BRITISH: 

Earning money:

-          Traditional: A major sign of Middle class  has been that you do non – manual work

-          Several  decades:  skilled manual ( blue- collar) workers paid more highly than lower grades of white – collar

-          Now :  > ½ workforce does non- manual work & majority describe themselves as working class

(Weaken connection btw class distinctions & types of work)

·          Working day: start 8a.m (manual workers) + start  9a.m (non-manual works) -> 5p.m (+overtime)

·          Normal lunch break   ≤ 1hours

·          retire age: 65 (60 for women)

·          Find work by:   newspaper, local  job centre ( run as government services),privately run employment agencies ( take a commission from employees)

·          Level of Unemployment has gradually risen ; most jobs opportunities are in service sector

·          Heavy industry decrease

-          Less job 4 man, more 4 women ( law against sex discrimination in employment: passed in 1975 )

-          The average fulltime male employee earn more 50% > female

Work organization:

-          CBI ( The confederation of British Industry ):

·          Represent: employers in private industry

·          Give advices to trade unisons & government is quite influential

-          TUC ( The trade Union Congress )

·         Voluntary association of country’s trade unions

·         Represent: employees in all types of business

·         The leader: most powerful in country & consulted by P.M

·         Members: > ½ employed in country

è1979: low restrict its power

-          NUF ( The National Union of Farmers )

·         Represent: agricultural employers & independent farmers

·         Many members, wealthy.

-          Most B. unions connected with particular occupation & belong to labor party.

-          There only 1 union 4 each group of employees (  no 1 4 each political party because it not form along party lines )

-          Unions have local branches called  “ chapels”

The structure of trade & industry

-          “ Modernization” of business & industry happened later in 1960s when large corporations start to dominate and a “management class” begin to emerge

-          1980s: graduate business qualifications become the norm for newly hired managers

-          The decades following World War II: British industry performed poorly, British agriculture successes

-          Economic system: mix of private and public enterprise

·         1945-1980: state had more and more control

·         Since 1980:   “market forces” rules (restrict the freedom of business as little as possible) => state-owned companies turned into companies owned by individuals

·         1988: More shareholders > members of Union in country

Privatization of services = “watchdog” organizations

Finance and investment

-          British: 1 of the wealthiest place in the world. Reasons:

·         The preference for continuity and tradition rather than change

·         The emphasis on personal contacts as opposed to demonstrated ability when deciding who gets important jobs => personal trust

·         Stability and square mile of old City of London (concentrations of Insurance Companies, merchant banks, JS Bank, stockholders)

·         Habit of secrecy of Britain

-          Money: matter of cash in pockets and account in 1 of high street banks

Spending money: shopping

-          British: not very adventurous shoppers

·         Like reliability: buy brand name goods anf prefer price clearly marked

·         High proportion of country’ shops/ branches of chain stores

-          British: not demand art in shop window

-          In last quarter of 20th century: supermarket move out of town (to where have lots o free parking space) => turn into “hypermarkets”  (wider variety of items)

-          In town: local shops concentrated in “high street” (main street) => many are  for pedestrians (phố đi bộ)

·         Specialize/ sell  especially cheap goods(for the poor)

·         Charity shops/ discount stores(selling second-hand items and staffed by volunteers)

·         Always have ≥1 food shop

·         Some small high streets sell more expensive luxury items (even middle class use supermarket, it is not smart and fashionable places to shop)

-          Department stores slow to move out of town => 1 large town/suburb has ≥ 1 high street

ð  Each company run maximum branches in same region

CHAPTER 3: ECONOMY US

READING 1: THE US ECONOMY

FREE ENTERPRISE: Theoretical and historical background

-          The American economy is described as a free enterprise system:

+ Allow private business the freedom to operate for profit with minimum Government regulation.

-          The theoretical foundation of the American economic system -> was provided by Adam Smith:

+ When individuals are allowed to pursue profit freely -> the result is good for all society.

+ Market forces (the invisible hand) control the efficient allocation of goods.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

-          Throughout 19th century: Market forces operated with a minimum of Government intervention.

-          Since 1930: Government regulations has existed in many areas of business.

-          Conservatives => complain of too much government regulation

-          Liberals => more willing to accept Gov’s roles in the economy.

HIGH LIVING STANDARD

-     America is a affluent society (rich, has lost of $...)

-          In 1985: + The average annual  income of American families was $27,700

                    + Only about 14% of the population lived below he official poverty level.

-          60% of the population are in the middle-income or high income ranks.

WORLD’S LEADING PRODUCER

-          The U.S remains the world’s leading producer of goods and services.

-          The US is the world’s leading producer of electrical energy, aluminum, copper, sulphur, paper, gas and automobiles.

-          Industrial and technological production is high. No other nations export as much high technology as the US

-          Technological advancement has accelerated changes in agriculture:

         + Farming is highly mechanized and commercialized.

         + US farmers produce enough food for domestic consumption and supply15% of the world’s food need.

ENTREPRENEURS

-          Have a significant impact on the American economy.

+ In1984: 700,000 small biz were started.

+ Since 1970s:  businessed started by entrepreneurs have provided more employment than larger corporations.

-          1977: Apple Computer Corporation was started and became 1 of the largest computer makers in the Us in 1984.

YUPPIES

-          Americans are known for being highly success-oriented and dedicated to hard work and material success.

-          Yuppies:young upwardly-mobile professional -> describe people between the ages of 25 and 45 who devote themselves to careers and status.

READING 2: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN BUSINESS

THE IDEAL OF COMPETITION

-          Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society.

-          Competition is the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans.

Competition protects the American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work:

- Competition protects the freedom of the individual:

+ By ensuring that there is no monopoly of power.

+ Business is competitive >< Government is a monopoly. Competition is even more important than democracy in preserving freedom.

è“Free Enterprise” is most often used to describe the American business system rather than “Capitalism”

-          Competition strengthens the ideal of equality of opportunity:

+ Americans compare business competition to a race open to all -> everyone can have equal chances to gain success and status.

-          Competition is also seen as encouraging hard work:

+ If 2 business people are competing against each otherm the one who works harder is likely to win.

+ People must develop the habit of hard work in order not to fail.

TWO KIND OF AMERICAN BUSINESS HEROES

  People who are successful in business have sometimes become heroes to American people. 2 kinds of business heroes :

1.The Entrepreneur as heroes:

-          They are the purest kind of business heroes, because of the reasons:

+ They succees in building something great out of nothing.

   # they start with very little money or power and ended up as the heads of huge companies.

   # they were perfect examples of American ideal of equality of opportunity in action.

+ They conduct their business and their lives without taking orders from anyone above them -> Americans have great respect for those who can say “I am my own boss”.

Ex:

 Steve Jobs-started Apple Computer in his garage

Bill Gates-developed Microsoft into a global giant

Ross Petrot; a self-made billionaire who ran for President, risk-taking eutrepreneur still launch their business with high hope of ‘making it big’.

2.The Organization man/ woman as hero:

Huge business organizations established by entrepreneurs needed a new generation of biz leaders to run => the leader are called organixation man / woman.

-          They are role models of success in American society.

-          Do not have a strong hero image as entrepreneur.

-          Example of organization man admired by the public:

Lee Iacocca: + took over the Chrysler coporatio when it was almost bankrupt in 1979

                     + have the loan from Gov, he turn the company around and made it profitable