U.S. Culture Through Media

U.S. Culture Through Media

Business Module By Tracy Schall

This page has been created for teachers to serve as a resource for introducing American business culture to high-intermediate or advanced ESL students through a variety of different media and topics.

Detailed lesson plans are not a part of this page. Instead, this page is intended for use as a source of reading and writing lesson ideas and the materials needed to implement the ideas.

General applications of materials for teachers. You can scroll down the page or click on a link and go directly to the topic:

Corporate Culture	Women in Business	Business Movies
Cross-Cultural Communication in U.S. Business	Facets of U.S. Business	Business Focused Writing Activities

Business English Links for ESL My webpage for ESL teachers and students of Business English.

Corporate Culture

Corporate Culture An overview of corporate culture using Hewlett-Packard and

Southwest Airlines as examples. A good article to start with for defining corporate culture.

What is a Global Corporate Culture? As opposed to a domestic corporate culture.

Microsoft Corporation See what Bill Gates has to say about how to run a company.

Ben and Jerry's The ice cream kings' idea of how a company should be run.

Coca-Cola The world's largest and most popular soft drink company describes its corporate culture.

Papa John's Pizza The vision of the young entrepreneur who went up against Pizza Hut and Dominos to establish his name in the pizza business. Make sure you also look at the company's core values.

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Cross-Cultural Communication in U.S. Business

Decoding Body Language The four basic modes of body language in business.

For the chart, click here.

Cross-Cultural Communication for Business and Industry From Rob Sellin and Elaine Winters.

Cross-cultural Communication Challenges A short cybertext by Marcelle DuPraw
and Marya Axner which examines six fundamental patterns of cultural differences with guidelines on how to work with people of a different culture.

Mock Job Interview From the Kaplan Educational Center. A fun and interactive activity for
students who want to practice answering job interview questions.

Business Meeting Quiz A quiz by Michael Vallance designed to test student's knowledge of
what to say at business meetings.

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Women in Business

The Glass Ceiling Brought to you by Cornell University. A collection of papers published by the Glass Ceiling Commission which defines the glass ceiling, identifies the artificial barriers that constitute the glass ceiling, and examines a number of companies that have demonstrated acclaimed programs for eliminating the glass ceiling. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to access these documents.

Women's Work An online business magazine devoted exclusively to the concerns of women in the workplace. The title of this magazine is a good example of sexist expressions used relative to women in the workplace.

Women's Wire An online magazine focusing on women starting small businesses.

Women.com Scroll down to the News and Features area for essays on topics that concern today's women in the workplace.

The 50 most powerful women in business By Fortune Magazine. After reading the short introduction, go to the Part 1 link for an informative article on the growing impact of women in the business world.

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Facets of U.S. Business

Nike's Responsibility Web Site This is a part of Nike's corporate web site that focuses on their global social responsibilities: environmental practices, labor practices, recycling programs and their support of sports programs in schools. A good site for explaining how U.S. corporations are sensitive to pressure from the public concerning their business practices.

How to Make a Small Fortune in Software By Bill Gates. One of the original entrepreneurs of the computer industry writes about how anybody can be a success in business.

The American Dream How Sam Walton accomplished his dream through founding his Wal-Mart discount stores.

The following articles are from the archives of Fast Company Magazine, a free, online business magazine.

What is Great Service? From October, '97. A good article for introducing the idea of the U.S. as a service driven economy.

Money and the Meaning of Life From June '97 This is setup as a question/answer format and focuses on material wealth aspect of U.S. culture. "Money is like a mirror to our culture. What we see tells us who we are."

Hire Great People Fast From August '97 A good article for conveying business attitudes and the competitive spirit of employment in the business world.

Fortune Magazine

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Business Movies

Wall Street "Stone's target is the value system that places profits and wealth and the Deal above any other consideration. His film is an attack on an atmosphere of financial competitiveness so ferocious that ethics are simply irrelevant..."

Working Girl "The problem with working your way up the ladder of life is that sometimes you can't get there from here. People look at you and make a judgment call, and then, try as you might, you're only spinning your wheels. "Working Girl" is about a young woman who very definitely wants to make money in mergers..."

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Business Focused Writing Activities

Business Sayings and Proverbs

Resume Writing An entire page of links from the Kaplan Educational Center on the elements of a good resume and how to write an effective resume. Includes sample cover letters and resumes.

Describing a Product How to write an effective product or service description.

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