Is Life in the Corporate Jungle Really So Bad? - Unit 4

C1 Advanced · Cross Text Multiple Matching · Ready for C1 Advanced 4th Edition Workbook, Macmillan Education

You are going to read four extracts from articles in which business experts discuss positive and negative aspects of working for large corporations. For questions 1–4, choose from the experts A–D. The experts may be chosen more than once.

Cheong Mi-Cha

There has been a lot of negativity recently about the idea of working for a multinational conglomerate, with the stereotypes of huge, airless, open-plan offices, a 24/7 culture where employees are expected to put their careers ahead of their families and their health, and a rat-race mentality where you’re constantly scrambling to the top of the heap by putting your co-workers down. Of course, such unpleasant situations are regrettably far too common, but I would argue that they are no more a feature of corporate culture than any other model of employment, be it subcontractors on zero-hour contracts, fighting for scraps of work, or start-ups that demand 200% commitment without even a hint of job security or long-term career planning. In contrast to those alternative models, corporations offer employees opportunities that are unavailable elsewhere, such as rapid career development, world-class training and support, and a professional system for dealing with discipline and grievance issues.

Richard Daniels

The whole concept of the career ladder, where employees gradually move up a corporate hierarchy as they progress through their careers, is fundamentally flawed. Corporations are organised in pyramid structures, with large numbers of entry-level jobs in open-plan offices and fewer positions as you move up through the ranks. This means that the vast majority of employees have no hope of climbing the ladder, let alone reaching the top and getting their own office. In other words, most corporate careers are almost certainly doomed to fail. Additionally, according to the so-called Peter Principle, people who are excellent at lower-level jobs, such as customer relations, tend to be promoted into higher-level positions, such as project management, where they may be less capable and therefore enjoy their work less. Unfortunately, they then tend to get stuck in those unhappy positions for the rest of their careers, too important to be fired but not good enough to be promoted.

Oriana Delgado

If there is one aspect of corporate life that almost everyone agrees on, it is that the open-plan office seems designed to ensure nobody ever gets any work done. Even if you somehow manage to shut out other people’s phone conversations, water-cooler chats, mouse clicking and keyboard pounding – even their breathing – you still run the risk of colleagues asking for ‘a quick five minutes’ of help, which invariably steals half an hour from your productive workday. However, what most people fail to appreciate is that the alternative, with everybody working behind closed doors, is far worse. Human nature is such that we will do anything to avoid knocking on a closed door to ask for help, with the result that we make needless mistakes and waste valuable time. For over-promoted managers struggling to cope in senior positions, a closed door can also serve as a protective shield to conceal their incompetence, with potentially disastrous results. So instead of cursing those constant interruptions, we should celebrate them as the lifeblood of a successful organisation.

Malthe Kristensen

The real problem with the concept of work-life balance is that we tend to project our own priorities onto other people. For example, many corporate employees proudly clock off at 5 pm sharp, drawing a line between their professional selves and their private lives. They argue this is the only way to stay sane and healthy and to enjoy a fulfilling family and social life. This is all well and good, but there are also plenty who see their career as an integral part of their personal identity and understand the need to invest time and effort into making a go of it, even if it comes at the expense of other aspects of their lives. They also believe that life in a corporation is inherently competitive – that the only thing that can hold them back is the person at the next desk stealing their opportunities. Both types of mindset are equally valid, and in fact, the same person may experience both at different stages of their career.

Which expert expresses a different opinion to Cheong about the rat-race mentality?

Which expert supports Daniels’ opinion about the Peter Principle?

Which expert presents a different view to Delgado on the topic of open-plan offices?

Which expert has a different opinion from the others about whether working for a corporation is generally positive or negative?

Is Life in the Corporate Jungle Really So Bad?

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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