Pre-reading questions:
- What do you think CEOs or corporate leaders do?
- How frequent do you see your boss at work?
- Have you experience doubting your corporate leader?
Edelman, a PR Firm from the US, reveals a survey about the public’s trust in corporate leaders. Among the 28 countries covered, Japan ranked last, revealing only 18% in the Trust Barometer survey. People in industrialized countries are more doubtful with their CEOs since greater economy usually leads to manpower reduction.
Edelman Japan noted that the Japanese society are in doubt because they usually have low chances of seeing what a corporate leader thinks or does. CEOs like Carlos Ghosn of Nissan Motor and Oscar Munoz of United Airlines frequently visit their offices and front line employees which resulted to improved productivity. If rank and file employees are doubtful with their corporate leaders, necessary reforms would be difficult to implement.
Vocabulary:
barometer – anything used as an indicator
industrialized – developed
front line – the site of interaction for customers
rank and file – ordinary workers in an organization
implement – conduct
Comprehension Questions:
- What does Edelman do?
- What was Japan’s rank among the countries covered by the Trust Barometer survey?
- Why are people from industrialized countries doubtful with their CEOs?
- Why were Carlos Ghosn and Oscar Munoz seen as role models?
- What will possibly happen in a workplace with doubtful rank and file employees?
Express Your Opinion:
- How much do you trust your co-workers?
- In your opinion, why does manpower reduction happen when economy rises?
- Do you think rank and file employees are more productive when the CEO is present at work? Please explain your answer.