Hello again, really long time no see! You might not know but I started my PhD in September, 2021, so I've been bogged down by it ever since. But I didn't want to leave this place hauntingly empty for such a long time, so here's a quick business task out of nothing that you could try using in your business lessons! Tell me what you think!
1. Lead-in discussion
My group has just started talking about risk in business. The book we're using is actually Business Result Advanced 2nd edition, and this is unit 4, but you don't need a book at all for setting up this task. You can simply ask your students three questions:
Do you consider yourself a risk-taker?
What was the riskiest decision you have made in your working life?
[pre-teach the word "reckless" at this point] Think about the most well-known business owners nowadays. Do you think they are just simply risk-takers or are they actually reckless? Can you build a successful business if you're a reckless person?
So far, they have learned some new expressions and collocations: take a risk, a risk-taker, make a decision, reckless
2. More vocabulary
Now give your students a small research task. Let them learn some more words for risk-taker and risk-averse people by guessing their meaning from context with the help of https://sentence.yourdictionary.com/
bold -- rash -- sensible -- cautious -- foolhardy -- risk-averse -- careful -- prudent -- imprudent -- brave
After they have checked the meaning of these words, let them explain the meaning to each other with the help of a situation. Then, together you can draw up a scale from one extreme to the other. There can be different solutions but the more discussion you have over meaning nuances the better.
I would suggest the following scale (but it's only based on my feelings):
risk-averse >> cautious >> careful >> sensible >> prudent >> brave >> bold >> imprudent >> foolhardy
3. Task - setup
Tell your students that they're going to be angel investors (definition). Show them this cool website where they can find real, authentic startups which are campaigning for investments: https://investors.seedblink.com/?lang=en
4. Task - research
Each student (or they can work in small groups as well) receives/chooses one company. They should familiarise themselves with the profile of the company, the financials they have and the opportunities they can offer to their investors. They should check the company profiles so that they can become representatives for these companies (notes can be taken on a Jamboard slide). They should also decide how much money they would like to ask for from the available 11.000 euros.
5. Task - execution
Tell your students that they are going to take part in an investors' board meeting. The goal is to invest 11.000 euros. First, they should introduce their company and name their request. Then, after all companies have been introduced, they should agree together how they wish to use the available money. They can invest in only one company or in several. The minimum investment amount is 2.500 euros.
Encourage them to use the previously learned expressions (risky, bold, prudent etc.) to rate each other's suggestions. You can also put up some expressions that they can use during the meeting.
Aim for consensus and have fun!
You can access the Jamboard from here: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1UcEo5WK7DvhkpCC6e8E5gIy702t1mKKz3i2F1sUeCoI/edit?usp=sharing