UNIVERSIDAD EAN FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS SOCIALES

ENGLISH FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP IDIOMA EXTRANJERO 6

“Disney in talks to buy Pixar” – workshop

Name: ________________________________________________ Teacher’s name: William F. Rodriguez

1. BUSINESS SALE: You have to negotiate with a CEO1 to buy a famous company. Decide

what company you are going to buy, the reasons you want to buy it and your plans for its future. Talk to the other business buyers in the class about your plans. Give each other advice and warnings.

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2. MIND MAP: Complete this mind map with information you already might know about the

entrepreneur Walt Disney.

3. MERGERS 2: Do you think they would be very successful? What problems might there

be?

Disney and Pixar yes ____ not _____ ________________________________

Boeing and Airbus yes ____ not _____ ________________________________

Toyota and Hyundai yes ____ not _____ ________________________________

Sony and Nintendo yes ____ not ____ ________________________________

McDonalds and Starbucks yes __not ___ ________________________________

Shell and Yukos yes ____ not ___ ________________________________

Chanel and Burberry yes ____ not ___ ________________________________

1 chief executive officer, CEO, the corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm; reports

to a board of directors; may appoint other managers (including a president) 2 merger n [C] the creation of a new company by joining two separate companies: e.g. The merger

between the two biggest supermarket chains will have to be approved by the authorities.

WALT DISNEY

4. LISTENING FILL-IN-GAPS: fill in the gaps with the words you hear from the box.

Disney in talks to buy Pixar

There are widespread 1. ______________ that Apple boss Steve Jobs is in talks to sell the Pixar Animation Studios to Disney. Jobs is also CEO and chairman of Pixar, 2. ______________ movies such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. The 3. ___________ could mean that Jobs would get a seat on the Disney board. Disney wants to keep its 4.

______________ with Jobs, who has raised the level and quality of animation. Pixar is one of the industry’s most 5. _____________ and 6. _____________ companies. Disney and Pixar have worked together for the past twelve years. However, Jobs wanted to 7. __________________ last year and search for a new partner. Mr. Jobs never saw eye to eye with Disney’s former CEO Michael Eisner. The two had a difficult working relationship. A new CEO, Robert Iger, 8. __________________ as Disney boss last October and Pixar-Disney relations are now warmer. Iger has done his best to keep Mr. Jobs happy. To soften Jobs up, Iger allowed Disney TV shows to be made available for download to Apple’s video iPods. He has been successful in continuing the 9. _______________ relationship between the two companies. Jobs is the largest 10. ____________________ in Pixar. His stake is worth around $3.4 billion,

which is set to increase if the latest deal goes through.

5. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article again and decide if these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is also the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios. T / F

b. Disney made the now classic movies Toy Story and Finding Nemo. T / F

c. Pixar and Disney have worked together for twelve years. T / F

d. Disney’s CEO wanted to cut relations between the two companies. T / F

e. A new Disney CEO has improved relations with Pixar. T / F

f. The new CEO made Steve Jobs happy with fast cars and chocolates. T / F

g. Disney’s CEO allowed Steve Jobs to use Disney TV shows on iPods. T / F

h. Steve Jobs’ stake in Pixar is worth around $340 million. T / F

6. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article

a. widespread ___ 1. relations last year

b. makers of classic ___ 2. on the Disney board

c. Jobs would get a seat ___ 3. working relationship

d. one of the industry’s most cutting ___ 4. movies

e. Jobs wanted to cut ___ 5. goes through

f. never saw eye to ___ 6. are now warmer

g. The two had a difficult ___ 7. edge and successful companies

h. Pixar-Disney relations ___ 8. worth around $3.4 billion

i. His stake is ___ 9. reports

j. …if the latest deal ___ 10. eye with Disney’s former CEO

makers of classic relationship successful took over reports shareholder profitable deal

cutting edge cut relations