Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 360, A Management Dispute.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 360.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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Every word we say.
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This episode is called A Management Dispute.
A dispute is a disagreement.
We're going to listen to a dialogue between Jeannie and Salih about a problem at their company, at their work, regarding the management or the people who are the bosses.
Let's get started.
Have you heard about the new management dispute?
No.
What's happening?
Well, the CEO is having problems with the head of one of the subsidiaries.
Which one?
Lance Publishing.
Apparently the head, Bill Riker, is saying that he and the CEO differ too much in their business philosophy and they can't agree on a future direction for the company.
I hope so, too.
This company can't afford to have another high-level departure.
We've lost so many good people already this past year.
We've had a lot of bad press, that's for sure.
It doesn't matter that our employment contracts have confidentiality agreements.
When somebody is disgruntled, they talk.
And they talk loudly and to whomever will listen.
You've got that right.
I just hope none of us gets caught in the crossfire.
I deal with people at Lance Publishing every week.
I'm with you.
I'm keeping a low profile and hoping that the whole thing will blow over soon.
What the CEO and the head of Lance Publishing need is a good mediator who can find some way for two incompatible personalities to meet in the middle.
Quite frankly, knowing the people involved I think it has a snowball's chance in hell.
Jeannie begins our conversation by saying to Salih have you heard about the new management dispute, the new disagreement among the leaders of our company?
Salih said, no, what's happening?
Jeanne says well, the CEO, the chief executive officer, one of the highest people in the company, is having problems with the head of one of the subsidiaries.
The head would be the leader, the boss.
A subsidiary is a company that is owned by a larger company.
So one company buys another company.
That smaller company is called the subsidiary.
Salih asks, which one, meaning which subsidiary?
Jeannie says, Lance Publishing.
Apparently the head, Bill Riker, is saying that he and the CEO differ too much In their business philosophy.
To differ means to disagree.
We differ about who will win the election this year.
We have different opinions.
Business philosophy here just means your idea about how a business should operate, how it should be managed, how it should be run.
Salih says, I really hope they can settle their dispute soon.
To settle means to solve in this case, to resolve, to bring an end to a problem.
There are several meanings of that word settle.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
So Lee says, it doesn't do anybody any good to have so much hostility in the office.
Hostility is feelings of anger when you are unfriendly to another person.
There is an adjective, hostile.
H-O-S-T-I-L-E means you are angry or you don't like another person and you're unfriendly to them.
Sully wants less hostility in the office.
Jeannie says, I hope so, too.
This company can't afford to have another high-level departure.
Departure comes from the verb to depart, which means to leave.
When you go to an airport in the United States, you will see a sign that says arrivals and another sign that says departures.
Departures are the planes that are leaving.
Arrivals are those that are coming to or arriving to the airport.
What Jeanne is talking about here is arrivals. that one of the bosses will leave, they will depart.
Jeannie doesn't want another high-level or important person departing from the company.
She says, we've lost so many good people already this year.
Sali says, we've had a lot of bad press, that's for sure.
Press refers to, in this case...
What other people are saying or writing about you in the newspaper, in a magazine, on television or on the radio?
That's generally called the press.
So bad press is bad publicity, bad stories, or negative news about your company.
Solis says it doesn't matter that our employment contracts have confidentiality agreements.
The employment contracts are the agreements that they sign when they become employees of the company.
A confidentiality agreement is a legal contract that is between an employer and the company and an employee the person working for the company in which the employee agrees that he or she will not give any secret information that they learn while working at the company to someone else.
So they're saying, I won't tell anyone about your secrets.
I'm just kidding.
We have no secrets here.
Trust me.
Salih says, Salih is saying that although all of the employees sign a confidentiality agreement, when someone is disgruntled, meaning when someone is upset or unhappy, they will talk to other people even though they are not supposed to.
They'll talk loudly so other people can hear them, and to whomever will listen, to anyone who will listen to their story.
Jeannie says, you've got that right, which is a slightly informal way of saying you are correct.
I just hope none of us gets caught in the crossfire.
To get caught in the crossfire means to become involved in a situation where there are two or more people arguing or fighting about something that doesn't really concern you.
You are not someone who is directly involved, but because you are somehow in between these two people, you are involved first.
I deal with people at Lance Publishing every week, Jeannie says.
So she's afraid that she will get caught in the crossfire.
Salih says, I'm with you.
Again, a slightly informal way of saying, I agree with you.
I'm with you.
I'm keeping a low profile and hoping that the whole thing will blow over soon.
The expression to keep a low profile.
P-R-O-F-I-L-E means to remain quiet and do your job without drawing or attracting attention to yourself.
In other words, you don't want people to notice you.
You want to keep a low profile.
Don't do anything that would make other people know that you are there or notice what you are doing.
Salih wants to keep a low profile and because he hopes that the whole thing, this situation, will blow over soon.
To blow over is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to end quietly so that people can continue working as they were before.
To pass to no longer exist.
To blow over has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Salih says is a person whose job it is to end a fight or a disagreement between two people or two organizations.
Sometimes, when two groups cannot agree to something, they will ask a third person, a mediator, to come in between them and help negotiate or find a solution for their problem or disagreement.
Salih hopes that they can find a good mediator who can find some way for two incompatible personalities to meet in the middle.
If you are incompatible you are not compatible.
To be compatible means that you can get along with someone, that you and that person have similar ways of thinking or similar personalities.
To be incompatible means that you can't get along with each other.
Sometimes people will say they're getting a divorce because they are incompatible with their wife or husband.
That happens here in Los Angeles every day.
To meet in the middle means to compromise, to reach an agreement, where each person gives up something that he or she wanted in order to to come to an agreement on something.
For example, if I say, I will sell you my car for $1,000.
It's an old car.
And you say, I'll give you $500.
I say, okay, well, let's meet in the middle of $750.
We both had to do something different than our original position in order to come to an agreement.
Jeannie then asks what the chances are of that happening.
How possible is that?
Salih says, quite frankly, meaning honestly.
Knowing the people involved, since I know who the two people are, and considering that fact, I think it has a snowball's chance in hell.
This is an old expression.
Snowballs are round balls made out of snow, which of course is cold.
Hell is a place, in the Christian religion at least, where you go if you are evil, where your soul will go if you are bad in this world, after you die.
You can either go to heaven, which is a wonderful place, or hell, which is a terrible place.
Traditionally, hell has been represented as being a place where there is fire, where it's very hot.
So if someone says this has a snowball's chance in hell, they mean that it is very unlikely.
It is very improbable because a snowball, which is cold, would not survive in a hot place like hell.
Or Phoenix, Arizona in the summertime, which is very similar.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Which one?
Lance Publishing.
Apparently the head, Bill Riker, is saying that he and the CEO differ too much in their business philosophy and they can't agree on a future direction for the company.
I really hope they can settle this dispute soon.
It doesn't do anybody any good to have so much hostility in the office.
I hope so, too.
This company can't afford to have another high-level departure.
We've lost so many good people already this past year.
We've had a lot of bad press, that's for sure.
It doesn't matter that our employment contracts have confidentiality agreements.
When somebody is disgruntled, they talk, and they talk loudly and to whomever will listen.
I'm with you.
I'm keeping a low profile and hoping the whole thing will blow over soon.
What the CEO and the head of Lance Publishing need is a good mediator who can find some way for two incompatible personalities to meet in the middle.
What do you think the chances are of that happening?
Quite frankly, knowing the people involved, I think it has a snowball's chance in hell.
The script for this episode was written by the never disgruntled, never hostile Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
