You’ll often hear sailing idioms used in business discussions. A company is compared to a ship and employees are the ship’s crew.
In the last episode, two colleagues named Lakisha and Warren were talking about the decline of Trussock’s, an engineering firm. They felt that Trussock’s problems were caused by the new CEO’s poor management. It seemed he had no concrete business plan and employees were confused and very unhappy. Today, Lakisha and Warren discuss ways that Trussock’s could become a viable, or successful, company again.
Listening Questions
1) What does Lakisha think should happen with Trussock’s management?
2) How might Trussock’s employees help the company’s situation?
In this Business English Pod episode, we’re going to look at how business idioms related to ships and sailing can be used to describe company performance.
The image of a ship is a powerful one in business. The ship is like a company – a huge entity that must be steered toward success, maintained properly, and carefully guided away from dangers like storms and rocks. Employees are often seen as a crew of sailors, a group that must work together as a team. So sailing idioms frequently appear when we discuss business in English.
Today’s episode starts a two-part series on sailing idioms. Lakisha and Warren are two colleagues discussing the decline of Trussock’s, an engineering firm that has been faltering since a new CEO took over.
Listening Questions
1) What are the major differences between Trussock’s old CEO and the new CEO?
2) What do Lakisha and Warren think will help change the situation at Trussock’s?
For the final lesson in our two-part business English vocabulary series on financial English vocabulary related to bankruptcy, we’re going to look at General Motor’s impending Chapter 11 filing. A bankruptcy filing by GM would rank as the third-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.