Our learning experience at ASEM (Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova) goes well beyond our classroom. This blog is the supplement for our FB29G and FB10F classes and our online portfolio of activities and projects we get involved in on a regular basis. We hope that you will also join us in our exploration of various useful online resources and projects.
Friday, December 9, 2011
BBC World Challenge Competition
- What kind of businesses does World Challenge competition target?
- What is a sustainable business?
- What is the mission of the competition?
2) Read about the competition rules - what are the 4 criteria used by Judges to select the Shortlist, based on the information provided in the nomination?
3) Read and watch about three winning projects. Which one do you like best? Write a short 200 word summary about the project and explain why you chose it.
- The Only Way is Up
- Tech Crunch
- Mongolia's Snow Leopard Enterprise
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Identifying important features of a BAR graph
1. What does the tutorial focus on? What will it show you?
2. What does the graph look at?
3. How long should be the essay describing the graph?
4. There are too many graphs in this chart. What could be done to solve this problem?
5. How many courses had the highest percentage?
6. What information in the graph is significant?
7. What can you say about the % of students who were dissatisfied with the course?
Thursday, November 24, 2011
How to write an executive summary
1. Where is the executive summary placed?
2. Finish the sentence: "The executive summary is the highly condensed ..."
3. When should it be written - first, while drafting the business plan or last?
4. What should you include in the brief if the business is new?
5. What should be the length of the summary?
6. Finish the sentence: "The brief should compel the reader to ..."
7. Now watch the "How to write an Executive Summary in 5 steps".
8. What are the 5 questions a summary has to answer?
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Why is selling hard work?
1. Frank works in sales. What exactly does his organisation help companies and public authorities solve?
2. Why is selling hard work?
3. What do their customers want?
4. What do they expect?
5. Finish the sentence: The bigger the deal, ...
6. What is like a movie preview? Why?
7. Finish the sentence: Even the best solution ...
8. Why do you sometimes need to say no?
9. "My boss doesn't like dead horses". What does it mean? Check the online dictionary.
10. What does his insist on?
11. Finish the expression: "He says it's the extra mile that ....". What does it mean?
12. What does Frank hate the most?
13. Why is Frank in sales even if it hard work?
14. We work together through thick and thin, said Frank about his team. What does it mean?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Dragons Den - How to best present your business plans

First, check out Dragons Den official BBC page:
Now, let's watch the Dragons in action!
a) Magic Whiteboard Project
b) Magic Wand
c) Worst Business Ideas
d) Steve Jobs on the show
e) Nova Flo Idea
f) Hungry House
g) Unsuccessful Presentations
h) Most expensive Project
i) Anti-snoring Shirt
j) Electric Egg Cooker
k) Paint Rollers
Thursday, April 14, 2011
FB10 F VoiceThread Project

1) Olga and Ugly Models New York
2) Cristina Business Ethics
3) Tatiana Good manners in Business Situations
4) Ecaterina Cultural Differences
5) Lucia World Savings Day
6) Cornel Ann Scheiber
Monday, April 4, 2011
Business Collocations
1) Collocations with the word "Money" 2) Dictionary of collocations: Search the words: "earn", "profit" and "target" 3) Business English collocations 4) Useful Business Vocabulary 5) Business Idioms 6) American English Business Idioms 7) Fun Business Idioms Hometask: take the following Idiom QUIZ: Business and post on the blog the new idioms you lerned - no less than 8. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Banking in the Future
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Did you know? Shift Happens ...
2) Independent work: Watch a relevant video Did you know? Human Capital edition 2009. Answer the following questions:
- How many emails are being sent every day? What does this tell you?
- How much time would an average worker spend on checking emails? What does this tell employers?
- Why do organizations spend $130 billion a year on spam?
- How many social networks users are employed?
- Why is Social Networking called a "productivity killer"?
- What is India's major export now?
- Finish the sentence: If every Indian sent home $100 ...
- How many employees prefer to work by email rather than face to face?
- In 2020 that figure would be ...?
- What is being checked: daily / monthly / half yearly / once a year?
- How much does the human capital represent of total expenses of a company?
- How is China going to influence the English speaking candidate market? What does it mean for potential employees?
- How many jobs will today's learners have by the age of 38?
- Finish the statement: Half of what a student learns in his/her 1st year ...
- What kind of organizations are, in this context, limited in their potential? Why?
- If Facebook was a country, it ...
- What is the conclusion of the video?
3) Independent Research: Read about The Drivers of Employee Engagement at the workplace and find out how employers can use this concept to motivate their employees work better. Answer the following questions:
a) How does IES (Institute for Employment Studies) define engagement?
b) Give 5 more elements that define engagement at the workplace.
c) How was engagement measured in the 2003 IES survey?
d) Name the most important engagement challenges.
e) Give a short description of the IES Engagement Model. Draw the necessary conclusions.
f) Which 3 questions in the list 12 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement are the easiest and whoch 3 are the most difficult to answer? Explain why.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Millenium Challenges in Moldova
The Government of Moldova signed a five-year economic development Compact Agreement granting $262 million with the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to Moldova on January 22, 2010 .Read the article about The Millennium Project in Moldova and answer the following questions: 
1) What will The Compact assistance be used for?
2) What is the main objective of the Compact Program?
3) What does The Program consist of?
4) How much was allocated for The Transition to High Value Agriculture and the Road Rehabilitation Projects?
5) What do the program management and oversight costs include?
6) What is the purpose of The Transition to High Value Agriculture Project?
7) What plans does the project include?
8) What will improving access to credit for agricultural projects and a technical assistance package co-financed by the United States Agency for International Development support?
9) What does The Road Rehabilitation Project include?
10) Which benefits will the repairs have?
How many households will benefit from the project?Team 2 Create a short summary of The Road Rehabilitation Project