第96回 WORKSHOP報告(1月10日) / 参加者74名

第96回 WORKSHOP報告(1月10日) / 参加者74名

1

(1:さあこれからworkshopが始まります!)

 

 

2

 

(2:新人の方の自己紹介の時間です)

 

 

 

3

(3:自己紹介が続いています)

 

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《 今回のworkshop 》

 

○workshop参加人数:74名(うち新人の方:13名)

 

○【前半】:「上司との関係に深刻な問題を抱えたらどうしますか?」というテーマでディスカッション

 

○【後半】:” Black Friday and Shopping Habits “をテーマとしたディスカッション

 

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<英語サークル E’s club 第96回workshopのご案内>

 

明けましておめでとうございます。E’s club幹事のKです。

2015年もE’s clubをよろしくお願いいたします。

1月10日(土)開催の第96回workshopの詳細をお送りいたします。

 

[今週のマテリアル]

<FIRST HALF>

幹事のKです。

前半はMさんにマテリアルをご作成いただきました。

「上司との関係に深刻な問題を抱えたらどうしますか?」というテーマでディスカッションしていただきます。

みなさんのなかにも職場の上司との関係がうまくいかない経験がおありの方がいらっしゃるかと思います。

今回はMさんが置かれている状況を手掛かりとしながら、上司との付き合い方について一緒に考えてゆきましょう。

 

What would you do when you are in serious trouble with your superior?

 

It has been than one year since I transferred from sales department to HR(Human Resource) department. But I’m still in the trouble with my superior.

 

In fact I’ve worked in the company for almost 6 years and I’ve overcome some difficulties with other superiors during the time.

But I think this is the first time I suffered from this kind of problem so long time!

 

To make matters worse, I think the situation is going from bad to worse and I still can’t find any solutions for that.

 

So, today I want to discuss this topic and to find the best solution with you.

 

1)Have you ever experienced this kind of problem(serious trouble with your superior)?

 

If yes,

Please tell your story and the solution for the problem to your group members.

 

If no,

What would you do if you were in a similar situation?

(use the most difficult situation which your group members have experienced.)

 

2)In my case, my present superior is a woman.

Have you ever had female superiors?

Do you agree with the opinion that female superior is more difficult to deal with than male superior?

 

3)Now I start to think that I must spend my holidays for my job to solve the problem.

Do you think it is good to devote your private time to solve the problem on your job?

 

Which do you give priority to your job or to your private life?

 

Do you think a change in your private life effects a change in your job?

(If you were married, if you have a child, if your spouse got severe illness like cancer …etc.)

 

<LATTER HALF>

<Black Friday and Shopping Habits>

 

<「Black Fridayとは何か」に関する説明>

https://blackfriday.com/pages/black-friday-history

 

Black Friday History

 

For millions of people Black Friday is the time to do some serious Christmas shopping –even before the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone! Black Black is the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it’s one of the major shopping days of the year in the United States -falling anywhere between November 23 and 29. While it’s not recognized as an official US holiday, many employees have the day off -except those working in retail.

 

The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.

 

In the 1960’s, police in Philadelphia griped about the congested streets, clogged with motorists and pedestrians, calling it “Black Friday.” In a non-retail sense, it also describes a financial crisis of 1869: a stock market catastrophe set off by gold spectators who tried and failed to corner the gold market, causing the market to collapse and stocks to plummet.

 

Why did it become so popular?

 

As retailers began to realize they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last minute Christmas sales. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped for items are electronics and popular toys, as these may be the most drastically discounted. However, prices are slashed on everything from home furnishings to apparel.

 

Black Friday is a long day, with many retailers opening up at 5 am or even earlier to hordes of people waiting anxiously outside the windows. There are numerous doorbuster deals and loss leaders – prices so low the store may not make a profit – to entice shoppers. Most large retailers post their Black Friday ad scans, coupons and offers online beforehand to give consumers time to find out about sales and plan their purchases. Other companies take a different approach, waiting until the last possible moment to release their Black Friday ads, hoping to create a buzz and keep customers eagerly checking back for an announcement.

 

More and more, consumers are choosing to shop online, not wanting to wait outside in the early morning chill with a crush of other shoppers or battle over the last most-wanted item. Often, many people show up for a small number of limited-time “door-buster” deals, such as large flat-screen televisions or laptops for a few hundred dollars. Since these coveted items sell out quickly, quite a few shoppers leave the store empty handed. The benefit of online shopping is that you will know right away if the MP3 player you want is out of stock, and can easily find another one without having to travel from store to store. Also, many online retailers have pre-Black Friday or special Thanksgiving sales, so you may not even have to wait until the big day to save. So, there you have it – the Black Friday history behind the best shopping day of the year!

 

 

<Early bird backlash! Thanksgiving store opening hours spark fury among employees and shoppers>

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2851919/Early-bird-backlash-Thanksgiving-store-opening-hours-spark-fury-employees-shoppers.html#ixzz3KLBfuwFf

 

Early bird backlash! Thanksgiving store opening hours spark fury among employees and shoppers

・Target, Macy’s, Staples and J.C. Penney are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday than last year

・GameStop, Costco and Ikea, have said they won’t open because they want their workers to enjoy the holiday with their families

・There are currently 71 petitions on Change.org that call for retailers and consumers to change their approach to Black Friday

・The ‘Say No To Shopping on Thanksgiving’ Facebook page has nearly 65,000 likes, while ‘Boycott Black Thursday’ has more than 114,000

 

By Associated Press and Alexandra Klausner for MailOnline

Published: 15:34 GMT, 27 November 2014  | Updated: 04:44 GMT, 28 November 2014

 

Millions of Americans are expected to head to the stores for holiday gift shopping on Thanksgiving in what’s quickly becoming a new holiday tradition.

 

And it’s one that’s sparked some backlash among shoppers and employees who believe Thanksgiving should be a time to spend with family.

 

Just a few years ago when a few stores started opened late on the holiday, the move was met with resistance from workers and shoppers who believed the day should be sacred.

 

Last year, more than dozen major retailers opened at some point on Thanksgiving evening. And this year, at least half of them – including Target, Macy’s, Staples and J.C. Penney – are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday.

 

Single mom Lisa Cappiello will need to leave her family early on the holiday to get to Macy’s at 6 p.m. and she’s not especially looking forward to it but will work because she needs the money.

 

‘I would’ve though 8 o’clock. Never in a million years would I have thought 6 o’clock,’ Cappiello told CBS.

 

‘People choose to go in for Thanksgiving because they’re offering you time and a half to come in, and if you need the money, you’re going to take it,’ Cappiello added.

 

Stores have received widespread backlash for deciding to on the coveted national holiday.

 

CNN reports that there are currently 71 petitions on Change.org that call for retailers and consumers to change their approach to Black Friday.

 

The  ‘Say No To Shopping on Thanksgiving’ Facebook page has nearly 65,000 likes, while ‘Boycott Black Thursday’ has more than 114,000.

 

The Thanksgiving openings are one way retailers are trying to compete for Americans’ holiday dollars. Used to be that the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, was when they’d focus their sales promotions. But increasingly, they’ve been pushing those promotions earlier on Friday – and eventually into the holiday itself – to grab deal-hungry shoppers’ attention.

 

Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 70,000 stores globally, is expecting a sales increase of 3 percent to 5 percent to $2.57 billion to $2.62 billion on Thanksgiving. Last year’s figure grew two-fold from the year before.

 

The National Retail Federation expects 25.6 million shoppers to take advantage of the Thanksgiving openings, down slightly down from last year.

 

Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman at the retail trade group, said that earlier promotions in the month and shoppers’ uncertainty about when they can get the best deals are factors that could lead to fewer shoppers coming out on the holiday.

 

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is starting to take a bite out of Black Friday business. Indeed, sales dropped 13.2 percent to $9.74 billion on Black Friday last year. Analysts said Thanksgiving sales were in part responsible for the decline.

 

And Gerald Storch, who runs a retail consultancy called Storch Advisors, said stores that open on Thanksgiving get more of their share for the weekend than others who open on Friday.

 

‘That’s why they keep doing it,’ he said. ‘You have to be first.’

 

Being first lures shoppers like Fred Peek of Atlanta. He plans to shop on Thanksgiving at Best Buy or Wal-Mart for a camera. Peek said that with more stores opening for a longer period of time on Thanksgiving, he believes shopping will be less hectic that last year.

 

“It won’t be such a rush trying to get to where I need to get to,” he said.

 

Not every store is opening on Thanksgiving, though. Some, including GameStop, Costco and Ikea, have said they won’t open because they want their workers to enjoy the holiday with their families.

 

‘At GameStop, we often use the phrase “protect the family” in reference to our business,’ the video game retailer said in a company statement.

 

And not every shopper is happy about stores opening on the holiday. A number of petitions have been circulating on change.org targeting Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers for opening their stores on Thanksgiving, or starting their sales that day. Most of Wal-Mart’s stores already open around the clock.

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think of Black Friday?

Would you be interested in shopping on this day? Do you wish there was a Black Friday sale in Japan? Why is Black Friday called Black Friday?

 

2. Do you think Black Friday should be held a day early on the American holiday Thanksgiving (also now known as ‘Grey Thursday’)?

Do you think there should be days when all shops are closed? Now, there are many convenience stores and some shops open in Japan on January 1st. Do you think that’s a good idea? Has the way people spend the New Year’s holidays in Japan changed very much over the years?

3. Can you think of sales in Japan similar to Black Friday?

On Black Friday some people actually sleep in front of the store to be the first in line. What’s the longest you have waited or would wait in line to buy an item? Do you think some people enjoy waiting in long lines?

 

4. In response to the popularity of Black Friday, there is also ‘Cyber Monday’, which is a day for special sales which are available online only. What do you think of Cyber Monday? Do you do a lot of shopping online?

 

5. On Black Friday, many people buy electronics at big discounts. Are you someone who likes to buy the latest electronic goods and gadgets?

A ‘Luddite’ is a term which can be used to describe a person who is opposed to new technology, or is slow to incorporate new technology into his or her lifestyle. Would you describe yourself as a ‘Luddite’?  Are any of your family members or friends ‘Luddites’? Are you interested in buying an Apple Watch or Google Glass?

 

6. Is there anything you really want to buy now?

 

7. Do you think women enjoy shopping more than men? Why or why not?

 

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