see on the next project.

Manager: I know this has been a difficult project. What do you think we can learn from the problems
we’ve had?
Employee: Well, for one thing, I’ve learned that I need to spend a lot more time on the planning
phase.

Manager: I know this project didn’t run as smoothly as you expected it to.
Employee: Well, we all learn from our mistakes. Why don’t we get together next week and discuss
it?

You’ve got mail: a status report

Hi Irene,
Now that we’ve added Mike Jensen to the team, the new project is moving along quite well, and it
looks like we’re back on schedule.

Kenji and I have completed the feasibility study, and so far it looks like implementation of the new
system shouldn’t be a problem. Our report is attached.

We started the risk analysis on Monday, and Kenji has arranged to talk to several of the key
stakeholders later this week. We should have the results of the analysis by the end of next week.
We’d like to meet with you to discuss them early the following week.

Could you let me know a day and time that would be convenient for you?

Chapter 3 Sales performance:

Talking about the competition

Q: What are Maxonic’s labor costs?

A: Maxonic’s labor costs are just under $20/hour.
Q: And their manufacturing costs?
A: Their manufacturing costs are just over $12/unit.

Q: How fast is SysCom growing?

A: SysCom growing is approximately 3%/year.

Q: What percentage of the market have they captured?

A: They have captured around 35% market share.

How do we compare to the competition?

We are growing twice as fast as they are. They are growing half as fast as we are.
Our budget is three times larger than theirs. Their budget is one-third the size of ours.
Our profit margin is 10% greater than theirs. Their profit margin is 10% lower than ours.
We spend twice as much on advertising as they do. They spend half as much on advertising as we
do.

Describing changes and trends

Up, down or no change?

Costs have risen 10% in the last year, but our prices have remained stable.
Sales have slipped this quarter, but we expect them to pick up next quarter.
Demand fell when we stopped advertising on television.

Size and rate of change

Q: How are sales doing?
A: The market has picked up substantially and our sales have gone up sharply.

Q: And profits?
A: There was a slight decrease earlier in the year, but we are projecting a moderate increase by the
end of the year.

Talking about sales and sales performance

Distribution of sales
The majority of our sales come from authorized dealers.
What percentage of sales do exports account for?　---割合を占める
Exports make up 16% of our total sales.
　　　　構成
Discussing ways to improve sales

Some other ways to improve sales:

Reduce prices
Change the packaging
Offer bulk discounting
Improve quality
Decrease production costs
Increases sales commissions

Suggestions and recommendations:

I strongly recommend hiring at least one more sales rep.
We ought to consider manufacturing abroad.
Why don’t we try advertising more aggressively?　–try doing
How about offering customers a free gift with each purchase?
We might try lowering our prices for repeat customers.

You’ve got mail: a purchase order

Dear Mr. Cooper,

I am pleased to inform you that our sales of Tru-Tone products are growing steadily. Because of this,
we would like to increase the quantities of the items included on our purchase order #5375.
As indicated below:

Please confirm that the revised quantities can be delivered by November 21.

Sincerely

Discussing ways to improve sales

Dear Executives,

Over the last three years, our sales performance has been declining. In order to improve our sales
figures, we must do the following:

First, I suggest that we lower our prices. Our competitor’s prices are 20% lower than ours. We
cannot compete with this. Many of our customers are beginning to switch to our competitors.

Second, we should focus on the Chinese market. Only one company has entered the Chinese market
so far. We need to establish a sales office in China and make connections with the local people so we
can understand the market needs.

Regards,

I was looking over our sales figures

P: Hi, Ben! Got a minute?
B: Sure, Peter. Come in.
P: I was just looking over the sales figures, and, I have to say, they don’t look good.
B: I know. It’s competition. And I agree—it’s serious. Peter, we can’t compete with everybody else
who’s doing their manufacturing overseas. Their labor costs are much lower. They can sell here at
prices we just can’t match.
P: The days of doing our own manufacturing here may be over.
B: It’s either that or go out of business.
P: Ok, Ben, let’s say Mr. Turner agrees to outsource our manufacturing. Where do we begin?
B: Well, I’ve made some contacts in China and Korea, and there [fade out] are advantages-----.

Exercise:

Our company manufacture OCTG pipe in Japan and China. We have captured 5% market share in
the world.
Our sales have climbed gradually until Lehman shock. From 2006 to 2007 we invested much capital
to put up factories in Japan and China for maintaining the lower materials which was bought from
Sumitomo Metal.
From 2007 to 2008, our sales increased about 45% to 23 billion yen. On Sep 2008, Lehman brothers
bankrupted, our sales fell rapidly from 2009 because of shrinking of American market.
With the recovery of economy, we begin to talk about how to improve our sales.
Our competitor from China sell lower price in the world. For matching their price, we have to
produce more products in our china factory, the result we can decrease our manufacturing cost. We
might try to offer bulk discounting to our big customers for getting long sales contract.
On the other hand, we maintain the high quality products to top customers by supplying our Japan
premium products which are manufactured by our Japan factory.

Chapter 4 Job interviews

Talking about skills and qualifications

What are your skills?

Interviewer: What are you skills, Ms. Parker?
Ms. Parker: I communicate well. I’m a good leader. I speak four languages. And I can manage large,
complex projects.
Interviewer: Do you have any skills that you aren’t using in your job right now?
Ms. Parker: I know how to fly small airplanes.
Interviewer: That’s impressive—and unusual!

What are your qualifications?

Interviewer: What are your qualifications for your job?
Interviewee: I have a degree in computer science and I’ve worked for several software developers.

Personal qualities
Mary: What are your strengths?
Gary: I’m a hard worker. I’m dependable. And I’m always eager to learn new things.
Mary: Are you flexible?
Gary: I try to be.

Exercise:

What are your skills?

I communicate well, I can speak 3 languages, I can do month closing by myself, I can use Word,
Excel ful I can use oracle

What are your qualifications?

I have a master degree in commerce. I passed nishyo bookkeeping 2nd level,
What are your strengths?
I’m a hard-worker. I’m eager to learn any new things.
I try to reconcile with other colleagues of other departments.

What are your weaknesses?

I always spend much time researching problems, sometime we don’t need to do it.

Why did you leave your last job?

In last job I used the Japanese GAAP, I want to challenge USGAAP in the next job, so I left my last
job.

What are your career goals?

I want to be a professional accountant in the future.

Do you work well on a team?

I’m a team worker. I finish our financial reporting with my colleagues. In our accounting team we
help each other for matching deadline.

You’ve got mail: a reference letter

Dear Ms. Klein,

Thank you for your recent letter requesting a reference for James Bridges.

In my experience, James is a pleasant, friendly person to work with. When he joined us, he had just
graduated from college. At the time, I remember thinking of him as very mature and responsible for
his age.

During the three years James with us, he proved himself to be hard-working and eager to learn. He
was a well-qualified and extremely competent employee. James was liked by all members of the
staff. His colleagues considered him to be very direct, honest and reliable.

I am sure he will be a valuable addition to your staff.

Sincerely,
Frank Nador
Senior Partner, Nador Associates

EDUCATION:  Tokyo International University

Master degree in Business and Commerce 

 

LANGUAGES:  　　　  Chinese – Native                        

Japanese – Fluent

                        English – Intermediate 
 

PROFESSIONAL

QUALIFICATIONS: 

 TOEFL 603
 Japanese Language Proficiency Test 1st degree
 Bookkeeping 2nd grade of Japan
 Learning USCPA

 CAREER HISTORY:  

Apr 2008 – Present  PetroMaterials Co. Ltd 

      Finance & Accounting Dept.

 Finishing consolidate financial statements, including contact

with subsidiaries for understanding inter-company items.
  Using MJS to input the date for finishing the monthly closing,
assisting for finishing quarterly Financial Reporting, meeting
with audit firm (eg E&Y)
 Processing of request for paying expenses submitted by
various departments.
 Preparing the internal control files confirming with J-SOX with
consulter for IPO. For example the flow chart, document and
RCM.
 Performing the routine work as accountant, controlling payable,
receivable, supporting tax and annual statement(B/S, P/L)
 Master cash flow information of company by delaying account
payable and returning account receivable quickly. Payment the
expense monthly correctly for operating.
 As assistant for finishing annual B/S, P/L

Chapter 5 Presentations

Introducing yourself and opening the presentation

Kicking off your presentation

Greet the audience

Say who you are
Say why you are there
Provide background to topic
Say what you will cover
End your opening

The rule of three

Three parts of a presentation:

1. Opening
2. Body
3. Closing

Three objectives:
1. What was
2. What is
3. What will be

Connecting ideas

Our company sales are doing well. Our home sales, on the other hand, are very low.
Beige computers are all right for officers; however, they are not suitable for most homes.
Consumers want computers that meet all their needs. In addition, they expect them to be energy
efficient.
People are not only interest in custom-designed computers, but are also willing to pay more for
them.
We wish to expand our market; therefore, we’ve created new Home Touch line.
We’re offering five exciting colors so that our computers can fit in with most home furnishing
designs.

Making your comments more powerful