Minnesota Diversified Industries

Before you read

Discuss the questions:

1. What do you think about affirmative industries?

2. What kind of an organization is a non-profit organization?

Now read the text

Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI) is a national model of an affirmative industry firm. (An affirmative industry is a non-profit organization whose primary goal is to provide employment to people who are handicapped). Over 80 percent of the employees at MDI have social, physical, or mental handicaps. Although MDI is very similar to a business run for profit, there is one major distinction: whereas the for-profit business is primarily concerned with earning profit for investors, the affirmative industry is concerned with providing meaningful employment opportunities to handicapped people who have traditionally been unable to work.

MDI engages in packaging operations, the recycling of returnable containers, and other operations which can be performed by handicapped employees. Because MDI is a nonprofit organization, it must raise capital from donations by government and nongovernmental sources. Aside from the source of capital, the company is competitive in every respect with other business firms. On price, for example, MDI competes in the marketplace with other firms that do not employ handicapped workers. As a result, the employees of MDI must perform productive work in relation to the amount they are paid.

With respect to wages, MDI pays an hourly rate based on the level of production achieved. As a result, some of the severely handicapped employees earn as little as 10 or 25 percent of the minimum wage rate when they are first employed. As the employees are trained and become more productive, their wage rate is increased to reflect improved output. Many employees have equaled or exceeded the minimum wage rate after a period of time with the company. Some employees were originally so severely handicapped they were released from sheltered workshop programs as “untrainable.”

MDI also employs a number of “competitive” workers who do not have handicaps. These competitive workers serve as role models: they help train the handicapped workers and are used to define the 100 percent work pace. All together, 320 handicapped workers and 80 competitive workers are employees at MDI.

The MDI wage rate system is essential to the survival of the company. It allows MDI to control its costs on a competitive basis, and, more importantly, it provides the handicapped worker with a sense of progress and pride as the worker’s productivity improves. One of the goals of the company is to monitor each employee carefully and help him or her to achieve wage improvement during each quarter of the year.

To implement the MDI wage policy, each employee who earns less than the minimum wage is subjected to a time study five times per quarter. Each time study lasts 10 minutes, during which the actual production rate is compared with the employee’s current base rate for pay purposes. On the basis of the five quarterly time studies, the pay rate for the next quarter is set.

The pay rate for every employee is determined in relation to the pay for a competitive worker. Suppose, for example, that on a particular job the competitive worker earns $4 per hour and produces a standard output of 10 pieces per hour. The piece rate for this job is therefore 40¢ per piece produced. If a particular handicapped employee produces 5 pieces per hour, that employee’s pay rate will then be 5x40¢ = $2 per hour.

Reading tasks

A. Understanding main points. Answer these questions:

1. What is the primary goal of affirmative industries?

2. What is the major distinction between MDI and the for-profit business?

3. Which operations can be performed by handicapped employees?

4. Where does MDI raise capital?

5. What is MDI payment based on?

6. Why does MDI employ “competitive” workers?

7. What is done if an employee earns less than the minimum wage?

8. How is pay rate determined?

B. Understanding details. Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text:

1. An affirmative industry firm is for-profit business.

2. 20 percent of the employees at MDI are not handicapped.

3. An hourly rate is based on the level of production achieved.

4. Handicapped employees are trained by “competitive” workers.

5. MDI controls its costs on a competitive basis.

6. Each employee is subjected to a time study five times per quarters.

7. The pay rate for the next quarter is set on the basis of the five quarterly time studies.

Vocabulary tasks

A. Match the words in column A to their opposites in column B:

B. Word search

Replace the underlined items with words and phrases from the text that have a similar meaning:

1. MDI primary goal is to provide work to people who are handicapped.

2. The affirmative industry deals with providing meaningful employment opportunities to handicapped people.

3. Some of the severely handicapped employees get as little as 10 or 25 percent of the minimum wage rate.

4. The MDM wage rate system is important to the survival of the company.

5. It allows MDI to control its expenditures on a competitive basis.

Speaking

Work in groups and discuss the problem of handicapped people.

Unit 29

Family Size and IQ

Before you read. Discuss the question: What family size is the best?

It wasn’t that long ago that nearly everyone came from a large family. Now most couples have just one, two, or three children.

Instead of bemoaning the loss of the large family, psychologists tell us we should be happy it’s gone, for according to studies, large families produce children with lower IQs. Psychologists also point to evidence that keeping a family small may increase the likelihood of having smart children and that a child’s intelligence is affected by where in the birth order he or she was born.

The classic study of family size and IQ was conducted in the Netherlands. It was based on the military examinations of more than 386,000 Dutchmen. Researchers found that the brightest subjects came from the smallest families and had few, if any, brothers and sisters when they were born. Thus, the first-born child in a family of two was usually brighter than the last child in a family of ten.

The effects of family size on intelligence may be explained by what a house full of children does to the home environment. It increases the amount of time a child spends with other children and decreases the amount of parental attention he or she receives. When this happens, and children have limited contact with adults, development of intelligence has been known to suffer.

Reading tasks

A. Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text:

1. In large families children have low IQs.

2. Smart children are born in large families.

3. Child’s intelligence depends on the birth order in the family.

4. If you have no brothers or sisters, you have higher IQ than your could have in a large family.

5. If children have limited contact with adults, their intelligence suffers.

Do you agree or disagree with the statements above?

Vocabulary tasks

A. Use an appropriate form of the words in the box to complete each sentence:

1. Last year they conducted the study of family __________.

2. You should work hard to _________ a large family.

3. Family size ___________ child’s intelligence.

4. A child’s ___________ is affected by the birth order in a family.

5. Parental ____________ is important for the development of a child’s intelligence.

6. Now only few __________ have more than three children.

7. Smart children are born in a ___________ family.

Speaking

A. Complete the dialogue:

– ……………………………………?

– Nearly everyone came from a large family.

– ……………………………………?

– According to studies, large families produce children with lower IQs.

– …………………………………….?

– A child’s intelligence is affected by where in the birth order he or she was born.

– …………………………………….?

– The brightest children have few if any brothers and sisters.

– …………………………………….?

– The first-born child in the family.

Discussion

1. Are you a pessimist or an optimist?

2. Answer these questions for yourself,

Discuss them with other students.

About you. Do you think . . .

1. your life will be similar in the future to what it has been up to now?

a. Yes.

b. No. It will change a lot.

c. No. It will change a little.

2. your standard of living will

a. get better?

b. get worse?

c. stay the same?

3. you will

a. stay in the same job?

b. find a job that really satisfies you?

c. live to work or work to live?

4. Your children will have a

a. better

b. easier

c. more comfortable

d. more dangerous children than you did?

About the world. Do you think…

1. that as we learn more, we are becoming more tolerant of people of different

a. c nationalities?

b. c religions?

c. c colours?

2. Many species of animals will become extinct? Which?

3. We will find new sources of energy that are

a. efficient?

b. cheap?

c. safe?

4. We are becoming

a. wiser?

b. more selfish?

c. more materialistic?

d. more nationalistic?

Unit 30

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 752